Sravika's Books - Reviews and Other Trivia

The Book Of Lost Hours  By Hayley Gelfuso  Published Year : 2025 Page Count: 391 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre : Science Fiction, Time Travel, Alternate Universe, Romance, Young Adult, Adventure, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.85/5 😀😀😀😀😀  I was munching candy while reading the book and the last few chapters, I forgot the count of how many I ate. I was surprised to find that I finished quite a lot of them. I was glued to the story. I was very invested in what the next chapter would unveil. I want to say wow, what a fantastic book this is. But I don't think I will. The main character is not flawless, moral and selfless which made her less of an adorable protagonist to me. She kept her lover and daughter first and foremost - above all other concerns. She killed, manipulated, hurt and harmed others so that her daughter would be safe. Yes, she was a typical mother. I think I could see her point to a certain extent and might very well do the same if I wer...

 A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking  By T. Kingfisher  Published Year: 2020 Page Count: 282 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre : Fantasy, Bread Men, Magic, Action, Young Adult, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.25/5  This is my first book by the author. I have many other books from her in my tbr and having read this, I feel she is worth checking out! This book felt more targeted for children and adolescent audience but I also enjoyed it. I felt a bit of disconnect with the story because the narrator is so objective and detached in her style of writing. I didn't feel that invested in the plot as I would have had if there was more emotional depth created through the narrative. The Duchess,one of the key characters, in the story, seemed more interested in bestowing laurels, badges of honor on heroes of war than controlling the wild elements of her council or running her government efficiently. Lol. But still, this felt like a good enough story if not the most cr...

 Beneath the Sugar Sky (Wayward Children #3) By Seanan McGuire  Published Year: 2018 Page Count: 174 pages  Medium Used : Kindle Scribe  Genre: Novella, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Multiverse, Multiple Worlds, Academia, Adventure, 2025-read.  Rating: 3.65/5  Weaving this series around children at a school for special kids, magical worlds which are tempered and curated for each of their innate desires, which feel like true "home" for them, is very appealing to me. It feels warm, cozy and like a drug to my imagination. 🥰 Even when I come across one not so spectacular a story(a partial dud, in short😆) like this one - it doesn't put any significant dent in my opinion of the over all series. I guess what I didn't like about this book is that it is set in a very bright, colorful and frothing Sugar world where everything is made up of sugar syrup, candy or bread. I would have liked a world that is more darker.🤫 I am drawn to the drowned worlds, the underground wo...

 Rebel Witch  (The Crimson Moth #2) By Kristen Ciccarelli  Published Year: 2025 Page Count: 464 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Adventure, Magic and Sorcery, Witches, Witchcraft, 2025-read.  Rating : 3.5/5  I usually take a detour between books of a series but with this Crimson Moth, I liked the first one well enough to pick up the second one right away. This book started on great promise for me but then got to the point of me desperately trying to not DNF it. The romance angle between the lead pair, Rune and Gideon, felt distracting and after a while, I have had enough. This is one of the main drivers of  the narrative and I felt exhausted with all the repelling misunderstandings and attracting sexual tension between them. In this book we see their non committal, suspicious bonding evolve into trusting and selfless love. The other important thing is Cressida,the evil witch from book 1 who is revealed to have...

 Heartless Hunter  (The Crimson Moth #1) By Kristen Ciccarelli  Published Year: 2024 Page Count: 410 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: Romantasy, Romance, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Witches, Witchcraft, Witch Hunters, 2025-read.  Rating : 4.25/5  I finished this book under two days. It felt so easy to read and connect with the main characters. I could sympathize with Rune for her vulnerabilities and applaud her for her bravery. I could understand what drives Gideon to hunt her kind and put them to death. The pacing is fast and the world building is flawless. Only towards the end, I thought the author took logic into her hands and twisted it so that it ceased to make much sense. At one point, Gideon wishes Rune to be the Crimson Moth so that it would be more of a intrigue and romantic challenge for him. But when he finally learns the truth, he doesn't hesitate to surrender her to death. Alex,Gideon's brother and Rune's bestie one moment feels like t...

 Dissolution  By Nicholas Binge Published Year: 2025 Page Count: 384 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre : Science Fiction, Memory Travel, Time Travel, Time Looping, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Prose, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 This is a very easy and compulsive 5 pointer story. The prose is so good that I kept reading past the last page into acknowledgements. Despite being a story about time/memory travel and fighting a hungry force of nature, this story felt wholesome and soothing. The deep commitment and enduring love the main characters share over their decades of marriage with each other brought happy tears to my eyes. Even if they have now become old with rickety bones and batty minds, they and their love is something to cherish! So getting into the story. Stanley, Raph and Jacques are three students under a nearly blind, old, eerie professor Waldmen in their university. Stanley comes from a poor background and always felt an outsider i...

 Manacled  By Senlinyu Published Year: 2018-2019 Page Count: 957 pages  Medium Used: Phone  Genre : Romantsy, Romance, High Fantasy, Harry Potter Universe, Alternate Theory, Hermione Granger, Dark Magic and Sorcery, 2025-read.  Rating : 5/5  I have a habit of reading multiple books at a time. This book! This book has knocked me off my mind. I was glued to my phone reading and sticking to this one till the end. Even though this is a long book and had some of the actions mentioned on repeat, - like the multiple times the main characters meet and rescue or heal each other, the many times they spend together as a host and surrogate - it didn't feel boring. I never once said 'enough'. I wanted to keep reading.  This book is so so good. It recounts an alternate version to Harry Potter series. In order to fully understand and follow the book, one must also possess a knowledge - even if only very brief and vague - of the original series. In this book, Hermione...