I firstly want to thank NetGalley and Bindery Books for granting me access to this amazing ARC. I went in not really knowing what to expect and was absolutely blown away! I thoroughly enjoyed this read and will definitely be adding it to my re-reads when I grab the physical copy. Resonant by Jeremy Jacobson. The story follows three individuals: Ranian the hunter, Elva the bell maiden, and Imebron the light-borne scholar. Whose lives change when the Firesong passes through them. A Firesong that has not been heard in millennia. What does it mean? It means that immense danger is approaching and a resonant has been sounded, and three strangers need to abandon everything they know and do to fulfill their calling to protect the realm. As I started reading, I honestly had no idea what this book was about, and soon found myself engrossed in the pages. I haven’t read much with this style of fantasy, so this was a little introduction to it, and I loved it. This is the start of what I am assuming is a series and is only the beginning; however, it was full of action and character development, and the world-building was so vivid and in-depth that I felt like I was there through the terrain and scenery. As the story begins with Ranian as he ventures through the swamp to slay a scaled beast, I was already sucked into the world. The fact that these monsters are reptilian creatures made for an interesting and intriguing concept that really sold me on this book. While the villain is represented as a ruthless and controlling godlike regime that holds authority and dictates everything, serving as an oppressive systemic antagonist, I really like the idea of this being represented by scaled beasts. These beasts really gave me the creeps and added to the overall experience of the book. As you follow the heroes through the pages, you get to know just how diverse and unique each character is. Starting with Imebron, who is a lightborne scholar and one of the most powerful characters in the book, as his people hold immense power and influence. He starts off as a prickly character and somewhat above his peers, but as you get to know him, he is a vital part of the team and a great character within the book. Elva is a bell maiden along with her sister, who is trained in the art of being a skillful assassin, fighter, and spy, and is part of a secret elite team. She is a friendly soul and highly intelligent. She comes off as openly friendly and shows an interest in the different people she speaks with. However, she is trained to do so as she is always gaining information to use and to gain a better understanding of the person she is speaking with. She is deadly in her skills, even if she doesn’t look like it. Lastly, Ranian, a hunter paying for his father's sins, works off the debt by hunting scaled beasts. He is quiet and keeps to himself, not wanting to burden the others as he is much younger than they are, with less experience. He feels like he has to prove himself, and that gets in the way when danger arises. Together with their helpers, they trek to where danger is imminent. As they go deeper into their journey, they must choose between saving the world or choosing freedom. I cannot wait to dive deeper into the lore and world-building further when more books come out, as I truly enjoyed all aspects of this story. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy and enriched world-building with unique characters and plotlines. Thank you to the author for such a fantastic journey in Resonant.

SUMMARY - Set in two timelines, present-day Seoul, Alys, an antiques dealer, is offered a large sum of money to transport one of the three anatomical venues to London to be destroyed. Diving into the past, London 1769, naïve Eleanor finds herself swept away into luxury after meeting the beautiful Elizabeth at the Pleasure Gardens. Along with Elizabeth’s protégé, Emily, Eleanor starts her new life with the promise of having it all. The catch: she must hand over complete control of her life to Elizabeth. THOUGHTS - Slashed Beauties by Allison Rushby This beautiful, seductive tale is woven with dark and dangerous, tantalising temptation of wanting to be more than just an object, to be more than just a woman in the 18th century. The hope of living a life of purpose, even if morals are blurred. What a story this was! I felt so much emotion working through each page. Normally, I find it difficult to read dual timelines, but I really enjoyed the present and past storylines equally. I loved the past with the glamour and luxury of the Victorian lifestyle, the opulent atmosphere of dining, shows, and dresses. The Jack the Ripper back alley atmospheric horror with a touch of feminine revenge festering into sheer, straight-up revenge. Elizabeth is not a girl's girl, that is for sure! To the present with witchcraft, witches, and magic. Oh, and the ending! Perfectly done, Allison! I also found the anatomical Venuses just fascinating. I learned about these as I read this book, and I am both fascinated and mortified by these wax dolls. Purely because they are beautifully grotesque, with visceral imagery of what a woman looks like when opened up, heavily emphasised on the reproductive system with a fetus shown. These were created to be used as a dissecting tool to help teach human anatomy without the ethical dilemma of using cadavers, as there weren’t enough bodies to use for medical studies. Usually displayed in gentlemanly museums and medical schools, proving that women are often objectified to the point where we are seen as literally just ob jects. As these Venuses were created with beautiful superficial features, the anatomist explained that the Venuses were designed to help male students stay focused while studying medicine. I genuinely found these anatomical Venuses really intriguing and am now looking into them further. Not only did I love the world Slashed Beauties was set in, but I also loved the characters that made this book such an emotional ride. The character development from the beginning to the end was what made this book a five-star read. We start with the main characters, Eleanor and Alys, who narrate their way through the pages. As we see their stories through their eyes, we get to understand who they are and how they live. While I found Eleanor to be an absolutely frustrating character whose naivety and stubborn sincerity caused her more drama and pain than could have been avoided if she had just listened to Emily! Emily was probably one of my favourite characters; she embodied the knight, hero, true friend, and what unconditional love is meant to be. The relationship they had between them and the love they shared was what Eleanor deserved. If only she had actually listened! Now, I didn’t hate Eleanor, and she redeemed herself in the end; I just couldn’t help but wonder if she might have had a better life if she weren’t so gullible, naive, and so ready to please others. Alys, from day one, knew what she needed to do, and while she shut herself off to everyone (which is very understandable) she learned to love and be loved again. I really liked how Allison wrote both Eleanor and Alys and how their stories were interwoven together. Spoilers ahead - Now, someone made this story what it was: Elizabeth! Yes, I know, why would she, of all people, make the story? Because I wanted to root for her while at the same time wishing for her death. Elizabeth was everything you needed in a villainous character: the backstory that set her up for a life of hatred, the redemption arc where you want these women to build a dream and business, and to be successful. You want this opulent life for all of them; you don’t want to see the truth, not just yet… You want to see the good in her… and the revenge arc, the one that cements her as the antagonist you never wanted. She embodied the villain in every way, and by the end, the hatred you had for the men only intensified when she was around. But I loved her for it! I loved her as the character she was because without her, this book wouldn’t be as amazing as it was. Okay, now what did I hate about this book? The men! Specifically, the men in the 18th century. I can tell you now, I could not have lived in that era. The anger and hate I had for Dr. Chidworth, who was just one of several male characters, made me fight so hard not to throw the book because of their utterly disgusting and twisted beliefs that women are just to be objectified, to be put on display for the male gaze, and for their bodies to be abused and destroyed by males who seem to think they are above any other living being. If you want to feel enraged and experience the satisfaction of revenge, read this… however, don’t expect this story to be a straightforward feminine revenge plot because while there are moments, those moments are also shrouded in grief, and once again, a woman’s body is not her own… it is, in fact, always someone else’s to use and abuse… the moments you feel happiness will last a split second. The sadness you feel will simmer slowly in the background, and the anger will bubble up to the surface, over and over again, because this book is not a happy tale; it isn’t a romance or fantasy… it is a feminine historical horror full of heartache. But what I can say is you will want more and be left feeling empty, but never wanting that feeling to end, because you will love every single bit of this tale. When I put books on my rereads, it means that these books are higher than 5 stars, and this is, in fact, on my rereads! I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to be utterly ruined.