waiting on wednesday: six of crows

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted over at Breaking the Spine, where each week we highlight an anticipated release!

This week's pick: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Release Date: September 29
goodreads

synopsis: Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...

A convict with a thirst for revenge.

A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.

A runaway with a privileged past.

A spy known as the Wraith.

A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.

A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

~~~~~
I absolutely love Bardugo's other series, and the world that those books were set in, so I am so excited to read another novel that is set in that world. I love the idea that an author can expand their own worlds to tell other stories inside of them, it makes me so happy! This has been one that I've had my eye on since the title was The Dregs, so I can't believe it is almost time for it to come out!!

What are you guy waiting on this week?

xx
Sunny

top ten tuesday: fall tbr

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish! I've taken the last few weeks off from this meme, but I really have missed it, and I'm so happy to be back doing it again this week! This week's theme is "September 22: Top Ten Books on Your Fall TBR." I love doing these TBR posts, here is a link to my summer one, which I thought I did pretty well on, reading 6/10 of the books on there! My fall one is going to include new releases from October 1 to November 30, as well as some books that I've been meaning to get to for a while.

1. The Royal We – Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan 

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.
Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become. Which is how she gets into trouble.
Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

2. Let's Get Lost – Adi Alsaid


 Five strangers. Countless adventures. One epic way to get lost.

Four teens across the country have only one thing in common: a girl named Leila. She crashes into their lives in her absurdly red car at the moment they need someone the most.

Hudson, Bree, Elliot and Sonia find a friend in Leila. And when Leila leaves them, their lives are forever changed. But it is during Leila's own 4,268-mile journey that she discovers the most important truth—sometimes, what you need most is right where you started. And maybe the only way to find what you're looking for is to get lost along the way.

3. Armada – Ernest Cline

Zack Lightman has spent his life dreaming. Dreaming that the real world could be a little more like the countless science-fiction books, movies, and videogames he’s spent his life consuming. Dreaming that one day, some fantastic, world-altering event will shatter the monotony of his humdrum existence and whisk him off on some grand space-faring adventure.
But hey, there’s nothing wrong with a little escapism, right? After all, Zack tells himself, he knows the difference between fantasy and reality. He knows that here in the real world, aimless teenage gamers with anger issues don’t get chosen to save the universe.
And then he sees the flying saucer.
Even stranger, the alien ship he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada—in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.
No, Zack hasn’t lost his mind. As impossible as it seems, what he’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it.
It’s Zack’s chance, at last, to play the hero. But even through the terror and exhilaration, he can’t help thinking back to all those science-fiction stories he grew up with, and wondering: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little…familiar?

4. Six of Crows – Leigh Bardugo

Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can't pull it off alone...
A convict with a thirst for revenge.
A sharpshooter who can't walk away from a wager.
A runaway with a privileged past.
A spy known as the Wraith.
A Heartrender using her magic to survive the slums.
A thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.
Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction—if they don't kill each other first.

5. Carry On – Rainbow Rowell 

Rainbow Rowell continues to break boundaries with Carry On, an epic fantasy following the triumphs and heartaches of Simon and Baz from her beloved bestseller Fangirl.
Simon Snow just wants to relax and savor his last year at the Watford School of Magicks, but no one will let him. His girlfriend broke up with him, his best friend is a pest, and his mentor keeps trying to hide him away in the mountains where maybe he’ll be safe. Simon can’t even enjoy the fact that his roommate and longtime nemesis is missing, because he can’t stop worrying about the evil git. Plus there are ghosts. And vampires. And actual evil things trying to shut Simon down. When you’re the most powerful magician the world has ever known, you never get to relax and savor anything.Carry On is a ghost story, a love story, a mystery and a melodrama. It has just as much kissing and talking as you’d expect from a Rainbow Rowell story — but far, far more monsters.

6. Magnus Chase & The Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Sumemr – Rick Riordan 

Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother’s mysterious death, he’s lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers.
One day, he’s tracked down by a man he’s never met—a man his mother claimed was dangerous. The man tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god.
The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years.
When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision.
Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die . . . 

7. A Madness So Discreet – Mindy McGinnis–

Grace Mae knows madness.
She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum.
When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace finds friendship and hope, hints of a life she should have had. But gruesome nights bring Grace and the doctor into the circle of a killer who stalks young women. Grace, continuing to operate under the cloak of madness, must hunt a murderer while she confronts the demons in her own past.
In this beautifully twisted historical thriller, Mindy McGinnis, acclaimed author of Not a Drop to Drink and In a Handful of Dust, explores the fine line between sanity and insanity, good and evil—and the madness that exists in all of us.

8. First & Then – Emma Mills 

Devon Tennyson wouldn't change a thing. She's happy watching Friday night games from the bleachers, silently crushing on best friend Cas, and blissfully ignoring the future after high school. But the universe has other plans. It delivers Devon's cousin Foster, an unrepentant social outlier with a surprising talent for football, and the obnoxiously superior and maddeningly attractive star running back, Ezra, right where she doesn't want them first into her P.E. class and then into every other aspect of her life.

Pride and Prejudice meets Friday Night Lights in this contemporary novel about falling in love with the unexpected boy, with a new brother, and with yourself.

9. Illuminae – Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

This morning, Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the hardest thing she’d have to do.
This afternoon, her planet was invaded.
The year is 2575, and two rival megacorporations are at war over a planet that’s little more than an ice-covered speck at the edge of the universe. Too bad nobody thought to warn the people living on it. With enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra—who are barely even talking to each other—are forced to fight their way onto an evacuating fleet, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But their problems are just getting started. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their enemy; and nobody in charge will say what’s really going on. As Kady hacks into a tangled web of data to find the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: the ex-boyfriend she swore she'd never speak to again.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documents—including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and more—Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes.

10. Velvet Undercover – Teri Brown 

Samantha Donaldson's family has always done its duty for the British Crown. In the midst of World War I, seventeen-year-old Sam follows in their footsteps, serving her country from the homefront as a messenger for the intelligence organization MI5. After her father disappears on a diplomatic mission, she continues their studies of languages, mathematics, and complex puzzles, hoping to make him proud.
When Sam is asked to join the famed women's spy group La Dame Blanche, she's torn—while this could be an unbelievable adventure, how can she abandon her mother, who has already lost a husband? But when her handlers reveal shocking news, Sam realizes she can't refuse the exciting and dangerous opportunity.
Her acceptance leads her straight into the heart of enemy territory on a mission to extract the most valuable British spy embedded in Germany, known only as Velvet. Deep undercover in the court of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Sam must navigate the labyrinthine palace and its many glamorous—and secretive—residents to complete her assignment. To make matters worse she must fight a forbidden attraction to the enemy—a dangerously handsome German guard. In a place where personal politics are treacherously entangled in wartime policy, can Sam find Velvet before it's too late . . . for them both?
A thrilling story of one girl's journey into a deadly world of spy craft and betrayal—with unforgettable consequences.

11. Winter – Marissa Meyer

(SPOILERS)
 Princess Winter is admired by the Lunar people for her grace and kindness, and despite the scars that mar her face, her beauty is said to be even more breathtaking than that of her stepmother, Queen Levana.
Winter despises her stepmother, and knows Levana won’t approve of her feelings for her childhood friend–the handsome palace guard, Jacin. But Winter isn’t as weak as Levana believes her to be and she’s been undermining her stepmother’s wishes for years. Together with the cyborg mechanic, Cinder, and her allies, Winter might even have the power to launch a revolution and win a war that’s been raging for far too long.
Can Cinder, Scarlet, Cress, and Winter defeat Levana and find their happily ever afters?

12. Ten Thousand Skies Above You – Claudia Gray 

Ever since she used the Firebird, her parents' invention, to cross into alternate dimensions, Marguerite has caught the attention of enemies who will do anything to force her into helping them dominate the multiverse—even hurting the people she loves. She resists until her boyfriend, Paul, is attacked and his consciousness scattered across multiple dimensions.
Marguerite has no choice but to search for each splinter of Paul’s soul. The hunt sends her racing through a war-torn San Francisco, the criminal underworld of New York City, and a glittering Paris where another Marguerite hides a shocking secret. Each world brings Marguerite one step closer to rescuing Paul. But with each trial she faces, she begins to question the destiny she thought they shared. The second book in the Firebird trilogy, Ten Thousand Skies Above You features Claudia Gray’s lush, romantic language and smart, exciting action, and will have readers clamoring for the next book.

13. Da Vinci's Tiger – L.M. Elliot 

Young, beautiful, and witty, Ginevra de’ Benci longs to take part in the artistic ferment of Renaissance Florence. But as the daughter of a wealthy family in a society dictated by men, she is trapped in an arranged marriage, expected to limit her creativity to domestic duties. Her poetry reveals her deepest feelings, and she aches to share her work, to meet painters and sculptors mentored by the famed Lorenzo de Medici, and to find love.
When the charismatic Venetian ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, arrives in Florence, he introduces Ginevra to a dazzling circle of patrons, artists, and philosophers—a world of thought and conversation she has yearned for. She is instantly attracted to the handsome newcomer, who admires her mind as well as her beauty. Yet Ginevra remains conflicted about his attentions. Choosing her as his Platonic muse, Bembo commissions a portrait by a young Leonardo da Vinci. Posing for the brilliant painter inspires an intimate connection between them—one Ginevra can only begin to understand. In a rich and enthralling world of exquisite art, elaborate feasts, and exhilarating jousts, she faces many temptations to discover her voice, artistic companionship, and a love that defies categorization. In the end, she and Leonardo are caught up in a dangerous and deadly battle between powerful families.

what's on your fall tbr?

xx
Sunny

Cinderella book tag

It has been a while since I've done a tag on here, and since I am bored and without much homework on this lovely Sunday, I figured I would tag myself in one! In honor of the new Cinderella movie coming out on DVD this past week (which I adore), I thought I would do the Cinderella book tag, which I saw from Mel over at The Daily Prophecy! It was created by Tiffany at About to Read.

I love this tag, I think it is so adorable, so if you see this and you want to complete it, consider yourself tagged as well!

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1. Evil Stepsisters – A Book with Characters You Just Hate: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I found everyone in this book so boring and lifeless. I didn't hate them because of their actions, I just really did not connect with them, and I could not find anything attractive or fun to read about any of them.

2. Prince Charming– A Book with a Gentleman: The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh. Khalid is a boy king, under an unbelievable amount of pressure, and it would've been very easy for him to be a total jerk. Instead, he is strong and unwavering with everyone else, but he is a total softie when it comes to Shazi. He believes in her, he supports her, he loves her with everything he has. I love it.

3. Cinderella – A Character that is Graceful, Kind and Defiant: Lara Jean Song Covey from the To All the Boys I've Loved Before Duology by Jenny Han! I think she is the kindest character I've read in a long time, but that by no means is indicative of weakness. She learns how to stand up for herself over the course of these books, to go after what she wants, and to love herself above all. There is something very Cinderella-esque about Lara Jean.

 
4. Fairy Godmother – A Character that Always Has Someone Looking Out for Them: Marguerite Caine from A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray. Though she is hopping through dimensions and trying to solve a murder and a mystery, she always has someone looking out for her, whether it be Theo or Paul or her Mom or Dad or Sister, there is always someone there to help her.

5. Helpful Creatures – Something that Makes You Happy When You're Sad: I don't know if this means like in the bookish sense or just in general, but something that does genuinely make me really happy is being in bookstores. I just love the feeling of being surrounded by millions of words and thousands of stories. I love sitting there, preferably in a comfy chair, and just getting lost in a book. 

6. Ashes – A Book You Didn't Care For: Most recently, it was Fans of the Impossible Life by Kate Scelsa. I was really looking forward to this novel, but it ended up being something that I wasn't expecting at all, and I didn't like the direction it went in at all. You might like it more than me, it just was not my speed at all!

7. Pumpkin – A Character With a Transformation: Who else can I choose but Celaena Sardothien? Over the course of five novellas and four huge novels, she has gone through the most amazing transformation that I have ever seen. I absolutely love the way that she comes into herself more and more throughout the series, and I can't wait to see what the last two books bring.

8. Impossible – A Book With an Ending You Didn't See Coming: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. I thought I knew what was going to happen in the end of this book, but it ended up catching me completely by surprise! I loved it, I thought the surprise ending made it a better book altogether, but I definitely was not expecting it to take the turn that it did.

9. Happily Ever After –  A Book With A Perfect Ending: The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord. I cried actual happy tears when I finished this book, because I thought the ending was the most perfectly amazing thing that I had ever experienced. If you haven't read this book yet, please do, because it is honestly so perfect.          

I hope you all have fairy tale dreams! 

xx

Sunny  

spotlight on: a new fave: Emery Lord

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Spotlight on is a monthly series here at Stardust Words where each month is a different theme, whether it be a starred review, a list of favorite books or an author, etc. You can see the previous entries in the spotlight series here! I skipped August, guys. I had a bad, bad blogging month in August, so I was not inspired to do a spotlight post last month. However! We are back with our regularly scheduled programming!

This month,  I've decided to write a post about an author that recently became a new favorite of mine. I read both of Emery Lord's books at the end of June/early in July, and I haven't stopped thinking about them since then. So let's talk about why these books, and this author, are so amazing!

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

 

All of the Reasons Why You Should Read & Love Emery Lord

1. Open Road Summer: This is her first novel, and it is completely incredible. I actually read it after I had already read her newest release, so I kind of knew what to expect, but it exceeded everything I was hoping for from this book. This is my review from goodreads!

Things in This Book:

1. Friendship. The kind of friendship that doesn't make sense, that defies all odds, that, upon first glance, looks more like true love. The friendship in this novel made me really emotional, because the two best friends are complete opposites, but they get each other and have each other's backs in a way that just really got to me. This is the main appeal of this book, for me. 

2. Cute Boys!!! Of two varieties. First, the sweet, down home, high school sweetheart that we all want to have. Secondly, the charming, bantery musician who will make you feel *ALL OF THE THINGS* (i'm a matt finch gal, for sure) 

 3. Music, Chasing Your Dreams, Dealing With Fame. It was really interesting to read a book from the perspective of someone who's best friend is famous. I'd never read something from this POV before, and I really enjoyed it! It was like imagining that you're best friends with Taylor Swift (early  days, like Fearless-era), and who wouldn't want that? 

4. Dealing With Hard Pasts. Heartbreak. Broken Arms. Bad Habits. Not being able to let your guard down. Daddy issues! All of the above, but in a realistic and lovely way. You're rooting for the characters so intensely throughout the whole story, wanting them to get through their struggles, and when the climax comes, it could not be more beautiful.

5. A Really Hot Scene Involving Fireworks and A Lake (to which I will not say more) 

In short, you need this book in your life. 

2. The Start of Me and You: (AKA one of my most favorite books ever to exist EVER!) I wrote a really squealy something on Goodreads about this, then I wrote a full review on here about it too, but I don't even know if I can articulate all of the things I love about this book. But let me just say, when I finished this one, I immediately flipped back to the beginning and read it all over again, which is something I've literally never done, so let that speak for itself. 

Things In This Book: 

1.  Starting Over. There are so many elements of new beginnings in this novel, for almost all of the characters. Some of them are easier than others, but I really liked how that theme was woven throughout the book, not just for our main protag.

2. Girl Power!!!! As with Open Road Summer, the friendships in this book made me almost weep with joy. I loved how our main character, Paige, had not just one but three fully developed, fully important friends who play a huge role in this novel and in her life. I talk about this in my review, but I loved that I was able to find a little bit of myself and my friends in all of these characters. THEY ARE SO GOOD! SO GOOD! 

3. My Favorite Trope! Which is: friendship turned to something more. The romance in this book was definitely a slow burn, and it was so cute that, at the very end, I cried because it was so adorable. I love the two characters got to know each other as friends, and then, because they're so perfect for each other, realized that they were meant to be something more. (MAX *heart eyes emoji) 

4. All of the Nerdiness! From a running Pride and Prejudice joke to an abundance of Firefly references to an honest-to-god quiz bowl team, I absolutely loved all of the nerdy elements in this book!!

5. Characters Learning to Take Control of their Own Lives! ALSO: A really cool bookstore that I wish existed IRL! 

This one is at the tippy top of my list of favorite books ever! 

3. Emery Lord is writing the most amazing realistic contemporaries around! I'd be hard-pressed to point to books with better friendships, more realistic conflicts, or cuter romances right now. Honestly, if you've felt a hole in your life where a really amazing contemporary should be, you need these books in your life. They're honestly so touching and incredibly paced, and the writing is beautiful. I flew through both of her books in the space of three days, and I am eagerly awaiting her next release, which leads me to my next point....

4. Her next release looks just as incredible as the last two! Different, but still incredible! 

It is called When We Collided.

This is the cover:

This is the synopsis: Meet Vivi and Jonah: A girl and a boy whose love has the power save or destroy them.
Vivi and Jonah couldn't be more different. Vivi craves anything joyful or beautiful that life can offer. Jonah has been burdened by responsibility for his family ever since his father died. As summer begins, Jonah resigns himself to another season of getting by. Then Vivi arrives, and suddenly life seems brighter and better. Jonah is the perfect project for Vivi, and things finally feel right for Jonah. Their love is the answer to everything. But soon Vivi's zest for life falters, as her adventurousness becomes true danger-seeking. Jonah tries to keep her safe, but there's something important Vivi hasn't told him.

Incroyable! Cannot wait! 

5. Lastly, Emery Lord is the funniest. Following her on twitter was one of the best decisions I've ever made. She regularly cracks me up and makes me wish I was friends with her! 

https://twitter.com/emerylord?lang=en

  

Sometimes she tweets things like this: 

 

In short, Emery Lord is an amazing lady and you should support her! :) 

xx

Sunny