Something I’ve wanted to bring back to the blog since forever are my [BOOK RECS]. In the past couple of years I’ve met many wonderful writers in the Instagram writing community, and their books deserve all the attention they can get!
I decided to start this series of posts with Ruth Miranda, one of the authors I’ve discovered most recently and who completely stole my heart. So far I’ve read 4 of her books + 1 novella and OH MY GOD I don’t know enough words to express how much I love her writing. Three out of the five works I’ve read are published novels, and I had the luck to beta read the first volume of her Project Dystopia (still WIP) and received as a gift a novella set in her fantasy Borun-Ma series which is still an unpublished work as well. So today I’ve decided to show you my reviews for her books that are actually live and available for purchase and that I’ve read.
Thirty Days With You
(Goodsreads review from January 29, 2022)
This book is lovely.
It’s rare to find such a sweet love story in adult fiction, but the romance between Tânia and DaeLun is achingly beautiful. It’s a shy romance, made of tenderness and understanding. Both characters have gone through a lot and face their deepest insecurities while getting to know each other in a cozy, immersive setting that’s the dream of every writer!
The mental health rep was also incredibly well done and there is a “coming-of-age” element to the character development that I really appreciated. People don’t stop growing and evolving after they turn 30, and the author portrays this exceptionally well.
What I liked the most about this book is the unspoken message that it’s never too late to start loving yourself and do what makes you happy, no matter what others may say.
Still Life
(Goodreads review from May 21, 2022)
“I’m here for you, you know that.”
“You’re not even here for yourself.”
After reading Thirty Days With You, I’d been looking forward to come back to the fictional country of Byanbyan-Ma and learn more about Darren, who was a secondary character in the first book in the series.
Even though this book does indeed have some romantic (and very sexy) parts, it’s not meant to be a standard romance novel; it’s a story about self-acceptance, codependency, and two people who are at the same time perfect and absolutely terrible together.
Darren is not a hero; he brings fear of commitment to a whole new level, and he’s so absorbed in his own self-descructive thoughts that he doesn’t realize that, if he just lifted his head and looked around, he’d found all the acceptance and love he believes he could never get.
On the other hand, Timur is lovely; broken, tired, and blindly in love, to the point he lets Darren get away with everything. I wanted to give this boy a hug for the entire book.
When these two are together the pages are on fire, the kind of fire that has the potential to destroy everything… this book will keep you glued to it, wondering if and how this relationship can ever get back on the right track. And the ending will break your heart.
Danseur
(Goodreads review from July 26, 2022)
This is the 4th book I’ve read by Ruth Miranda and it’s quickly become my absolute favorite among the author’s works.
There’s something raw and real within her characters that just captures me and makes me feel everything they feel, which turns the reading experience into a rollercoaster of emotions, some beautiful, some excruciatingly painful.
Jai is a sweetheart and his story, his past, completely broke my heart. For the entire time I wanted to give this boy a hug and make sure he’d live happily for the rest of his days. And DaoShi was the perfect man for him… without him being perfect. DaoShi has his own -very real- problems, and the way he (doesn’t) face them was probably one of the things I liked the most.
The fights were so real, and so was the mechanism of denial that made DaoShi turn defensive whenever his eating disorder was mentioned. The author didn’t shy away from showing how these mechanism can affect a relationship and how painful it is to be with someone who needs help and doesn’t want to be helped.
I was glued to the page, devouring this book and wondering if they’d find a way to overcome everything, meet halfway and work it out. But I’m not going to spoil the ending here, so please, please, please go read this book!
I hope you enjoyed reading about Ruth’s stories. Personally, I can’t wait to catch up on all her books that I haven’t read yet 🙂
You can support the author on Patreon from here, while at this link you can find other [BOOK RECS] by yours truly.