BLOGTOBER: MY WITCHY READS RECOMMENDATION

Hello everyone!

I haven’t been active when it comes to blogging lately but now I’m trying to be more active. The main reason why I haven’t been active and posting more new contents is because I have quite a lot of unfinished book reviews, and every time I tried to make new contents that aren’t book reviews, I get distracted by other things. Here I am, making a new content but don’t worry, I still post book review contents and I already have a few that I’m planning to post soon.

As for this one, I’m making a Blogtober post which is pretty common in the blogging world. Mine will be focusing on books and other book-related stuff. To be honest, I don’t know what are the topics I want to post for my blogtober contents but instead of following others’ blogtober prompts and ideas, I made my own blogtober ideas that came to my mind. And I’m going to start with My Witchy Reads Recommendation which is just me recommending my favorite witchy books/reads that involves witches, wizards and warlocks in it.

Do you love reading stories with witches, wizards and warlocks in it? If yes, then I have some books I want to show you.

THE SHRIKE AND THE SHADOWS by Chantal Gadoury and A.M. Wright

The Shrike & The Shadows is the 1st book in The Witch of Krume series. It came out last year in March and in case none of you know, this is a dark and unique retelling of Hansel and Gretel. It was a very dark and twisted tale which gave me an extreme gothic and horror vibes. To be honest, I never read the original tale of this siblings which was written by the Brothers Grimm but still, I find this retelling so interesting.

This book has twin siblings named Hans and Greta, a shifter named Barin and an evil witch called the Shrike as the main villain.

I admit, Hans and Greta are one of the best fictional siblings. Nothing and no one can break their bond but it was heartbreaking for me to see how the story ended for them. I hope the sequel will focus on Greta and Barin trying to find a way to get Hans back. The Shrike is pure evil and I knew she won’t be defeated but I still hope for her to lose in this book which didn’t happen, sadly. There is going to be a continuation of this story which I’m really looking forward to see. I don’t care how long it’ll take but I’ll still wait for it.

The entire book was very eerie due to the Shrike being a true menace. Who would kill children and adults then leave their hearts in front of people’s doorsteps? Only an evil witch like the Shrike would do that. Also, the Shrike turning up when I least expect it was scary enough for me.

If you’re looking for a really dark story that will give you the creep and make you feel unsettled from the start until the end, then by all means pick this book up.

• Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads

SHADOW SCOURGE by John Grover

Shadow Scourge is the 2nd book in the Knightshade trilogy. It came out in 2018 but I read it book in 2019 for a blog tour. This book defined the don’t judge a book by its cover line. If you’re judging this book by the cover and said that it looks like this is a middle grade story or that the story is boring due to how unappealing the cover looks, then you’re absolutely wrong.

This book was amazing and it was one of the best dark fantasy stories I’ve ever read. Even though it didn’t give me the creepy and horror vibes, I still find the story dark. The main villain in this book is called the Shrouded Woman. She is an evil witch who seeks revenge and harbor a strong hatred toward the royal family. Her power is a destructive one which made her more terrifying and why she is a very formidable villain in the story.

Aside from the Shrouded Woman, there are also other interesting characters that stood a chance against the witch. They are Prince Quinn who is the main protagonist of the entire trilogy that sacrificed himself to save many lives by becoming a powerful half-shade half-human being, and his fiancée named Eloise who just found out that she secretly have magic in her blood. The battle with these three was epic and honestly, it was one of the most well-written battle scenes I’ve ever read in a fantasy book.

The final book in the trilogy hasn’t come out yet but I’ll still wait for it because the glimpse of the new enemy made me so excited to see what will Quinn do next since the said enemy is his distant relatives, and also because I enjoyed both the first two books, I have no doubt that I will enjoy the final book too—assuming that it would be as phenomenal as the first two.

If you’re looking for a dark fantasy story with a lot of gore, powerful villain who thrives on violence, strong protagonist who will do anything to save many lives despite being betrayed by his own family, and many epic magic actions, then get yourself this amazing book but please start with the 1st book which is Perdition Bleeds and then you can continue with this one.

• Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads

THE MIDNIGHT TEST by Juliana Haygert

The Midnight Test is the 1st book in the Rite World: Lightgrove Witches series. This book was a quick read for me and I really enjoyed reading it. I find the story so interesting because there are a lot of mysteries that needed unraveling. If you read this book and think you’ll get all your answers by the time you’re done reading it, please don’t because you won’t get it. Well, maybe like 2 answers only but the rest have to wait.

In this book, you will be introduced to the main protagonist named Hazel. She is considered as a lesser witch due to her weak magical ability. The entire time reading this book, I felt bad for her for many reasons but mainly because she was an outcast in the Lightgrove coven and the witches there made her feel that way. Despite being known as a lesser witch, she still managed to do supernatural things like hunting ghosts and defeating other supernatural beings that only endanger mortal lives. Guess what? She also excelled at the test the coven gave her before she can become an official Lightgrove witch.

Aside from that, this book also introduced so many covens other than Lightgrove. There are a lot of covens actually and all of them have pretty names too. The other things I also find interesting in this book are the history of light witches and dark witches, the origin of the Light Order which is an entire legion of men that protect light witches of the Lightgrove coven, and a team of villains known as the Brotherhood of Purity. I swear, those of you who are into reading witchy stories will find this book exciting to read.

There are so many things the author put into this book which extended to the other installments in the series. Not everything can be solve in one book and the ongoing mystery about the rune still left me puzzled. There was also the matter with Sean which is the main love interest. He’s been acting so suspicious and as much as in the story he is Hazel’s love interest, I still think that he’ll play a big role but what role will that be I have to wait and see.

If you’re looking for an urban fantasy story with too many witches in it, different type of supernatural beings, heroine who run straight into dangerous territory to hunt ghosts, magic fight between witches and mysteries that will make you question more things, then get yourself this book.

• Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads

CURSED by N. Isabelle Blanco

Cursed is a standalone book. This one can be considered as a dark urban fantasy story. The dark vibe is definitely present in it even though it wasn’t too extreme. There was a bit of mystery in the storyline too and the plot also had a twist in it. This book can get unpredictable which I did find interesting.

There wasn’t much fighting in this book, be it magic fights or physical fights but there was a few scenes which I really liked and that was whenever the witch is using her fire power. Her power was insanely strong. She can destroy an entire building with it. I’m glad that she’s not evil and only grumpy. Another thing about this witch is that I didn’t know her name because the author didn’t reveal her name. It was only revealed when the story nearly ends. I’ve spent my entire time reading this book calling her either as the witch or Silas’ witch, there is no in between.

The reason why I called her as Silas’ witch too is because Silas is the main protagonist of the story and she was tasked to protect him and leading him to safety. These two had to spend their time together from the beginning until the end which led them to having a romantic relationship—sort of. Those are the reasons why I called the witch as Silas’ witch. I knew the witch’s name but I won’t mention it here. Let’s just keep her name a mystery, after all the book didn’t reveal it until near the end.

Silas is a werewolf but he stayed in his human form for the majority of the book which is fine by me because I’m not a fan of werewolves. I was so glad to see that Silas only shifted into his wolf form for like 2 to 3 times in the book and not more than that. If it was more than that, then I’d probably DNF the book. Sounds harsh isn’t it but I’m just being honest. His fate is actually intertwined with the witch’s fate which is why these two had to stick close to each other. They are destined to be together even though the way it happened was a bit messy but everything was fine in the end.

If you’re looking for a book with a badass witch who can burn things, a hero who has a proper character development, fated soulmates, fights between supernatural beings, and all the smut, then go read this one. I have to warn you that this book is an adult book so expect a high level of smut scenes in it. If you’re not into this kind of stuff or find it uncomfortable to read, then you don’t have to read this book.

• Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads

SPELLBOUND by Rebecca L. Garcia

Spellbound is the 1st book in the Embracing Darkness Collection series but it can be read as a standalone because each book in the series will focus on different couples. As for this book, the story focus on Elle who is the main protagonist and Viktor Raiden which is the male lead.

This book was epic and phenomenal. I lost words to describe this book because it left me speechless. Rebecca is one of my top and all-time favorite authors and all the books she’d written so far are so good. Honestly, she never write a single bad book. I also read her entire The Fate of Crowns trilogy which is her debut works and I loved all the books in it. The entire trilogy got a 5-star rating from me and so is this book too. I don’t give a 5-star rating to books so easily, only the ones that I feel truly deserves it because the stories are both brilliant and phenomenal including the plot, storyline, characters, pacing, magic system and world-building.

The story in this one was interesting. What can you expect from this book? Well, you’ll get vengeful gods and goddesses, unique magic system, different covens of witches and warlocks, magic tests, ancient history, twists and turns, intense battle everywhere, eerie murders, male and female leads who are both equal in power, supporting characters who are easily likable and hilarious, beautiful friendship, found family trope, hot and explosive romance with smut, and a happily-ever-after ending that will make your heart burst with joy.

I highly recommend this book. It is literally one of the best books I’ve read this year. Elle, Viktor, Maddox, Dora, Naomi and Edmund are the characters that I loved the most in this book. I was happy and satisfied with the ending, and seeing these characters get together in one place again to celebrate a big and wonderful event after every obstacles they had to face was a delightful scene to read.

Go and get your copy of this book if you love reading about witches, warlocks and their connection to the ancient gods and goddess. Also, if you’re fine with reading smut and all the adult romance stuff in a fantasy setting then you’ll definitely love this one.

• Add this book to your TBR on Goodreads

If you reach to this point then that means you’re reading the entire post and I want to thank you for it. I know that my post is just simple but I’m happy making it. Since this is my 1st blogtober post then there might be a 2nd post which I hope to publish soon (no promises), and I also want to add that there won’t be many blogtober contents from me this year since I only have a few ideas for it. Maybe, I can try make more for next year.

Anyway, thank you once again for reading this post and I truly appreciate it.