Down the Rabbit Hole

From the author of Counting Down with You and A Show for Two comes a new YA contemporary about a girl who accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band and falls for the guitarist while secretly trying to make up for her mistake.

Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing.

When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth.

With both her heart and their futures on the line, will Liana be able to undo the damage she’s caused?

Overall Recommendation:

Stay With My Heart is full of musical references and a romances that sweeps you off your feet. Liana was a well-fleshed out protagonist to sympathize with as she embarks on this secret mission to make the band, Third Eye, into a great success. I loved the realness of her struggles, the songs she connected with, and her growing relationship with each of the boys in the band. The romance was so organic even while the impending blow up over her secrets hangs overhead. I couldn’t put this down, and Tashie has slowly secured a spot as a writer that just gets what I want in a love story.

Continue reading →

discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish – End of Year

December 29, 2023 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Aria @ Book Nook Bits is the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

December 29: End of Year Freebie

Prompts: It’s the fifth Friday of December, and almost the end of the year! Use this week to revisit an old LTB topic, or write about something you’re interested in! You can also check out the LTB archives on my blog and on Rukky’s for more topic ideas.

Welcome to the last week of LTB here at DTRH for 2023! It’s been quite a crazy year (do we say that every year?) and I have no doubt 2024 will also be just as eventful in its own way. Nevertheless, I wanted to take a moment at the end of this year to reflect a bit on some reading or bookish things from 2023.

I definitely succeeded this year in making sure reading was not a chore this year, and that I really only read when it was enjoyable for me. That being said, as a result I read significantly less books, unsurprisingly. But looking back, I think that was still for the better, and it was likely a lot of other factors as well that ultimately led to me reading less books this year, which I think I ought to be kind to myself about.

I had my ups and downs this year with blogging too as I experienced many things for the first time, which made me busier than usual. But I think overall I was still able to achieve my goals and look back fondly on this year as a success regarding the bookish side of things. I may have read less books in number, but I was also able to reach out to different readers this year to get suggestions on books that I would never have otherwise read. I also read a number of books for my book club that I may not have picked up otherwise. I would call that a success too!

For me I’d say this year was definitely a bit different from the rest, but all in a good way. In fact, I think there will be several things in store for next year, if things do pan out. So hopefully there will be some exciting new content for you all in the community in 2024! I am certainly looking forward to it, and I hope that I will also continue to grow as a reader and as a blogger.

I anticipate (once again) some busy moments in the upcoming year already, and I am unsure how it will ultimately affect my reading habits, but if this year has taught me anything, it’s that I really do love to read, and especially when someone else talks up a book, it really does get me excited to commit to a book no matter how busy I am that time of year. I’m glad to know that I don’t really have to worry about me “giving up” on books, and really all I got to do is to slip in various pockets of time for me to read, even if they aren’t necessarily long stretches. Looking back, I read a lot on the commute this year, which definitely helped to increase my reading volume in the end.

How do you all feel about all things bookish, looking back on this year? Is it an anomalous year, or just the same old? Do you prefer it that way (same or different)? Let me know in the comments below, and Happy New Year!

4 star

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

December 28, 2023April 29, 2025 Fives @ Down The Rabbit Hole

Legendborn #2

The magic of the Arthurian legends continues! Can Bree control her own powers? All Bree ever wanted was to uncover the truth about her mother’s death. And so she infiltrated the order of toll-bearers, a secret society of descendants of King Arthur’s knights – and there she discovered her own powers inherited from her ancestors. And now Bree has become someone new. Medium. Blood shop. The heiress. But the ancient war between the demons and the Order is coming to a deadly climax. And Nick, the toll collector that Bree fell in love with, was kidnapped. Bree wants to fight, but the regents who rule the Order won’t let her. To them, she is just an unknown girl with strange powers, and as the living anchor of the spell that preserves the cycle of toll collectors, she must be protected. When the Regents prove they’re willing to do anything to keep the war a secret, Bree and her friends must go it alone to save Nick. But enemies are everywhere, and Bree’s powers are unpredictable and dangerous. And she also can’t escape the growing attraction she feels for Selwyn, the mage who has promised to protect Nick until his death. If Bree is to have even a glimmer of hope to save herself and those she loves, she must learn to control her powers from the ancestors who wielded them first—and not lose herself in the process.

This is the second book in the Legendborn series that I read in a day as soon as I finished Legendborn. The first book was so good I just had to race through the second, and though I think overall I enjoyed the first book more, I still thought this second book in the series was excellent. I cannot wait to finish this series with book 3 when it comes out.

Bloodmarked follows Bree after her initiation into the Order and the new challenges she faces as more and more challenges arise. As Bree fights the hierarchy that has been established for 1500 years, more and more hurdles come to light, and the burden weighs down on her to try and reverse the tides of history and customs. Full of twists and turns, this is an exciting second book in the journey of self-discovery, and also in fighting against the given path.

Continue reading →