All Antonia Bernardin Blog posts

Welcome to the place for endless scrolling

If you don’t care about the categories and just want to scroll through my posts newest to oldest, this is the place!

March reading wrap up

March was my worst month yet! I dunno what to tell you, I’m just struggling to find time to read, or when I have time, I just don’t feel like reading. I only read four books and 3 of those were audios but that’s okay, this is just a phase my brain is going through!…
If tomorrow never comes

The 85th book I read in 2024 was If Tomorrow Never Comes by Allison Ashley, this was sent to me as an ARC and I couldn’t post it until now, as it’s officially release week!
Crocodile tears

Crocodile Tears is the fourth book in the Prickle Island Zoo series by Ali.K. Mulford and was my 14th read of the 2025. I am a huge fan of this author so this will be a fairly biased review, you have been warned.
Party animal

#PartyAnimal, #PrickleIslandZoo Book 3, by #Ali. K. Mulford, was the 11th book I read this year. I’ve loved this series so far and I was really excited for the next book.
Check & Mate

My 9th read of the year was Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood, her first YA romance novel. When Mallory accidentally beats the (very attractive) world champion of chess, she’s convinced to take a scholarship that’ll support her whole family, but she doesn’t want to make the sport that ruined them her whole world again…
February reading wrap up

I’m honestly really struggling to read more at the moment! My brain just wants to scroll mindlessly right now, so February wasn’t a great reading month but it wasn’t terrible, I read 6 books in total. Here’s a summary of everything I read in February. Take a look to find what I’ve either already reviewed…
Apprentice to the Villian

Apprentice to the Villain, the second book in the Assistant to the Villain series by Hannah Nicole Maehrer was the 8th book I read this year – click the post to read my review!
10 Booktok books reviewed – part 3

This is a series of posts where I go through the Goodreads list of Booktok books and give quick overview of what I liked and disliked and why. I am just covering the third lot of 10 books in the list in this post (it’s a list of 50 that I’ve broken into chunks of…
20 Memes for *romance* readers – part 3

In honour of having recently read ‘Morning Glory Milking Farm’ and The ‘A Deal with a Demon’ series, I thought a part 3 of spicy book memes was overdue.
How to read loads without going bankrupt

Reading can be an expensive hobby, although physical copies in the UK aren’t as costly as other places, if you’re looking to compete with your favourite booktoker’s read count without spending a fortune, you’re going to need cheap ways to get a lot of books.
You are not a before picture

I recently listened to You are not a before picture by Alex Light, this was my 5th read of the year and my first book in the challenge to read a little bit more non-fiction this year.
The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

My 3rd read of 2025 was The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent, the third book in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, this is the beginning of a new duology following other characters in the series.
The Whispering Night

The second book I read in 2025 was The Whispering Night by Susan Dennard, the third and final book in The Luminaries Series.
Two can play

My last read of 2024 was #TwoCanPlay by #AliHazelwood, which was my 100th read of the year! I actually finished listening to this as I got ready to go for New Years, so I hit that 100 books goal by the skin of my teeth.
What’s a girl gotta do to get on the naughty list?

The 96th book I read last year was What’s a girl gotta do to get on the naughty list? by Kimberley Lemming. This is a super short Krampus smut book that was just a fun, silly read around Christmas.
Booked for the holidays

Booked for the Holidays by Liz Maverick was my 95th read of the year, this was another short and easy listen that covered me for my commute working around Christmas.
January reading wrap up

Here’s a summary of everything I read in December as I desperately scrambled to make up for how poor November was and hit my year reading goals! Take a look to find what I’ve either already reviewed or reviews to come.
The Pumpkin Spice Cafe

The 94th book I read last year was the Pumpkin Spice Cafe by Laurie Gilmore. Honestly picked this up because the cover gave off cosy romance vibes and I wanted a nice, easy short listen that was along those lines at the time.
Under the Mistletoe collection

This is a collection of short stories by various romance authors that are all Christmas themed, which made up books 87, 88, 90, 91, 92 of my reads last year
10 Booktok books reviewed – part 2

This is a series of posts where I go through the Goodreads list of Booktok books and give quick overview of what I liked and disliked and why. I am just covering the second lot of 10 books in the list in this post (it’s a list of 40 that I’ve broken into chunks of…
A Deal with a Demon series

I read the A Deal with a Demon series by Katee Robert in 2024, this was the 67th, 89th, 93rd, 97th, 98th and 99th book I read last year. This series is comprised of The Dragons Bride, The Krakens Sacrifice, The Gargoyle’s Captive, The Succubus’s Prize and The Demon’s Bargain
The Twisted Throne by Danielle L Jensen

The Twisted Throne by Danielle L Jensen is the 5th book in The Bridge Kingdom series and was my 84th read of 2024.
Year Goals for 2025 and a reflection on 2024

I’ve done these for a couple years now and they are fun to look back on, and for some reason people read them so, here we go.
2025 reading goals

It’s a new year so it’s time to set some goals for my 2025 reads! Now, I do these as something to aim towards/ as motivation but they are fairly loosey goosey.
2024 reading wrap-up

Although this was another busy year, I did actually hit both of my overall reading goals for the year, they were: 100 books, 50 of which were book-books (so not audio books). Read the post to see everything I read!
December reading wrap up

Here’s a summary of everything I read in December as I desperately scrambled to make up for how poor November was and hit my year reading goals! Take a look to find what I’ve either already reviewed or reviews to come.
8 Reading goals/ challenge ideas for next year

There’s lot of different reading goals and challenges you can set and track to give some reading inspiration and motivation.
Vicious Fae

My 82nd read of the year was Vicious Fae by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, the third book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac Series
10 Booktok books reviewed – part 1

This will (hopefully) be a series of posts where I go through the Goodreads list of Booktok books and give quick overview what I liked and disliked and why. I am just covering the first 10 books in the list in this post
November Reading Wrap-up

Here’s a summary of everything I read this month, which is unfortunately a little light, November hit me like a tonne of bricks!
Imposter syndrome – part 4

This post originally started as an exploration of what Imposter Syndrome was and how I thought I’d experienced it but I’ve since done yearly updates on my journey with getting past it, in the hope that it helps someone else.
The Hunting Moon

My 81st read of the year was The Hunting Moon by Susan Dennard, the second book in the Luminaries series. The third book in the series just came out so I wanted to finish this in time!
Savage Fae

The 80th book I read this year was Savage Fae by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, the second book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series, set in the same world as Zodiac Academy but slightly before the timeline of the series. An attempt at summarising After the dramatic events at the end of…
Assistant to the villain

Assistant to the villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer was my 79th read of the year, this is another booktok favourite that I’ve seen on a tonne of lists and it looked like a fun listen to entertain me on my commute.
Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist

The 77th book I read in 2024 was Pumpkin Spice and Poltergeist by Ali.K.Mulford and K.Elle.Morrison. I am an unapologetic fan of Ali.K.Mulford, so get ready for an incredibly biased review…
Daughter of no worlds by Carissa Broadbent

I recently read Daughter of No Worlds by Carissa Broadbent, which was the 76th book I read this year. This author is most well known for her series The Crowns of Nyaxia, which is The Serpent and the Wings of Night and The Ashes and the Star Cursed King. I really enjoyed those books, so…
My Killer Vacation

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey was the 75th book I read this year. I’ve seen this one around on booktok and various lists forever, so I was excited to see if it was good, as it’s always 50/50 with booktok books.
The Bonds that tie by J.Bree series review

The Bonds that tie series by J.Bree was the 69th-74th books I read this year. I didn’t plan on committing to the whole series at the start of reading book one but they really sucked me in a totally ruined my holiday tbr plan!
October Reading Wrap-up

I am taking advantage of the fancy Storygraph wrap-up graphics! So, here’s my reading stats for October, for a peek at reviews to come or those already live.
Reading, writing and life check in – 3/4 of 2024

This post is part of series of quarterly check-ins, with a little bit about life, a little writing, and a little bit of reading stats
With Fire in their Blood

My 68th read of the year was With Fire in their Blood by Kat Delacorte. I bought this book impulsively in a buy one get one half price sale at Waterstones and it’s been staring at me for a year.
The Dragons Bride

The 67th book I consumed this year was the Dragons Bride by Katee Robert, the first book in the A Deal with a Demon series. This is an infamous booktok book, which is always a 50-50 chance of it being terrible.. so what did I think
Dark Fae

My 66th book of the year was Dark Fae by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, this is the first book in the Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac series. This is set in the same universe as the Zodiac Academy series, slightly before the timeline of the series
From Blood and Ash memes… because I can

I have done a few Bookish memes style posts now but this one of the big booktok series that I haven’t touched yet!
Holiday tbr!

I am going on holiday soon and my plans involve lying very still in the sun reading. So, I thought you might be interested on what I plan to read:
10 Romance book recs from books I have read

A lot of my rec lists are books I have not read but want to read, as they fall under a trope I like but here’s something a little different: a summary of romance books I’ve read that I would actually recommend along with their reviews.
The Luminaries

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard was the 65th book I read this year, this book was gifted to me by my podcast co-host because she loved it and wanted me to read it too! It took me nearly a year but I finally read it.
September Reading Wrap-up

Once again I am taking advantage of the fancy Storygraph wrap-up graphics! So, here’s my reading stats for September, for a peak at reviews to come or those already live.
35 memes to convince you to read The Raven Cycle

I read The Raven Cycle by Maggie Staifevater recently and whilst I realise I am very late to the game with this series, I wondered if there were other people like me who had never read it, so I went and found a bunch of totally contextless memes from Pinterest to convince you to join…
20 ‘Miscommunication trope’ book recs list

Now, I won’t lie, this is not my favourite trope but I know some people love the tension of it so I thought I’d make a list for you weirdoes.