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!

A review of all the books in the Twisted series by Ana Huang

I read this series by Ana Huang last year and despite some of the stuff that happens in it being completely wild and requiring a fair bit of suspension of disbelief… I still have no regrets! I get a fair few visits to those reviews, so I thought it might be helpful to compile them…
Bride to the Fiend Prince

The 47th book I read this year read #BridetotheFiendPrince by #RebeccaFKenney, which are standalone books. part of the #DarkRulers series This one of those books that’s just a fun read, if you don’t read too criticality.
Love and Other Words

The 46th book I read this year was Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren. I recently read their other book Twice in a Blue Moon, which I really enjoyed so I was looking forward to this as this one was Booktok’s darling for a while.
Rhapsodic

My 45th book of the year was Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa, this one has been on my TBR for a while because it appears on a tonne of rec lists.
Easy Tiger

My 44th read of the year was Easy Tiger by Ali K Mulford, the second book in the Prickle Island Zoo series.
Reading, writing and life check in – 6 months into 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
Lazy curly girl method for 2A/2B hair

I am part of that camp of people who joined Tiktok, ended up on curly girl method Tiktok, starting doing it because I was trying to repair my hair from years of too much heat and was shocked to discover I had a curl pattern when I took care of my hair like curly hair.
In the dream house

My 43rd book of the year was In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, a memoir about an abusive relationship the author was in with a same sex partner.
Truths about traveling – behind the beautiful pictures

I did the whole travelling there a few years ago and while it was an incredible privilege full of once in a lifetime experiences, there some things that I never hear being talked about online. This isn’t necessarily, like, pros and cons, more like, little realities you might face.
20 Main character gets injured/sick and love interest takes care of them trope recs

Okay, so this is an incredibly specific trope but you’ll definitely find it in a lot of fantasy and romance. Subtly different from the ‘Who did this to you?’ trope, this list just about the angsty, tender moment where the love interest is helping take of an injury, or when the character is sick.
A Thorn Among Roses

The 42nd book I read this year was A Thorn Among Roses by Hayley Anderton, I read this as part of my podcasts (Lazy Book Lovers Podcast) May-June buddy read, where we choose an indie author’s book to read together and then discuss on the podcast. This book is a sapphic retelling of beauty and…
Four Thousand Weeks – Time Management for Mortals

My 41st read of the year was Four Thousand Weeks – Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman. This was recommended by one of my favourite book tubers: Lexi aka Newlynova and as someone who struggles with both time-management and burnout, I thought this would be a good book for me to try. I’ve never…
A River of Golden Bones

The 40th book I read this year was A River of Golden Bones by A.K. Mulford, a new series by an author I am unabashedly a huge fan of, you will have heard me talk about her other books: The Five Crowns of Okrith and The Prickle Island zoo romance series.
You are not supposed to have it altogether – a rant

This is mostly a book blog but sometimes I talk about things that have been on my mind. I have recently been trying to address years of being in a cycle of burnout but it’s so hard around full time work and I have concluded that we aren’t meant to have everything together.
The Hating Game

My 38th read of the year was The Hating game by Sally Thorne, another booktok favourite, which has been turned into a movie too.
A Tempest of Tea

The 37th book I read this year was A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal, a new booktok favourite by the author of We Hunt the Flame.
The Ex Talk

The 36th book I read this year was The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Soloman.
The Light That Blinds Us

The 34th book I read this year was The Light That Blinds Us by Anthony Theo Darcy. He is a booktokker turned author whose videos I have always really enjoyed.
Bride

The 34th book I read this year was Bride by Ali Hazelwood, whose most well known for her Steminist romance books but this is a fantasy romance book!
Happy Place

The 33rd book I read this year was Happy Place by Emily Henry. I read this during my absolute nightmare flight on my way to go on holiday, so it definitely helped remind me to think of my happy place whilst trapped on a plane for 5.5 hours.
Twice in a blue moon

My 32nd book of the year was Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren, the author of the well known ‘The Unhoneymooners’.
Ice planet barbarians

My 31st book of the year was Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon, first book in the Ice Planet Barbarians series. If you are in the booktok/bootube/bookstagram sphere… you know what this book is about, I am very late to the hype but I needed a short audio book and thought, why not?
Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City

My 30th book of the year was Two Necromancers, a Dwarf Kingdom, and a Sky City by L.G Estrella, the 4th book in the Un-conventional heroes series.
Trial of the Sun Queen

My 29th read of the year was Trial of the Sun Queen by Nisha J Tuli, the first book in the Artefacts of Ouranos series. This read was part of my podcast’s first buddy read. I was actually in a bit of a reading slump and this book kicked me out of it!
What Lies Beyond the Veil

My 28th read of the year was What Lies Beyond the Veil by Harper L Woods, the first book in the Of Flesh and Bone series. This book appears on a lot of book trope rec lists, so does it live up to the hype?
30 ‘Nightmare trope’ book rec list

Anybody else absolutely melt into a little puddle at any book with the ‘cuddled during a nightmare’ trope? Just me? I don’t care if it’s overplayed, I don’t care if it’s cheesy. I.NEED.IT.
All the Emily Henry books I have read – a review

Some of the other review compilations I’ve done seem to be getting a lot of visitors, which lead me to thinking they are quite helpful? So I thought I’d do another one for an author I’ve read a few of: Emily Henry.
5 things your bookworm wants you to not ask about

If there’s a book nerd in your life that you love, or live with, here are the questions they’d rather you didn’t ask. I’m doing my civic duty as a bookworm with a blog by telling you what they won’t.
Live and Let Lionel – Zodiac Academy 8.6

My 26th read of the year was Live and Let Lionel – Zodiac Academy by Susanne Valenti and Caroline Peckham, this book is a compilation of novellas set throughout the timeline of the series.
The new booktok ‘hot-take’ : booktok has turned publishing into ‘fast fashion’ – a rant

So, one of the topics that was doing the rounds on Tiktok recently was that because of booktok and reader’s appetites for huge tbr’s, large consumption and books written for tropes, publishing has become it’s own version of fast fashion: trope filled, poorly edited books churned out quickly. I thought, as a big reader who…
The Unhoneymooners

My 25th book of the year was The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. This had a big moment on booktok for a while and I’m always dubious and big books on there but this ended up on too many rec lists for me not to try it.
She’s a Keeper

My 24th book of the year was She’s a Keeper by Ali.k.Mulford, the first book in the Prickle Island Zoo series.
First 3 months of the year reading and writing check in

I usually only ever do end of the year summaries, but I thought it’d be fun to try and write one each quarter to look back on at the end of the year.
A Soul to Heal

The 22nd book I read this year was A Soul to Heal by Opal Reyne, the second book in the Duskwalker’s Bride series.
The Wayward children series

Books number 4,5,6,10,11,12,13,20 and 21 of this year were The Wayward Children Series by Seanan Mcquire. There are nine books currently in this series, with more being released still.
Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire

My 19th book of the year was Two Necromancers, a Dragon, and a Vampire by L.G.Estrella. The third book in the Unconventional Heroes series.
A review of all Ali Hazelwood books I’ve read

I’ve compiled all the reviews I’ve done of each Ali Hazelwood book I’ve read to date (written in Feb, 2024). At the bottom I’ve given a little overall review of which one I liked the most and where to start.
The ‘death of the author’ concept

Occasionally with this blog, I just cover topics that have been on mind and this is something we discuss on my podcast a lot, about how much you can separate an author from their books. So what does Death of the Author mean by the original definition?
25 Fake dating trope recs

I have a fragile relationship with this trope, sometimes I really hate it, but when it’s done well, I love it!
My current TBR

What are the books I’m planning to read soon? I review pretty much everything I read on here, so what can you expect too see?
You need hobbies! An argument for doing something just for fun

Bit of an unusual one, but occasionally with this blog I just do a post about something I’ve been thinking about. One thing I’ve noticed lately is how few adults do ANY hobbies in the evening or at weekends, they just go to work and exist.
Mead and Mishaps novellas: Mistlefoe and a Bump in BooHail

Mistlefoe and A Bump in Boohail by Kimberley Lemming, part of the Mead and Mishaps series, were numbers 15 and 18 of this year.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human

My 17th read of this year was ‘That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Human’ by Kimberley Lemming, the third book in the Mead and Mishaps series.
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf

My 16th book of the year was ‘That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf’ by Kimberley Lemming the second book in the Mead and Mishaps series.
A Soul to Keep

The 14th book I read this year was ‘A Soul to Keep’ by Opal Reyne, book 1 in The Duskwalker Brides Series.
A Strong Female Character

The 9th book I read this year was A Strong Female Character by Fern Brady.
30 Fated Mates book trope recs

Fated mates is a great, cheesy trope that I’ve decided I’m a fan of ever since I read ACOTAR a couple years ago. It’s like love at first sight but with you know… destiny and magic and stuff.
Act Your Age, Eve Brown

My 8th read of the year was ‘Act Your Age, Eve Brown’ by Talia Hibbert, the third book in the Brown Sisters trilogy.
20 Fourth Wing memes part 2- because I can

I was struck down with a bug recently and so was house bound and unable to focus on anything except pointlessly scrolling Pinterest, please enjoy the fruits of my labour… I present to you: Fourth Wing memes part 2!
30 Grumps vs Sunshine recs

This is another trope that I love, whether it’s platonic or romantic! You can find it across most genres, most age ranges and it always brings me a little bit of joy.