january wrapup 🎆 most i loved and one that made me mad

books mentioned:
0:24 divine rivals / divine-rivals
4:27 cage of dreams / cage-of-dreams
9:52 the empire of gold / the-empire-of-gold
14:14 emily wilde's map of the otherlands / emily-wilde-s-map-of-t...
18:15 shorefall / shorefall
22:00 locklands / locklands
channels mentioned:
‪@dog-earedpages1017‬ ‪@ebnovels‬
socials
📖 goodreads / christea
📚 storygraph app.thestorygraph.com/profile...
🐦 twitter / anyoneforbread
📷 instagram / peachcremerie

[@caitlincarter3051]

I love the way you talk about books - I feel like I understand these stories just listening. I want to be like you when i grow up. Subscribed.

[@asgoodasgolden]

I felt exactly the same about Divine Rivals. The romance was so instalove and the characters were so flat. And there were some pretty blatant editing mistakes like "she could care less," that kept pulling me out of it! I'm so glad I DNFed after about 60% because I looked up what happened and I was not impressed lol...

[@christeascozycorner]

i've also seen the second book not get as good of a reception, so yeah, idk idk!

[@lisagna7234]

I felt the same about Locklands, also gave it 3 stars, I'm glad I'm not alone in this!

[@christeascozycorner]

it coulid have been a favorite series! 😭

[@caitcoy]

You definitely made me want to pick up City of Nightmares, it sounds like fun. 😂

[@christeascozycorner]

THE AMOUNT OF TIMES I LAUGHED OUT LOUD

[@faeryreads]

noooo i love divine rivals 😭😭😭 okay but for real though the ending of empire of gold is one of my faves, listening to you talk about it making me want to reread the whole series 😂

[@christeascozycorner]

UGH SARAH I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING I'LL VOXER YOU LATER

[@xavienvera4221]

You’re awesome at explaining yourself and telling us about the books fricken love the reviews

[@christeascozycorner]

aww thank you so much!

[@SnacksandStacks]

I really want to read Emily Wilde's and now I really want to read the City of Brass series since you thought the series ended well. It's always a bummer when the last book doesn't live up to the beginning ones 😥

[@christeascozycorner]

i have such a bad track record when it comes to series conclusions, so i'm so happy that one stuck the landing 🙏

[@Ingridreadsalot]

I can’t wait to read Emily Wilde just bought the first book

[@christeascozycorner]

whoooooo!!! 🤞 hoping you like it as much as i did!

[@valw3774]

I agree with your comments about the writing in Locklands! LOVE your videos

[@christeascozycorner]

thank you!!! 🥰

[@tinyprettymoon]

I didn’t realize how validating it would be to hear someone else talk about how repetitive authors can be with certain words. It happened in the Red Queen series where some words like childish, foolish, and some others, plus some form of the phrase “I know better” were all so overused. It drove me crazy. The book I’m currently reading, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow, also has a main character with PTSD and I’m not gonna say her trauma isn’t valid or that she’s not allowed to mourn the life she used to have, but in the first 60 something pages, she mentioned at least 6 times that she was never meant to be a surgeon, she just wanted to be a pharmacist and travel the world, she was forced into being a surgeon. It’s supposed to be so emotional, and it kind of is, but at the same time I’m like girl please shut up 😭 I love Elliot tho! I read Godkiller and Song of Silver, Flame Like Night on her recommendation and loved them 😩 I need the sequels asap lol

[@christeascozycorner]

LOL yeah, it's definitely something that really stands out to me and can ruin a book for me if it bothers me enough. i feel like i don't hear it bother other people as much 🤣 also what you say about as long as the lemon trees grow, THAT WOULD DRIVE ME BONKERS. that's way too much LOL i need to read those!!!

[@shalryma]

As much as it pains me to say it (as I enjoyed Divine Rivals), if you didn't like the characters, I don't think you're going to enjoy the latter part of the book (though it is indeed significantly better than the first half). One really needs to be involved in the relationship between those two kids to have a good time.

[@christeascozycorner]

very true 😔i think i'm banking on the characters growing on me more in the second half, though i'm not sure that will happen haha

[@caitlinl2750]

I’ve read these all!!!

[@andrewf7732]

I really enjoy your reviews and enjoy hearing about why a book may or may not work for you. I had a similar experience with Locklands. The magic became overwhelming and hard to follow. The first book was my favorite and I thought the use of magic in the book was the most interesting.

[@christeascozycorner]

thanks!!! yeah i really miss the, not exactly simplicity, but i'll use that for lack of a better word, of the first book 🥲

[@Shellesspace]

You’re my book sibling for a reason! I also didn’t LOVE Divine Rivals 🫣 The concept was so up my alley, but I also struggled with the writing and pacing. I finished the book, but I doubt I’ll read the sequel. Surprise, surprise. I also had mixed feelings about the city of brass…but then loved it 😂 Have you read the adventure of Amina al-sirafi? If you haven’t and want to, wanna buddyread it in the spring?? I still need to read Emily Wilde. I didn’t know if it was for me, but if you liked it it’s 85% ensured I will 🤗

[@christeascozycorner]

BOOK SIBLINGS STRIKE AGAIN 🎳 i haven't read amina yet! and OF COURSE BUDDYREAD haha (i still haven't forgotten about the grace of kings... I PROMISE... SOON 😭)

[@elainet6450]

loving all your books. I have Divine Rivals and my TBR and now I am nervous

[@christeascozycorner]

my opinion on it is definitely on the unpopular side though!

[@ezool18]

i had those exact same thoughts on Cage of Dreams. very repetitive for a reading experience, and i wish there was more page time regarding Cy's personal antagonist (keeping vague for anyone reading the comment section) since that seemed to really only pop up tangibly at the end. but yea, overall i had a great time with the duology as well! and honestly, hoping there's a return to this world with how the epilogue ended.

[@christeascozycorner]

i'm glad you still enjoyed it overall! the series was just a lot of fun. i wanted more about cy's storyline too, but the ending to that made me laugh so hard 😂

[@BooksWithJudy]

I still am on the fence if I wanna continue the Emily Wilde books. I feel like I can live with how the first one ended? You know? XD maybe I am alone on this one. But I just am so afraid I won't like the next books as much as I did the first one. I read incredible 25 books in January. Imagine doing a wrap up for that? Would be around 2 hours long XD

[@christeascozycorner]

25 books!!! that's amazing. the most i've ever read in a single month was 10 🤣 i think it's perfectly fine to stop after the first emily wilde book because it does end quite nicely. but if you really enjoy emily and bambleby's interactions, they just get better!

[@LiteratureScienceAlliance]

Totally fair on how Locklands feels different, although oddly enough I did not think it became a soft magic system but maybe I was giving it too much credit when I read it 😆

[@christeascozycorner]

(locklands spoiler) . . . . . . . . i think i'm thinking more of like, everything that crasedes does, like all the permissions inside his bindings, and his flying around and throwing citadels LOL. it was like oh okay, this is just wacky magic now, no longer the coding kind of scriving 😂 the hierophantic stuff in general i guess!

[@cat.book.nook.]

I still haven't read Divine Rivals, but I'm kind of thinking I might not like it. I think I get that 'it's trying too hard' feeling pretty easily. 😅

[@danielrichardson3946]

Looking forward to reading Foundryside this year and at least my expectations are lowered now for Locklands

[@christeascozycorner]

i'm glad you'll still give it a chance 🤣

[@kaylyn.nicole]

i finished divine rivals and gave it a one star, lol. for me, it didn't get any better in the last half!

[@christeascozycorner]

haha uh oh that does not bode well for me 🤣

[@LaughingStockfarm1]

And as you were talking about the repetitiveness of Locklands it made me notice how often you say like. 😬

[@christeascozycorner]

i also say literally, especially, and so a lot 🙂

[@ZAMAN3705]

What would you recommend for a fantasy lover

[@Audrey_7]

Adding City of Nightmares to my (already overflowing) TBR!! And you've convinced me to pick up Foundryside soon!

[@christeascozycorner]

my storygraph username is walk! 💗

[@XxunforgottenxXxlove]

Ahhh, I hate preordering books now. I’m in Canada and preorder through Indigo and I find that the book always takes so long to get to me that there’s almost no point in preordering it and I could just buy it in store. Even when I request pick up in store it’s can be so delayed 😢 Okay, side note, Im so curious since I saw someone point it out, why is Malice and Valor separate from the other John Gwynn’s books?

[@christeascozycorner]

i'm in canada and preorder from indigo too!!! HAHA i've found that indigo actually stocks the books a few days before the books' release date (sometimes as early as the friday before), so yeah sometimes it's better to just buy in-store... but online also has so many deals 😭 truly first-world dilemmas lol i need to keep a tally of how many times i get asked this 🤣 MY SHELVES JUST AREN'T ORGANIZED LOL