eProof Review - When Among Crows

As I said in my Queen Macbeth post, I was holding that shorter stories will give my reading the kick up the backside it needed after March’s reading slowdown/slump and the disappointing reads over the Easter break.

So you would be surprised to hear that I decided to read this novella.

Let me explain: I fell in the love with the cover when it came into my Twitter timeline and I was deeply considering buying it, so when I saw it on NetGalley, I requested it but I had my doubts that I would be approved as my stats on NetGalley haven’t been great since the great Amazon Easter Hack/Deleting of 2023 (no idea if someone tried to hack my Amazon account or if Amazon tried to delete my account by accident but, due to this, I lost ALL MY EPROOFS ON MY KINDLE!). Now, imagine my surprise when I found out I was approved and, after reading The Brothers by Kimberley Chambers and feeling so underwhelmed by it, I decided to read this instead of the reads I had planned (The Escape Room by LD Smithson, Missing White Woman by Kellye Garrett &/or The Company by J.M. Varese).

Title and Author: When Among Crows by Veronica Roth

Publisher: Titan Books

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: eProof gifted by UK publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction.

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

In modern day Chicago, Polish folklore is alive. Monsters feast on human emotion, knights split their souls to make their weapons and witches always take more than what they give.

Pain brings Dymitr and Ala together. Dymitr’s pain is the monsters he and the other Knights of the Holy Order slay and split his soul into two to create his sword from his own spine, while Ala’s is the family curse she has inherited to see visions of the horrors that the Holy Order committed.

One fateful night, the two meet and agree a bargain: if Ala can help find the legendary witch Baba Jaga. In exchange, Dymitr will give her an enchanted flower that might cure her.

But Ala doesn’t know who Dymitr is and what he truly wants and with less than 24 hours before the flower dies, killing her hopes of the curse being broken, the two need to move fast. But others want the flower and Baba Jaga’s location and they aren’t afraid to hurt and kill to get them… 

Audiobook Review - Queen Macbeth

After the reading slump Of March and the “meh”ness of reading Kimberley Chambers The Brothers and rereading Garth Nix’s Terciel and Elinor, I wanted to hit April with something different. Something with not only more punch and stories I can run to you guys at and go “Guys! Can I chew your ear off over this?!”

And, maybe even, tackle the books and ebooks that lovely publishers send me for review. 

So when this little novella of an audiobook came to my attention on NetGalley, I thought “Maybe something short will help me get out of my head and out of my funk.” (Plus, the cover looks awesome, doesn’t it?)

Title and Author: Queen Macbeth by Val McDermid

Publisher: Birlinn General & W.F. Hopes Ltd

Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Gifted by audiobook publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review/reaction

Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org

A thousand years ago in the Scottish landscape, a woman with her three female companions - a healer, a weaver and a seer - are on the run. Men are hunting her down, as she is the only one who stands in the way between them and the violent ambition for power. She is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king named Macbeth. 

History might have written her as a murderer conspirator to her husbands, but here, she is a woman who has loved and lost, and this might cost her everything… 

Neverending Reread List

 I am going to admit that my To Be Read list is very out of control (at the time of writing this, Goodreads and StoryGraph both tell me I have over 400 books that I would like to read one day). Some are recent, others have been on my shelves (both physical and electronic) for a very, very, very long time. 

But I love a good reread. And I discovered that I didn’t do any last year as I had too much to read and review. So, this year, I want to allow myself the chance to reread stories that itch at me and beg for the chance. 

Now, I have several on my radar and I have openly chatted about and I am making plans to attack them (or at least start) over the course of the Spring and Summer months. Plus, there are a few others that are sitting patiently on my kindle and I know that holding them off to next year isn’t going to be an opinion. I sense I might have to allow myself a month of hardcore rereading pleasure.

Now, before I chat about some of the titles, I will be putting affiliate links to bookshop.org to some titles (not all as I do ramble) so if any titles tickle your fancy and you want more details, you can click there and research. But if you want to use Amazon, Waterstones, Foyles or any other bookseller (indie or otherwise), please do so. Let’s share the bookish love!

Golden Age of Crime TBR

As you guys know, I love my fantasy and crime reading. These (YA, middle-grade, adult, New Adult, etc) is my bread and butter when it comes to reading. But with the role of being a book blogger, you feel guilty if you’re not reading the newest or newer releases compared to books that were written and published decades go. Yes, I feel this guilt all the time and, remember, when I first started blogging 14-odd years ago, I focus SOLELY on YA fiction whereas now, I am a magpie and love to take risks with my reading/reviewing (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t). 

And because I go flit about with my reading and my podcast listening when it comes to fiction, I wanted to make a small(ish) post about some crime titles I have on my “I Will Read You One Day” list that fit in the “Golden Age of Detective Fiction” (for those of you curious, the years most people class as this Golden Age is 1920s and 1930s). 

Now, I am not going to reference EVERY book that fits this term that’s on my To Be Read List as we will be here all day, but I wanted to pick a few out as, I am hoping that if I do, it will make me more likely to read them this year. Now, before I go any further, I have a good mix of books that I have bought, am borrowing from my library and titles that were gifted to be by the publisher in exchange for an honest review, so I will make this a short (for me) post and I will let you know if the title I am chatting about is a gifted book for review as I will put a * by the title. Plus, I will put links to bookshop.org, which will be affiliate. 

Now, get your Jessica Fletcher on and let’s begin!