"She wanted to scream, to cry, to do whatever it took to get people to finally see her. The real her. Not this paper stand-in defined by a cluster of insurmountable flaws."

GENRE: Cottagecore Romantasy RATING: 3.75/5 FORMAT: eBook Arc

Review: How to Lose a Goblin in Ten Days was a cute book overall, living up to its cozy fantasy vibes in a cottage! I enjoyed the setting, village and cottage. I enjoyed that there is a cat named Mushroom (!!!!) plus the mushroom foraging and if you know me, you know I am a obsessed with Mushroomcore in books, decor and so on.

More specifically, I really enjoyed the theme of exploring being an outsider for Pansy and how she has coped with it all her life. She tries to make people in her village understand her and see her for who she is but she cannot change herself. Because of this, she is always left feeling like she is never enough and strange "I left Havenrow because I constantly felt like I didn't belong. I was the puzzle piece left in the box, the one doomed to never quite truly fit. Because everything I did was wrong. Who I was was wrong. I was told this again and again."

We further explore the idea of how could Pansy leave her perfect life and perfect village. As someone who considers myself an in-betweener, someone who never fully fits in anywhere because where I grew up is not as perfect as everyone makes it seem, this theme truly hit home for me. "The Halflings of Haverow would look upon Pansy's departure with nothing but confusion, wondering what could have possibly pushed her to leave their "perfect" village behind - as if the decades' worth of unvarnished criticism had been a kindness rather than a constant torment!"

And I think we also explore the idea of what is home and how do we and our loved ones, the ones we hold dearest to our heart have such a different perspective of home, one that leads to having two different home "They just want me to come back home - like they always have - completely ignoring that the village hasn't been home for me for a long time. To be honest, maybe it never was."

All in all, when I first heard of the book, I knew I was the ideal audience for it cause WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT HAS: Cozy romantasy, cottage, cottagecore vibes, and all the vibes of Stardew Valley x LOTR (though I have not read LOTR but have watched the movies)

However, I will say that this book fell a little short for me. It's not that it did not meet my expectations but more that I wanted MORE from the world building, more information on a lot of things that happen throughout the book. Don't get me wrong, we are given context about the whole issue between Goblins vs Halflings but a lot of things are never delved into. We don't explore a lot of the things brought up and while cozy fantasy means low stakes, I just needed more depth in the story and not more stakes.

I am excited to read more by the author and if there are any more books from this series, I will also read those as overall.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for the eArc

"This is not a test. Listen closely. This is not a test." But I think she's wrong. This is a test. It has to be."

Review of the revised edition coming out in January 2026

GENRE: YA Horror (Zombies) RATING: 4.75/5 FORMAT: eBook Arc

Overall Impression: What a beautiful book in the way it addresses grief, life and all that we are after a huge change or in this case, when the zombie apocalypse happens.

Review: This is not a test is a beautiful horror book, in which we follow a few characters through their journey as they try to survive a zombie apocalypse. I think This is Not a Test takes us on a journey as to what would we do to survive, what keeps us going and why we continue to push and make it through the horror.

This is a story of what it's like to have something or someone to hold on to despite the horrors, no matter what that looks like. For some, the horrors start after the world changes but for others, it was always that way. Some of the characters lose someone and experience grief in the way you would expect and lose their will. Others are lost long before they ever started this journey.

While there is action and different plots happening, I think This is Not a Test is more of a story written in this sub-genre as a way to explore and understand what we can withstand, howe we express our grief and what keeps us going. It's the perfect book when we want to experience a mixture of the horror element, zombies and what makes us humans.

I truly enjoyed Sloane as a MC, getting to see the way she thinks and how she interacts with the other characters. I enjoyed the addition of the novella in the end, which is now all one book or This is Not a Test (as per my understanding) and all in all? I think my favourite part is the exploration of all the feelings in this book and how we dive so deep into it, leaving a lot open to the reader's interpretation

Thank you to Netgalley, Bindery and the Author for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"I didn't expect him to feel like home, but here we are, and I can't imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else."

GENRE: Romance RATING: 5/5 FORMAT: eBook Arc Tropes: Fake Dating, Secret Celebrity, Spoonie Rep (!!!!), Snowy Setting, Dual POV

Overall Impression: This is a BEAUTIFUL book for the disability and chronic illness rep, shedding light on ableism while showing that people with disability can, in fact, experience romance and love(!!!!) so I'd recommend this book as a romance book that is written by an OwnVoice author

Review: It's All in your Head by Sabina Nordqvist really hits home for me, covering what it's like to be a disabled person in a world where you are asked to constantly fit in, where you're told you're too negative and you face ableism left and right, even with the ones you love. It's where you don't have a community of people who understand what you go through till you find them, whether online or in real life. "When I first realized that most people couldn't handle me talking about my pain, it damn near killed me. There's no dagger to the heart like opening up to a loved one only to discover that your life is a little too inconvenient and sad (read: disabled) for them."

It's a book that talks about what it feels like to discuss the reality of being yourself and being told: Hey, there's no need to be negative. It's a book in which you feel too much for most people around you because you need more help than others, yet wish to be treated with respect and love. It's a book that shows how much life changes when you gain a chronic illness, no matter how young or old. It's a book where the MCs get told they're too old to be xyz or to be using xyz. It's an ode to us all in the disabled and chronic illness community.

I want to say that as readers, we should aim to read different perspectives when it comes to disabilities and chronic illness since no two people will share the same POV, even if their diagnosis are the same. When you read ONE book from a disabled author, you read ONE perspective, which is valid and will show you the world from their POV and people who relate. Will it be everyone's experience? Nope, it wont and this is why you need to read so many of marginalised authors books, see what it's like for each individual.

And the MCs? The relationship between them? The way we hear each of them grapple with being disabled and learning to accept themselves, never fully but in the imperfect way we all do? I quite loved reading both POV from Skylar and Pike, understanding who they are individually and watch them take care of one another when they come together.

I hope you decide to pick up this book and read it, experience the world through Skylar and Pike's POV from an author who has felt and experienced many of the things in the book. I hope you it heals pieces of you that you didn't know needed healing and that it is a beautiful experience for you too

Thank you to the author for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinion