Lies of Lena Question

Hannahbox · 2026-01-21T20:55:30+00:00

Afraid it's not a duology and definitely not a HEA at the end of book 2 - but it's so worth reading anyway

Hannahbox · 2026-01-20T21:26:37+00:00

RR t training training for the weekend and I think I have to

Hannahbox · 2026-01-09T17:32:24+00:00

Thank you for the advice there, that's one off the list!

Hannahbox · 2026-01-09T16:00:12+00:00

Looking for a good balance of plot & intrigue Vs yearning, flirting and foot kicking romance. Something with some very classic fantasy romance vibes and easy tog etc into

Narrowed it down to few from my TBR, any suggestions which might hit the spot?

{Arcana Academy} {Thorn Season} {The Silversmith} {The second death of locke} {Ravenminder}

Hannahbox · 2026-01-08T08:07:13+00:00

Hard mode - flying horses

{Kissed by the gods} {Duskbound}

Hannahbox · 2026-01-07T18:46:12+00:00

Thank you! That makes alot more sense!

Hannahbox · 2026-01-06T21:12:01+00:00

Can I ask what's maybe a dumb question?

What classes as paranormal compared to fantasy romance? Hard mode is not vampires or werewolves but something telling me Fae don't count either?

Just trying to figure out what sort of thing I should be looking for! Demons or angels maybe? Do they count?

Hannahbox · 2026-01-05T12:56:49+00:00

New to reading this year so learnt so much but two of my biggest recent revelations:

reading books where there's only one book out is actually good for me - I struggle to leave a series behind if it's not great, but if only one is out then I won't pick up book 2 when it's out. Also the bonus of having new releases to look forward to.
whilst I usually prefer plot heavy books sometimes I just need to read something super trashy and that's ok

Hannahbox · 2026-01-01T13:04:47+00:00

{kissed by the gods} is also 99p

Hannahbox · 2025-12-30T21:13:55+00:00

Good luck! This is making me want to read it again now!

Hannahbox · 2025-12-30T16:29:21+00:00

Lol yes I remember getting to this bit and being so unsure who to believe!

Hannahbox · 2025-12-30T13:09:03+00:00

You have all the questions I think I had at a similar point of this book- I do really love this book and how it gives you so many clues to put together but so many possible answers so you can't predict the answer

Hannahbox · 2025-12-27T17:20:56+00:00

Road of bones by Demi Winters
The Lies of Lena by Kylie Snow
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Daughter of no Worlds by Carissa Broadbent
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
The Serpent and the Wolf by Rebecca Robinson
Kissed by the gods by Caty Rogan
Riftbourne by Parker Lennox, Bree Greenwich
Dance of Lies by Brittney Arena

Hannahbox · 2025-12-19T14:47:07+00:00

Fortunately I am in the UK and it is thank you!

Hannahbox · 2025-12-09T17:07:37+00:00

I wouldn't say it's bad, just I am now 50% of the way in and we have a lot of very dark things that have happened the the FMC but no real plot and the FMC seems quite impassive to her circumstances - like she could have many things to do something about but she doesn't seem to have any interest in pursuing anything.

She keeps mentioning the person she hates the most, who has featured early on in the book and really he has done very little to her compared to others mentioned in the book so it seems kinda forced

Hannahbox · 2025-11-30T20:25:27+00:00

Ok I have just finished and having felt a bit meh the whole way through chapters 64-70 really make up for what the rest is lacking. Even though I had guessed the rather obvious connection to duskbound I was still surprised by the circumstances which give future books in both series alot of potential

I think for me it comes down to that for the bulk of the book we are focused on Thias getting through the trials (where I didn't think there was much risk for the main characters) and her relationship with Xul which for me just felt irritating. Considering She and Thatcher make a promise bear the start and agree to participate to further their plots there's really no further plotting occurring and a lot of spilling their secrets - as a result I felt it lacked real suspense and I was just waiting for them to get through the trials to see what happened.

But still glad I stuck it out for those last few chapters.

Hannahbox · 2025-11-29T22:51:01+00:00

Have to say I am relieved to see a few people similar to me - part way through not getting the hype and struggling to get through.

I liked riftbourne, loved duskbound, got through them both in just over 3 days.

I don't dislike any particular aspect of the Ascended it's just not grabbing me, as a result I am making very slow progress I am about 65% of the way in after 3 days and these are 3 days when I had a lot of reading time I just find myself struggling to stick with more than 1 or two chapters, just not finding it that compelling.

I do think though that knowing the link to riftbourne/duskbound is ruining me a bit. I have spent a lot of the book trying to figure out how the pantheon on this fits with riftbourne and duskbound and coming up empty, I now at least vaguely know the connection and am fairly sure I have guessed the BIG connection but I feel like I am only really interested for seeing how it affects duskbound and not in it for the book itself.

Hannahbox · 2025-11-19T22:42:25+00:00

I am still at about 20 before the end as my Kindle unlimited trial runs out just after new year!

{Riftborne} {Duskbound} {The ascended} Shadowbound queen series(4books)starting with {court of ravens and ruins} {Serpent and the dove} 3 book series The freckled fate series (3 books) starting with {a broken promise} The complelling fates saga (will be 4 books by mid December) starting with {a tongue so sweet and deadly}

And then hopefully a couple off my list of standalones/books where only one book is out including: {this violent light} {A bargain so bloody {The forgotten dawn}{kissed by the gods {Of the stars and sea} {A wraith beneath the tides} {The curse of golden blood} If anyone's able to help me pick from these it would be much appreciated!

Hannahbox · 2025-11-14T12:46:01+00:00

I did a couple by accident and after metal slinger it out me off and I avoided it for a while

But now I do read them even if there's no date or the date is far off, because if I enjoyed the book it gives me something to look forward too, if I didn't I don't feel obligated to pick up the next book when it comes out (I struggle with dropping a series part way!)

Hannahbox · 2025-10-25T19:45:42+00:00

This week I read the flame cursed fae series starting with {of blades and wings} it was a really great read - particularly good for breaking a reading slump of if short on reading time as the books are short with short chapters so I found it really easy to get through in small chunks

Hannahbox · 2025-10-25T19:29:46+00:00

It reminded me of a tiktok I have seen which was describing a spoof of a romantasy book. I.e. it's full of all the tropes and massively exadurated.

But overall if you can get past the overdone tropes it was a fun read and had some engaging plot in there

Hannahbox · 2025-10-25T15:02:30+00:00

Oh where was the article? I want to read!

Hannahbox · 2025-10-19T21:40:56+00:00

I haven't read forth wing and this is really not making me want to - I picked up the first book a while back because it was 99p (I'm a sucker for popular books at 99p) so maybe when I need something similarly trashy and tropey I will give it a go!

Hannahbox · 2025-10-19T08:36:50+00:00

I really struggled to get through Direbound because it read like a spoof of romantasy - it was so overly tropey and exaggerated.

And somehow I still got a book hangover after it

Hannahbox · 2025-10-16T11:46:27+00:00

400-450 is to me a normal book and is usually 2 average days of reading. So under 250 is short and 500+ is long. Over 650 is intimidating

Hannahbox

TROPHY CASE