The Book Blabberer

👸🏼👸🏼👸🏼👸🏼 I’ve been in a bit of a slump for the past couple weeks. I think my depression is acting up. I’m gonna try to push through, though, and get this double review done. It might not be up to snuff compared to some of my other reviews, but it’ll be done; and if that’s all I can manage right now, that’ll be alright. I felt like these books got better as they went along, though like the first one they didn’t quite impact me enough to leave a lasting impression. I wo

Rating: ♟️♟️♟️♟️ I’m switching up my review format. No more First Responses or One Sentence Summaries. Just not feeling it anymore, so I’m not doing it anymore. I got this book for free because I agreed to review the second book in the series. It wasn’t an ARC (at least, I don’t think it was an ARC… it’s been a minute since I got it…😬), the author just wanted some more reviews to drum up conversation around the series. Overall, I’m glad I agreed to the review, because this

I'm going to do something a little unorthodox in this review and lump the last four books of Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series together. I read the first two in a single day, and the last two the next day, and while I intended to give each one it's own review, I've just been too exhausted and anxious lately to get anything down on paper. Luckily my feelings for each of these books were pretty similar, so I don't feel it too misleading to group them as I have. First, the Ratings

Rating: 💌💌💌💌 First Response: Heavy Sound of Music vibes with this one. One Sentence Summary: Eloise Bridgerton has been corresponding with Sir Philip by letter, and the relationship has developed all the way to a proposal of marriage! Tell Me More: Stay with me for a minute, 'cause I'm gonna make a wild comparison. This book reminds me of A Game of Thrones . Wild, I know, but hear me out! To Sir Philip, with Love follows Eloise Bridgerton as she is courted by her paramou

I’m a huge fan of the musical Wicked , and have been since I was in middle school. After the first movie adaptation came out last year, I thought it would be fun to revisit the book that inspired it all, and read the rest of Baum’s Oz books. The 1939 film adaptation was a key touchstone of my childhood, and while I’ve read the original before, it’s been an incredibly long time. (Actually, come to think of it, it might be that I’ve only read the Great Illustrated Classics adap

Rating: ⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️⚔️ First Response: i’m not ok. One Sentence Summary: Harry and ALL his friends, enemies, and everyone else gather to take down an apocalyptic titan. Tell Me More: This book was worse than Changes when it came to emotional trauma. Harry lost so much, and honestly, it kinda broke me. I thought losing Susan was bad; but it had nothing on this book. Susan was off screen for most of the series, and while her loss was particularly devastating for Harry, I didn’t re

Rating : 🕊️🕊️🕊️🕊️ First Response: I need to go read Battle Ground NOW. One Sentence Summary: Thomas Raith is accused of murder mere days before a massive peace conference of supernatural powers is set to take place in’s Chicago. Tell Me More: This one only gets 4 stars, and I feel conflicted about it. One the one hand, I know this book is actually only the first part of the book that was supposed to include the content of both Peace Talks and Battle Ground , and it doesn’

Rating: 💼💼💼💼💼 First Response: This one was better than Side Jobs overall, but no one story stood out the way The Warrior did. One Sentence Summary: This is a collection of short stories set in the universe of the Dresden Files, focusing on side characters. Tell Me More: This collection is a series of parts that together are greater than their sum would imply. (Wow, that's a really convoluted way of saying what I wanted to say, but I guess it works...) The stories in thi

For the record, I hate this cover. Maybe I'll love it by the end of the book, but right now, it doesn't look particularly imaginative. Also, I'm weird about teeth, and this bullet-tooth thing is weirding me out. Rating: 🦠🦠🦠🦠🦠 Initial Response: THANK GOD I FINISHED THIS GOD DAMN BOOK. YES, I AM A CHRISTIAN. YES, I JUST SAID "GOD DAMN." DEAL WITH IT. One Sentence Summary: The world ends, and people rebuild. Tell Me More: Words cannot express how happy I am to be free of th

Rating: 🍵🍵🍵🍵.75 First Response: MICHAEL CAME BACK AND I GOT FULL-BODY CHILLS! One Sentence Summary: Harry gets roped into helping his worst enemy heist Hades' vault for the holy grail. Tell Me More: This book felt like Butcher bringing Dresden back to his pulp roots, but instead of noir, we're in heist novel territory. There were parts of this book that felt like they were ripped straight out of a James Bond or Mission: Impossible film, and there were parts that felt lik

Rating: ❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️ First Response: Ok, THIS one is my favorite of the series. I mean it this time! One Sentence Summary: Harry's back from the dead, and takes up his position as the winter knight; but when Mab tasks him to kill Maeve, her immortal daughter, he learns that there's a lot more to the job than even he imagined. Tell Me More: Yo, this book is WILD. Changes pushed Dresden emotionally. Ghost Story pushed him intellectually. This book pushes him (quite literally) all

Rating: 🏡🏡🏡.5 First Response: I didn't love this one. It wasn't what I was expecting. One Sentence Summary: Ezri returns to the gated McMansion community where they grew up-- and must face the ghosts that they've never left behind. Tell Me More: I went into this book expecting a haunted house story, but it's really more of a literary novel with some horror elements. The emphasis is less on the haunting, and more on the family dynamics. Ezri and their sisters are called bac

I have thoughts, I have feelings, I have opinions on this book. Some good, some bad. Sit with me and let’s discuss. I think I should preface this review by saying that Queer-Christian relations are rather near and dear to my heart. The whole reason I started this blog, back before I was doing book reviews and music and art, was to have a place where I could talk about my experiences, thoughts, and feelings about being Queer and Christian. That was almost three years ago; and

Rating: 👻👻👻👻.75 First Response: This one might be my favorite so far! One Sentence Summary: When we last left Harry Dresden at the end of Changes , he was dead… until he gets sent back to solve his own murder! Tell Me More: This book has put me in a tough position. On the one hand, it might be the best book of the series so far. We get to see Harry dealing with new challenges in a new world— the world beyond . As a ghost, Harry is limited in his ability to affect the mate

Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 First Response: I almost cried at the end of The Warrior . One Sentence Summary: This is a short story collection with an assortment of Harry's adventures at various points between the books of the series. Tell Me More: This book was a fun little break after the emotional trauma of Changes . I got to see Harry in his nascency, as well as some behind-the-scenes action from both Thomas and Murphy's point of view. I'm choosing to give it 5 stars primarily for

Rating: 😭😭😭😭😭 First Response: I... I need a minute. One Sentence Summary: I can't even. I just... I can't. Tell Me More: This book broke my heart and short circuited my brain. It was a wonderful ride, and is probably the best book in the series so far. It almost defies description. But I'm gonna try. Last chance to hop off before <spoilers> . Harry has a daughter. Susan Rodriguez is the mother (you remember Susan, right? The reporter for the Arcane ? Got bit by a vampire

Rating: 🧥🧥🧥🧥🧥 First Response: I need them to figure out this Black Council thing, like, YESTERDAY. One Sentence Summary: Warden Morgan (yes, that Morgan) has been framed for the murder of a member of the High Council, and needs Harry to prove he didn't do it. Tell Me More: This book was fun, but something about it felt like filler. Like I was watching a couple of chess grandmasters play through the opening moves of a game by rote, before the first few captures that send

Rating: ✝️✝️✝️✝️✝️ First Response: THANK GOD MICHAEL'S ALRIGHT! WHY DIDN'T ANYONE WARN ME?!?!?!?! One Sentence Summary: Someone has kidnapped Johnny Marcone and Queen Mab is calling in one of her 3 favors to get Dresden to find him. Tell Me More: The wicked web keeps getting webbier. But first, some background. I was clipping along through The Dresden Files at a pretty good pace, and my library seemed to have all the audiobooks somewhere between Libby and Hoopla together-- a

Rating: 🐉🐉🐉🐉 .75 First Response: I think this is the weakest of the three. Or maybe I'm just too unfamiliar with it's source material. One Sentence Summary: Pocket is almost murdered by a cabal of merchants in Venice, and seeks his revenge on them while the events of The Merchant of Venice and Othello unfold in the background. Tell Me More: I'm conflicted about this book. On the one hand, it was really good, and made me laugh out loud (hence the 5 dragons). On the other

Rating: 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 First Response: After yesterday's fun romp, I wasn't prepared for this book to tug my heartstrings the way it did! One Sentence Summary: Pocket is the fool in the court of King Lear (yes, THAT King Lear); and while the events of Shakespeare's play are unfolding, Pocket is playing out his own hilarious, heartfelt drama in the background. Tell Me More: This is the book where I was SUPPOSED to meet Pocket of Dog-Snogging, until Libby did me wrong. Reading the