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ike @ perennial reading

@moominquartz.bsky.social

isaiah/ike ☆ he/they ☆ 29 ☆ trans ☆ TME ☆ white ☆ currently: dragon age, dropout, books, us politics (antifascist) ☆ (18+)

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

to be taught, if fortunate - chambers ☆☆☆☆ the themes in this novella were immaculate. i'm definitely going to have to read more of chambers going forward, because she knocked it out of the park on this one.

The cover art for "To Be Taught, If Fortunate". There is a blue planet set against a starry sky background. In the foreground is a pale skinned woman with black hair, wearing a white skintight suit and a black belt, floating in space as she faces the planet.

In her new novella, Sunday Times best-selling author Becky Chambers imagines a future in which, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the solar system instead transform themselves.

Ariadne is one such explorer. As an astronaut on an extrasolar research vessel, she and her fellow crewmates sleep between worlds and wake up each time with different features. Her experience is one of fluid body and stable mind and of a unique perspective on the passage of time. Back on Earth, society changes dramatically from decade to decade, as it always does.

Ariadne may awaken to find that support for space exploration back home has waned, or that her country of birth no longer exists, or that a cult has arisen around their cosmic findings, only to dissolve once more by the next waking. But the moods of Earth have little bearing on their mission: to explore, to study, and to send their learnings home.

Carrying all the trademarks of her other beloved works, including brilliant writing, fantastic world-building and exceptional, diverse characters, Becky's first audiobook outside of the Wayfarers series is sure to capture the imagination of listeners all over the world.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

the bodyguard - center ☆☆.5 the romance is very fun and sweet. but wow, the author's internalized misogyny really shines in the last half of the book.

The cover for "The Bodyguard" by Katherine Center. It features an illustration of man and a woman on the cover, facing opposite directions as they look away from each other. The man faces left and is white with brown hair and a blue suit. The woman faces right and is white with brown hair and wears a pink dress and red cowboy boots. Flowers cover the bottom border in the foreground and the background is a yellow sky.

She's got his back. He's got her heart. They've got a secret. What could possibly go wrong?
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with her bare hands. But the truth is, she's an elite bodyguard and she's just been hired to protect a superstar actor from his stalker.

Jack Stapleton's a Hollywood heartthrob - captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, rising out of the waves in clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity.

When Jack's mom gets sick, he comes home to the family's Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn't want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah - against her will and her better judgment - finds herself pretending to be Jack's girlfriend as a cover.

Protecting Jack should be easy. But protecting her own heart? That's the hardest thing she's ever done...

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

court of the vampire queen - robert ☆☆☆.5 i adored the polyamorous relationship, but the author decided to let the mc avoid making difficult choices, which was especially annoying given that her entire arc was about her being denied agency. i enjoyed it, but it started to piss me off.

The cover for the book "Court of the Vampire Queen" by Katee Robert. It is mostly black with some blue and red roses with red vines.

Three Powerfully Alluring Vampire Men
And One Queen to Rule Them All

All Mina ever wanted was to escape her father's control. Half human, half vampire, she lived eternally torn between two worlds, never fully experiencing the pleasures of either—until her father chose her as the pawn in his latest political move, gifting her to the darkly powerful and dangerously seductive Malachi Zion.

Malachi is not a vampire to be trifled with. He rules with an iron fist and has a reputation for the darkest of sins. But the longer Mina spends with him, the more she realizes he's not the monster she first thought—and as fear bleeds into lust, then trust, then something more, Malachi opens Mina up to a world she never knew could be hers for the taking: including the love of Malachi's two closest friends and companions.

Now surrounded by all three men, the center of their shockingly seductive world, Mina may finally have the power to face down her father and take back the life—and crown—that by all rights should be hers.

LONG LIVE THE QUEEN.

NOTE: Court of the Vampire Queen combines all three books in the Bloodline Vampires series.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

a discovery of witches - darkness ☆ i loathed this. i went into this completely blind, but if i'd known more maybe i wouldn't have picked it up to begin with. dear god do i wish i'd DNF'd. (it hit several prompts in a few different challenges, so i stuck with it, but i really wish i hadn't.)

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

odd spirits - gibson ☆☆☆ i enjoyed this, but it wasn't particularly exciting. knowing the ending (from reading evocation) undercut the tension, but i wouldn't have been invested without having known the characters. (also i listened to this and sadly did not care for the narrator...)

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 03/01/2025

happy 2025! here's some photos of my favorite spreads from my new reading journal in celebration of the new year! (apologies for quality). I hope to show this again at the end of the year when it's all filled out :)

The cover page for my reading journal, which reads "2025 reading journal". It features several illustrations of female knights and faeries, layered over one another.

My "book bracket" page. There is a space to enter a favorite title for every month. Every three months will go head-to-head, then the winners will go against each other, and then the winners of that will, until there is only one left, which will be crowned "Book of the Year". There is a sticker of a fairy queen holding a sword.

My "Goodreads Challenge" spread. It has 52 boxes drawn out and numbered individually. The boxes are currently white, but will be colored in when completed. There is space on the right for a key, which is currently blank. At the bottom there is a space to rotate the actual number of books completed. On the right there is a sticker of a female knight surrounded by roses.

My spread for the "Buzzword Challenge". The left page shows the prompts for each month, both the titles and the covers. The right page is for the prompt fills and has a box for each month, but there aren't any books inserted. It is done in a purple and pink theme, featuring cute cat stickers.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 08/11/2024

sister, maiden, monster - lucy a. snyder i get the idea. i felt like it was a poor execution. i would be interested in picking up the short story this was based on, but this novel just didn't do it for me.

The cover art for "Sister, Maiden, Monster" by Lucy A. Snyder. It features art of a Lovecraftian creature with tentacles, feathered wings, a head shaped like an exposed human brain. It carries a meat cleaver and wears a crucifix. The title is overlaid over the creature.

Sister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet’s disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder.

To survive they must evolve.

A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.

Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?

Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.

Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award-winning story “Magdala Amygdala,” Lucy A. Snyder delivers a cosmic tale about the planet’s disastrous transformation ... and what we become after.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 07/11/2024

a worthy opponent - katee robert tbh this was my least favorite of theirs by a mile. the LI didn't even have a prosthetic hook for a hand, or a prosthetic at all - how'd he get the name? the rest was standard romance slop that was mind numbing. i'm hopeful the next book in the series is better.

The cover art for "A Worthy Opponent" by Katee Robert. It features an image of a hook attached to a round object, as is seen in depictions of "hook hands" as prosthetics. It is not attached to anything or anyone, but on the ground.

Once upon a time I was a girl who believed in love and happily ever afters.

Now the only thing I believe in is revenge.

Unfortunately for me, there’s only one man willing to help me. Hook. I should have known it wouldn’t be out of the goodness of his heart. He doesn’t have one. No, Hook wants his ring on my finger and me on my knees before him—and he won’t take no for an answer.

I’m willing to pay any price in order to bring Pan down…even if it means I lose my soul in the bargain.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 07/11/2024

dragon age: the masked empire - patrick weekes this was so close to a 5☆ read. i was pleasantly surprised to find the themes, characters, and relationships incredibly compelling. it works as a standalone, though it is both enriched by and enriches the DA universe. sadly the action is a bit slow.

The cover art of "Dragon Age: The Masked Empire" by Patrick Weekes. The cover features an illustration of Empress Celene, a pale woman with platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes. She wears an ornate dress of black, gold, and blue. On one hand she holds a mask. All around her, disembodied hands seem to appear from behind her, their sources unclear. Two hands hold up the skirts of her dress. Another caresses an amulet against her collar. Another holds a knife to her throat. And two more hands hold a crown just above her head.

Empress Celene of Orlais rose to the throne of the most powerful nation in Thedas through wisdom, wit, and ruthless manipulation. Now, the empire she has guided into an age of enlightenment is threatened from within by imminent war between the templars and the mages even as rebellion stirs among the downtrodden elves. To save Orlais, Celene must keep her hold on the throne by any means necessary.

Fighting with the legendary skill of the Orlesian Chevaliers, Grand Duke Gaspard has won countless battles for the empire and the empress. But as the Circle fails and chaos looms, Gaspard begins to doubt that Celene's diplomatic approach Orlais' problems will keep the empire safe. Perhaps it is time for a new leader, one who lives by the tenets of the Chevalier's Code, to make Orlais strong again.

Briala has been Celene's handmaid since the two of them were children, subtly using her position to help improve the lives of elves across Orlais. She is Celene's confidante, spymaster, and lover, but when politics force the empress to choose between the rights of the elves and the Orlesian throne, Briala must decide where her true loyalties lie.

In this thrilling tie-in to the award-winning Dragon Age™ games, alliances are forged and promises broken as Celene and Gaspard battle for the throne of Orlais. But in the end, the elves who hide in the forests or starve in the slums may decide the fate of the masked empire.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 28/10/2024

a dark and drowning tide - allison saft i enjoyed this book for the most part - i ADORED the romance and the main mystery - but wow, the ending of this book was disappointing. i could have forgiven it if it were the first in a series, but since it's not (as far as i know), i can't. tragic.

The cover art for the book "A Dark and Drowning Tide" by Allison Saft. It features two characters, one dark-haired woman with short hair and pale skin, and a blonde woman with long hair, pale skin, and a scar across her face. They are lying face-up in a pond. The dark-haited woman wears masculine clothing and the blonde woman wears feminine clothing.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come true: to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the dark: forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.

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ike @ perennial reading @moominquartz.bsky.social · 24/10/2024

hunt on dark waters - katee robert a miss for me, but i was mostly reading it because i was interested in the sequel, which is a sapphic vampire romantasy. looking forward to it!

The cover for "Hunt on Dark Waters" by Katee Robert. The cover is mostly dark blue with gold accents. There is an image of a pirate ship in the background. The title is done in a white calligraphy with gold borders.

Evelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she’s fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She’s immediately given a choice—join their group or die.

Bowen has no memory of his life before he became one of the Cŵn Annwn. He and his pirate crew are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea in between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn’t expect to be attracted to the unflappably brassy pickpocket. The longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she’ll steal.

But as tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, danger escalates as well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows to the Cŵn Annwn, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price....

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