TBR Review: The Last Gifts of the Universe, by Riley August

Format: 208 pages, Paperback
Published: July 31, 2025 by Penguin
ISBN: 9781804950647

A dying universe.

When the Home worlds finally achieved the technology to venture out into the stars, they found a graveyard of dead civilizations, a sea of lifeless gray planets and their ruins. What befell them is unknown. All Home knows is that they are the last civilization left in the universe, and whatever came for the others will come for them next.

A search for answers.

Scout is an Archivist tasked with scouring the dead worlds of the cosmos for their last gifts: interesting technology, cultural rituals—anything left behind that might be useful to the Home worlds and their survival. During an excavation on a lifeless planet, Scout unearths something unbelievable: a surviving message from an alien who witnessed the world-ending entity thousands of years ago.

A past unraveled.

Blyreena was once a friend, a soul mate, and a respected leader of her people, the Stelhari. At the end of her world, she was the last one left. She survived to give one last message, one final hope to the future: instructions on how to save the universe.

An adventure at the end of a trillion lifetimes.

With the fate of everything at stake, Scout must overcome the dangers of the Stelhari’s ruined civilization while following Blyreena’s leads to collect its artifacts. If Scout can’t deliver these ground-breaking discoveries back to the Archivists, Home might not only be the last civilization to exist, but the last to finally fall.

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Bookstagram Review: Lucha of the Night Forest, by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Information About the Book
 
Title: Lucha of the Night Forest
Author: Tehlor Kay Mejia
Release Date: 21st March 2023
Publisher: Random House Inc
Genre: YA

Blurb

An edge-of-your-seat fantasy about a girl who will do anything to protect her sister–even if it means striking a dangerous bargain. Dark forces, forgotten magic, and a heart-stopping queer romance make this young adult novel a must-read.

A scorned god.
A mysterious acolyte.
A forgetting drug.
A dangerous forest.
One girl caught between the freedom she always wanted and a sister she can’t bear to leave behind.
Under the cover of the Night Forest, will Lucha be able to step into her own power…or will she be consumed by it?

This gorgeous and fast-paced fantasy novel from acclaimed author Tehlor Kay Mejia is brimming with adventure, peril, romance, and family bonds–and asks what it means for a teen girl to become fully herself.

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Review: ‘Hallowed Ground’, by Paul Twivy #BlogTour #Rachel’sRandomResources

Hallowed Ground: The Mystery of the African Fairy Circles

This magical story is inspired by the most haunting and least explored country in the world – Namibia – with its foggy Skeleton Coast, buried goldmines, shocking secrets and awe-inspiring sand dunes.

Spread across the face of its deserts are hundreds of miles of ‘fairy circles’ : vast enough to be seen from space.  They grow and die with the same lifespan as humans, yet no-one has been able to explain why or how they appear.

Then one day, three teenagers and their families arrive from different parts of the globe. Helped by bushmen, the buried possessions of a Victorian explorer, and a golden leopard, they solve the mystery of the African Circles. What will be discovered beneath the hallowed ground? And how will it change the future of the planet above it?

Purchase Links

UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hallowed-Ground-mystery-African-Circles-ebook/dp/B07YDY9LF2/

US – https://www.amazon.com/Hallowed-Ground-mystery-African-Circles-ebook/dp/B07YDY9LF2/

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Alex’s Review: ‘The Planetsider’, by G.J. Ogden

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Published By: CreateSpace Independent Publishing

Publication Date: 18th February 2018

I.S.B.N.: 978-1983716720

Format: Paperback

Price: £8.99

Available from Amazon

Blurb

Several generations after ‘The Fall’, the scattered clusters of civilisation that grew in its wake live in ignorance of the past. No-one wants to know what caused such devastation or why. No-one, except Ethan. Ethan used to believe in the guardians; mysterious lights in the sky that, according to folklore, protect the survivors, so long as you believe in them. But the death of his parents shattered his faith and forged within him a hunger to know more. One night, a light grows brighter in the sky and crashes to the planet’s surface. Ethan then embarks on a heartbreaking journey in which harrowing discoveries unveil the secrets of the past, and place him at the centre of a deadly conflict. Powerful, thought-provoking and emotionally absorbing, The Planetsider is a gripping, post-apocalyptic thriller that will keep you hooked until the very end.

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Review: ‘The Revolutions of Caitlin Kelman’, by Matthew Luddon

34820385Published By: Zoe Rose Books

Publication Date: 18th October 2016

Format: Kindle

Price: £2.99

Can sixteen-year-old Caitlin Kelman bring down an Empire?

Caitlin is sixteen when her parents are captured by the Empire. Fleeing to Dominion City, Caitlin looks for answers, fighting soldiers, kidnappers, and stalkers along the way.

An illegal immigrant with forged papers, Caitlin falls in with a mysterious group calld the Stateless, who are fighting to bring down the Empire, once and for all.

One day, she runs into Alec, a boy from her hometown, who wants to help her return to her old life. Her normal life.

Will she settle for a life with Alec? Or will she join the revolution, and learn the truth about her parents, even if it means she has to sacrifice herself — and the lives of others?

The Revolutions of Caitlin Kelman is a thrilling debut from Matthew Luddon. Learn more about the Kelman Chronicles, keep up with new releases and get in touch with the author at zoerosebooks.com

I received this book from the author in return for an honest review

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‘Discoucia’, an extract

Today, I’m taking part in the blog tour for ‘Discoucia’, by Nicholas Lovelock. It’s a ‘Victorianish fairytale’. As part of the tour, organised by Rachel Gilbey of ‘Authoright’, I have an interview and extract of the book. First the extract.

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Review: ‘Etiquette & Espionage’ by Gail Carriger

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Finishing School Book the First
2013
Atom

Fourteen years old and not at all ladylike, thats Sophronia Angelina Temminnick. She’s the youngest of the Temminnick girls and a terrible bother to her mother. After an incident involving a dumb waiter and a trifle, Sophronia is packed off to finishing school.

But Madam Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality is not quite what she expects. After an eventful journey she arrives to find a werewolf waiting and no obvious way aboard.

Making several new friends and learning to be ladylike, Sophronia becomes embroiled in a plot which sees her clambering around engine rooms, confronting thieves and setting fire to her mother’s gazebo. She also learns how to curtsey properly and to dance.

Set several decades before the author’s previous series, ‘The Alexia Tarrabotti Series’ and featuring characters from that series as children, this book is an admirable addition to her body of work and suitable for YA readers. The characters are interesting, well-rounded and develop as the novel progresses. The plot is engaging and mystery elements intriguing.

I enjoyed Gail Carriger’s earlier books and would recommend this new series. Now I just need to get the next book in the series.

Bye

Rose