Giveaway-Win an ARC of Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko!

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A paperback ARC of Redemptor is being held in front of a gray blanket. Bea, a dilute calico cat, sniffs the corner of the cover.

Alexis:

Hi, everyone! I’m grateful that I received an ARC of Redemptor, the sequel to Raybearer. And I was given an extra copy to pass on to someone else!

Raybearer was one of my favorite reads of 2020, and I’m looking forward to reading Redemptor. Its publication date will be August 17th.

🎉TO ENTER :

-Head over to our Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/takestwotobookreview/

-Follow our account
-Like and save the giveaway post
-Tag a friend or two in the comments and tell me one of your favorite reads from this year so far!

🎉RULES:
-US only (This giveaway isn’t affiliated with the publisher, so it’s me covering shipping costs)
-Must be 18 or older
-Must be a public account
-Giveaway ends August 9th at 6 pm EST

Good luck, and happy Saturday!

Review: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

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A paperback copy of Girls of Paper and Fire is being held in front of a pool.

Alexis:

Whew, this book was darker than I expected; it centers around sexual abuse.

As a member of the lowest cast, the Papers, Lei is human. But because of her golden eyes, Lei is stolen from her home to become a Paper Girl—a concubine for the Demon King. 

I liked the sapphic romance that developed, though it felt a little insta-love to me. The worldbuilding was interesting, but this book was definitely tough to get through at times because of the dark themes. That being said, the best thing about this book is how well Ngan handled the dark themes. She depicted the upper caste, called the Moon caste, well by making them grotesque and sometimes beautiful through Lei’s eyes. Reading about the demons/Moon caste was also uncomfortable at times, especially since they’re described as humanoid animals. But through the grotesque demons, the castes, and the horrors of the Paper Girls, Ngan hammered themes of survival, rebellion, and sexual abuse/violence.

While I liked the plot, some plot points would’ve worked better if revealed earlier. Because the main plot was introduced late in the story, the beginning felt a little slow and meandering in comparison.

If you can handle dark themes, and are looking for a sapphic YA fantasy with strong female characters, then I think this one will work for you.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐/5

TW: Sexual abuse/violence/rape, sex trafficking, a forced medical exam, physical abuse, animal death, war themes

Review: Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

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A Kindle copy of Sorcery of Thorns is being pulled out of a black bookshelf, with a candle resting behind it.

Alexis:

Sorcery of Thorns is one of those books that I had no interest in reading. Why? For some reason, I got it into my head that I wouldn’t like Rogerson’s writing style. But when I saw that the e-book was available through my library, I thought, Why not?

The beginning was a little slow, and it took me a while to get into it. But this story really is a love letter to books, and I love the way Rogerson describes the beautiful libraries. I love how the books are alive, sometimes lovely and sometimes gruesome. I love how Elisabeth, the main character, can talk to the books. 

The characters in this story really shine. Nathaniel is a sorcerer who Elisabeth stumbles upon (actually, she nearly kills him when she accidentally topples an entire bookshelf). His dialogue is hilarious, and his character is so well-rounded and fun to read. His demon/servant, Silas, is an equally great character, as stoic as Nathaniel is snarky; it also helps that he can turn into a cat.

Despite the wonderful characterization, sometimes I wanted to know more of Elisabeth’s internal thoughts, but if you’re looking to read about a tall, bookish, sword-wielding character learning to navigate the world around her, she’s your girl.

This was so close to being a 5 star read. However, the story did go on a little long. I also wasn’t the biggest fan of how Rogerson executed the ending, which felt like a deus ex machina, on top of being rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. However, I loved the characters and I enjoyed reading this so much!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore

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Alexis holds a hardcover copy of Wild Beauty in one hand while standing in front of a fence and a forest.

Alexis:

Happy Friday, everyone! This week felt like it flew by.

I’ve just been consuming books lately, so I’m a little backed up on book reviews. But it’s time to talk about Wild Beauty.

I’ve been meaning to read McLemore’s books for a while now; she’s known for her magical realism books and her lyrical writing. And one of the best aspects of this book is her lush, lyrical writing. I love the way she describes the flowers and the gardens of La Pradera. I love magical realism, and reading this book often felt like reading a dream.

The plot: The Nomeolvides women are not like other women. They can create flowers with only their hands—but they’re also cursed. They can’t leave their magical garden estate of La Pradera without getting sick. And on top of that, if they fall in love too deeply, their loves disappear into thin air. But then a boy named Fel appears at La Pradera one day. And Estrella, one of the Nomeolvides girls, tries to help him figure out who he is and where he came from. 

I liked the bixeual representation, and the collection of girls was fun to read about, even if they tended to blend together. I do wish I got to know Estrella’s character even more; Fel was definitely the standout character to me, and the only one who felt like he had a real backstory and motivation. 

As much as I enjoyed McLemore’s writing and imagery, this book was very, very slow moving. And I don’t mind slow-moving, character-driven books. However, oftentimes, this book didn’t read like a book. I’m not sure what it felt like most of the time; maybe a long-form narrative poem? 

Besides the chapters from Fel’s POV, this book has no plot until the last quarter or so. And what surprised me was that the plot was amazing. It was so interesting, and made so much sense in the context of the book, that I found myself a little annoyed. Why didn’t McLemore weave this plot in earlier instead of describing flowers or the girls dancing and conversing for the hundredth time? The ending was powerful, and the way the plot unraveled was wonderful. I just wish it was present in more of the book. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: Life’s Too Short by Abby Jimenez

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A library copy of Life's Too Short rests on a table in a coffee shop next to a gray notebook with a pen laying on top. Alexis' hand holds a cup of black iced tea next to the book.

Alexis:

Last year, my most surprising read was The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez. While I like a good romance every once in a while, I don’t usually read rom-coms. So when I heard that Life’s Too Short was coming out, I knew I had to read it. 

What’s cool is that these two books are part of a series, so there are recurring characters that make appearances. 

In Life’s Too Short, we follow Adrian, a lonely lawyer, and Vanessa, a travel YouTuber who unexpectedly becomes the caretaker of her half sister’s baby. I really enjoyed the dual POVs, and as with The Happy Ever After Playlist, Jimenez’s writing sparks on the page, especially her funny and snappy dialogue. 

I also appreciate that Jimenez tackles big themes and problems. Rom-coms often only focus on romance and comedy, but Adrian struggles with his estranged dad and a phobia, and Vanessa struggles with a dysfunctional family and ALS, which runs in her family and killed her sister. They feel like real people with real problems.

As much as I enjoyed this one, as well as the slow-burn romance, it’s very structurally similar to The Happy Ever After Playlist. However, unlike the previous book, I found myself guessing the ending of Life’s Too Short, and I also found it cheesy. On top of that, the book seemed to focus a lot on Vanessa and her relationship with her dad and her family, which is great and all, except that I found myself not really caring about her family members as characters. Instead, I kept finding myself wanting Jimenez to focus more on Adrian and Vanessa. It also felt like Grace, the baby, only made an appearance in the beginning of the book.

And finally, I guess because Vanessa is a YouTuber, some of the language in this book feels very internet-culturey. It tended to take me out of the story, especially because Jimenez kept repeating “Aaaand” and drawing out words unnecessarily. 

Overall, this was still a fun read. But The Happy Ever After Playlist is my favorite so far!

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐

Pub day spotlight: The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donohue

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Anna: Happy publication day to The Temple House Vanishing by Rachel Donahue! Thank you @algonquinbooks for sending me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Set in a boarding school in an old Victorian house in Ireland, scholarship student Louisa quickly becomes enamored by classmate Victoria and their charismatic art teacher, Mr. Lavelle. Louisa struggles to fit in with her rich classmates, but as she becomes closer to Victoria and Mr. Lavelle, something even darker is underfoot. 

25 years later, an unnamed journalist investigates Louisa’s disappearance. It’s widely accepted that Louisa willingly ran away with Mr. Lavelle, but as the journalist becomes more entangled with the case, it’s clear something much worse happened.


The Temple House Vanishing evokes major My Dark Vanessa and The Likeness vibes. This is a quick, smart, and atmospheric read that explores love, friendship, obsession, race, class, and the ways in which men in positions of power take advantage of young women. I did find the perspective from the journalist a little lacking and would have liked more character development there. We learn little about her own life, besides that she grew up on Louisa’s street and Louisa once babysat her. The only thing we know is that she is a workaholic. I thought something might happen with her intern, who gets a lot of dialogue, but that turns out to be a dead-end in the plot. Then there is also an artistic choice in the epilogue involving a ghost that I found a little strange and a bit cheesy.

But overall, I can’t say no to a spooky boarding school mystery, and this is another one of those.

Review: From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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A Kindle copy of From Blood and Ash rests on a cream-colored blanket next to a white mug with a matcha latte.

Alexis:

Okay, so this book is hot garbage. But it’s enjoyable hot garbage. 

Think a refashioned Twilight; throw in some werewolves and two types of vampire type things. Although, this book honestly has way more plot and worldbuilding than Twilight ever did. 

The first half was a little slow as it set up the world, Poppy’s character, and Poppy’s role in the world. The writing is honestly not great, though it did improve as the story went on (and as I managed to turn off my critical reading brain). But there were just some strange sentence structures and a lot of “telling” over “showing” in the first half, especially.

Plus, there were typos. I don’t know if it was just in the e-book version, but on page 305, for example we have: “Of course, you do.” Why is there a comma after of course?? Later on, we have: “He was an Atlantian, His people…” There were others, too, but I tried not to keep track of them all. After all, that’s not the author’s fault.

There were a lot of plot twists that were obvious from nearly the very beginning of this story, and Armentrout throws in very heavy-handed foreshadowing that doesn’t help. The romance is very Twilight-y in that there’s a power imbalance, and Hawke’s character is morally grey (and at times creepy, hello Edward).

Okay, then why did I say this was an enjoyable read? Because the dialogue is dynamic and snappy. There’s a lot of well-written tension. And once you get past the not-so-subtle foreshadowing, I found the world and the world’s history interesting. Plus, reading about flawed, morally grey characters always intrigues me, and it kept the pages turning. Despite Poppy having some pretty dumb moments, I enjoyed her POV and found her an interesting character, and I was glad that her character knew how to fight. 

My enjoyment while reading this book? Nearly 5 stars! But the writing comes in at about a 2. I’m not sure I want to rate this one overall, but I guess that would fall in at about a 3.5. You can bet I still want to read the series, though! Too bad I have to wait about 7 weeks to read the next book from my library.

Anyway, if you can turn off your critical reader brain and you’re looking for a Twilight meets A Court of Thorns and Roses kind of read, then you might like this.

Review: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

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Alexis stands in front of a gate in front of a forest, holding up a paperback copy of The Wolf and the Woosdman

Alexis:

What an amazing debut! When I first heard about this book, I knew I needed to get my hands on it.

It’s based on Hungarian history and Jewish mythology. The story follows Evekie, a so-called wolf-girl who lives in a pagan village in the middle of a forest. Every couple of years, the Holy Order of the Woodsmen come to collect a wolf-girl to bring back to their king, and this year, they come for Evekie. But Evekie soon realizes that the captain is actually the prince Gaspar, who’s trying to keep his bastard, blood-lusting brother from taking the throne and causing genocide. And Gaspar soon realizes that Evekie is not what she seems: she’s the only wolf-girl who’s barren of magic. 

This book has pretty much everything I look for in a story. I’m a sucker for creepy forests, and not only do the woods in this story have dark magic and creepy monsters, but walking trees! The story is rich with stories and a tangle of three different religions. The plot and the religions echo history, and the Yehuli people are a stand-in for the Jewish people, which makes the story all the richer and more meaningful. 

I loved that Evekie is 25; I’m always on the hunt for more new adult stories. I loved the Prince Zuko vibes of Gaspar, and the way their relationship often reminded me of Jon Snow and Ygritte from Game of Thrones. 

I haven’t even talked about Reid’s writing yet! Her prose is absolutely gorgeous and lyrical. Even when she’s writing about dismemberment and blood (which happens quite often, as the plot of this book is brutal) her writing is still beautiful. The way she carves images and the landscape on the page is *chef’s kiss*. 

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

TW: Self mutilation, abuse/child abuse, animal harm/death, murder, war, coded-antisemitism, genocide and ethnic cleansing, amputation

Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

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A library copy of Addie LaRue is being pulled out of a bookshelf, alongside a candle.

Alexis:

Look what I finally got from the library!

I was a little afraid to start Addie LaRue to be honest; it’s been hyped up so much that I was afraid to be disappointed.

However, I really enjoyed reading this book. Schwab’s writing is more poetic and lyrical than in other books I’ve read by her, and it sucked me into the story.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows, you guessed it, Addie LaRue. In France in 1714, Addie dreams of escaping her small village, but most of all, she’s desperate to avoid getting married. So she makes a deal with the devil. But the deal goes wrong, and not only is Addie now forgettable, she’s also immortal until she decides to give up her soul. 

While I’m not usually a huge fan of non-linear stories, including Vicious by Schwab herself, I think it actually worked well in this book. We jump back and forth between present time (2014 in this case) and Addie’s past escapades. Overall, this book is a slow-moving character study of Addie, and I enjoyed learning about her unique life. I appreciated the emphasis on art, and loved the overall atmosphere of the story.

There were a couple of things that kept this from being a 5 star read for me, however. While I like slow-moving, character-driven stories, I just couldn’t get over the fact that this book is devoid of basically any plot for the first ž. And this book is a whopping 442 pages long. Instead, we spend most of the time following Addie as she suffers on the streets of different cities, and focusing on all the different lovers she takes up. 

There’s one sparse chapter about her being part of a war, which I feel like could’ve been a much more interesting part of Addie’s life, not to mention a much more interesting plot, yet we never see how it impacted her. Despite this being a highly character-driven story, I feel like Addie’s character never actually changes or evolves. And I guess that could be the point, couldn’t it? But not changing in 300 years?

It was also a little strange that Addie is alive for 300 years yet never makes it past Europe and the US. That, and the romance part of this book was subpar for me; the romantic interest was just not an interesting character to me. It didn’t help that the grandiose ending felt a little melodramatic.

Keep in mind that I can’t turn off the critical reader part of my brain. I guess getting your MFA and editing novels will do that to you! So even though there were parts of this book that I think could’ve been done differently, I still enjoyed the overall writing and the reading experience, and I think it’s worth a read.

VERDICT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Review: Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

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Anna: If you’re looking for an emotional coming-of-age story I highly recommend Betty. Set in Appalachian Ohio, Betty and her five siblings live with their mother and Cherokee father in a dilapidated house surrounded by racism, poverty, and family secrets. This is also fiercely feminist novel, which I love. 

Betty is about sisterly love, nature, and cycles of trauma and abuse in families. When she is eleven, Betty discovers a deadly family secret that shapes the course of her life. Despite the difficult themes, this book is beautifully and lyrically written. Betty’s dad, Landon, and his storytelling the love of nature he encourages in his children are a driving force of the novel. Her mom, on the other hand, is violent and unpredictable, a product of years of being the victim of violence herself.

This is also an own-voices story, as Tiffany McDaniel is the descendants of Cherokee ancestors, and the characters in Betty are fictional accounts of real family members

Major trigger warning for sexual violence 

VERDICT: 4.5 stars