Nagasravika's Book Reviews Blog

 A Gathering of Shadows  (Shades Of Magic #2) By V. E. Schwab  Published Year: 2016 Page Count: 512 pages  Medium Used: Oneplus Nord Ce6  Genre: High Fantasy, Fantasy, Action, Magic and Sorcery, Multiverse, Romance,Romantasy, LGBTQ, 2026-read.  Rating : 5/5 😎 😎 😎 😎 😎  Absolutely digged this! Schwab is a gifted, brilliant writer that her prose and narration kept me hooked through out. In the first book, there was too much happening. We were introduced to this world of magic and sorcery. We saw the main characters - Kell from Red London and Lila from Grey London - overtake evil kings and queens and save a world from consumption by black magic. Then Lila leaves Kell in pursuit of an adventure and thrill. She doesn't want to be bound to anyone or anything and wants instead to have some risk in her life. Doesn't want to be saddled to a boring and secure life. She is a different creature as everyone agrees. A girl cast from a different mold. At the end ...

 They Both Die at the End  ( They Both Die at the End #1) By Adam Silvera  Published Year: 2017 Page Count: 370 pages  Medium Used: Paperback  Genre : Speculative Fiction, LGBTQ, Coming Of Age, Young Adult, Facing Death, 2026-read. Rating : 5/5 😀😀😀😀😀 Death Cast is a company that has come into existence six years ago, in 2011. By some miraculous maneuvering, they can predict the death of a person within a 24 hour window. Every morning, the company representatives, called Heralds, call up the people who are dying that day (within the next 24 hours) and alert them to the bad news. Mateo is spending his time alone in his apartment when he gets the call. His mother died in child birth and his father is in a coma. He is eighteen years old and completely freaks out. He wants to go visit his dad and bid his goodbyes but is scared to leave the safe haven of his apartment. Rufus is a seventeen year old teen who is thrashing up his girlfriend's new bf,Peck,when he get...

 Private Rites  By Julia Armfield  Finalist for Arthur C Clarke Award 2025 Published Year: 2024  Page Count: 235 pages  Medium Used: Kindle PW  Genre: Dystopian, Horror, Drama,Dysfunctional Families, Science Fiction, Coming of Age, LGBTQ,2026-read.  Rating: 3/5 😀😀😇 I came across this book while browsing the shelves of Arthur Clarke Award nominees for 2025. Immediately taken in by the idea of a story loosely based on King Lear and his three daughters, I picked it, setting aside three other books I was reading at that point. The dominant thought running in my mind all the time I was reading was, where is this story going? I also remember thinking, at multiple points, that the author is not a sensational storyteller. But I was resolute to not give in to the voice in my head prompting me to DnF and see the book through to the end. Having finished, I have ambivalent feelings for this. I liked the character development and appreciate the fact that there a...

 Someone You Can Build A Nest In  By John Wiswell  Won 2024 Nebula Award Won 2025 Locus Award for Best First Novel  Finalist in 2025 Hugo Award  Published Year: 2024 Page Count: 310 pages  Medium Used: Kindle Scribe  Genre: LGBTQ,Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Horror, Action, Drama, Romance, Monsters, 2026-read.  Rating: 5/5😇😇😇🥰🥰 Loved this one! Absolutely. Reading this, I couldn't slurp in the chapters continuously. I took them in snatches, got a break going elsewhere (into other books, silly 😋) and returning to digest more of this story. This is not an ordinary tale. John Wiswell is an immense talent. What he has created is not just a monster that lived while the story was read and forgotten afterwards. This creature thrives in memory and imagination. It doesn't have one concrete shape or name or body parts, organs..anything for that matter. It is a shape shifter that can ingest bodies whole. It has no conscience that stops her from harming...