gracereadsaudio

Finding & sharing the best stories to my ears! ALC & ARC review creator 🎧 Fantasy, Romance, Mystery, Thriller 📍Belgium 📩 gracereads@proton.me

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My Taste

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy, #1)

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The Night Masquerade (Binti, #3)

Nnedi Okorafor

The concluding part of the highly-acclaimed science fiction trilogy that began with Nnedi Okorafor's Hugo- and Nebula Award-winning Binti. Binti has returned to her home planet, believing that the violence of the Meduse has been left behind. Unfortunately, although her people are peaceful on the whole, the same cannot be said for the Khoush, who fan the flames of their ancient rivalry with the Meduse. Far from her village when the conflicts start, Binti hurries home, but anger and resentment has already claimed the lives of many close to her. Once again it is up to Binti, and her intriguing new friend Mwinyi, to intervene—though the elders of her people do not entirely trust her motives—and try to prevent a war that could wipe out her people, once and for all. Don't miss this essential concluding volume in the Binti trilogy.

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Home (Binti, #2)

Nnedi Okorafor

It’s been a year since Binti and Okwu enrolled at Oomza University. A year since Binti was declared a hero for uniting two warring planets. A year since she abandoned her family in the dawn of a new day. And now she must return home to her people, with her friend Okwu by her side, to face her family and face her elders. But Okwu will be the first of his race to set foot on Earth in over a hundred years, and the first ever to come in peace. After generations of conflict can human and Meduse ever learn to truly live in harmony?

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This Ends in Embers (Divine Traitors, #2)

Kamilah Cole

Perfect for fans of Raybearer and Fourth Wing, this astonishing sequel to the bestselling novel So Let Them Burn doesn't hold back. After all, there are no easy endings in war—especially when sisters are forced to fight on opposite sides. Faron Vincent was once the saint of San Irie. Now, she’s done the unthinkable: betrayed her country. Alone, disgraced, and kidnapped, Faron is forced to help Iya grow his bloody empire. With her soul bonded to a ruthless killer, Faron has become an enemy to her people… and she fears they might be right. Elara Vincent—the new Empyrean—must undo the damage her sister has caused. San Irie has been brought back to the brink of war as Iya proclaims no nation will be safe from his brutal invasion. But how can Elara save her sister, her best friend, her country, and her world when she’s already cracking under the pressure? This heart-pounding conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology pushes these unforgettable heroines to their breaking point and beyond. Because when the lines between hero and villain are blurred, deadly sacrifices must be made.

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Losing Sight

Tati Richardson

What if a mysterious pair of glasses helped you to see life—and love—clearly?Sports reporter Tanika “Nikki” Ryan is at the top of her game until she isn’t. Squinting at the teleprompter and flubbing lines, she loses her coveted Thursday Night football spot to a younger, less qualified woman—and that’s only the start of her troubles. After her impaired sight leads to an accident nearly costing her life, Tanika finds herself in the office of handsome widowed optometrist Gideon Miles. There, mysterious circumstances lead Tanika to an enchanted pair of glasses, changing her world—and Gideon’s—forever. With help from her “boss chick village” and a bit of magic, Tanika finally learns to see the love that’s right in front of her eyes. In this high-heat and hilarious rom-com that harkens to the golden age of Black romance, celebrated novelist Tati Richardson proves life is sweeter after age forty, and gives readers of all ages a reason to believe in second chances.

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Hammajang Luck

Makana Yamamoto

HAMMAJANG | adjective. Definition: In a disorderly or chaotic state; messed up. Chiefly in predicative use, esp. in all hammajang. Etymology: A borrowing from Hawaiian Pidgin. Source: Oxford English Dictionary. Edie is done with crime. Eight years behind bars changes a person - costs them too much time with too many of the people who need them most. And it's all Angel's fault. She sold Edie out in what should have been the greatest moment of their lives. Instead, Edie was shipped off to the icy prison planet spinning far below the soaring skybridges and neon catacombs of Kepler space station - of home - to spend the best part of a decade alone. But then a chance for early parole appears out of nowhere and Edie steps into the pallid sunlight to find none other than Angel waiting - and she has an offer. One last job. One last deal. One last target. The trillionaire tech god they failed to bring down last time. There's just one thing Edie needs to do - trust Angel again - which also happens to be the last thing Edie wants to do. What could possibly go all hammajang about this plan? Ocean's 8 meets Blade Runner in this trail-blazing debut science fiction novel and swashbuckling love letter to Hawai'i about being forced to find a new home and striving to build a better one - unmissable for fans of Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir and Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

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Legendborn (The Legendborn Cycle, #1)

Tracy Deonn

After her mother dies in an accident, sixteen-year-old Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC–Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape—until Bree witnesses a magical attack her very first night on campus. A flying demon feeding on human energies. A secret society of so called “Legendborn” students that hunt the creatures down. And a mysterious teenage mage who calls himself a “Merlin” and who attempts—and fails—to wipe Bree’s memory of everything she saw. The mage’s failure unlocks Bree’s own unique magic and a buried memory with a hidden connection: the night her mother died, another Merlin was at the hospital. Now that Bree knows there’s more to her mother’s death than what’s on the police report, she’ll do whatever it takes to find out the truth, even if that means infiltrating the Legendborn as one of their initiates. She recruits Nick, a self-exiled Legendborn with his own grudge against the group, and their reluctant partnership pulls them deeper into the society’s secrets—and closer to each other. But when the Legendborn reveal themselves as the descendants of King Arthur’s knights and explain that a magical war is coming, Bree has to decide how far she’ll go for the truth and whether she should use her magic to take the society down—or join the fight.

gracereadsaudio DNF'd a book

The Last Hour Between Worlds (The Echo Archives, #1)

Melissa Caruso

Follow a star investigator and her rival as they journey through layers of reality to save the world as they know it in this whip-smart adventure fantasy about rival guilds, reality-bending magic and unexpected mystery. Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she's determined to enjoy the party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She's a member of the Guild of Hounds, after all, and she can't help picking up the scent of trouble. She's not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what's causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual. As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they'll need to rely on their wits - and each other - to unravel the secret of the clock and save their city.

gracereadsaudio DNF'd a book

Love Delayed

Anna Black

A second-chance love connection for book romantics in which former college sweethearts reunite at an airport counter upon their flight cancellation, sparking a night of reflection and what could have been. When Zamora Hill made the decision to follow her childhood dreams of being a chef, she didn’t know that losing the love of her life would be the price she’d have to pay. Excited about going to culinary school, things took a crazy turn with her boyfriend Marcus, who doesn’t support her decision and calls things off, leaving Zamora not only bewildered, but heartbroken. Defeated, she moves out and moves on. Hotel and business owner Marcus Coleman is a family man and is very close to the ones he loves. Hospitality was all he knew, being a fourth-generation hotel owner, and he did all he could to please his parents. Accustomed to making sacrifices, Marcus was blindsided with the news that his college love, Zamora, would be going away for thirteen months to attend culinary school. Driven by ego, he ends their entire relationship before thinking it through. Ten years later, as fate would have it, Zamora and Marcus are both in Las Vegas heading back to Chicago on the very same flight that gets delayed, and eventually canceled. They have one night to catch up, and one night is all it takes for them to realize that they still harbor old feelings for each other.

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gracereadsaudio

3.5

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 3.5Characters: 3.0Plot: 3.0

I’m gonna be honest with the fact that if it wasn’t for the arc of book two I would’ve DNFd this series. HOWEVER! Book 2 saved it for me. This book had more action and a little more complexity added to the characters. I enjoy when characters are struggling with their actions not aligning with their morals. I did not care for Faron until about 30%-40% into this book. I love Elara and Sydney 🫶🏾 the depiction of their relationship in this book felt very realistic and relatable. Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Audio for providing an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Audiobook Review 🎧 | NetGalley ALC Narration Overall: 3.5 Voice: 4 Energy: 4 Pacing: 3 Emotions: 3 Story/Writing Overall: 3.25 Prose: 3 Entertainment: 3.5 Emotions: 3 Storyline: 3.5

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gracereadsaudio

Edited

3.0

Enjoyment: 2.5Quality: 3.0Characters: 3.0Plot: 2.5

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The Stardust Grail

Yume Kitasei

Save one world. Doom her own. From the acclaimed author of The Deep Sky comes a thrilling anti-colonial space heist to save an alien civilization. Maya Hoshimoto was once the best art thief in the galaxy. For ten years, she returned stolen artifacts to alien civilizations—until a disastrous job forced her into hiding. Now she just wants to enjoy a quiet life as a graduate student of anthropology, but she’s haunted by persistent and disturbing visions of the future. Then an old friend comes to her with a job she can’t refuse: find a powerful object that could save an alien species from extinction. Except no one has seen it in living memory, and they aren’t the only ones hunting for it. Maya sets out on a breakneck quest through a universe teeming with strange life and ancient ruins. But the farther she goes, the more her visions cast a dark shadow over her team of friends new and old. Someone will betray her along the way. Worse yet, in choosing to save one species, she may condemn humanity and Earth itself. -- CW: violence and gore, xenophobia, xenocide, colonization, vomit, torture, war, infertility, chronic illness, confinement, suicidal thoughts (minor), pandemic, migraines

gracereadsaudio finished reading and wrote a review...

gracereadsaudio

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

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If you had the opportunity to extend your life for an unknown amount of time, while sacrificing your love, would you take it? “Would you want to live for ever?” To me is an ambitious debut novel, speculative fiction navigating topics around “immortality” or “longevity”, ageism, racial disparity and love. The pairing with this narrator made it even more compelling! I could not stop listening to the book and read it in one day. It left me pensive, a bit sad and curious to see what other books this author will have to offer. This book is going to be on my mind for a long time! Audiobook Review 🎧 | NetGalley ALC Narration Overall: 5 Voice: 5 Energy: 5 Pacing: 5 Emotions: 5 Story/Writing Overall: 5 Prose: 5 Entertainment: 5 Emotions: 5 Storyline: 5 Spice level: 🍦 Thank you to NetGalley and Octopus Audio for providing an advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

gracereadsaudio commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

jenniferPagebound

Product & Dev Update 1/22/25

Hi everyone! I'm back with another product update. We're working full force on the app (which I know many of you are excited about, including myself 😅) and have managed to squeeze out a few improvements to the site over the past few weeks: 1. You can *finally* edit reading dates and track rereads 🥳 we have always been tracking your start/end dates and rereads on the backend, but this feature allows you to see all that data and edit it. You can access and edit these dates by clicking the book status icon and clicking the "add or edit dates read" toggle. 2. You can now leave a written review without submitting a star rating 3. Some UI improvements to reviews (you always see your review first on the Book Page, clicking the stars on the book page does not edit your overall star rating, and some adjustments to the review card that makes reading long reviews easier) Thanks to all who wrote in with feedback, book dupes, and bugs! And a big thanks to everyone for making Pagebound so warm and welcoming - our community is growing and its been so great to see everyone connecting and supporting each other. Happy Reading, Team Pagebound 💜💙

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