Melting Pages
Book Reviews and Recommendations
January 2022 TBR
Hi everyone! It feels so strange to be putting 2022 instead of 2021! I know most people are posting their best of 2021 lists right now, but I’m still hoping to get at least one more book read before the end of the year, so I won’t be posting my best/worst/most disappointing until early in January. To hold you over, here are the books I want to start off the new year with! I also just realized that they are all female written fantasy books, so I’m definitely starting the year off right!
The Dragon Republic by R.F. Kuang – I’m spoiling one of my 2022 posts, but I really want to finish some series that I’ve started but never continued on with. The Poppy War series is one of those, and I’ve been both dying to read it but also terrified of all the emotions I’m sure it will bring with it! The Dragon Republic is the second book in the trilogy following Rin, a girl with shamanic powers chosen by the vengeful Phoenix god. A lot of people love this series, and I’m really hoping I’ll be one of them!
Servant Mage by Kate Elliott – This is a 176 page novella that release on January 18th, so I of course want to read it and get a review out before then! I’ve actually seen a lot of mixed reviews on this one so far so I’m curious as to where I stand since I haven’t read anything from this author before. It follows a fire mage who ends up in a conspiracy to kill a royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement.
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen – I read and loved The Merciful Crow by this author (even though I still need to read book 2) so when this one was announced I was really curious. It came in one of my Illumicrate boxes and the edition is absolutely gorgeous, so I’m even more curious about it! This is a retelling of The Goose Girl told from the point of view of an anti-heroine, and I’m hoping it gets fairly dark even though it’s YA.
Midnight in Everwood by M.A. Kuzniar – Another of my January ARCs (it released in the UK in 2021, but it’s a January release for the US), this one is a retelling of The Nutcracker! The blurb says it’s filled with enchanted toys, decadent balls, fierce feminine friendships, and a forbidden romance, which all sounds absolutely magical. I wish I had been able to read this one around Christmas, but January will have to do!
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair – I’ve really been discovering lately that I absolutely love fantasy romance, so I want to read more of that in 2022! First on my list is King of Battle and Blood, which is from the same author who wrote A Touch of Darkness (which I also haven’t read yet). In this one, a human woman has to marry (and then kill) the vampire king to end a war, but her feelings start to get in the way. I’m just 100% here for addictive fantasy romance in 2022!
Castles in Their Bones by Laura Sebastian – I’ve read a few books by this author, one I loved (Ash Princess) and one I felt a little meh about (Half Sick of Shadows) so I’m hoping that this one will be another one that I love! It comes out on February 1st, and follows triplet princesses who were married off to princes of other countries, placed there by their mother with one goal – bring down the monarchy and help her reign over the entire continent. Sounds dark, and I know that this author doesn’t shy away from having her characters make hard decisions so I’m really interested in this one!
What books will you be reading in January? Do you have any thoughts on these? I’d love to chat!
Melting Pages 
The cover of Servant mage is amazing!
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It really is! The synopsis doesn’t mention any dragons, but I’m wondering if they’re included based on the cover!
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Aww, cool! I may still manage to read another book before 2022 too. It really depends what happens over these last couple days and how I feel, whether my interests go more towards reading or towards my own art.
What I read in January will depend in part on whether I buy in January or hold off until later, and what Giveaways I may get my hands on. I still have a bunch of novels from a Giveaway that I haven’t read, though some of them look pretty interesting, but its hard for me to remember all their names.
Apart from that, my January TBR list is pretty small. Finish reading The 13nth Zodiac by Azshure L. Krauch, and Into the Blood Red Woods by Martha Brockenbrough and Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey, which a recent conversation inspired me to take a chance with even though it’s more sci-fi than I tend to like, since I’ve loved the other Dragonriders of Pern by Anne that I’ve read.
All female authors, too, I think 😀 I tend not to care – or even know unless someone points it out to me – about the gender of the authors I read, but it does tend to be more female than male, I’m pretty sure. Somehow, that happens by accident for me.
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Hope you enjoy these 💜
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome ☺️
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