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gabriellabuba's reviews
27 reviews
The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad
5.0
I adored this book, the setting was so real you could see smell taste and hear the city of noor bustling around you. I honestly loved Fatima so much, really connected with her in a way I haven't been able to mesh with a YA heroine in a while. I loved how she refused to be cowed by anything or anyone. I loved how important her faith was to her in a way that felt very intimate and real without seeming too evangelical? Wrong word Christian word but the book doesn't try to convert you its a beautiful window into the lives of others and thier world views. I also adored the love interest?? I'd try to spell his name but confession I listened to the audiobook and don't know how!! The emir was the brooding YA hero we all wish we had, I live for strong capable men who have tiny internal meltdowns when they make social gaffes, who have stress nausea and have to not eat before important social engagement so they can't puke. The romance was so absolutely positively darling, it was every trope I love handed to me on a silver platter sprinkled with gold dust. I cackled with glee during the proposal scene. I was living my best life when he had to then go get her father's blessing. I really really loved how everyone took thier social responsibility to protect Fatima miles over making any concessions to the emir. Like yes give me more strong family/found family units who look at dude whose come to take you away and are like, but will you cherish her?? And all the amazing women characters who loved each other through disagreements and disaster and were friends and family anyway? So many women who were friends and were also amazing independent people doing great cool things with thier lives?!??? I want more of it. I also adored the magic in this it was beautiful and I really enjoyed the tidy ending all the many threads tied into a very neat. This book told a lovely story it may not have thrown in any crazy wild twists but honestly??? I was so glad! It told me a beautiful tale and I was jumping up and down in excitement waiting to see the characters react to each reveal and honestly that's better than a shocking twist. This book was a treat from beginning to end as lovely as all the delicious deserts Fatima and the emir are always eating and I'm so happy to have read it
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
5.0
Yes, my soul needed this book we got to have multiple women who were selfish and not nice people and that didn't make them monsters, that made them people and I was rooting for all three of them the whole time, like yes please give me morse women taking ehat they want from life and loving themselves and thier families and still being prickly
Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
5.0
I just spent the last 5 hours soaking this book up like a sponge, like I was trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Every moment was mesmerizing and riveting, it felt like nothing I'd ever read before but also had threads of such heartbreaking humanity that my soul sang. I couldn't get enough both of its unique storytelling, glorious expansive world, and Tarisai who is a girl who grows into a woman who defies all expectations or birth and circumstance and magic and fills the world with her light even if it means walking through fire.
Cambion's Law by Erin Fulmer
5.0
My goodness it's been so long since I've found a really great paranormal romance that I just couldn't put down. I inhaled the whole book in two sittings! It would have been one but I’m not built for all-nighters anymore. I loved Lily! The magic of this book lived and breathed with a life of its own, and some parts were just so beautifully written it took my breath away. But I think my favorite part was definitely how cleverly it used the concept of succubi and inccubi magic for a really in depth discussion and interrogation of consent and by god it made consent sexy as hell. Plus after that epilogue I can’t wait for book 2
The Fraud Squad by Kyla Zhao
5.0
OMG, I LOVED this book. It really scratched my Crazy Rich Asians itch. I binge-read it in like 4 days. I was really rooting for my girl Sam the whole way.
I loved the vibe and premise, it's fun, the writing is lush and so detailed I feel like I'm THERE in the room at times. I don't even like reading about celebrities or fashion but this book made me enjoy every second of it which is a real feat of talent. The romance at the heart of this had so much sizzling chemistry it kept me turning the pages hoping for more.
I loved the vibe and premise, it's fun, the writing is lush and so detailed I feel like I'm THERE in the room at times. I don't even like reading about celebrities or fashion but this book made me enjoy every second of it which is a real feat of talent. The romance at the heart of this had so much sizzling chemistry it kept me turning the pages hoping for more.