What's Up On Wednesdays! | Ducklings?...

How's it a-going, duckings? Ducklings? It's the second time I've called y'all that and I'm kinda liking the nickname. It's really a cute term of endearment...Tell me what you think and if you like it in the comments! Anyhoo, that's a complete and total tangent from the main topic! "What's the main topic?" you ask. It's What's Up On Wednesdays! What's Up On Wednesdays is my Frankenstein-esque mishmash of WWW Wednesdays (a weekly meme hosted by Taking On A World Of Words) and Waiting On Wednesday (a weekly meme hosted by Breaking The Spine)! So let's get to the fun!

Whatcha Readin' Now?

Well. Let me tell you, mon petit ducklings. It is a rare week we have here, indeed. Why? Because I am listening to not one, not two, but three books! Yes. You read correctly. Three. I have checked three highly desired books out from the library. First off, I checked out And I Darken by Kiersten White and let me just say it is quite bloody! It is the story of Vlad The Impaler, but genderswapped (so Vlad has become Lada, a girl). It also tells of Lada's younger brother, Radu and Mehmet, an Ottoman prince. Their lives all combine into a big, bloody swamp of a story and I, a poor, gentle soul, am honestly not sure how long I can take it. We shall see.

So as a bit of balance to the darkness of And I Darken, I borrowed The Great Hunt by Wendy Higgins, which is a pretty light and fluffy fantasy (I mean, honestly, almost anything is light and fluffy compared to And I Darken but I digress). It's about this fantasy land which is being terrorized by a mysterious beast, so the king makes a competition for which hunter can kill the beast and the prize is his daughter's hand in marriage. So it's kinda like a bloodier version of The Bachelorette. Kinda. Anyhoo, it's pretty good and satisfies my desire for fluff.

Lastly, I picked up Blood Passage by Heather Demetrios and I'm so excited for this one. The main problem is I kinda forgot what happened in the first book beyond the main premise. The main premise being that there's this girl who's a genie and she's basically enslaved to this famous dude. Then there's this other guy who, if I'm remembering correctly, wants to free her I think? Honestly, idk. But we'll see how it goes. I am excited and hopeful!

Whatcha Been Readin'?

This. Gosh. Darn. Book. I just--aaaaaaaargh!!! I've been reading it for three straight weeks--three weeks, you hear me, three weeks!!!--and I still (still!!!) have yet to finish it! I'm about darn ready to tear my long, luscious locks out in frustration here! It's not a bad book, I swear it's amazeballs, but I just can't seem to finish the darn thing for the life of me! And now I have to return it to the library!!! Unfinished! Grrrrrrrrr!!!! Oh. What's that you say? You want to actually know the name of the source of my frustration? It's My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, and Jodi Meadow. Great book and an even better audiobook! You should really check it out! Two thumbs up from me!

Whatcha Gonna Read Next?

I also checked out three other books from the library, so I'm definitely reading them next! First I picked up The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons and I'm so excited to get to dive back into the story! The book is a romance about Tatiana and Alexander, who live in Russia during World War II and the book will totally reduce you into a puddle of feels! Next. I grabbed Vicious by V.E. Schwab and I'm also pumped to get to this one! It's the story of two antiheroes and archenemies who used to be best friends! I've heard the best things about it so I can't wait! Finally, I nabbed The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan. I'm cautious about this one because I haven't read any Rick Riordan books, so I'm not sure how I'll like it. I know that this book takes place after the whole Camp Half Blood and HEroes of Olympus shebang and I know that it follows Apollo, who's sent to Earth and a human 16 year old boy, but that's about it. So we'll see how it goes. I have high hopes!

Books On My Radar

AHEM!
HEAR YE, HEAR YE!
I DO DECLARE THAT,
BY ORDER OF QUEEN LILA,
IT IS HIGHLY SUGGESTED
THAT YOU GO OUT AND BUY
A BOOK TITLED Kingdom of Ash and Briars
WHICH HAS BEEN WRITTEN BY AN AUTHOR BY THE NAME OF HANNAH WEST.
THIS HAS BEEN A ROYAL PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FROM HER MAJESTY QUEEN LILA.
LONG LIVE QUEEN LILA!
Aaaaaah! This. Book. Sounds. So. Freaking. Awesome. From what I can glean, it's a sort of retelling of Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella mixed with a whole new kind of fairytale! Plus--isn't the cover just absolutely gorgeous and to die for?! This book sounds so cool and I can't wait to get my greedy little bookgoblin paws on it and devour it to shreds (MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! ahem.)! But I'm not doing a particularly great job of summarizing. So I'll give you the Goodreads summary instead! Here you are, my lovely little ducklings!

Bristal, an orphaned kitchen maid, lands in a gritty fairy tale gone wrong when she discovers she is an elicromancer with a knack for shape-shifting. An ancient breed of immortal magic beings, elicromancers have been winnowed down to merely two - now three - after centuries of bloody conflict in the realm. Their gifts are fraught with responsibility, and sixteen-year-old Bristal is torn between two paths. Should she vow to seek the good of the world, to protect and serve mortals? Or should she follow the strength of her power, even if it leads to unknown terrors? She draws on her ability to disguise herself as a man to infiltrate a prince's band of soldiers, and masquerades as a fairy godmother to shield a cursed princess, but time is running out. As an army of dark creatures grows closer, Bristal faces a supernatural war. To save the kingdoms, Bristal must find the courage to show her true form.

Building on homages to Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen’s Emma and the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, Hannah West makes a spectacular debut.