Tag: historical

ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Gwen & Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: Gwen & Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher
Book Review: Gwen & Art Are Not In Love by Lex Croucher

When I originally picked up the sample of this book to review, I wasn’t sure what type of book it was. I had such a good time with the sample and was so excited, but genre-wise? Yeah, I was unsure. So for those of you who, like me, we were wondering, this book is a historical rom-com with some references to Arthurian legend. It’s super queer, easy to read and hilarious. So this is definitely one you need to be picking up. Thanks to Nina Douglas of Nina Douglas PR and Bloomsbury for a copy of this one.

Gwen is the Princess of England, Arthur is a future lord, and they’ve been betrothed since they were young. The only problem is that they hate each other. But when Arthur returns to Camelot and Gwen catches him kissing a boy, he suspects she might be queer too. He digs up her diary entries on how she feels about a certain lady knight. The pair decide to pretend to be in love for their mutual protection. The only problem is that they might be unable to keep up the ruse for long, as soon Art falls for Gwen’s brother as she spends more time with Lady Bridget.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood
Book Review: The Agency for Scandal by Laura Wood

I took a bit of a break from my blog with the end of the year being so busy, but now we’re into January and have a new year of books ahead! I’m happy to start the year off with a post on a book I was so excited to read. I requested an ARC of this from Scholastic, but I didn’t think I’d be getting a copy. However, I was lucky enough to be sent an early finished copy after all, and this book is stunning. The cover art is pretty, and the spine?! I love it so much. It looks so cute sitting on my shelves.

I should probably stop gushing about the design now and actually tell you about the book! But wait until you see it~

This is actually my second time talking about this book on my blog. This was the first book I did a mini review on in my series Will I Like This Book? I was intrigued by the small sample, and I just knew I had to read on. We all know I’m not the biggest fan of historical fiction, but this is one that sparked my curiosity.

The Agency for Scandal follows eighteen-year-old Isobel, a young woman trying hard to hide from society that her family is penniless. She works with a women’s detective agency to right wrongs and digs up scandals about the powerful men who deserve to be bought down. What she doesn’t expect is that one day a case will tangle her up with the Duke she’s been nursing a crush on, who doesn’t seem to know she exists. 

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books, Will I Like This Book?, Young Adult

Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love
Will I Like This Book? – Gwen and Art Are Not In Love

I’m back with another Bloomsbury book sampler from YALC back in July! I’ll be honest, I’d actually forgotten about this book until I saw a cover reveal on social media the other day. As soon as I saw the title, I was like, damn, I have a preview of this one and now I’ve read it? Yeah, I’ll definitely be preordering this one.

Gwen and Art Are Not In Love is a queer kind-of historical fantasy rom-com following two teenagers, Gwen and Art who have been betrothed since birth. The only problem is that they don’t like each other. On top of that, both Gwen and Art are trying to hide the fact they’re gay. When they both catch each other act, they reluctantly agree to be allies and pretend to fall in love to hide their true feelings. But as they grow closer to the people they like, the fakery becomes more difficult.

This book is coming out from Bloomsbury on the 2nd of February 2023.

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ARC, blog tour, books, Review, Young Adult

Blog Tour: Glorious Poison by Kat Dunn

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Blog Tour: Glorious Poison by Kat Dunn

Though I’m not big on historical books, I saw Dangerous Remedy when it came out a few years ago and was instantly intrigued. Even when I got tired of books set during the French Revolution, I still wanted to pick these up. When I saw an opportunity to be on a blog tour, I had to ask to be part of it. I’m so glad I did and that I didn’t have to wait to read this book, as it was a wild ride from start to finish.

This book starts a few months after the end of Monstrous Design. Olympe is back in the Duc’s clutches, with Ada working with him as an undercover agent. Camille, Al and James have to explore a new France now the revolution has technically ended whilst trying to find a way to stop the Duc. But it can be difficult to seem like you belong somewhere when you’re balancing the line between life and death.

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ARC, books, middlegrade, Review

Book Review: Escape to the River Sea by Emma Carroll

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Book Review: Escape to the River Sea by Emma Carroll

Journey to the River Sea was one of my favourite books as a child. I still have the old battered copy that I bought at a school book fair. When I knew this book was going to be a thing, I decided I was going to reread the first book and then the new one. When I was lucky enough to get an e-arc through NetGalley, I put both on my TBR and read them back to back.

Set in 1946, Rosa Sweetman has been living in Westwood after having left her home and family in Vienna as part of the Kindertransport. But now all the other children have returned home, and Rosa is still waiting. After a mysterious visitor comes to Westwood, Rosa decides she wants to join her in visiting her family in Brazil. The visitor is on a quest to find a Giant Sloth, and Rosa would love to be part of that. This trip turns into more of an adventure than Rosa knows, and she finds jaguars, a new family and herself along the way.

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Adult, ARC, blog tour, books, Review

Blog Tour – Sistersong by Lucy Holland

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Blog Tour – Sistersong by Lucy Holland
Blog Tour – Sistersong by Lucy Holland

Though I’m not the biggest reader of historical fantasy, I adore books that take inspiration from myth and folklore. I’m also a history nerd who was fascinated to find a fantasy book set during the Saxon invasion. It’s not a period that you see many books set during, so I’ve been excited about this one for a while. I’ve been meaning to get to this book since it was released last year, so I was happy to get on the paperback tour with Black Crow PR.

As well as talking about the book in general, I will be talking about the use of folklore. I’m not hugely familiar with The Twa Sisters, as ballads aren’t my area of expertise, but I like how this one was retold. As well as that, we have hints of other tales from Cornwall and a nice mix of Celtic – and Norse – folktales. Some of these are seemingly original to the text, whilst others are connected with tales that we all know.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger BooksLeave a Comment on Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker
Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

I think you all know how obsessed I am with Japan and Japanese culture by now. Though a lot of that interest is pop-culture focused, I’m both a history geek and a myth & legend fanatic at heart, so there are other areas I’m interested in too. This interest and my love of YA books meant that The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker was a must-read for me, and I was lucky enough to get an ARC through Harper360’s newsletter. I’m super grateful for this one, even if I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as I hoped.

This book follows Ren, a half-Shinigami half-Reaper girl who has been living in 1890’s London her whole life. She was bullied for being different, and the only person who really cares for her is her younger half-brother, Neven. One day she injures another Reaper with her shinigami powers and has to go on the run. She heads to Japan with only her brother for company, desperate to become a Shinigami.

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ARC, books, Review, Young Adult

Book Review: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

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Book Review: Within These Wicked Walls by Lauren Blackwood

I’ve never read Jane Eyre before, but the moment I stumbled across Within These Wicked Walls, I knew I had to read it. This is a YA historical fantasy retelling of the famous novel set in Ethiopia. It’s fascinating, atmospheric and everything that I could hope for. But even I noticed that aside from a name and a fire, there wasn’t very much of Jane Eyre in it.

Within These Wicked Walls follows Andromeda, a debtera – or exorcist – who creates amulets to rid people of the Evil Eye. Her mentor had kicked her out so now she’s on the look for a patron, and Magnus Rochester is the only one who’s offering. His house is cursed and more dangerous than she expected, but as they slowly fall in love, she knows she would do anything to free him.

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Adult, ARC, books, Review

Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

by Rosina @ Lace and Dagger Books1 Comment on Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark
Book Review: Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

I’ve been reading more adult fantasy recently, it seems, and I’m really getting into it more. We’re getting more diverse reads by some amazingly talented authors, and Master of Djinn is one example. I was very lucky to get a finished copy of this book early thanks to the wonderful Nazia from Orbit.

Master of Djinn is technically the third book in a series. But as the first full-length novel, it can be read as a standalone. In this book, we follow Fatma, the youngest woman working for the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities in 1912. This book is set in Cairo, and after the members of a secret brotherhood are killed by a man claiming to be al-Jahiz, the long-dead man they worshipped. The ministry is pulled on the case to find out what’s going on. They need to stop it from hurting Egypt’s place on the world stage. With a new partner and her girlfriend, Siti, Fatma must unravel the mystery of what is really going on.

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