Tag: September

Posted in Alexandra Christo, Review

Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo | ARC REVIEW

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year because I completely adored To Kill a Kingdom back when I read the ARC in 2018, and I think that was one of the books that sparked my love for fairytale retellings. However, four years later, I no longer agree with a majority of the points in that review and the things that made me fall in love with the book have faded, and reading Princess of Souls really reminded me of the flaws. I think it’s going to be difficult for me to write a detailed review of the book without comparing it to To Kill a Kingdom, so I am just going to commit to the comparisons.

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Posted in Review

Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong | ARC REVIEW

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Content warnings: blood, violence, murder, weapon use, needles, description of human experimentation, descriptions of war, descriptions of head injury.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, but I was already intending on buying this book. Specifically the pretty Waterstones edition with the pink foil cover.


Foul Lady Fortune is the first book in Chloe Gong’s new duology following an ill-matched pair of spies posing as a married couple to investigate a series of brutal murders in 1930s Shanghai. It is a speculative historical thriller inspired by Shakespeare’s As You Like It and can also be pitched as a Chinese period drama meets a Marvel movie. The author says you can read this book without reading the original These Violent Delights duology as all the events that have already happened are explained in the text, but I think not reading those books first will negatively affect your reading experience.

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Posted in Review, Stephanie Garber

Once Upon a Broken Heart [ARC REVIEW]

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I was given an eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book is pure magic and I was so frustrated when it ended. It might be about to become my new favourite Stephanie Garner books. No one does magical details like her, and the world building and magic system is this book is a prime example of that. It’s set in the same world as the Caraval series and features a few cameos from the cast, but it’s mostly brand new characters and exploring a new part of the world. I think I should break this review into the two main characters.

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Posted in Personal, Writing

Writing With A Mental Illness

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

Many writers (and creative people in general) struggle with mental illness, myself included. And it’s not as charming or helpful or inspiring for our work as some people try to make it seem. At the very least, writers are often stereotyped to be depressed. And I’m not joking when I say that there are people out there in the world who believe that creatives have to be mentally ill in order to create some kind of art. My opinion, in one word, is just… no.

Writing while being mentally ill (from my experience) is occasionally borderline impossible. On a good day, it can be incredibly difficult. It’s not fun and it makes you feel like quitting or missing out on opportunities or not enjoy something that you truly love. It’s a fight to keep going, and sometimes you just need support. Being stigmatised or told you’re ‘broken’ or that you should be mentally ill because you’re a creative are some of the worst and least helpful things.

So, from the experience of a writer with a mental illness, here are some things I do to keep me writing.

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Posted in Writing

Things I Do To Become A Better Writer

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

I have been writing seriously for eleven years. I’ve been writing novels for only five years, and I self-published my debut novel less than two years ago. I still have a lot to learn about being a writer and being an author. I still feel like a little kid sat at my dad’s giant computer and mashing the keyboard until a story appeared on Notepad.

But I’ve made progress from those days eleven years ago. And I’ve done a lot of things that I know have helped me get here.

So, here are five things I do to become a better writer.

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Posted in Reading

Hyped Books that I LOVE

Posted on by Tegan Anderson

When it comes to hyped YA books, I usually run from them in fear because I think they won’t live up to the expectations. I’m the kind of person who is extremely cautious of overhyped books and craves smaller elusive titles. I mean, I want to read all the books so I read them eventually, it just takes me a while.

I’ve read some hyped books that aren’t that great, to be honest. But there’s some that I’m in love with. Here’s a list of those books.

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