Stephanie Kemler > Recent Status Updates

ARC from an author I’ve been salivating over since A Song Between Walls in 2021. THRILEDDDDDD to have my hands on this one. So far, so masterful. I may hang up my writer’s hat permanently by the time I’m done if the first 5% is any indication of the quality.

I haven’t been this curious about a MMC in ages. Runyx is just crushing Caz’s characterization and withholding so much information from the reader. Info-dripping instead of info-dumping. Refreshing as hell.

It’s so good it’s not even fair. I will willingly walk toward Clipstone’s work over and over and let her strangle me with a ribbon every time. Ughhuughhughh I’ll need to lay by the seaside when I’m done to recover from the vapors this is giving me.

Looooooved it. RTC.

Ghoulish. Grim. Gorgeous. Now THIS is how you write history. Just flawless set up, use of modern-day research (just how long can you *really* go without food?), delicious foreshadowing, perfect contextualizing, thorough attention to gender roles and the different ways women experienced the frontier… This book is almost enough to make me finally get that masters in history…

WOW. How am I sooooo late to the party for Lyndall?? I’m such a reluctant fantasy reader, particularly YA, but trying to mix it up. This one is SUCH a nice example.

I love this reread. I LOVE IT. And yet… halfway through reading I missed *my* vampires and started a side quest reread of Bloodborn. 🤦🏻‍♀️ For the sake of my anxiety and the satisfaction of doing one thing at a time I’m going to try to come back to my second favorite vampires in The Vampire Diaries. Is this update about the book? No. But it’s about the truth. 💀💀

Oh holy stars above this reread is going SO fast and SO well!!! This should be the only thing I read until the day I die.

First reread in YEARS. Probably tenth reread of all time. DAMN I’m excited. 😻😻😻

Dude. Like. I mean. WOW is this book deliciously deranged. Loving every moment.

WTactualF. This is… oh it’s deranged. 😈 (and honestly might be my favorite book cover of all time)

LOVING it. Just really truly having such a great time reading. It’s like the perfect blend of spooky-spicy-sweet-smart I’m looking for like 70% of the time and rarely find. Glad the bookstagram hounded me into picking it up.

I’m giving in and giving this a try. We’ll see how it shakes out.

This is dragging just slightly and I’m not sure: is it you or is it me? Still love these characters, still love their dynamic, still love the writing. Maybe I was in it until they actually all started falling in love and acting nice? Not sure what that says about me… 🤔🤣

I love truth in advertising. Definitely DEFINITELY dark/bully romance. Honestly the setup is great. Strangely believable? Like I understand the FMC’s desperation. And The Game™️?? Genius move on the author’s part. Plus the info dripping! 60% through and there are still so many unanswered questions. Excellent technique all around.

Oh wow they just jumped right in, didn’t they? Immediately in chapter 1 there was a major CW element. This book is seriously unflinching… but I *do* appreciate dark romance/bully romance/enemies to lovers that actually lives up to the name.

Guess I moved from my monster romance to my dark romance era? 🤣 Highly HIGHLY recommended by a friend with impeccable taste. Wish me luck!

After a few YEARS hiatus I’m finally going on to book 2 of this wildly harrowing series about a ballerina and the mob lords she serves. Started last night & already 40% in. Like the first book, I can’t put it down!

WOW Is this book flying past. Ludicrous premise but surprisingly readable. Maybe the voracious fan base is on to something… 🛸👽

I ADORE this cast of characters, this writer, and just every damned thing about it.

Is this sugarbaby/future president smut the cure to what ails me? It just might be, folks. Went in with rock bottom expectations and so far so good.

Still loving it, still engaged, still haven’t figured it all out yet… but I can see where trimming at least some of the 700 pgs could have helped. There’s a lot of seemingly unnecessary exposition told through dialogue. Like keep that lore TIGHT and EFFICIENT and RELEVANT. And some internal dialogue/spice scene repetition. This is not to say I’m not having fun but I’d like it to pick up a bit.

This book has me intrigued and questioning reality with every page. I have theories about what’s happening in Fairydale but I’m STILL mostly in the dark and second-guessing. Oooooh that’s a good quality in a book. With FIVE HUNDRED PAGES LEFT I hope she keeps it up.

JUST started and juggling a few others at the same time but I MUST say the illustrations in the physical copy are flawless. Worth the purchase just to see all of them. 😍😍

Only 10% in and 🥰🥰🥰 It’s been FAR too long since I read a seasonal romcom and this one is PERFECT for jumping in. A bit like a very adorable and magical Groundhog’s Day. It’s well written, which I wasn’t expecting or requiring, so that’s a bonus. If you’re in the mood for 🍁🎃✨🔥☕️🔮🕯️🥞🍂 read with me!

Wow am I loving this one! Appalachian ghost romance based on Welsh folklore with a pumpkin carving mortician girl who has a pet bat. Distilled spooky season in a cup. 😻

This book has been unputdownable for me. Like a slightly wackier version of The VVitch (which, honestly was what I came in expecting… this is not a horror book) but strangely uplifting and, dare I say it, wholesome? I mean if horned beast-men who walk upright on goat feet are wholesome. I do love a solid agrarian novel too so that’s been satisfying. Plus, it’s October and spooky so right now it’s an A+.

Putting a pin in this reread to buddy read The Poisoner. I want to really take my time on this one because EVERY DETAIL, EVERY MOMENT, EVERY LINE deserves to be savored.

Enjoying the HELL out of this read. The beginning threw me with all kinds of anachronisms and cliches, but I persevered and was forcefully pulled down this gothic rabbit hole. The Penny Dreadful vibes are flawless, and The Creature’s lines are just one highlighted delight after another. Their dynamic is everything I wanted Haunting Adeline to be.

“But I’d been told many things. I’d been controlled in the disguise of guidance, I’d been manipulated by opinions, and I’d been lied to in the form of comforting words.” This is really the heart of the story isn’t it? Finding the voice to follow amidst the chorus is Dove’s central struggle and it pains me to read how far she must go to hear it.