All Antonia Bernardin Blog posts

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

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.
Not in Love

The 63rd book I read this year was Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood. This is her latest book and, according to the foreword written in the book, it’s a little different from her previous Steminist books. This book is a little darker and grittier, it also has a bit more spice.
A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L Jensen

My 62nd read of this year was A Fate Inked in Blood by Daniel L Jensen, the author of The Bridge Kingdom Series, which I absolutely loved.
In Deeper Waters

The 61st book I read this year was In Deeper waters by F.T.Lukens, a book that I found through my ‘hurt character’ rec list
The Raven Cycle

The Raven Cycle series, comprised of: The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, Blue Lilly, Lilly Blue and The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater, made up books number 52, 54, 56 and 59 of this year’s total reads
Current TBR – September 24

Interested in my upcoming reads? Here’s a little glimpse into what I plan to read soon and what you can expect to see on the blog shortly after!
August reading wrap-up

Since Storygraph has got this awesome new feature making monthly summary graphics, I thought I’d cannibalise so I could share with you a wrap-up of everything I’ve read this month.
Weather Girl

My 58th read of the year was Weather Girl by Rachel Lyn Solomon. I recently read her other book, The Ex Talk, which I really enjoyed so I bought a couple more of her books to try.
My Boss is the Devil

The 57th book I read this year was My Boss is the Devil by Ben Schenkman, this was the July-August buddy read on my podcast, The Lazy Book Lovers podcast.
All the Leigh Bardugo books I’ve read – a review

Here’s a compilation of my reviews of Leigh Bardugo’s various books, I will update this post as I read more of her books but as a big fan of this author, I thought it’d be smart to pop them all in one place!
New booktok ‘hot take’: the debate around spicy books

There are more than a few videos kicking around the Booktok, book tube and maybe bookstagram sphere where people are getting on their high horses and booktok ‘ruining’ publishing and bashing the increased demand for spicy books. Here’s my thoughts…
The downfall of the night princess – The Prompt Project

The Prompt Project’ are posts that are essentially a way for me to exercise my creative muscles, without all the pressure that comes from writing my WIP for example. Today’s prompt is: “Wait… So this whole time, you weren’t under my mind control?”
Raybearer

The 55th book I read this year was Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, the first book in the Raybearer series. This has been sat on my bookshelf for way too long, so I’m glad I finally got round to reading it.
10 books with summery vibes

This is a rec list for books that give me the feeling of summer, rather than books for reading by the beach
Bitten by surprise

The 53rd book I read this year was Bitten by Surprise by Lizzy Gayle. This was an indie book series I found through my podcast: Lazy Book Lovers Podcast and I thought I’d give it a go.
Permission to read whatever you like

What’s the secret to reading more? Here’s a rant going you permission to read whatever you feel like reading
Recovering from burnout – 7 practical tips from someone figuring it out

I’ve been trying to figure out how to stop getting burnt out, so I thought I’d share what I’ve learned on the way
Amethyst Kingdom

The 49th book I read this year was Amethyst Kingdom, the final book in the Five Crowns Of Okrith series by A.K Mulford. I am an unabashed fan of A K Mulford fyi, so this is a very biased review.
A Pho Love Story

My 48th book of the year was A Pho Love Story by Loan Le, a cute little YA romance set against competing Vietnamese family restaurants.
Zodiac Academy series complete review – including novellas

Since reading the first 7 in one go, I have gone on to read and review the various novellas too, so I thought it would helpful to chuck them all in one place.
Exercising without a weightless goal part 4

This is a recurring post, which is a yearly reflection on exercising again post-injury, with a completely different mind set to what had fuelled my desire to go to the gym before and how different it felt
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…