
Emptysparkle started reading...
5d

Ladies in Hating
Alexandra Vasti
A pair of Gothic novelists trade rivalry for love in this swoony, steamy, sapphic Regency by USA Today bestselling author Alexandra Vasti.Celebrated authoress Lady Georgiana Cleeve has achieved fame and fortune. Unfortunately, sheâs also acquired an the enigmatic Lady Darling, whose spine-tingling plots appear to be pulled straight from Georgianaâs own manuscripts. Whatâs a stubborn, steely writer to do? Unmask her rival, of course.But unmasking doesnât go according to planâbecause Lady Darling is actually Cat Lacey, the butlerâs daughter and object of Georgianaâs very secret, very embarrassing teenage infatuation.Cat Lacey has spent a decade clawing her family out of poverty. The last thing she needs is to be distracted by the stunning(ly pretentious) Lady Georgiana Cleeve. But Cat canât seem to escape her infuriatingly beautiful rivalâincluding at the eerie manor where they both plan to set their next books. The plot unexpectedly thickens, however, when the novelists find themselves trapped in the manor together. In between ghostly moans and spectral staff, Cat and Georgiana come face-to-face with real the scorching passion thatâs been haunting their rivalry all along.

Emptysparkle started reading...
5d

The Corruption of Hollis Brown
K. Ancrum
From acclaimed author K. Ancrum comes a queer romantic thriller in which the lives of Hollis, a boy in search of meaning, and Walt, a spirit with unfinished business, collide when Walt takes possession of Hollis's body...and maybe his heart. For fans of Adam Silvera and Aiden Thomas! Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a Blue-Collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis's only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates. As if his circumstances couldnât get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinished business to take care of. As Walt and Hollis begin working together to put Waltâs spirit to rest, an unspeakable bond forms between them, and the boys begin falling for one another in unexpected ways. But, itâs only a matter of time before Hollisâs best friends begin to notice that something about Hollis isnât quiteâŠright. With the threat of a long overdue exorcism looming before them, will Walt and Hollis be able to protect their love and undo the curse that turned their town from a garden of possibility into a place where dreams go to die? Praise for "The sparse prose in this unconventional, must-read of a trauma-infused borderline thriller is packed with emotional breadth." âKirkus Reviews (starred review) "In this intimate poetic reimagining of the Icarus myth, Ancrum crafts a subversive triumph that is a love letter both to healing from trauma and to the importance of connection and empathy." âPublishers Weekly (starred review) "Beautifully written...Psychologically acute, subtle, and sophisticated." âALA Booklist (starred review) "In her extraordinary fifth novel, Icarus, K. Ancrum performs a confident high-wire act, balancing the weighty manifestations of connection, desire, and contradiction." âBookPage (starred review) "Both romance and thriller fans will likely be gripped by this memorable love story, tinged with mythology, built around a mystery made up of bitter secrets between the two families." âThe Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review) Â

Emptysparkle commented...
6d
Iâve been so tired lately after starting work I havenât been able to post as much here. I havenât even done reviews of books I love.
It's Wednesday again, somehow, I know it's weird, time is wut? and with that in mind, I have my three wut wut wut questions for today!
I can't wait to see your answers! đ

Emptysparkle started reading...
1w

When We Were Monsters
Jennifer Niven
A simmering psychological thriller about a dead teacher at an elite boarding school, the students who had every reason to want her gone, and the tangled web of rivalry and romance concealing the truthâfrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places.At an elite boarding school, 8 students are selected for an exclusive program, but only one will walk away with a lifechanging opportunity to realize their creative dreams. Effy is piecing together a story about the tragic betrayal that led to her mother's death. Arlo hopes to publish a novelâbut he's also trying to start a new chapter with Effy after he broke her heart and ghosted 3 years earlier. Everyone has a compelling reason to be thereâthey all want a big breakâbut only the most ambitious will prevail as the students are eliminated one by one.Their mentor is the one and only Meredith Graffam, an enigmatic writer, director and actress, whose unorthodox teaching methods push them past the breaking point. Under Graffam's tutelage, the students reveal their darkest secrets, take unthinkable risks, and slowly start to turn on one another. But Graffam never expected they would turn on her . . ."A standout dark academia thriller.â â E. Lockhart, #1 New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars and Genuine Fraud


Emptysparkle finished a book
1w

Bury Your Gays
Chuck Tingle
From Chuck Tingle, author of the USA Today bestselling Camp Damascus, comes a new heart-pounding story about what it takes to succeed in a world that wants you dead. Misha is a jaded scriptwriter who has been working in Hollywood for years, and has just been nominated for his first Oscar. But when he's pressured by his producers to kill off a gay character in the upcoming season finaleâ"for the algorithm"âMisha discovers that it's not that simple. As he is haunted by his past, and past mistakes, Misha must risk everything to find a way to do what's rightâbefore it's too late.

Emptysparkle TBR'd a book
1w

Fabulous Bodies
Chuck Tingle
Fashion influencer by day and grave-robber by night, Poppy Stringer is on call when Eddie Michaelsâa flamboyant, piano-slamming rockstar and queer iconâunexpectedly dies. All Poppy has to do is retrieve Eddieâs body from the medical examinerâs office, but what starts as a routine delivery quickly goes off course when Eddie wakes up. Poppy must fight for her life in a blood-soaked night of carnage and fabulous entertainment all across Palm Springs.

So freaking good. I really needed this kind of story. I think itâs important to have stories like these accessible. I cried a lot but itâs a good cry. A cry of being seen and understood and knowing Iâm not alone.