We have three books on our radar for this week! You should check them out:

The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le Roaring Brook Press

Nhika is a bloodcarver. A cold-hearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch. In the industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer, but a monster that kills for pleasure. When Nhika is caught using her bloodcarving abilities during a sham medical appointment, she's captured by underground thugs and sold to an aristocratic family to heal the last witness of their father’s murder. But as Nhika delves deeper into their investigation amidst the glitz of Theumas’ wealthiest district, she begins to notice parallels between this job and her own dark past. And when she meets an alluring yet entitled physician's aide, Ven Kochin, she’s forced to question the true intent behind this murder. In a society that outcasts her, Kochin seems drawn to her...though he takes every chance he gets to push her out of his opulent world. When Nhika discovers that Kochin is not who he claims to be, and that there is an evil dwelling in Theumas that runs much deeper than the murder of one man, she must decide where her heart, and her allegiance, truly lie. And - if she's willing to become the dreaded bloodcarver Theumas fears to save herself and the ones she's vowed to protect.

Rules for Rule Breaking by Talia Tucker Kokila

Winter Park and Bobby Bae are Korean American high school juniors whose families have been friends since the kids were making crayon art. They, however, are repulsed by each other. Winter is MIT-bound, comfortable keeping people at arm’s length, and known by others as responsible, though she has a desire to let loose. This probably comes from her rebel grandmother, who is constantly pushing boundaries and encouraging Winter to do so as well. Winter’s best friend is moving abroad and won’t be attending college at all, and Winter’s wrestling with what it means to be left behind. Bobby is as Type-A, anxious, and risk-averse as you can get. He’s also been recently dumped, which has him feeling disoriented and untethered. That’s why, when Winter’s and Bobby’s parents insist that they go on a northeast college campus tour together, both teens find reasons to accept even though the thought of being stuck in a car together for 700 miles sounds unbearable. What awaits them is a journey of self-discovery where the only rule on their road trip is to break all the rules. At first, this happens in hilariously calculated ways (using lists and reason and logic!), but they soon abandon that, challenging each other to dares in Virginia, getting high and wandering around Philly for food—and battling the subsequent digestive distress—and crashing a party in Cambridge. And, of course, realizing that they’re perfect together.

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé Feiwel & Friends

Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school, after being home-schooled all her life. Misfortune has clung to her seemingly since birth, but even she doesn’t expect her new roommate, Elizabeth, to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think Sade had something to do with it. With rumors swirling around her, Sade catches the attention of the girls collectively known as the ‘Unholy Trinity’ and they bring her into their fold. Between learning more about them—especially Persephone, who Sade is inexplicably drawn to—and playing catchup in class, Sade already has so much on her plate. But when it seems people don't care enough about what happened to Elizabeth, it's up to she and Elizabeth's best friend, Baz, to investigate. And then a student is found dead. The more Sade and Baz dig into Elizabeth's disappearance, the more she realizes there’s more to Alfred Nobel Academy and its students than she thought. Secrets lurk around every corner and beneath every surface…secrets that rival even her own.

NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES! (MARCH 19TH, 2024)

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HAVE I MISSED ANY NEW YOUNG ADULT RELEASES? HAVE YOU ADDED ANY OF THESE BOOKS TO YOUR TBR? LET ME KNOW!

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NEW STANDALONES/FIRST IN A SERIES:

We Are Mayhem by Beck Rourke-Mooney

Rules for Rule Breaking by Talia Tucker

Where Sleeping Girls Lie by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

The Revenant Games by Margie Fuston

Cancelled by Farrah Penn

Under this Red Rock by Mindy McGinnis

In the Orbit of You by Ashley Schumacher

The Last Bloodcarver by Vanessa Le

NEW SEQUELS:

Cursed Cruise (Horror Hotel #2) by Victoria Fulton & Faith McClaren

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Happy reading!

read my full review of the last bloodcarver by vanessa le here.

The tantalizing romance of These Violent Delights meets the mechanical wonders of Cinder in The Last Bloodcarver, the first in a two-book debut – with a riveting medical magic system and lush Vietnam-inspired fantasy world.

Nhika is a bloodcarver. A cold-hearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch. In the industrial city of Theumas, she is seen not as a healer, but a monster that kills for pleasure.

When Nhika is caught using her bloodcarving abilities during a sham medical appointment, she’s captured by underground thugs and sold to an aristocratic family to heal the last witness of their father’s murder.

But as Nhika delves deeper into their investigation amidst the glitz of Theumas’ wealthiest district, she begins to notice parallels between this job and her own dark past. And when she meets an alluring yet entitled physician’s aide, Ven Kochin, she’s forced to question the true intent behind this murder. In a society that outcasts her, Kochin seems drawn to her…though he takes every chance he gets to push her out of his opulent world.

When Nhika discovers that Kochin is not who he claims to be, and that there is an evil dwelling in Theumas that runs much deeper than the murder of one man, she must decide where her heart, and her allegiance, truly lie. And – if she’s willing to become the dreaded bloodcarver Theumas fears to save herself and the ones she’s vowed to protect.

my review:

Ever since I first heard about this book, I knew I had to read it. I’m always up for uplifting Vietnamese voices, especially in YA, and I was particularly excited to find out about this Vietnamese-inspired fantasy!

Nhika is a bloodcarver, someone who can alter human biology and whose magic is vilified. She makes a living as a healer, secretly using her powers to treat people. When she’s caught one day by underground thugs, she’s sold to an aristocratic family who wants her to use her families to save the only witness to their father’s murder. As she spends more time with them though, she discovers deadly secrets amidst this mystery—especially with Ven Kochin, a physician’s assistant, popping up everywhere she turns.

read my full review here.

by Vanessa Le | You cannot pronounce her name. Our friends and family simply call her “Ba” which means “Ma’am.” No one knows her birthday; her mother died before she was two years old.  She has not, has never been, and never will be, elected to any political office. She does not hold a position in...

"İnsanlar aşık değilken delice aşık görünüyor olması tuhaf, değil mi?"

"Yaşlanıyorum ve bunu durduramıyorum, ki durdurmak gibi bir niyetim de yok. Yaş aldıkça ben sana geç kalıyorum, seninle olamayacak kadar yaşlanmış, kendimle hiç olamamış kadar genç gibiyim... Zira kendimden uzak bunca seneyi yaşamış olmam mümkün değildir diye düşünüyorum."

La fille sur le pont (1999) Köprüdeki Kız 🎬 🎥

Monica Bellucci and Carole Bouquet as Sabrina and Marie in Les Fantasmes, 2021 dir. David & Stéphane Foenkinos.

Melchie Dumornay presents: PUPPY YOGA 🧘‍♀️🐾

I think it's always gonna bother me how Gregory's hair is modeled so differently than Vanessa and Cassies-

Why do Vanessa and Cassie have visible hair strands when Gregorys hair is really shaped and cartoony?? Like if it was just Cassie having more detailed hair then I'd get it cause they could've just changed how they modeled hair for the DLC, but Vanessa and Gregory are both literally in the same game

via olfeminin

UN COUTEAU DANS LE COEUR (2018) dir. Yann Gonzalez Anne produces third-rate gay porn. After her editor and lover Lois leaves her, she tries to win her back by shooting her most ambitious film yet with her trusted, flamboyant sidekick Archibald. But when one of her actors is brutally murdered, Anne gets caught up in a strange investigation that turns her life upside down. (link in title)

Title: The Last Bloodcarver Author: Vanessa Le Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Mystery Pages: 384 Publisher: Roaring Brook Press Review Copy: eARC provided via NetGalley Availability: Available now

Summary: Nhika is a bloodcarver. A coldhearted, ruthless being who can alter human biology with just a touch.

In the industrial city of Theumas, Nhika is seen not as a healer, but a monster that kills for pleasure. And in the city's criminal underbelly, the rarest of monsters are traded for gold. When Nhika is finally caught by the infamous Butchers, she's forced to heal the last witness to a high-profile murder.

As Nhika delves into the investigation, all signs point to Ven Kochin, an alluring yet entitled physician's aide. Despite his relentless attempts to push her out of his opulent world, something inexplicable draws Nhika to him. But when she discovers Kochin is not who he claims to be, Nhika will be faced with a greater, more terrifying evil lurking in the city's center...

Her only chance to survive lies in a terrible choice—become the dreaded monster the city fears, or risk jeopardizing the future of her kind.

Review: [The Last Bloodcarver includes a significant amount of body horror, from interacting with corpses to repeated references to medical experimentation by a colonial power. The book also includes animal death and extended scenes of characters seriously injured (stab/gunshot wounds).]

I absolutely adored Vanessa Le’s The Last Bloodcarver. Le’s debut novel is set in a complicated Vietnam-inspired fantasy (and science fiction) world, one where war has forced Nhika’s family out of Yarong and into the neutral city-state of Theumas. Even though Nhika has escaped into (currently) neutral territory, Daltanny’s occupation of Yarong still affects Nhika, from the proliferation of the term “bloodcarver” instead of “heartsooth” to the loss of cultural knowledge regarding heartsoothing after Nhika’s grandmother’s death.

That cultural disconnect and the loss of knowledge is something that haunts Nhika throughout the novel. She is keenly aware of her much she doesn’t know and has complicated feelings about how she uses her heartsoothing to survive when the previous generations could do it openly and were honored for it. Theumas might be better for Nhika than Yarong under Daltanny’s occupation, since she isn’t automatically slated for horrific medical “experiments”, but Theumas has its own problems. When the Butchers capture and arrange to sell Nhika, the prospective buyers range from people who think if they consume her heart, they will be cured of whatever ails them, to people who clearly want to use her as an assassin. Even when she is purchased by the Congmi family to try to heal a family friend (and promised freedom and payment even if she can’t help him), fear, suspicion, and hostility are close at hand.

So it’s wonderful whenever Nhika is able to make small connections to what she has lost. (There is a scene where she acquires some Yarongese items and is overwhelmed by what they represent that is just lovely.) Whenever Nhika made the choice to heal and to help, I was delighted by her determination to honor what her grandmother taught her. I appreciated the contrast Kochin represented to Nhika’s experience and the places where the two of them were aligned. Kochin was a character that I didn’t warm up to until after his reveal, but I think his character arc complemented Nhika’s very well.

The mystery of who killed Quan and seriously injured Hendon isn’t a complex one, but unraveling the mystery is far less important than Nhika learning why it happened. Once we have that information, the rest of the book falls into place beautifully. Le’s plotting and development of themes really shined in the second half and propelled the novel to an incredible final act that made me fervently hope there would be a sequel. (And there will be!)

Recommendation: Get it now, so long as you aren’t put off by body horror, medical experimentation, and some gore. Vanessa Le created a fascinating fantasy/sci-fi world in The Last Bloodcarver, and the impacts of war and colonialism on Nhika and her people are explored in interesting ways while a murder mystery unfolds in the foreground. Le’s medical-based magic system is fascinating, and Nhika’s character journey is compelling. I’m looking forward to the conclusion of this duology next year.

Extras: Author Chat w/ Vanessa Le | Books and Boba

Q&A: Vanessa Le, Author of ‘The Last Bloodcarver’

Bye 2023 👋✨

fnaf movie but they're eeveelutions bc sure why not

Top 5 First-Time Watches of March 2023 1. Triangle Of Sadness (2022, dir. Ruben Östlund) 2. Le Lycéen (2022, dir. Christophe Honoré) 3. All The Beauty and The Bloodshed (2022, dir. Laura Poitras) 4. Mon Crime (2023, dir. François Ozon) 5. The Bostonians (1984, dir. James Ivory) "You can't be rich, and expect the rest of the world to be poor. And while you're swimming in abundance, the rest of the world is drowning in misery. That's not the way it's meant to be."

by Vanessa Le | When I die young, please don’t be sad. Know that I am finally free from sin. That beloved and yet hated vice, that secret and yet public sin, that long-fought or recently discovered battle – all are done away with and gone. When I die young, remember it’s okay ...

+ Dışarıdaki kalabalık insan topluluğu, beni görmeksizin geçip gidiyor. Hepsinin acelesi var, trenlere ve taksilere biniyorlar. Onların gidecek bir yerleri, buluşacakları birileri var. Ben öylece orada oturuyorum.

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