
Maluu started reading...
1w

Love Galaxy
Sierra Branham
A romantic science fiction thriller in which a young woman from a dead-end planet gets cast on a reality TV show to compete for the hand of the princeâor princess. But not everyone is there for the right reasonsâŚSmart, sexy, compulsively readable and fun, this is for fans of Everina Maxwell's Winter's Orbit and Arkady Martine's A Memory Called EmpireTemmi, a young trash collector stuck in a dead-end job on a garbage planet, finds herself with a golden ticket she never expected: an opportunity to compete in an intergalactic dating show starring the brother and sister heirs to the galactic empire. Twenty-four women will compete on a televised program to marry the prince and princessâand future emperorsâand to win the dynastyâs favor for their home planet.Temmi may have been hand-picked to date the quiet, bookish prince, who is immediately taken by her brash personality and their shared passion for the sciences. But she canât seem to keep away from the princessâand even though it couldnât be a worse idea, their chemistry is undeniable.But when contestants start turning up dead, and conspiracies begin to swirl around anti-imperial motivations of several contestants, Temmi among them, so much more than feelings are at stake.In fact, very few of the participants of Love Galaxy have come on the show to find love. Sexy, snarky, and revolutionary, this fast-paced thrill ride will hook lovers of reality TV, fans of thoughtful sci-fi, and anyone who lives for drama.

Maluu finished a book
1w

As Many Souls as Stars
Natasha Siegel
For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, an inventive and romantic speculative novel about two womenâa witch and an immortal demonâwho make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes. 1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic. Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be aloneâkilling mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul. Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isnât inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds thatâfor the first time in her many livesâshe might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can winâbut perhaps they canât survive without each other. Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.

This is How You Lose the Time War
Amal El-Mohtar

This book manages to have all the positives of the first in the series and add to it. I only wish one day the author will wake up and decide to write a third one.

Maluu finished a book
7w

A Desolation Called Peace
Arkady Martine
An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrassâstill reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empireâface the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Whether they succeed or fail could change the fate of Teixcalaan forever.

Maluu TBR'd a book
7w

Someone You Can Build a Nest In
John Wiswell
Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romanceâfrom the perspective of the monsterâby Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love. Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth. However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, sheâs found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshenâs eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans donât think about love that way. Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as sheâs about to confess, Homily reveals why sheâs in the area: sheâs hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere? Eating her girlfriend isnât an option. Shesheshen didnât curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homilyâs twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk. And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

Maluu started reading...
7w

As Many Souls as Stars
Natasha Siegel
For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, an inventive and romantic speculative novel about two womenâa witch and an immortal demonâwho make a Faustian bargain and are drawn into a cat-and-mouse chase across multiple lifetimes. 1592. Cybil Harding is a First Daughter. Cursed to bring disaster to those around her, she is trapped in a house with a mother paralyzed by grief and a father willing to sacrifice everything in pursuit of magic. Miriam Richter is a creature of shadow. Forged by the dark arts many years ago, she is doomed to exist for eternity and destined to be aloneâkilling mortals and consuming their souls for sustenance. Everything changes when she meets Cybil, whose soul shines with a light so bright, she must claim it for herself. She offers a bargain: she will grant Cybil reincarnation in exchange for her soul. Thus begins a dance across centuries as Miriam seeks Cybil in every lifetime to claim her prize. Cybil isnât inclined to play by the rules, but when it becomes clear that Miriam holds the key to breaking her family curse, Cybil finds thatâfor the first time in her many livesâshe might have the upper hand. As they circle each other, drawn together inescapably as light and dark, the bond forged between them grows stronger. In their battle for dominance, only one of them can winâbut perhaps they canât survive without each other. Natasha Siegel has written an unexpected love story that feels both epic and deeply personal. Ambitious, gothic, and magical, As Many Souls as Stars is about the lengths we go to protect ourselves, our legacy, and those we love.

Maluu started reading...
7w

A Desolation Called Peace
Arkady Martine
An alien armada lurks on the edges of Teixcalaanli space. No one can communicate with it, no one can destroy it, and Fleet Captain Nine Hibiscus is running out of options. In a desperate attempt at diplomacy with the mysterious invaders, the fleet captain has sent for a diplomatic envoy. Now Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrassâstill reeling from the recent upheaval in the Empireâface the impossible task of trying to communicate with a hostile entity. Whether they succeed or fail could change the fate of Teixcalaan forever.

Such a good scifi with political intrigue. Beautifully written. The characters and storyline are engaging enough to make me want to pick up the next book immediately.

Maluu finished a book
10w

A Memory Called Empire
Arkady Martine
Ambassador Mahit Dzmare arrives in the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire only to discover that her predecessor, the previous ambassador from their small but fiercely independent mining Station, has died. But no one will admit that his death wasn't an accidentâor that Mahit might be next to die, during a time of political instability in the highest echelons of the imperial court. Now, Mahit must discover who is behind the murder, rescue herself, and save her Station from Teixcalaan's unceasing expansionâall while navigating an alien culture that is all too seductive, engaging in intrigues of her own, and hiding a deadly technological secretâone that might spell the end of her Station and her way of lifeâor rescue it from annihilation.

Maluu started reading...
10w

From Hell, With Love: A Cozy Sapphic Fantasy
Bryce Oakley
Ramona Greenbriar did not mean to summon a demon. She didn't even think the spell would work. Divorced, expelled from her coven, selling fake crystals after losing her university position... She's been at rock bottom for years, and her magic? Well, her magic hasn't worked right in, well, ever. And now Zara â an actual demon from Hell â is bound to her. Until they can undo the summoning, they canât be more than sixty-six feet apart. Suddenly Ramona is dealing with shared bedrooms, forced proximity, and explaining to her roommates why thereâs a devastating demon â uh, not a demon, just a totally regular person â in an expensive suit following her everywhere. Falling for a demon wasnât the plan.But neither was being looked at like sheâs the most fascinating thing in any realm. From Hell, With Love is a funny, cozy, spicy sapphic romantasy forced proximity that gets intimatefake dating a demona magical tether that broadcasts your feelings (including the inconvenient ones)a possessive demon who looks at you like youâre prey (affectionate)and the dangerous realization that being claimed might be hotter than any spell youâve ever cast

I wanted to like this book more than I did. But I can see the quality and how other people will enjoy it. It just wasn't for me and that's okay.

Maluu finished a book
10w

Holy Wrath
Victoria Mier
In a city clinging to light during an age of darkness, all healer Ophelia wants is for a Saint to finally claim her. Since being brought to Lumendei as an orphan nearly thirty years ago, sheâs worked tirelessly to prove herself worthy of the Mysteriesâthe sacred, magical power that only the Saints can bestow upon mortals of their choosing. When sheâs tasked with caring for an injured prisoner, Ophelia sees the perfect way to prove sheâs ready for her Sainting. The prisoner is none other than the Umbra Knightâthe most dangerous warrior of Lumendeiâs sworn enemy, the Sepulchyre. If she can save the Umbra Knightâs soul by converting her to the Church of the Host, the Saints will surely fight amongst themselves to claim Ophelia. But the disarmingly beautiful and undeniably deadly knightâs soul is in even worse shape than Ophelia feared. In fact, she insists Opheliaâs beloved God is a murderous liar and her adopted city is built on blackened bones. Itâs easy to dismiss as blasphemy, at least at first. Until Lumendeiâs gilded secrets begin to tumble from their hiding places and Ophelia herself uncovers a conspiracy ... then sheâs forced to consider the idea that Nyatrixâotherwise known as the Umbra Knightâmight be telling the truth, and that saving the alluring knightâs soul is the least of her concerns. A sapphic high fantasy for fans of The Fall That Saved Us and The Foxglove King, Holy Wrath is a standalone novel about the fierceness of queer love and two women who no longer want equality once theyâve tasted revenge.