Feb 3  –  Feb 9, 2025 | Little Sparks #90

Greetings!

This weekend has been a joy. I attended my first-ever drag brunch, watched my friend perform, and had a blast. I tried a new sandwich place on my list (it wasn’t that great, to be honest) and baked focaccia bread (which was therapeutic). A surprising highlight of the weekend was Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show. The commentary, choreography, and symbolism were all masterpieces.

Here’s my reading highlight:

Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3) by Rebecca Yarros
3 stars

Where do I begin? I was a little disappointed with the book.

13 chapters in, and I couldn’t help but give Xaden the side-eye. I had hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be a “Tamlin”, but after finishing the book, I’m not sure; it looks very likely.

I appreciated how we could delve into the thoughts of the other cadets and dragons; however, this only occurred towards the end of the book during the final battle, making it feel rushed and somewhat insignificant.

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Hello, beautiful people!

I hope you have all had an amazing 2023. Here’s wishing you an even better 2024 full of great reads.

For this last book review of 2023, I will be sharing my reading highlight for the year:

I read 151 books this year (surpassing my goal of 123 books), which, according to myyearinbooks.com, is roughly 26,153 pages and 44,460 minutes. Wow!

Of all these books, 108 belong to the category of romance, 56 are fantasy, and 47 are contemporary fiction.  

My top five books this year, all of which were part of the 32 books I rated five stars, were:

My top author this year was Sarah J. Maas. I am not surprised. I read 11 of her books this year (7 from the Throne of Glass series I started this year, 1 book from the Crescent City series and 3 re-reads from the A Court of Thorns and Roses series). I also read a lot of new authors (or at least new to me) – four of my top five reads were first-time author reads for me.

I won’t be setting a high reading goal for next year, just ensuring I read at least one book a week and that I read books I enjoy. I hope to read more genres and authors next year!

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Hi there!

How was your week? Mine was very busy with holiday festivities at work.

I can’t believe there are just four more weeks to the end of the year!

Here’s my reading highlight:

Iron Flame (The Empyrean #2) by Rebecca Yarros
4 stars

I was very happy when the audiobook became available, to say the least! Thank goodness, I wasn’t disappointed.

While I didn’t think this book was as ‘addictive’ as the first one, it was still engaging. However, there were several moments when I felt that the book was too similar to the ACTOR series (Xaden as a weak replica of Rhysand) and even the Throne of Glass series (regarding the focus on wyverns) by Sarah J. Maas.

Sep 10 – 16, 2023 | Little Sparks #19

Hello,

I hope all is well! My note for this week’s entry is to be grateful. Gratitude can go a long way as we embrace all that happens in life.

Here’s my reading highlight:

Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros
5 stars

Amazing! It was so amazing; I finished the whole book in one sitting. It was so much fun! Tracy Wolff, a romance author, had called this book the most brutally addictive fantasy she’s read in a decade, and I understand why clearly. After completing the book, I actually listened to the second half all over again.

This might be my favourite book of 2023. I highly recommend it. It has politics, combat, strategy, history, romance and dragons! The dragons were fun, intriguing and loving characters throughout the book.

Sadly, I have to wait till November for the second part of the series. Fortunately, it’s not going to be too long of a wait but I’m hoping the series is a duology or, at most, a trilogy so I don’t have to wait too long to complete the series.