Ziel: mindestens 20 Bücher

01 - An Education in Malice | S.T. Gibson
02 - Powerless | Lauren Roberts
03 - Don't Let The Forest In | C.G. Drews

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Ziel: insgesamt 20 Bücher

01 - Warrior Cats: Zeit der Dunkelheit | Erin Hunter

Ziel: 2 Bücher pro Monat, insgesamt 24 Bücher

01 - Lore | Alexandra Bracken

Buch Nr.: 1
Titel: An Education in Malice
Autor*in: S. T. Gibson
Reihe: -
Seitenanzahl: 352

Inhalt:
Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua's College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.

But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and dark magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.

[content: dark academia, vampires, poetics, queer love story, overweight representation]
[warnings!: uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relationships between a professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, and murder, consensual sexual content, including public sex, kink, alcohol and drug use]

Bewertung aus 5: 4 / 5
Rezension:
I did expect much from this book, as I absolutely adored 'A Dowry of Blood' and it absolutely delivered.

I love the way S. T. Gibson creates their worlds, how lighthearted goes hand in hand with dark and gruesome - where a delightful, adorable scene of beginning lovers sprinting in the rain can be followed by vampiric debauchery and it just works out really well.

As much as I would have wanted to give this a full 5 star review, I can not. Mainly, because the pacing of the book felt so naturally to me most of the time, until the last 20 percent just rushed through. I would've loved to have 50 to 100 sites more and some more slow, developing ending and while I am not really unhappy with it, I am not completely satisfied with it aswell.

The tropes and characters in this book just ticked all my boxes, so did the delicate and immensely poetic - which still is simply to read, yet hauntingly beautiful - writing I learned to love about Gibson.

To start my 2025 reading year with this is definitely a decision I do not regret at all!

Buch Nr.: 02
Titel: Powerless
Autor*in: Lauren Roberts
Reihe: The Powerless Trilogy #1
Seitenanzahl: 523
Inhalt:
Only the extraordinary belong in the kingdom of Ilya—the exceptional, the empowered, the Elites.

The powers these Elites have possessed for decades were graciously gifted to them by the Plague, though not all were fortunate enough to both survive the sickness and reap the reward. Those born Ordinary are just that—ordinary. And when the king decreed that all Ordinaries be banished in order to preserve his Elite society, lacking an ability suddenly became a crime—making Paedyn Gray a felon by fate and a thief by necessity.

Surviving in the slums as an Ordinary is no simple task, and Paedyn knows this better than most. Having been trained by her father to be overly observant since she was a child, Paedyn poses as a Psychic in the crowded city, blending in with the Elites as best she can in order to stay alive and out of trouble. Easier said than done.

When Paeydn unsuspectingly saves one of Ilyas princes, she finds herself thrown into the Purging Trials. The brutal competition exists to showcase the Elites’ powers—the very thing Paedyn lacks. If the Trials and the opponents within them don’t kill her, the prince she’s fighting feelings for certainly will if he discovers what she is—completely Ordinary.

Bewertung aus 5: 2 / 5
Rezension:
Tribute von Panem mit ein bisschen Fantasy rein gesprinkelt. Unoriginell und plotmäßig einfach komisch, ehrlich gesagt. Viele Elemente des Buches sind wirklich 1 zu 1 aus anderen bekannten Medien übernommen, sogar die Charaktere sind teils gleich. Hatte ich eine schlechte Zeit beim Lesen? Nein. Fand ich das Buch gut? Definitiv nicht. Es war okay zu lesen aber die Hauptcharaktere sind einfach unheimlich unoriginell und schmeißen all ihre angeblichen Eigenschaften zur Seite sobald es um die Liebe geht. Naja. Overhyped von Social Media, meiner Meinung nach. Den Rest der Reihe fasse ich definitiv nicht an.

Detailliertes, englisches Review hier.

Buch Nr.: 03
Titel: Don't Let The Forest In
Autor*in: C.G. Drews
Reihe: -
Seitenanzahl: 352
Inhalt:
High school senior Andrew Perrault finds refuge in the twisted fairytales that he writes for the only person who can ground him to reality―Thomas Rye, the boy with perpetually ink-stained hands and hair like autumn leaves. And with his twin sister, Dove, inexplicably keeping him at a cold distance upon their return to Wickwood Academy, Andrew finds himself leaning on his friend even more.

But something strange is going on with Thomas. His abusive parents have mysteriously vanished, and he arrives at school with blood on his sleeve. Thomas won't say a word about it, and shuts down whenever Andrew tries to ask him questions. Stranger still, Thomas is haunted by something, and he seems to have lost interest in his artwork―whimsically macabre sketches of the monsters from Andrew's wicked stories.

Desperate to figure out what's wrong with his friend, Andrew follows Thomas into the off-limits forest one night and catches him fighting a nightmarish monster―Thomas's drawings have come to life and are killing anyone close to him. To make sure no one else dies, the boys battle the monsters every night. But as their obsession with each other grows stronger, so do the monsters, and Andrew begins to fear that the only way to stop the creatures might be to destroy their creator...

[CONTENT WARNINGS !!!: body horror, gore, death, self-harm, bullying, homophobia, panic attacks, schizophrenia/psychosis, grief related trauma, eating disorder, physical abuse, blood, murder, emotional abuse, abandonment, classism, suicide, suicidal thoughts]

Bewertung aus 5: 3 / 5
Rezension: Dieses Buch war mein erster Bookclub-Read zusammen mit ein paar Bekannten aus einem anderen Forum und wir waren alle sehr, sehr hyped drauf. Leider ist es ebenso schön wie es schaurig ist. Der Schreibstil, die Aesthetic, die Metaphern - wunderschön und wirklich tiefgehend. Ich habe das Buch fast ganz in einem Sitting gelesen und es rein von den Worten her geliebt. Alles in allem mochte ich es, würde es unter Vorbehalt auch weiter empfehlen, aber...

... was ich nicht verstehen kann, ist, wie man dieses Buch mit diesen Themen als Young Adult vermarkten kann und das auch noch ohne Contentwarnings oder zumindest einen Disclaimer vorneweg, der für das sensibilisiert was kommt. Es gab nichts davon und ihr seht selber die ewig lange Liste sehr schwieriger Themen, die ich beim Inhalt rein gepackt habe. Auch die asexuelle Representation ließ zu wünschen übrig, war leider eher im Verlauf des Buches eher weniger thematisiert.

Detailliertes, englisches Review hier.