Audiobook Review: Thornhedge by T.Kingfisher

Author: T.Kingfisher

Narrator: Kate Handford
Title: Thornhedge

Genre: Fantasy, Retelling, Horror, Novella
Format: Audiobook
Published:  August 15, 2023
Where I Got It: My shelf (Audible) 

Summary: 

There’s a princess trapped in a tower. This isn’t her story.

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right?

But nothing with fairies is ever simple.

Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold…

Review:

This author is fun. I love the variety!!!

Here we have a retelling that may have you questioning all the princesses...especially Sleeping Beauty. Toadling was a human, but she was stolen from birth by the fairies and raised as one of their own. However, when she became an adult, the fae asked a big favor from her. It should've been easy.....go to the human world and offer a simple blessing of protection to a new baby. Nothing is ever that easy. Centuries later, a knight shows up to break the curse, but it's a curse Toadling can't have it break. 

I really enjoyed this one. I really had no idea what was going to happen to our lil Toadling. I adored her so much. 

This is a retelling, but you don't need to know the story of Sleeping Beauty in order to know this one. It is sooooo different that you would really need to call this a retelling? It was so different. 

This felt a little...lackluster compared to other stories by this author. It wasn't bad by any means...but.....it was too soft. It lists "horror" on the list of genres, but there is zero horror of any kind. It was sweet with some sadness and a mystery. Toadling is hiding something. Honestly, I think if the author played up the baddie a bit more and made the baddie scarier, it would've made this story really come to life. It was just missing a big spark. 

The ending was nice. I would've liked to have seen a smidge more. Maybe an interaction or two between Toadling and someone else (no spoilers here). 

The narrator did a nice job. Her voice was fitting. 

All-in-all, I did have fun with this one. It just felt...flat compared to other books I've read by this author. We needed more spice. Maybe with the baddie? It was very soft....too soft at times. 3 stars from me. In the end, it was still a lovely story and I loooooooved Toadling so much. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #14

- Library Love #9

Audiobook Review: Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Narrator: Kate Handford
Title: Disturbing the Dead

Series: A Rip Through Time #3

Genre: Mystery, SciFi, Historical Fiction, Fantasy
Format: Audiobook
Published: May 7, 2024
Where I Got It: Borrowed from library

Summary: 

Victorian Scotland is becoming less strange to modern-day homicide detective Mallory Atkinson. Though inhabiting someone else’s body will always be unsettling, even if her employers know that she’s not actually housemaid Catriona Mitchell, ever since the night both of them were attacked in the same dark alley 150 years apart. Mallory likes her job as assistant to undertaker/medical examiner Dr. Duncan Gray, and is developing true friends―and feelings―in this century.

So, understanding the Victorian fascination with death, Mallory isn't that surprised when she and her friends are invited to a mummy unwrapping at the home of Sir Alastair Christie. When their host is missing when it comes time to unwrap the mummy, Gray and Mallory are asked to step in. And upon closer inspection, it’s not a mummy they’ve unwrapped, but a much more modern body.

Review:

Yayyy book 3!

We are back at it with Mallory and crew. Mallory has been in this body and this time period for a while now, and she is finally finding her footing. She is loving being the assistant to Dr. Gray and is friends with him and the others. The Victorians have a fascination with death, so Mallory isn't surprised when they are all invited to a mummy unwrapping at Sir Alastair's house. However, things go awry when the host is missing, and something isn't right with the mummy. Mallory and crew are asked to step in. 

You for sure need to have read the last two books for this one. You can skip the shorts, but there are some references and things you will need to understand. 

Ooooooh Mallory. I love her so. I love the whole crew. I'm even warming up to Gray's other sister and Mrs Wallace.

I'll admit something. I was enjoying myself, but it was feeling....stale at first. I wasn't necessarily bored, but it felt like the other two. The mysteries didn't shock me. It's kind of hard to explain. BUT that all changed after a BIG moment. A nice TWIST. I will not say but that was a nice reminder that there is a fantasy/SciFi element to the story. Eeee. I can't wait for the next book. 

The narrator did a lovely job. Great accents. Great voices for everyone. 

What more?

THIS SERIES IS SO GOOD!!! Read it or do the audio like me. 100% recommend. 

4 stars from me. 

Reading Challenges

- Audiobook #13

- Library Love #9

Book Review: Coffeehouse Confessions by Susanne Ash

Author: Susanne Ash

Title: Coffeehouse Confessions

Series: The Alphabet Sweethearts

Genre: Contemporary Romance, Short Story

Format: ebook

Pages: 58

Published: February 4, 2025

Where I got It: Kindle Unlimited

Summary: 

Maggie Carter loves working at Novel Sips, the coffee shop and bookstore owned by her older brother, Andrew. But when Andrew’s old college roommate, Ethan Ward, shows up with a notebook full of sci-fi stories and a reserved demeanor, Maggie can’t help but be intrigued. He’s broody, brilliant, and completely off-limits—according to her overprotective brother.

Ethan came to Juniper Falls to escape his past and focus on finishing his novel, not to complicate his life by falling for his best friend’s little sister. But Maggie’s warmth and quick wit are impossible to resist, and soon their connection grows from cautious conversations to something much deeper.

When Andrew steps in, determined to keep them apart, insecurities and doubts threaten to tear them down before they even get started. Can Ethan prove he’s more than the sum of his fears—and that he’s worth taking a chance on?

Review:

This series and town are so cute. I love the whole concept of the alphabet and naming each book. 

This time it is time for Maggie to find love. Ethan is in town and she can't but be intrigued. He used to be college roommates with her brother and now he is trying to become the next big writer. The chemistry is off the charts with them and they can't stay away from each other. 

Again, I will use the word cute. Watching them fall for each other and take the risk was adorable. They are soooo meant for each other. 

I actually read this twice that is how much I liked it. It's short and cute. 

Can I please go to his coffeehouse? 

5 stars. 

Blodeuedd's Tuesday Review: Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales by Heather Fawcett

Series: Emily Wilde (#3)

Format: 368 pages, Paperback

Published: January 14, 2025 by Hachette Australia

Academic fantasy/own

Emily and Wendell has been through a lot, and now he has found his way back to his fairie kingdom. His step mother is gone and he has to take his throne.

But things are not easy in his kingdom. Disgruntled nobles, a curse upon the land, an angry sibling and more. And Emily is a mere mortal .

Wendell is always cheerful and kind. Emily is more thoughtful, and stubborn. I do like them together.

Still, nothing compares to book 1. I was so blown away with that easy read. But now I am finished. It was a good run

Emily Wilde has spent her life studying faeries. A renowned dryadologist, she has documented hundreds of species of Folk in her Encyclopaedia of Faeries. Now she is about to embark on her most dangerous academic project studying the inner workings of a faerie realm—as its queen.

Along with her former academic rival—now fiancé—the dashing and mercurial Wendell Bambleby, Emily is immediately thrust into the deadly intrigues of Faerie as the two of them seize the throne of Wendell’s long-lost kingdom, which Emily finds a beautiful nightmare filled with scholarly treasures.

Emily has been obsessed with faerie stories her entire life, but at first she feels as ill-suited to Faerie as she did to the mortal How can an unassuming scholar such as herself pass for a queen? Yet there is little time to settle in, for Wendell’s murderous stepmother has placed a deadly curse upon the land before vanishing without a trace. It will take all of Wendell’s magic—and Emily’s knowledge of stories—to unravel the mystery before they lose everything they hold dear.