Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga where we share books we’ve bought or received this week. Find out more and join in here!
Hi all! It’s time for a Stacking the Shelves post to catch up on the past few weeks when I haven’t been keeping up to date. I’ve acquired a few books over the past few weeks and a few of them have been gifts from publishers!
Gifted
Deadly storms have ravaged Mina’s homeland for generations. Floods sweep away entire villages, while bloody wars are waged over the few remaining resources. Her people believe the Sea God, once their protector, now curses them with death and despair. In an attempt to appease him, each year a beautiful maiden is thrown into the sea to serve as the Sea God’s bride, in the hopes that one day the “true bride” will be chosen and end the suffering.
Many believe that Shim Cheong, the most beautiful girl in the village—and the beloved of Mina’s older brother Joon—may be the legendary true bride. But on the night Cheong is to be sacrificed, Joon follows Cheong out to sea, even knowing that to interfere is a death sentence. To save her brother, Mina throws herself into the water in Cheong’s stead.
Swept away to the Spirit Realm, a magical city of lesser gods and mythical beasts, Mina seeks out the Sea God, only to find him caught in an enchanted sleep. With the help of a mysterious young man named Shin—as well as a motley crew of demons, gods and spirits—Mina sets out to wake the Sea God and bring an end to the killer storms once and for all.
But she doesn’t have much time: A human cannot live long in the land of the spirits. And there are those who would do anything to keep the Sea God from waking…
I already had a pre-ordered copy of The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea which I received this week, but I also received a hardback copy from the publisher! My friend Sophie wanted a copy though, so I gave her one of mine that I had spare.
Growing up in Ember Grove, Bitsy Clark knows better than to mess with the long-held traditions of her hometown. Until her best friend, Amy, persuades her to sneak into the Revelry – the end of school party in the woods, to which only those leaving are invited.
When she wakes the next day, Bitsy can’t remember anything from the night before. Weirder still, whenever she tries to speak about the Revelry, Bitsy chokes on the words. But this is just the beginning, and what starts out as a run of bad luck starts to feel like a curse. As Bitsy’s life goes from bad to worse, things only get better and better for her best friend. It’s as if there’s only so much luck to go round and Amy’s getting all of it…
I also received a copy of The Revelry, which is very exciting because I’ve read all of Katherine Webber’s books and I’ve loved them all! Thank you to Walker Books for my copy.
Bought
In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance. On the one hand, she’s a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family. Raised half in our world, half in ‘Elsewhere’, she has never understood Brimstone’s dark work – buying teeth from hunters and murderers – nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself, plagued by the sensation that she isn’t whole.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.
I stumbled across this beautiful hardback first edition of Daughter of Smoke and Bone at a charity book swap in a supermarket, which felt like such a good find! I haven’t read the series yet but I really want to and I love this edition.
I also picked up the second Poppy War book to continue buddy reading this series.
I also bought the second book in the All Our Hidden Gifts series as I found a signed edition at work! I buddy read the first book with my friends Amy and Jo, and we’re hoping to buddy read the second one together soon too.
Which books did you buy or receive this week?
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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