
kinglee unpaused...
1d

There There
Tommy Orange
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9780525520375. Tommy Orange's wondrous and shattering novel follows twelve characters from Native communities: all traveling to the Big Oakland Powwow, all connected to one another in ways they may not yet realize. Among them is Jacquie Red Feather, newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind. Dene Oxendene, pulling his life together after his uncle's death and working at the powwow to honor his memory. Fourteen-year-old Orvil, coming to perform traditional dance for the very first time. Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American--grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. Hailed as an instant classic, There There is at once poignant and unflinching, utterly contemporary and truly unforgettable.

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2d

A Prince Among Pirates
Katie Abdou
Kit Davenport is in troubleânot that this would surprise anyone who knows him. Headstrong, reckless, and utterly unsuited for the stodgy House of Lords, Kit has spent years dodging his fatherâs stern disapproval and delighting in clandestine rendezvous. But time is running out. With an arranged marriage looming and the confines of white wigs and stiff decorum closing in, Kit is desperate to escape a life that feels completely wrong for him. His solution? A wildly impulsive decision that lands him aboard the Deliverance, a galleon captained by the infuriatingly charismatic Reggie Sharpe. With a devil-may-care attitude and a delicious grin, Captain Sharpe commands the waves with his crew of misfits . . . who all turn out to be pirates. Before Kit can say âwrong ship,â heâs trading ballroom etiquette for rum-soaked camaraderie, explosive gunfights, and, perhaps most excitingly, heart-stopping kisses under the stars. But life at sea holds just as many secrets as treasures. And when Kitâs past catches up with him, heâll have to decide who he truly wants to be: a gentleman, or a pirate?

I Am the Monster Under the Bed has such a promising premise that drew me in, but unfortunately this didnât hit the marks I was hoping it would hit.
It starts off slow. We get to know Willa who was the lone survivor of a massacre, is now a painter and trying to leave her past behind her. She also had a monster under her bed who was her book bestie. Yet, when things get unearthed and she learns that her favorite teacher dies, Willa goes back home to pay tribute and face her past.
There is a lot that Zinnikas wanted to tackle in this novel and I believe that was the downfall for me. Between the monster under the bed, the people in the basement, and the forest I think that could have been a good amount to focus on paired with the massacre. Yet, none of that really had room to breath and be explored properly. Not all of that needed a clearcut explanation, but a little more of something to have it make a little more sense would have been really nice.
When everything was so stretched thin, it left some things to be desired. I was trying to fill in the gaps that were there and make sense of the parts I didnât feel had enough information. By the end, it left me not as interested in seeing everything play out.
I also will say, there was a plot twist in here that I really hated and only kept reading because I thought that surely it was wrong.
For a debut, the writing is good. Iâm curious about what else Zinnikas is going to do and will be looking out for her sophomore novel. With the number of things Zinnikas was trying to accomplish throughout I Am the Monster Under the Bed, this wasnât for me, but it wasnât a complete turnoff.
While this didnât work for me, I would say if it sounds interesting to you to give it a chance.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

kinglee finished a book
2d

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 1
Mò XiÄng TĂłng XiĂš
Wei Wuxian was once one of the most powerful men of his generation, a talented and clever young cultivator who harnessed martial arts and spirituality into powerful abilities. But when the horrors of war led him to seek more power through demonic cultivation, the world's respect for his abilities turned to fear, and his death was celebrated throughout the land. Years later, he awakens in the body of an aggrieved young man who sacrifices his soul so that Wei Wuxian can exact revenge on his behalf. Though granted a second life, Wei Wuxian is not free from his first, nor the mysteries that appear before him now. Yet this time, he'll face it all with the righteous and esteemed Lan Wangji at his side, another powerful cultivator whose unwavering dedication and shared memories of their past will help shine a light on the dark truths that surround them.

kinglee finished a book
3d

I Am the Monster Under the Bed
Emily Zinnikas
TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL. Something lives under Willaâs bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them. When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems. As her past pulls her back to the place where she swore sheâd never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behindâand becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.

kinglee is interested in reading...
3d

She, Wolf, Him.
EV Cross
1766. The winter the Beast came down from the mountains. In a starving French village, a thing hunts in the dark. It takes the shepherds first, then any man who walks home too late, until the snow runs red and the doors stay barred. Agnès has spent her life folding herself smaller. Promised to a man she cannot love, watched by a priest who weighs the sins of every woman, she has learned to swallow what she feels and say thank you. Only her best friend Margot makes the grey days bearable. Then a hunter rides in with the Kingâs word and a showmanâs smile. He swears he will kill the Beast and looks at Agnès as no one ever has. The killing doesn't stop. The village turns on its own, and the woman who wanted nothing begins to want everything. And the wanting, once it wakes, does not care what it costs. A gothic horror for readers who like desire with teeth and love stories that end in blood. No one walks out of this winter whole.

kinglee started reading...
3d

Two Left Feet
Kallie Emblidge
A Premier League football star must defend his roster spotâand his heartâwhen a threateningly talented and handsome midfielder joins his team in this utterly charming debut romance, a profound love letter to the worldâs most popular sport.Oliver Harris is football royalty in London. Ordinarily the star of the Camden Roses is calm, cool, and collected, keeping his club relevant with his prowess in the midfield and mighty left foot. But this season, the threats Thereâs Camdenâs management to contend withâcomplete with a new, prickly Dutch coach, eager for better resultsâand a mid-season injury, which sidelines him when his team needs him most. When a recruit is called up to fill in, Oliver fears heâll be replaced. If he can mentor this younger talent, then they might just have a chance at winning, together.After a string of lackluster performances in his native Spain, Leonardo Davis-Villanueva is looking for one last shot at the club he always dreamed of, where he once played in the youth academy. Oliver immediately finds confident, eager Leo irritating. He can barely go through the motions, let alone coach him, without outright hostility. When he comes to admire Leoâs skill and warms to his humor and energy, though, he begins to see Leo as a friendâand then, to his mounting horror, as something more.Leo craves Oliverâs attention and partnership; Oliver canât afford to fall in love with his teammate. Heâs always kept a tight lid on his sexuality in a league thatâs never had a player come out. As the season heats up, a lot more than football hangs in the balance. Can Oliverâand Leoâwin when it counts most?

Grief Eater is one of those books that I found, saw the word zombie and didnât need to know anything else. Immediately searched to see if Libby had it, luckily, they did and I started to dive inâI ended up falling in love.
As with the name, grief is an important part of this novella. The complexities of it are there which makes it more hauntingly beautiful. Itâs easy to understand her hatred and how love can still sit with it.
Osborne does an excellent job weaving in emotions throughout this. With flashbacks to the past and the present moment. There is not a moment or chapter that wonât tug at the heartstrings in one way or another. In less than a hundred pages, itâs easy to root for Kristina and easier to ache for her.
I think my favorite aspect of this novella was seeing everything from the eyes of a zombie. It was so fresh for me and seeing the take on what they would be like was fascinating. I really loved to see that explored.
Grief Eater made me cry more than once. It ripped my heart open time and time again, but it is one that Iâm still thinking about and holding dear. This is one that is going to stick with me for a while and one I will come back to read again and again. Check the warnings, and if none of those are too much I couldnât recommend this enough.

Female rage and good for her books is one of my favorite genres, and What Hunger has found itâs way into every growing list of books I enjoyed within that genre.
What Hunger takes it time to build. It starts off slow, full of love and then for a moment it comes to a standstill. I know that isnât going to sound like a positive thing, but it is. The exploration of grief and how it was written was beautiful. Ronnyâs pain oozed from the pages leaving my heart aching for her. Then, came the rage.
Grief mixed with rage can be such a powerful combination, especially if itâs long overdue, which Ronnyâs seemed to be, and oh does her rage build. Everything she has been holding in starts to leek out, consuming her. It becomes all she can think about as all those injustices seem to be highlighted for her now.
Dang also takes time to explore complexities in immigrant families where the kids donât understand everything their parents are doing. This plays such a big part in a number of moments and it was nice to see how easily woven in it was, moment after moment.
I will say, donât go into this expecting cannibalism. It is there, but in brief flashes rather than a full, core part of this story. If your like The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim, Iâd say pick this one up. The family dynamics and unhinged parts make it a story that will linger with you.
What Hunger is a coming for age tale that will leave you saying, good for her.

kinglee started reading...
6d

I Am the Monster Under the Bed
Emily Zinnikas
TIME ONLY MAKES THE NIGHTMARE MORE REAL. Something lives under Willaâs bed. As an adult, her fondest childhood memories are of the invisible entity under her bed who taught her how to read. Now thirty-two, Willa is a reclusive but successful painter until a bombshell news report exposes her identity as the controversial survivor of the unsolved Rapture Mystery Slayings, a small-town tragedy that splashed across headlines during her senior year of high school. Six teenagers died in the woods while Willa walked free, and everyone thinks she killed them. When an old classmate calls about a funeral, Willa reluctantly travels to her sleepy hometown, where the possessed forest that stole her friends looms. The trees whistle for her attention, but she knows better than to listen. And the unexplained knocking from the shadows in the basement of her decaying childhood home is honestly the least of her problems. As her past pulls her back to the place where she swore sheâd never return, Willa is drawn toward the monster she left behindâand becoming the villain her hometown has always believed her to be.