Maude’s Book Club
Maude’s Book Club
Book Review: ‘Ruthless Vows’ by Rebecca Ross
Our bonus book of the month was Ruthless Vows by Rebecca Ross!
After reading Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross in February, the MBC community needed to finish the duology. The love the MBC community had for the first novel is unmatched this year for our reading list. Ross is a beautiful writer and we were fortunate enough to have her join Maude Garrett as they discussed her Letter of Enchantment duology.
Book Review: ‘Funny Story’ by Emily Henry
Funny Story by Emily Henry shows the beauty in friendships and rediscovering yourself. It’s a refreshing read and there’s a level of honesty that has been hard to find in other romance novels. Henry has always been realistic with her characters and they’ve all felt grounded. It’s never just about romantic relationships, but how everyone can be affected by others in their lives. Where can trauma or loss stem from and how does that manifest into something else?
Book Review: ‘A Court of Mist and Fury’ by Sarah J. Maas
Many had fallen in love with the first book (like myself) and decided to continue the series. Since it was my first time reading a Maas series, I felt it was only right to continue to write reviews for the series. Right after I finished Divine Rivals in February, I picked up A Court of Mist and Fury. It is a lengthy book and I was intimidated, but Maas expertly builds a sequel that is better than the first.
Book Review: ‘The Poppy War’ by R.F. Kuang
Our book club pick for March was The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang. It has been known that Kuang’s novels are rich with historical and political writing that become dense for some readers. This series is the best way to get to know Kuang and her style of writing.
It feels like an entry-level into her world, and hopefully, you will appreciate how talented of a writer she is. Even if it’s not your style of fantasy, there’s an appreciation for the ambition of this type of structure for a trilogy.
Book Review: ‘Divine Rivals’ by Rebecca Ross
If you’re a fan of historical fiction and Romantasy, Divine Rivals is the perfect mixture of both. Rebecca Ross crafts a young adult novel filled with yearning and stolen words on a page between a fantastical typewriter. Not only is it an intimate love story between Iris Winnow and Roman Kitt, but there’s a war among the gods, Dacre and Enva.
Book Review: ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ By Sarah J. Maas
Welcome to the newcomers, and if you didn’t know, I am the resident critic! There are some books I will be reading with the community and some other novels that are trending. I have always wanted to read A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas because Maude Garrett and the rest of the community have spoken so highly of the series.
Everyone has fallen in love with this series, and it was a joy to read along with our incredible community. As a new reader, I wanted to dive into as many series as possible this year. So not only will you be getting a review for the first instalment of this series, but the rest as well!
There will be SPOILERS below, so if you haven’t read the series yet…BEWARE!
Book Review: ‘Iron Flame’ by Rebecca Yarros
After reading Fourth Wing in September with our wonderful community, it was very fitting that we would read the sequel the month of release. Many of our community members struggled with the length and how much lore was involved. The one thing that can be said about Iron Flame is that the characters are so well-written that they have become timeless. These characters will become familiar to everyone instantly, and that’s the magic of Yarros’s writing.
Book Review: ‘Fairy Tale’ by Stephen King
Regardless of how you know Stephen King, whether it’s from his novels or the film adaptations, he will always suck you into the world that he creates. Fairy Tale by Stephen King had been nominated for the best Fantasy novel in 2022 by Goodreads. That was a major factor as to why we wanted to read this one for Maude’s Book Club in October!
Convincing You to Read Books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
If you have Goodreads and follow Maude Garrett, Amanda Tass, or Amanda Guarragi (me), you know Maude chose Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia for Book Chat last year!
This year, I decided to dive into Mexican Gothic, which blew me away and is one of the best books I’ve read this year. And next on the list is Silver Nitrate, which people have been raving about. Silvia Moreno-Garcia crosses genres and gives such depth to her female characters, which is one of the main reasons I enjoyed her writing.
Have you read any books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia? Well, if you haven’t this is why we think you should!
Book Review: ‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros
‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros was released on May 2nd, 2023 and has become the Fantasy phenomenon of the year. Thanks to #booktok, new releases have gotten way more recognition than usual. Everyone on social media raved about this novel for months, and the fanbase grew.
Yarros has said that she’s happy romance and fantasy readers can come together and enjoy this series. This is the perfect start for anyone who has had trouble dipping their toe into the fantasy genre.
Convincing You to Read Books by Leigh Bardugo
You know that Maude has been obsessed with Leigh Bardugo because of Six of Crows!
After Shadow and Bone season two was released, I decided to read it as well and I couldn’t put it down. The reason why Leigh Bardugo is such a talented writer is because of her pacing and descriptions for the action set pieces in her novels.
Leigh Bardugo created the Grishaverse which has now become even more popular because of the Netflix series. The next adaptation will hopefully be Six of Crows after the introduction of the jurda parem in season two.
Convincing You to Read Books by Blake Crouch
If you have Goodreads and you follow Maude Garrett, Amanda Tass, or Amanda Guarragi (me), you know that Maude has always praised Blake Crouch and his book Dark Matter. If Maude recommends any author to anyone, Crouch is definitely high on the list.
Blake Crouch has been writing for a while and has a total of 80 distinct works under his belt. He mainly writes suspense, thrillers and science fiction. All of our favourite things!
Join Maude’s Book Club!
We know that the internet can be a tough space to navigate and that’s why we want to create a safe space for everyone in the reading community to be able to discuss their favourite books with other bookworms.
Not only do community members interact with other book lovers and creator Maude Garrett, but Maude connects with the authors of the books directly so the community can also discuss the book with their favoruite authors.
