ChellesOfBooks's Updates

ChellesOfBooks is 36% done with Cruel Is the Light

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 03:56:50 -0700

ChellesOfBooks is 36% done with Cruel Is the Light.

ChellesOfBooks started reading 'Cruel Is the Light'

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 03:56:41 -0700

ChellesOfBooks started reading Cruel Is the Light by Sophie Clark

ChellesOfBooks is 57% done with Upon a Starlit Tide

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 03:56:11 -0700

ChellesOfBooks is 57% done with Upon a Starlit Tide.

ChellesOfBooks added 'The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy'

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:06:25 -0700

ChellesOfBooks has read The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy (Dearly Beloathed, #1) by Brigitte Knightley
Content warning: death, murder, injury detail, gore, serious medical condition
I received a digital copy from the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

I applied for this read a long time ago without realising it was a Dramione fanfic before being changed for traditional publishing. This put me off reading it when I found out, as I don't get the HP franchise hype at all, and hardly know the first thing about this ship. I originally applied because the synopsis made me think of Assistant to the Villain, and I wanted another read like that. I fully admit to my wrong doing in not researching the author nor paying attention to early marketing. I didn't know whether to read and review this or not, given the serious discourse around IP towards the original author this fanfic is based from. In the end, due to obligation to signing up for this, I did read the book.

That said, I now feel uncomfortable promoting it, and will not be recommending it to my audience.

ChellesOfBooks added 'Blood Over Bright Haven'

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 03:35:36 -0700

ChellesOfBooks gave 5 stars to Blood Over Bright Haven (Hardcover) by M.L. Wang
bookshelves: 2025-reads, audiobooks, library-books
4.5 stars

ChellesOfBooks started reading 'The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam'

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 04:40:49 -0700

ChellesOfBooks started reading The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen

ChellesOfBooks started reading 'Upon a Starlit Tide'

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 03:58:02 -0700

ChellesOfBooks started reading Upon a Starlit Tide by Kell Woods

ChellesOfBooks is currently reading 'Blood Over Bright Haven'

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 02:19:43 -0700

ChellesOfBooks is currently reading Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

ChellesOfBooks added 'Once Upon A Cake: A Cozy Fantasy Little Mermaid Retelling'

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 21:26:58 -0700

ChellesOfBooks gave 3 stars to Once Upon A Cake: A Cozy Fantasy Little Mermaid Retelling (The Galamere Chronicles) by Gabrielle Landi
bookshelves: 2025-reads
3 stars

I received this novella in a FaroFeb email, and in hopes to boost my books read count up, I decided to give this novella a read. It's a cute story, with a brief look into two people who have a clumsy meet-cute and end up working together in her family bakery and falling in love.

This is marketed as gender swapped A Little Mermaid retelling, and aside from the red hair on the MMC, and him calling a utensil a "wingleplucker", there is absolutely no true reference to the original story which I felt was misleading. The writing style was safe and leaned more towards telling than showing, so when the love confession happened, it was a bit lacklustre. However, the story is complete by the end, and it was an exceptionally easy story to get through, so I think is someone is looking for something quick and sweet to get through, then Once Upon a Cake might serve well.

ChellesOfBooks added 'Tusk Love'

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 17:25:07 -0700

ChellesOfBooks gave 4 stars to Tusk Love (Hardcover) by Thea Guanzon
4 stars
Content warning: kidnapping, attempted murder, death, blood, injury detail, grief from parental loss, emotional neglect from parents

This was such a delightfully cosy adventure, full of self-discovery and acceptance, humour, found-family, and a romantic tale that's really rather spicy 👀 I enjoyed the dual pov from Oskar and Guinevere, and watching these two soft babies become bolder in areas they once saw as weaknesses. The magical system was interesting, and the world felt vibrant and full, something I've come to respect from Thea Guanzon's works. It was easy to imagine myself along on this journey with the main characters.

I had absolutely no prior understanding of D&D, and applied for this book simply because I enjoyed the author's last book release. Whilst I still don't have a lot of knowledge, from the bits I picked up researching it a little as I read Tusk Love, I can see how this storyline Guanzon has brought to life could effortlessly fit into the established world and game, and bring a lot of enjoyment to fans.

Whilst a lot of the plotlines were quite predictable, the journey towards them was lighthearted and relatable, and I enjoyed how wholesome the majority of this book felt. Whilst the spicy scenes were well-written, I did drop a star simply because I felt like some of them were a bit of a stalemate and time could have been better spent on other aspects of building their romantic connection emotionally or on other parts of the story. Fans of romantasy with multiple spicy scenes will better appreciate this than I did, however!

Thank you to the author and publisher via NetGalley for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.