Review: Liar in the Hollow Court - Bethany Atazadeh

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Published: June 1, 2026
Publisher: Grace House Press
Pages: 326

Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
A standalone enemies-to-lovers fae fantasy—except she’s the only one who thinks they’re enemies. With the high-stakes intrigue of The Cruel Prince, the cozy found-family banter of FRIENDS, and the no-spice romantic tension of Pride and Prejudice.

Brynn never believed in fairytales—until one stole her mother.

Everyone says she ran off, but Brynn saw the truth. Her mother was taken by something not quite human.

When her father and sisters vanish next, dragged into the winter woods by the same strange creatures, Brynn follows and falls head over heels into the Hollow Court: an underground fae kingdom rife with dangerous bargains.

In a realm where fae can’t lie, Brynn’s human ability to do just that becomes her greatest weapon. It gives her leverage when dealing with Soren—a handsome, unreadable fae who offers help in exchange for the power of her words. But there’s always a cost. The more she bargains, the more tangled everything becomes.

When a mysterious fae prince provides Brynn with a shortcut to the truth, she must decide who to trust as the veil between worlds begins to close.

Perfect for fantasy readers who love:
- no-spice romantic tension
- fae bargains
- found family
- a cursed prince
- cozy fantasy worlds but with faster pacing and higher stakes
- a grumpy Mr. Darcy who lost his wings
- a shy Elizabeth Bennett whose family was taken by the fae

My Rating:
★★★★★

Review:

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review, all reviews and opinions are my own. 

 Firstly I didn't get stand alone right off the bat. That is my bad for going into it thinking it would continue. I just knew there would be a second book, so the ending didn't end where I thought it would. I am kind of happy for that but it did feel a bit rushed at the end. There are still questions left unanswered that I hope we see answered or maybe revisited in the next book or next books. I'm not sure how many will be in this world. As I continue my review I will try to avoid spoilers. 

 I will say Sorens friends I am highly intrigued to find out more about them and why they banded all together. I know they all had their reasons. Especially the red capped one. I really want to know more about her. Brynn and Soren I of course loved. Brynn at times was very human and you could tell by her thoughts and feelings of things. I loved how the author brought her to life and made her realistic that way. Especially when she thought she couldn't get her family out and lost all hope. 

Caius, I hope we see a bit more of only because I want to know his past a bit more. There were hints of it but I want to know more. I totally knew what he was when we met him. I called it out right from the get go. We also need to know more about the mother. I feel we just started to touch on it at the end. It was a good first book and I hope that there will be more to learn even if we are going in a different direction. I hope we still see Soren and the gang. Which I think we will. 

Little Book Blog That Could

 Lately I have been looking back over this little book blog. I even started my writing journey on here along with my reading. I enjoyed sharing that but as my writing took off my reading hasn't so much. Which is normal. I still do try to make time for reading but it's definitely different. Now on my main website I do post about my writing from time to time and sometimes even mention the books I have read. I have thought about maybe coming back and talking about books again but we will see. Maybe these are the last musings that you will see on here maybe not. You will have to stay posted to find out. 

 I guess my question is would anyone be interested? I did like writing longer reviews on indy published books. I still do read arcs from time to time and would be open to posting my thoughts on them. I might do that since I have had two recently that I have loved reading.  

Review: When Smiles Fade by Paige Dearth

Genre: Horror, Mystery
Published: January 30, 2013
Publisher: Createspace
Pages: 470

Source: Netgalley
Synopsis:
Emma was unloved from the moment she was born. Her earliest memory is being severely beaten by her father, Pepper Murphy, when she was eight-years-old. Seething with resentment over the sacrifice of his dreams for a woman he cares little about and children he never wanted, Pepper chooses to blame his oldest daughter. Her mother, Valerie, makes matters worse with her verbal abuse, leaving Emma isolated with a man that had no boundaries in punishing his daughter, taking his abuse to unimaginable levels.

Emma's father's coldblooded beatings and the ultimate abuse to which he subjects her, lays the foundation of the person she becomes. As she matures into a resourceful teenager, she is unwilling and unable to stifle her desire for revenge. Reaching her breaking point she can no longer control the impulse to fight back and finally takes matters into her own hands.

Having learned the art of hatred from her father and the mastery of manipulation from her mother, young Emma now sets out to make a better life for herself, leaving the memory of the abused child she had once been behind her. Hardened by the heartless brutality she encounters and the dangerous situations she must overcome in the course of her journey, she faces every challenge that comes her way in her quest for a normal life for herself and for those she loves.

Finally a person emerges from within that guides her toward a better life until she learns of a secret that sets her on the path of ultimate redemption. 

My Rating:
★★★☆☆

Review:

I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review, all reviews and opinions are my own. This was a hard book to read let alone write a review for. I can say yes I had a hard time reading this book I think if one didn't one would have to question why. I didn't like the beginning all that much it was more about facts than story or so it seemed to me but once Emma got out on the streets the story and characters seemed to open up a bit more, though it did do some skipping around so we didn't get to see what happened in the years between. I do praise Paige for talking about such a tough subject especially when one has lived through some of the horrors I know I would have a hard time of it. If I did I feel it would be more about the facts than the story and almost no emotion. I think one of the reasons why the beginning of the book was so tough for me is that Emma's mother has some qualities that are a lot like my own mother. I am glad I made myself read it all, even though I went slow, that was more personal reasons than the writing. I am so happy when others pain and anger turn into something wonderful, pain and anger do not have to be destructive they can help motivate you and strive to create. I can not wait to read the other novels by this author, though I will have to take some time in between each of them.  The end though I at first was like she is a stronger person than I and then it turned and I was like yea that is more like it! Some times it is hard to be the better person, especially when other people make it easy not to be. That is why I feel so many people get lost in drugs and alcohol as well, not to mention murder, they find it easier and better than living with what they went through.  Also by what I have seen all of these books are connected a little, I like that because now it makes me want to hear a little more of the other stories.

Bout of Books 18: Update Day 6 & 7

Currently Reading: 

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman

Books Completed:

• The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
• Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones 
• Saga Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan
• The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Other Goals Completed:

• 1/2 Challenges Completed
• 4/5 Blogs visited yesterday
• 7/3 Books Completed

Pages read today: 270

Total pages read: 1,429

Books to read:

Thoughts:
So I got another book in and got some more Gemina read just before being done with bout of books! It was a great reading time. I hope everyone did well and accomplished so many things. I didn't get to complete the challenges goal that I wanted to but I did read many different things and completed more books than I thought I would so I call it a win. How did everyone else do?

Bout of Books 18: Update Day 4 & 5

Currently Reading: 

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman

Books Completed:

• The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
• Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones 
• Saga Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan

Other Goals Completed:

• 1/2 Challenges Completed
• 4/5 Blogs visited yesterday
• 6/3 Books Completed

Pages read today: 113

Total pages read: 1,159

Books to read:

Thoughts:
So in the past two day I did not read much... with it being so cold working over night where I do for the two nights I do it there is no heat in the building I work so I sleep basically all day when I get home to keep from getting sick. The good news is that those two days are over and hopefully I can get some decent reading in. I will be reading a Lemony Snicket book and getting some Gemina read. So it can only get better. How is everyone else progressing? Has anyone had any snags along the way.

Bout of Books: Update Day 3

Currently Reading: 

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman

Books Completed:

• The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
• Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones 
• Saga Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan

Other Goals Completed:

• 1/2 Challenges Completed
• 2/5 Blogs visited yesterday
• 6/3 Books Completed

Pages read today: 302

Total pages read: 1,046

Books to read:

Thoughts:
I was sleepy yesterday so instead of reading when I got home for most of the night I took a nap. I feel much better though. I did finish Volume 4 of Saga after getting up from the nap so that is a plus and now I can't wait till I can borrow the rest of the series from the library to read. I didn't get to visit as many blogs yesterday hopefully I can make up for that today. Today I hope to make some serious head room in Gemina. Today I am even going to the library to pick up three more Lemony Snicket books so I might get those into here as well. I hope everyone is doing well still in their updates and readings. Let me know how you are doing out there.

Bout of Books 18: Update Day 2

Currently Reading: 

• Golden Son by Pierce Brown
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman

Books Completed:

• The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
• Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Brighter Than the Sun by Darynda Jones 
• Saga Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan
• Saga Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan

Other Goals Completed:

• 1/2 Challenges Completed
• 4/5 Blogs visited yesterday
• 5/3 Books Completed

Pages read today: 424

Total pages read: 744

Books to read:

• Saga Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan

Thoughts:
Yesterday was another good day. I finished Saga Volume 2 and 3 and I finished Brighter than the sun as well. It was kind of nice seeing from Reyes's point of view. I started the Audio book of Golden son and reading Gemina I hope to finish Saga Volume 4 tonight and get a good chunk done in Golden son and maybe even get some done in Gemina.

Challenge: Book to Movie
There are so many books that I would like to see either on the movie screen or as a series but then I think about what if it doesn't do well then they won't finish it or what if they interpret the books incorrectly. One movie I am still upset they never went any further with is Golden Compass I liked that movie and book a lot but it never went past the first one. But if we are wishing and dreaming for things I would like to see some of my favorite series turned into a movie or series like The hollow series by Kim Harrison or even the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. I would also like to see The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern on the big screen I think that one would be magical to see.