ARC Book Review: Muñeca by Cynthia Gómez
Thank you to G.P. Putnam's Sons and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy! Who would have thought that my review of The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia could offer so many opportunities in the ARC world? Maybe this proves Moreno-Garcia's positive influence on the success of rising Latina authors and their Gothic horrors. Either way, I was very happy to see an email in my inbox that offered an early insight into Gómez's latest novel. Muñeca is a Gothic fantasy that follows
C Y Wang
4 days ago2 min read
ARC Book Review: The Fox and the Devil by Kiersten White
Thank you to Del Rey and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy! When I saw an email from Del Rey through Netgalley, offering an ARC of their upcoming gothic fantasy novel because they saw my review of The Bewitching , I thought I was imagining things. What an honour to have received this offer! Obviously, I had to do the book justice by taking my time to engage with the text and gather my thoughts before I jump into my review. At the time of writing this post, I was back hom
C Y Wang
Mar 102 min read
Book Club February Review: Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
For February's book club book, I endeavoured to choose a more romance-centred fantasy that would hopefully make me swoon without tearing apart my heart. If you've been following our blog for a while, you would know that I love angsty books that make me sob like a child, but sometimes a wholesome story is what I need. For that reason, I chose Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross for the most romantic month of the year. In short, Divine Rivals is about Iris as she navigates her mother
C Y Wang
Mar 103 min read
Book Club December Review: Coldwire by Chloe Gong
Did I choose this book because it was December and we're getting to the colder months? Or was it because I saw an event on the Waterstones website with Chloe Gong which compelled me to buy tickets because who wouldn't want to meet a successful young female author? Either way, Coldwire might seem like a rogue choice since we usually choose fantasy or contemporary thrillers, but we couldn't miss this cyberpunk novel in our current climate of AI taking over the world. Coldwire i
C Y Wang
Jan 63 min read
Book Club October Review: Alchemised by SenLinYu
I thought my fan fiction days were over, but when I saw the huge hype around a Dramione fan fiction called Manacled being traditionally published, I was obviously curious. Seems like nothing, not even time and leaving fan spaces, could deter me from going back to my roots. My initial curiosity, mixed with people's opinion on TikTok insisting that Manacled destroyed them as well as the beautiful, gothic cover art, made me choose Alchemised by SenLinYu for October's book club
C Y Wang
Nov 1, 20254 min read
Shame Shelf Planning Tips: Creating Believable Characters
Whether your novel is more plot-driven or you allow your characters to take the lead, all stories require believable characters that are interesting and can hold the reader's attention. You might be one of the people that struggle with character creation, or you might belong to the group that finds it easy to come up with dynamic protagonists. Whichever category you most resonate with, we hope that this post will be useful for your novel writing journey. Step 1: Motivation Th
C Y Wang
Oct 25, 20254 min read
Shame Shelf Planning Tips: From Idea to Plot
You have an idea for a story. That's great! Now you're asking yourself, how do I turn this into a full novel? We've got exactly what you need. We've been where you are and in this mini-guide we will walk you through how we each went from our initial ideas to having a detailed plot. Step 1: Brainstorm The first step for both of us was brainstorming. This can take whatever form works best for you, but if you're struggling with where to start this is how we both approached the p
Kayleigh A
Oct 20, 20255 min read
The Writer's Retreat: Our Guide to Creating Your Own
CY and I are both working on the second drafts of our fantasy manuscripts and some days the struggle to get those words out is real,...
Kayleigh A
Sep 30, 20255 min read
Book Club August Review: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
If you’re following us on TikTok, you would already know that I went to Toppings & Company in Bath and picked one of the wrapped books on the Blind Dates with a Book table for the month of August. And if you haven't seen the video yet, go to TikTok now and follow us! Camp Damascus follows the story of Rose Darling who is haunted by an eerie woman with sagging skin and can't stop regurgitating flies at the dinner table. As she notices strange events happening around her relig
C Y Wang
Sep 21, 20254 min read