notbillnye

30 | cat lady | librarian | she/they

1682 points

0% overlap

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The Raven Scholar (The Eternal Path, #1)

My Taste

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The Spear Cuts Through Water

Simon Jimenez

Two warriors shepherd an ancient god across a broken land to end the tyrannical reign of a royal family in this new epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds.The people suffer under the centuries-long rule of the Moon Throne. The royal family—the despotic emperor and his monstrous sons, the Three Terrors—hold the countryside in their choking grip. They bleed the land and oppress the citizens with the frightful powers they inherited from the god locked under their palace.But that god cannot be contained forever.With the aid of Jun, a guard broken by his guilt-stricken past, and Keema, an outcast fighting for his future, the god escapes from her royal captivity and flees from her own children, the triplet Terrors who would drag her back to her unholy prison. And so it is that she embarks with her young companions on a five-day pilgrimage in search of freedom—and a way to end the Moon Throne forever. The journey ahead will be more dangerous than any of them could have imagined.Both a sweeping adventure story and an intimate exploration of identity, legacy, and belonging, The Spear Cuts Through Water is an ambitious and profound saga that will transport and transform you—and is like nothing you’ve ever read before.

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lauraeb DNF'd a book

Faebound (Faebound, #1)

Saara El-Arifi

From the Sunday Times bestselling author of THE FINAL STRIFE, comes an enchanting new trilogy. DIVIDED BY BLOOD. IMPRISONED BY FATE. BOUND BY DESIRE. WELCOME TO THE INTOXICATING WORLD OF THE FAE. Yeeran is a warrior in the elven army and has known nothing but violence her whole life. Her sister, Lettle, is trying to make a living as a diviner, seeking prophecies of a better future. When a fatal mistake leads to Yeeran’s exile from the Elven lands, they are both forced into the terrifying wilderness beyond their borders. There they encounter the impossible: the fae court. The fae haven’t been seen for a millennium. But now Yeeran and Lettle are thrust into their seductive world – torn between their loyalty to each other, their elven homeland, and their hearts. . .

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1500 points

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21h

marissa

Thoughts up to 50%

This is so incredible, i've been having so much fun with this book. I can't believe it took me so long to read this. It's so emotionally rich and I've been loving the blend political intrigue with a slooow-burn tension. The world-building feels so layered and thoughtful, with echoes of REAL historical revolutions. I love both of the two main characters and their shifting relationship🥺 Plus it's set against a backdrop of DRAGONS and post-rebellion power struggles, perfection. I'm surprised it hasn't been getting more love lately especially with what's been going viral. I'm excited to finish and I already grabbed the second book.

notbillnye commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

Peony

Authors we have met?

I was just recently was able to meet and get my books signed by my recently favourite author Bora Chung. I was so happy. But I am also sad because so many of my favourite authors are dead or are Japanese who I probably will not get to ever meet. Anyone have any good stories of authors they got to meet? Or authors who you wish you could have met?

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The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Stephen Graham Jones

A chilling historical horror novel set in the American west in 1912 following a Lutheran priest who transcribes the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice. A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.

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The Raven Scholar (The Eternal Path, #1)

Antonia Hodgson

From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth. Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best. Then one of them is murdered. It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in. If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen. We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

notbillnye wrote a review...

notbillnye

May 11, 2025

4.0

Enjoyment: 3.5Quality: 4.0Characters: 3.5Plot: 4.0

🏞️

🦬

🩸

(audiobook review) The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a grotesque and brutal read. At times, the narration drags or loops with story gaps that I felt lost or less invested than desired. What worked so well for TBHH is the unabashed use of descriptive horror. The paranormal aspects were eerie and utilized well for the story. Yet, the most impactful - and terrifying - parts were the real historical, brutalization elements that the horror is built off of. The brutal history of settler colonialism, the destruction and erasure of indigenous peoples’ lives, culture, and humanity. The true horror is the truth, and Stephen Graham Jones does not shy from it.

notbillnye wrote a review...

notbillnye

May 11, 2025

4.0

Enjoyment: 4.0Quality: Characters: 3.5Plot: 3.5

As she states in her acknowledgements, Great Big Beautiful Life feels like a departure from her old writing and the start of new terrain. Which maybe explains the noticeable different ratings than typical for her. I think GBBL succeeds in some ways, missteps in others. GBBL is, at its core, about how our stories live on past us, and the power (and privilege) it is to tell them. To share them, and to live them. Emily Henry excels in the romance-sphere with her ability to immerse her readers where they can't help but feel for her characters (whether that be love or hate) to the romantic resolution we all hope for. GBBL, though, is her least romance-focused book so far, and while I think parts of GBBL are just as impactful, it's easy for old readers to notice the change in purpose of her storytelling here. This is Emily Henry's debut contemporary fiction with romance, and I hope fans will give her the grace to try.

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The Raven Scholar (The Eternal Path, #1)

Antonia Hodgson

notbillnye finished a book

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

Stephen Graham Jones

notbillnye finished a book

Great Big Beautiful Life

Emily Henry

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping new novel from Emily Henry. Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years--or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game. One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over. Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition. But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room. And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad…depending on who’s telling it.

Post from the The Buffalo Hunter Hunter forum

notbillnye

Edited

Thoughts from 84%

yeah idk, i'm not sure i know what's fully going on

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robyn00

Thoughts from 58%

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robyn00

Thoughts from 18%

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Viviwx8 wants to read...

A Language of Dragons

S.F. Williamson

The most exciting debut of 2025 – an incredible fantasy Dark Academia, perfect for fans of Babel, Fourth Wing, and the Scholomance trilogy EVERY ACT OF TRANSLATION REQUIRES SACRIFICE Welcome to Bletchley Park… with dragons. London, 1923. Dragons soar through the skies and protests erupt on the streets, but Vivien Featherswallow isn’t worried. She’s going to follow the rules, get an internship studying dragon languages, and make sure her little sister never has to risk growing up Third Class. By midnight, Viv has started a civil war. With her parents arrested and her sister missing, all the safety Viv has worked for is collapsing around her. So when a lifeline is offered in the form of a mysterious ‘job’, she grabs it. Arriving at Bletchley Park, Viv discovers that she has been recruited as a codebreaker helping the war effort – if she succeeds, she and her family can all go home again. If she doesn’t, they’ll all die. At first Viv believes that her challenge, of discovering the secrets of a hidden dragon language, is doable. But the more she learns, the more she realises that the bubble she’s grown up in isn’t as safe as she thought, and eventually Viv must What war is she really fighting? An epic, sweeping fantasy with an incredible Dark Academia setting, a clandestine, slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance, and an unputdownable story, filled with twists and turns, betrayals and secret identities, A Language of Dragons is the unmissable debut of 2025, from an extraordinary new voice.

notbillnye commented on a post

jay80tee

Thoughts from 16%

I was intimidated going into this after reading some of the non-spoiler posts, especially with it being YA & my current trend of DNFing them because I cannot connect with the main characters (I’m getting old). I don’t know if the main character, Vis, being male is also making a difference, because it’s a POV that I don’t run across often enough. Either way, I am enjoying the world building and I have questions that will hopefully be answered as I continue. My fingers are crossed that I continue to enjoy it!

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The Priory of the Orange Tree (The Roots of Chaos, #1)

wispy

Thoughts from 1%

Okay I just had to go back and reread half of chapter one because I was not paying near enough attention T-T I missed so many things. This author really sneaks some details into small paragraphs and crucial things into like one sentence. I got halfway done before I was like wait the woman at the door wasn't the first woman?? what? what happened? and yeah note to self READ SLOWER for this one lmao I usually don't have a problem with gleaning details from what I read but I guess this book just requires me to slow down and savor it. I'm not used to reading that way so this'll be fun

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