Elena > Recent Status Updates

NEW MURDERBOT ARC, I AM SO STINKIN' EXCITED

Just when I think I'm totally burned out on the fake dating trope, along comes Ali Hazelwood with a brand new take and I'm all in.

"The first observation I invite you to make is the one universal assumption that we are all weird about money and we must first address how and why we are weird. Addressing this weirdness can give us clarity that prescriptive advice cannot because we are all weird in our own unique, special ways."

Enjoying this reread on audio. I forgot just how machination-y it is. SO MANY ECONOMIC MACHINATIONS.

This book is ZANY. Like Parasol Protectorate meets Socery & Cecelia, by way of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (for the tone, not aliens).

The "Valleyden Interludes," in which we return to the MC's hometown for an occasional chapter, make me cringe so hard. A well meaning character is doing EVERYTHING WRONG and there's no one there to even attempt to stop her. I can't watch. Pretty sure I know how it's going to turn out, so I guess I'll just skip those chapters, ha.

Erica Ridley refused to fall back on the Mean Girl trope and has not pitted our heroine Chloe against the duke's intended heiress bride. And I am LIVING for said heiress Philippa York's expressive expressionlessness and brutal takedowns of His Grace. I hope she gets her own book.

"Now that she'd stolen her painting and replaced it with a forgery, she couldn't let him suspect she was fleeing the scene. Absconding with an eligible bachelor was a far better alibi."


What have I gotten myself into? 😂

This book is SO EFFING WHOLESOME, and it's exactly the reread I need right now. Maia is everything. <3

A restless spirit haunts the cemetery, playing mournful music on his beloved vihuela... He just died last week, and his fights with his still-living girlfriend and terrible renditions of "Wonderwall" are an annoyance to our beleaguered brujo hero, Yadriel. Loving this already.

These poor dudes need either one good session with a relationship counselor or to read The 5 Love Languages, because they are just not understanding each other's signals AT ALL.

This is the strangest Sherlock Holmes I've ever read. Holmes is an angel and Watson is...a werewolf? And they're investigating the Jack the Ripper murders. So weird.

Before picking this up I was trying to decide whether to go for fantasy or Regency romance. I had no idea this would be such a good compromise--it's a fantasy with ALL the Regency romance feels.

I love El so much. She is sheer perfection.

THIS BOOK, Y'ALL. It's scratching the Harry Potter itch like nothing has since Deathly Hallows itself. It's like a deeply skeptical, exasperated, and sarcastic girl with an unwanted gift for very dark magic went to Hogwarts and started pointing out that there's quite a high student death rate, and doesn't that Harry Potter kid seem to cause half the problems he heroically saves people from? I already love it so much.

I'm enjoying this so much I MAY actually finish before the audiobook is due back at the library. A whole audiobook in less than 3 weeks?! Madness.

GASP. Zach is demi! I didn't know Talia Hibbert had written an a-spec character, I'm so delighted.