Tammy > Recent Status Updates

Ok, my copy got here JUST NOW.
I’ll be back in a few days!!!

I’m reading this alongside the audio version because it helps me focus, but…like, I don’t have chemistry with male narrator. He isn’t bad; in fact, he understands the assignment. But his style is so animated that he sounds more like an anime voiceover actor than a book narrator, you know? At least I’m almost halfway done with this book. Review to come.

A medieval-esque setting where people ride horses and carriages, but the author uses phrases like:

“Traffic slows to a crawl,” “the usual snarl of traffic,” “traffic jams are common,” etc.

It’s not the mentions of traffic that distracts me, but the choices in wording and phrasing, you know? Like, bffr. 😅🙄

Well, it’s been progressively getting cuter, I’ll give the book that. Even the FMC is starting to annoy me less. The prince is charming. Dear book, please do not end up sucking; I spent $20 on you. 😭

I wish the author hasn’t written phrases like “The crowd whoops and hollers.”

I don’t mind Modern Speech—George RR Martin uses it, too, but he does it in moderation and in a way that still keeps the ambiance and atmosphere; “Rings of Fate” gives us neither. Instead of feeling like I’m in a Fantasy setting, I feel like I’m hanging out behind the scene of a 2026 Ren Faire during a smoke break.

I’m finding it really, REALLY difficult to believe Dietan’s and Aren’s attachment to each other. Like, it literally (in the most literal sense) happens like this: he meets her in the tavern, she says something rude to him. The next night at the ball, she says something rude to him again. Their interactions last five minutes each time, at most. And now they’re attached to each other. Like, what?

Someone suggested that Dani Francis is really Pierce Brown, and now I can’t unsee it. I understand that Brown has a lot of fans, while Francis has a lot of haters. For that, I’m sorry. 😅

I remember why I loved this so much. The humor is very teenage boy-coded. I don’t mean “teen humor” that fall flat, but the kind of uninhibited humor that boys share when no adults are around. Not saying that “boy stuff” is better or funnier, but omg…the puns? Double entendres? The sheer INAPPROPRIATENESS and audacity? Hysterical.

In other news, whenever I read a dragon fantasy, I’d start wishing that dragons were real and get a little disappointed that I’ll never own one.

I’m determined to finish this book TODAY.
It’s been the bane of my existence since November. My husband has been begging me to DNF it because according to him, I look so miserable when I read it. But I’m so unreasonably stubborn sometimes, and this is one of those times.

OH, MY GOD!
Imagine waking up from a coma and finding yourself married to the guy who bullied you and made your life a living hell throughout high school! Your last memory of him is that you hated his guts. But, apparently, you’ve been married and in love over the past few years…you just don’t remember it. You don’t remember ever loving the guy, you just remember wanting to punch him in the face. Daily. 😅

Sweet mother of God, I'm finally almost done with this wrong-for-me novel! This is why I've been so quiet. Trying to push through this Cozy Fantasy (so not my genre). My husband's been BEGGING me to just DNF it because I look so miserable reading it (according to him), but I want to understand WHY people like it so much (I still fail to see the appeal, alas).

You know, modern readers might complain that YA works from the 2010s “always feature exaggerated girl-on-girl bullying,” but speaking as someone who was still attending school during that time (and earlier, of course), that WAS reality—not just girl-on-girl bullying, but bullying, period. Anti-social behaviors were respected & rewarded. It was a crappy time. 🤪

Shut the fuck up, Mary Ann, I hate you.

Oh, wow, totally deserving of all the hype it got back in the days. Reading my library copy, but will purchase my own—so that I can reread, highlight, and annotate! (I’m that kind of reader)

Eve is promised to a man she despises. One day, she comes meets a merman named Oorin. Eve learns that he is in his Songcoming, a rite of passage in which merfolk live alone until they can find their song. Over time, they forge an unlikely bond. With her betrothed on his way to claim her, Eve must choose between a life under water where she can't breathe—and a life on land that will surely suffocate her.

Oh, LAWDY!
Finally caught up with all my Netgalley obligations. Spending the month of April finishing up all 13 books on my Currently Reading. Nobody let me start anything new! 😅

My thoughts so far…

I really don’t like to follow this character’s mind; the way she talks is rambling.

As far as the actual prose goes, it feels outdated. I don’t know how to explain it. I love reading vintage books (my guilty pleasures are Point Horrors from the ‘80s & ‘90s), and while this reads like those, I don’t like it, at all, because the setting is today.

Done! Review to follow. OH MY GOD THIS BOOK IS SO GOOD! MY HEART IS THUMPING!!!
Ignore the negative reviews, you guys; those people either forgot or didn’t realize they were reading YA, and expected Adult fiction. Different targeted demographics, different standards. This is a solid read. THE BEST PART IS THAT IT’S NOT 500 PAGES LONG FOR NO REASON (I’m looking at you, “Powerless”!).

Well, Callum is handsome and charming, which means only two things: secretly evil or will end up dead. But, that could just be my YA-addled brain talking. We’ll see!

Reading a Booktok recommendation is like playing Russian roulette…except that five out of the six chambers are loaded.

OMG WTF, am I experiencing for Mandela Effect right now?
First of all, the copy I just got in the mail has nearly 100 fewer pages (though the publication year is the same). But most damning is that the ending is totally different! I’ve read this book twice—both times in my 20s, as a fully grown adult—and can recite the original ending almost word-for-word! Online research didn’t mention any changes.

A re-read, even though I said I’ll never read it because it’s too sad (though very beautiful). 😔

Gist of the story: The gods grant immortality to the mermaid Sirena when she rescues a human man from the sea and they fall in love, but his mortality creates great conflict between love and honor when he is called to defend Greece in the Trojan War.

YOU GUYS.
This book is so good! It won’t come out until late October, but I think you’ll enjoy it.

I have a lot of thoughts. I guess I'm logging them here, so that I'd have things to refer to when the time comes to write the review.

This book is very long. Anyway, one thing that really stands out to me is how Paedyn and Kai don't really have distinct voices. They sound the same, speak the same, etc., despite being of vastly different backgrounds, along with having different personalities and life experiences.

You know, if I never have to see or hear “Ocean eyes” or “ocean-blue eyes” ever again, I’ll be okay.

Reading the ARC. It’s a timely novel. Feels like the Scott Westerfeld and Neal Schusterman Dystopians of my youth, but made for our world as it currently is and where it’s heading.

Is anyone else on Fable?
What are the pros and cons?
Should I migrate over there?

Holy shit.
Sorry, I’ve been missing in action. Will reply to everyone’s comments soon! And this book? THIS BOOK? Best read of 2026. BEST READ of 2026!!! Review to follow.

Oh, I AM ANGERED! This is going to get a two-star rating, at most. I’m shocked because Maya Banks never failed before. I am aghast, and justifiably so (you’ll see). Formal review will come once I can form coherent thoughts. I AM AGHAST.