sweetie's Book Journey

What if we were chess rivals playing against each other in a tournament in the faerie realm and we were both girls 😳😍😌

The way I DEVOURED this oh my god.... it's been a while since a book felt this easy to just keep reading (probably because I don't read much YA anymore), and keep reading I did. The pace flowed perfectly and the writing was engaging and attention-grabbing while still feeling refined. I don't have a lot to say other than I was invested in the whole thing from start to finish.

Was this the most deep, challenging book of all time? Well no! There was definitely some reader hand-holding going on in the writing, although I guess not to a level that's unusual for YA? I also can't really speak to how well the Irish folklore was handled, and it definitely felt like the worldbuilding and setting were more focused on ✨vibes✨ than details. But those vibes were so strong that I didn't personally care.

Solid characters, a fun (if sometimes predictable) storyline, a sweet sapphic romance, a gorgeously rendered setting, and lots of fun descriptions of chess? What more could I ask for!