Of Swords and Soulmates
Is this a kissing book? Of Swords and Soulmates features two couples (and sometimes more), with varying reading preferences and experiences, as they read, listen, and sometimes watch romantasy stories and discuss plot, fantasy elements, romance, spice, theories, and more. Join us for our non-expert opinions as we discuss, argue, rave, rant, and hopefully entertain. We may just help you find your next reading obsession or at least contribute to that TBR list!
Of Swords and Soulmates
"One Dark Window" - Fever Dreams and Highway Schemes
Magic always has a price—but what if that price is your body, your mind, or even your humanity?
Rachel Gillig's "One Dark Window" transports readers into a hauntingly beautiful gothic fantasy where survival means harboring dangerous secrets. In a mist-locked kingdom where magic is treated as a disease to be eradicated, Elspeth Spindle lives with a terrifying reality: an ancient spirit called the Nightmare resides within her mind, the result of surviving a magical fever that should have killed her. He protects her, keeps her secrets, but slowly—darkly—claims more of her consciousness with each passing day.
When a chance encounter with a mysterious highwayman pulls Elspeth into a quest to gather twelve providence cards before the solstice, she's thrust into a world where nothing is as it seems. These cards—powerful magical artifacts—might hold the cure for the kingdom's affliction, but obtaining them means navigating treacherous political waters, confronting painful truths about her family, and risking exposure of her own forbidden magic. As if that weren't complicated enough, the highwayman happens to be the king's nephew and captain of the Destriers, guilty of high treason.
What makes this novel truly exceptional is Gillig's breathtaking prose. The writing flows like dark poetry, creating an atmospheric experience that pulls you deeper into this world with each turning page. The unique magic system, where power is concentrated in 78 providence cards that exact physical tolls on their users, offers fascinating commentary on power, sacrifice, and the lengths we'll go to protect those we love. And while romance isn't the central focus, the developing relationship between Elspeth and Ravyn adds emotional complexity to an already rich narrative.
Discover why readers are calling "One Dark Window" one of the most captivating fantasy reads of the year. Pick up your copy and step through the window into a world where monsters might not be what you fear most—it might be what's already inside you.
Links from the News Segment and Show:
- Ali Hazelwood cancels UK signing / tour due to political issues
- Instagram Link
- Cites safety concerns due to the current political events and concern of exiting / re-entering USA
- Waterstones Cancels US Orders
- TikTok Post
- UK bookseller Waterstone is no longer accepting orders from the US and canceling some orders due to the tariffs.
- Plated Prisoner show update
- Barnes and Noble special edition of Assistant to the Villian
- B&N Link
- $32.99. Shipping in September 2025
- New Book by Rachael Gillig, The Knight and the Mothman
- T. Kingfisher is the Dragon*Con Literary Guest of Honor
- April is Arab American Heritage month, National Neurodiversity Awareness month, and National Poetry month!
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Views expressed in this podcast are solely those of the participants. The hosts make no claim to be literary experts and their opinions are exactly that opinions. All creative works discussed or reviewed are the intellectual property of the creators of said stories and is being used under the fair use doctrine.
Mari:Hello and welcome to Of Swords and Soulmates, a podcast where we read, watch and discuss romancy stories. I'm one of your hosts, mari, and with me I have Kelly.
Kelly:Hey everyone, it's Kelly. We have Ashley.
Ashley:Hey guys, it's Ashley. We also have Jonathan.
Jonathan:What's going on? It's JP Woo.
Mari:We have a whole lot of news today, so we're going to be discussing, eventually, one Dark Window by Rachel Gillig. But fair warning, buckle in listeners. We got a lot. We got a lot. I feel like it's been months since. If I look at the news, it looks like it's been months since we've talked, but I know it isn't. It's just. A lot has happened.
Mari:So to begin with, we have Ali Hazelwood has had to cancel her UK signing tour dates that were already set to go. People had already gotten reservations and whatnot to do. We've talked about her before. She mainly does contemporary romance, stem, but of course she wrote bride and the upcoming sequel to that mate right, is that what the sequel is called? Um, and she's supposed to be at the romancy con in uh, orlando in october.
Mari:So she released this on her facebook following and instagram at the same time. She said quote so I have to cancel all my UK events. It breaks my heart and I cannot apologize enough. And then, in the little details of that she put, I have decided to cancel my April events in the UK. This is because of several complicated reasons that mostly boil down to the fact that, things being what they are, it's not possible for me to safely travel outside and then back inside the US end quote. And then back inside the US End quote. I know she's Italian born and she is here doing like work neuro. I think neuro she's some kind of neuroscientist for her like her main gig, so I'm assuming it's related to that is why she would have concerns about being able to go out and come back in. Yeah, tough times.
Jonathan:Yeah, very much. So yeah, I am you know it. Yeah, tough times very much.
Ashley:so yeah, I am you know, it's not the first author that that I've come across that mentioned something like that. That's the first one I saw. Yeah, there was a.
Jonathan:It's definitely the biggest there's a canadian author who she hasn't posted it publicly, but uh, so I won't um say her name, but, like on instagram, I was like, hey, do you have any upcoming shows, uh, or conventions that you're gonna, that you're planning to be at? She was like, uh, unfortunately not this year. I live in Canada and that that travel is just not, it's not part of my. You know, my year this year because of you know, given the current situation, I'm paraphrasing but, um, but, yeah, so I mean, there's there, there are impacts all over. We're fortunate, hopefully, allie is one of the authors that I'm looking forward to meeting this fall.
Ashley:Yes, I'm so excited.
Jonathan:Yeah, I'm very excited to meet Allie and I'm hopeful that because mother Rebecca Yaros will be at this same event and hoping that she attracts the masses, so that way I get more face time with ally I really think so.
Mari:I really think that rebecca, you're always being there. I'm very excited she's going to be there, even though I have. No, I'm not necessarily going to try to like go for getting the signing tickets or pay for the disney event or whatever with her, but I'm like, yes, please get more. You know people coming to the con, but also maybe that'll give us some more time with the rest of the authors. Not that I feel we had any issues talking to anybody last time, but I know there wasn't anybody as big as Rebecca Yarrow's there.
Jonathan:Was Penn Cole there? Penn Cole was there we didn't know then.
Kelly:We didn't know we loved her.
Jonathan:That's another one I want to get.
Ashley:I don't know that she's coming this year. No I didn't see her on the list. All I hear in my head is when he talks about these authors, and the majority of them are women, right? So what's that soundbite? That's just like. These are my ladies. You know the soundbite I'm thinking of this is Bernadette.
Jonathan:No that's not. I, I don't mean it in a sexual way, the way he fangirls over authors has been mind-blowing.
Ashley:He's cold-calling them on Instagram like hey, I really like your stuff. Are you going to be at any cons this year?
Jonathan:Not in a creepy way, no it's very precious.
Mari:From everything I hear, authors always appreciate when you tell them that you like their work. They get enough. Enough, I think, bad criticism from people, because there's so many people who pick apart other people's work.
Ashley:Poor callie, yeah, she's going through it, yeah, but yeah, he's just out there making besties. Yeah, yeah, anyway.
Jonathan:So have the audacity, yeah just listen, you miss 100 of the shots you don't take. Just you know. Raise your hand and ask these stupid questions.
Ashley:That's all I hear um this is my lady abigail.
Jonathan:This is my other lady, ellie.
Ashley:Um, like you, like you didn't meet juliet, I didn't mean to make it weird, that was just all I heard.
Jonathan:Yeah, so uh maybe one way to support ally is, uh, if you're in the UK. And what I did for the Canadian author that I will be unable to meet was I just went on her website and I ended up purchasing a book, a number of book plates. They're cheap. Oh, you did, yeah, oh yeah, I got like five book plates, one for each of her books as they come out.
Ashley:Yeah, guys, sell book plates.
Mari:We'll buy it and a lot of authors sell other like little merchant stuff on their website directly, like little stickers or maybe like official, you know, t-shirts with their little like logos or something with the characters. I say little. That that sounds very dismissive. I don't mean that I mean like things about their fan fandom. Whatever they create, like if it's a side character, if it's a, a catchphrase, you know, a lot of times there'll be things like that that the authors sell on their website.
Mari:So Waterstones is a big UK book seller and a lot of times there are special editions that are Waterstones exclusive and you can pre-order from them way in advance like you can from anybody else, from Barnes and Noble or whatever. And on three of the groups I was in there were people that had pre-ordered. On three of the groups I was in there were people that had pre-ordered people who lived in the US, who had pre-ordered books on Waterstones in the UK to be shipped over and had gotten a message saying that the screenshot that they had seen posted was we regret quote we regret that we are currently unable to accept or ship orders to the US while we establish options to be compliant with the new tariffs. End quote. That being said, I have several books on pre-order with Waterstones. None of them are set to be delivered anytime soon, but I didn't get this message anywhere that I looked at anything on my profile, so I don't know if it's books that have like imminent delivery while they figure it out.
Ashley:Yeah, I think this is a very fluid situation. Um, and if I'm not mistaken, I am not as versed in the overseas um, you know, enterprises such as uh waterstone, although I know that's one of the bigger names, there's also one called blackwells that is my. Both of those two very big names have sent similar emails about potential shipping delays or halts because of the new tariffs. But I thought I had heard some chatter about some of that being rescinded and they're working through it or something of that nature.
Ashley:So definitely pay attention to the fine print during this time. Keep an eye out on your email for things that have already been pre-ordered. I thought I read that they were going to comply with orders that had already been pre-ordered. I thought I read that they were Going to Comply with orders that had already been received.
Mari:Everything I've read says that they're going to honor what's already been ordered.
Ashley:But that new one's moving forward. I think we're going to start seeing Some really big delays, if not Big shipping halting.
Mari:Prices changed, so just pay attention to stuff. Or if they figure out what those Like shipping prices changed, right, so just pay attention to stuff, yeah Right.
Ashley:Or if they figure out what those numbers are, and then, of course, it falls on us to figure out what we want to do, right? So, yeah, it's Waterstone and Blackwell's, if I'm not mistaken, although, but maybe Waterstone owns Blackwell's now I'm a little fuzzy on that, forgive me guys, I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm not sure. Yeah, I'm not sure.
Ashley:But I did see that chatter, social media is a really has a really good pulse on that stuff. And as the updates are coming, that's where I'm hearing them first, because as soon as those warnings were going out about the halts, it was very quickly followed up with hey, you know we're honoring what's already, the orders that have already been received, kind of things. Yeah, keep an eye on your emails, guys.
Mari:If you've already ordered something and if you're thinking about it, look for the fine print yeah, all right, moving on, the plated prisoner, uh series by raven kennedy, which the first one, I believe, is called guilt. I'm gild, I'm reading that one now. Guild, guild, guild.
Ashley:Yeah, I thought this was a joke. This series is spicy.
Mari:It's dark, like I'm only. It's also dark yeah, I'm only, maybe, I don't know something like 10, 12% into book one. But so far let me paint a picture, and I know nothing right now, so I don't think I'm spoiling anything, because everything I tell you is basically in the first chapter. This is like a King Midas situation retelling, and the main character, or the character whose perspective I have only gotten so far, is basically his non-consenting groomed as a child prisoner. It's dark, and so she's like oh, I just wish he would pay attention to me, I wish he would touch me. Oh, my god, he's looking my way.
Ashley:yeah, I I would pause on the non-consenting part, but it's definitely a potential grooming situation. I think I've read like three of the books, um, when they first came out and um, you're not wrong about it being dark and we're definitely going to. It'll definitely touch on some very sensitive topics, but she thinks she's in love, yeah, with this guy. So it's not necessarily non-consenting, but there is emotional, yeah, if not physical abuse. Like I said, I'm only like, and there's a spin that comes later on, okay, which makes it very fantasy more fantasy than the retelling part of it, um, without spoiling anything.
Mari:So I think there's like five or six of them now, but I'm very surprised that this is, and I'm very early on, like I said, but the idea I thought was that she was like very young when he got her prison. I thought she was like a child. I think he was also young, okay. So, like I said, I'm I'm super, super early and so this is just my take as a like I don't know somewhere between six and eleven percent into the situation.
Mari:So super early yeah, yeah, um, but yeah, that's. That's apparently gonna be a show. Showrunner is kate rorick. Yeah, I'll be interesting to see if that actually makes it to production.
Ashley:So we'll see Raven Kennedy is a big name, um, so this would be interesting for the book talk community. I mean, it's like I remember being decidedly spicy so oh yeah. Game of Thrones level of spice because, like Game of Thrones, didn't hide anything either right.
Mari:Yeah, I would say it's definitely, like I said by the beginning part that I've seen it's definitely that level. So we'll see. We'll see where it goes. I don't have a real opinion on it other than definitely dark. Definitely read the trigger warnings if you have any issues. But so far I'm intrigued. I mean I'm willing to see the story through, see what happens. So all right. Next bit of news we have is hannah nicoleer released that she is going to be doing a special edition hardcover of Assistant to the Villain through Barnes Noble. It's very pretty, it's very shiny.
Jonathan:Have you guys seen this, have commented on a social media post where other authors had elaborate painted edges and sprayed edges, and I was like, hey, y'all should teach Hannah, who was on there, how you guys got these fancy edges, because I would like to see her books in a fancier version. And then the next day I saw this and I was like jk, jk yeah she, uh, hannah is another person that I would love to see at an event.
Jonathan:You had your shot. I did have my shot. I missed it. Instead, I went to go meet josh gann at his book thing so maybe there'll be another time.
Mari:She's got plenty more books in here I haven't seen anything about her touring does she live in florida?
Jonathan:that I don't know I almost like I keep thinking, somehow my mind is just locked on her living in florida.
Jonathan:So I'm like I I feel like I'm bound to bump into her. I was, uh, she did like a friday night social uh thing on facebook last week and you can like chime in and ask them questions. And I think I asked her like, hey, you know what's? What's the deal with Kingsley Is there, is there a spinoff there? I think one of the dangers is, if he's restored to humanity, right, then you know, is there a risk of him, of somebody, of a special someone, falling in love with him, or can we get a prequel? And she was like wink wink, time will tell. Like, uh, wink wink, time will tell.
Mari:So yeah, we need to know Mark Hensley for sure. So it's 3299. And if you get it, if you preorder it, it ships September 16th 2025. All right, new to us, although I don't know that it's a new store, but it's new to us. Jonathan found it.
Mari:Narrative Threads sells a bunch of book-based merch but specifically they have some really cute now that it's starting to get warm and it's no longer cold weather really cute cardigans and knit sweaters, a lot of Sarah J Maas and some fourth wing stuff. The cardigans are in the $85 range and the knit sweaters are in the $120 range. So, jonathan, you posted this to us and I had been to a local book club thing like maybe a week before, and I hadn't realized that one of the people at the book club because there's usually like 30, 40 people that comes to these book clubs but one of the people at the book club was wearing the Valous sweater from this website. But I didn't realize it was valorous because the way that the the text sits on it and sits on your chest, all I, all you see is aris a-r-i-s and I'm like, oh, that's a paris sweater.
Mari:I'm thinking in my head so no. But then I see on this website I'm like, oh no, that was, that was the velaris sweater. So I've seen the velaris sweater in person. It's cute, it was seemed high quality they look high quality.
Jonathan:So there's a good, a great gradient, and then you know how, like when you have regular knit, it's almost like the like an 8-bit nintendo system where you can only you get like very blocky characters and you can't, you don't truly escape that, um, but from a distance I think they did a good job the way the gradients work. They are phenomenal and the um and the the buttons are are large and they've got pockets off like a chunk vibe and it's just real nice.
Mari:I ordered the blue ACOTAR cardigan, so when it arrives I'll let you guys know.
Jonathan:Yeah, I'm super jelly here Am I allowed on this website. You can't. The only reason you can't go on this website is not because you can't have this stuff. I don't care what you buy. I bought a spice rack. You guys thought it looked cute like I bought the spice rack. I'm jealous of this sweater. I don't.
Ashley:This is cool so if you can't have it, nobody can have it correct. Why can't you?
Jonathan:have it I don't think they make them in um uh unisex sizes yeah, they do.
Ashley:They're really big sizes is it because of size or is it because of femininity?
Jonathan:I don't give a shit about femininity.
Ashley:Sometimes you do.
Jonathan:No, I mean like, not really. Like. There are some times where I'm like dang, you know, this stuff is so cool. I wish I was a girl kind of thing. But then I remember that I have pockets and Well, and that you know, Free will All that is a construct and you can do what you want.
Jonathan:Yes, wear what you want. So in clothing manufacturing, this is definitely a female garment. So, when it comes to clothing manufacturing, the tell is that the buttons are on the left-hand side for women's and on the right-hand side for men's. Oh, we're going deep into the autism, so it'll definitely have a cut near the waist. It's not that I couldn't buy. Buy a 2X and pull it off.
Ashley:Baby cardigans don't have cuts. Yeah, they don't. They're straight up and down. It's going to look better on your body than mine.
Mari:Same yes, I'm going to wear it anyways, but it's going to look better on a straight up and down body, to be honest.
Ashley:I mean this is.
Kelly:This is Stupid boy. Now I body to be honest. I mean, this is no hips body.
Ashley:Yeah, this is stupid boy.
Jonathan:Now I'm mad this looks amazing, though I mean, I'm just looking at basically a cape with like arms. Yeah this, the back, the one of these, the backside, rattle the stars, god. Yeah, that's a good, that's thrown a glass.
Mari:I've got a throne of glass cardigan already. Otherwise I would have bought that one too. Um, but it wasn't from this company. I don't remember the company I bought it from, but it's the one I have is more like looks more like texts, like out of a book kind of thing, rather than realistic. It's black and beige and it says rattle the stars and it's got like constellations printed on it but it's very much like drawn looking constellations. It doesn't look like, um, like the, the, the background in those cardigans look almost photorealistic and the the one I have doesn't look like that. But I was like I don't need two throne of glass cardigans. I live in the south, it's not that cold so I here's a challenge.
Jonathan:Uh, I'm looking at the, the varsity knit classic, and it's exactly what you might think. It's a knit sweater, it's a two-tone, it has block lettering. Uh, it's, it's stitched in that eight bit style, so to speak. Um, so my challenge is to to authors you may not get me on a knit sweater because I live in florida, but you could probably get me on a spirit jersey. If you're not familiar with the spirit jersey clothing line, a lot of the theme parks have them, but these book titles would lend themselves to it. I understand that some of the authors their work itself might not, but this could be right up. Somebody like Hannah Nicole Myers Alley or Juliet Cross, who's maybe a little more fun with some of her work and lighthearted with some of her work, the Spirit Jersey could be a great solution.
Mari:Or even like a ringer tee with more upscale embroidery or patches or whatnot. Yeah, I definitely tend to buy more t-shirts than I do sweaters or cardigans, because you can layer them. You know, you can wear them throughout more of the year. Where we all live? We all live in the South, so yeah, Okay, absolutely.
Mari:Enough about narrative threads. We are not sponsored by them. But if you want to reach out, I'm just saying All right. If you want to reach out, I'm just saying All right. Next thing in the news is there's a new book coming out by Rachel Gillig, who is, first of all, my bad. I should have looked up how to pronounce her name. I'm assuming it's pronounced Rachel Gillig, but she's the one who wrote the book that we're going to be talking about today. But she's got a new book coming out. It is the Night and the Moth, and the cover has been catching my eye for a while now, and I hadn't connected it with the same author that we are reading until very recently. Here's the synopsis for that book, which sounds amazing A gothic tale of a prophetess who is forced beyond the safety of her cloister on an impossible quest to defeat the gods with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. That sounds pretty epic to me.
Jonathan:This book looks amazing, doesn't it?
Mari:Yeah, like I would that image. I would like put it up on, you know, my cubicle wall, if not my house framed really nice, it gives really pretty pretty design.
Jonathan:It is very beautiful. And is that, is that Barnes Noble exclusive. I don't think so almost looks like that's the decal, that circle, maybe I don't know I just took it from her website, um.
Mari:So that's the one that she linked on her website, um who was just on.
Jonathan:Somebody was just in a barnes and noble and had like signed a bunch of books and just like kind of.
Ashley:Geneva Rose, is that who it was Interesting.
Jonathan:I like I'm going to be honest. Um, at Barnes and Noble you spend a little bit more than you would, uh, at some other places, yeah, but I feel like there's an opportunity and they they make it easier to get your hands on some of these things, like if I want to sign the edition of a book it's just sometimes easier.
Mari:A hundred percent. And also they I feel in my experience has been we don't have a Barnes and Noble where we live. All we have is a Books a Million, so that I'm comparing a Books a Million. To where my parents live there's a Barnes and Noble, so when I go visit I'll go to the Barnes and Noble. And every time I've been to the Barnes and Noble there, which is a bigger city, but every time I've been to the Barnes Noble there, whatever book I'm looking for, I've always been able to find it. And I'm not looking for really rare books released 20 years ago or whatever. I'm talking generally recent stuff. But I've not had the same experience at Books A Million. So, yeah, barnes Noble is a good place. It's a good bookstore to find books.
Jonathan:Um, imagine that yeah, we are marked. We went into a books a million my first experience not too long ago. Uh, super bowl. Uh, sunday, we went into one or the saturday of the super bowl, right? Yeah and uh, it was I. I thought it was a very nice. It's better than like a. It was better than a Walden Books, which was just like a single bay bookshop, but it's definitely. It paled in comparison.
Ashley:It was like Walmart versus Target.
Jonathan:No, not even. It was like Dollar Tree versus Walmart.
Mari:Yeah, our Books. A Million is a great place to go if you want t-shirts or games or tchotchkes.
Ashley:Okay, not so much books Like not so much for the most part, it's just it had, it has knickknacks and like yeah, additional merch, so I do appreciate that part of the book. The million it's not something I crave, though, like barnes and noble is just organized. It's very clearly books you're. You're very probably going to find what you're looking for, with the exception of, like opening drop day for you know, fourth wing right. But um, yeah, it's a very pleasant experience at Barnes Noble before you get to register and have to pull out your debit card.
Jonathan:So I'm glad to see that this book is coming from that outlet.
Mari:Yeah, it's pretty, so we'll see I will probably read it. It's been on my radar for a minute. Okay, next bit of news, and this is more fantasy heavy than romancy, but there is some love stories involved, so I'm putting it in here. Um, has anyone but me read any of the dresden file books by jim butcher kelly? Have you read any of them? I've read a couple of them okay, uh did you, did you enjoy them? Not particularly okay, if you guys um, jonathan, have you read any of the Dresden?
Jonathan:Files. I think I've only read like one male fantasy author.
Mari:Okay. So Jim Butcher this is the 18th book is going to be released in 2026. It's going to be called 12 Months. The main character is urban fantasy, I guess, set in Chicago and they're a wizard. But also the books I mean there's 12 books, so there've been everything in these books Vampires, fey dragons, dinosaurs, sasquatch, you name it. Morgus books yeah, it's been in these books. It's a fun series. I enjoy it. I really enjoy it.
Mari:The main character feels very much like, almost like, a Jane Austen character. There's a lot of like old fashionedness to the, to the main character. Yeah, so I won't, I won't say much more than that. If any of that you know piques your interest, you have time before the latest book is released to read some, to work your way up through there, work your way up through there. Fascinating. Yeah, jim Butcher is often at not often, but several times he's been to Dragon Con, but he's also kind of like a big author, so I tend to not stand in line and fight people to mess with that situation. But speaking of Dragon Con, the next news we have I was so excited it's a good thing that Kelly was working when, when I got this news, I should have been asleep it was almost midnight but t king fisher, love her, love her, love her is the literary guest of honor at dragon con this year. Oh, and I squealed so loud when I saw this news that was was fun, I was at work.
Mari:Yeah, I messaged him at midnight. I'm like Kelly, look who's going to be at DragonCon. That's fate. I'm so excited. So, yes, I will be standing in all the lines for her. I will be going to all the panels that she may be speaking at. If anyone else is interested in DragonCon, it takes place in Atlanta Labor Day weekend, august 28th through September 1st. Tickets are still at $160 for the entire weekend five-day pass and they're still available. Yes, if you're a T Kingfisher fan, you can be as excited as I am.
Ashley:I'm so excited for you.
Mari:Yes, yes, yes, okay. Next bit of news April is National Arab American Heritage Month and because of that I wanted to do a little reading recommendation. If you're interested in reading an Arab American author, I would recommend Tempest of Tea by Hafsa Faizal. It's a YA read. It's got very Victorian kind of era, maybe Dickinson, charles Dickens kind of vibes. It's a main character has a tea room by day and at night it's a vampire blood den and then there's like a heist that happens in it. It's a fun read. It's a fun like ya heist kind of read and I would recommend, if any of that seems interesting to you, a ya heist that's words you never thought you'd necessarily hear together well, I think of it very much like oh god, what's the leo bardugo one?
Mari:the crows, uh, the familiar, no, earlier before that, the boat, shadow and bone, that was all I had.
Mari:Oh, oh, okay, yeah, so like the crows yeah whatever the crows books were, because I read them all so fast, one on top of the other, that I don't remember what the actual name of the ones. But all the Crows, the books with the Crows like it had that kind of a vibe to me, okay, that kind of a feel. So if you like those from the TV show or from the book, I would recommend this book to be similar to that. April is also National Neurodiversity Awareness Month. We have a reading rec for that.
Mari:We met Rose Santoriello at Fabled Fantasy Romanesque Con in Orlando last October and she writes this series of books. They're monster romance. They're very cute, cozy, spicy, called the Augury University A-U-G-U-R-Y. Augury University books and she is also Arab, american, but also neurodiverse. I would recommend them to you if you like monster romance, if you like books in academic settings because it's in a university, and if you like Legends and Lattes. It's got kind of a lot of those vibes to it. I've read all except for, I think, the latest one she has out, so I'm not up to date on the very latest one, but it's a fun little series marie, where do you find the time?
Mari:to what read. I don't get enough sleep. Kelly will tell you this. That's fair.
Jonathan:Yes, I don't think, I don't. I don't know that any of us get enough sleep, but for various reasons, I know you don't know that any of us get enough sleep, but for various reasons, I know. You don't, you don't try at all.
Ashley:I try to get enough sleep.
Jonathan:I know if you slept well, based on how many books are ticked off your list that I'm unaware of, like if I don't see you reading it, and you're like, oh, I read that book. I'm just like you've been up all night.
Mari:Kelly has something to say about that, don't you, Kelly? I mean that kelly has something to say about that, don't you, kelly? I mean, that's pretty much how you do it, yeah, yeah, middle of the night kelly will roll over and be like, are you still awake? Like yes, don't ask questions. One more chapter, biggest lie, I tell. One more chapter.
Jonathan:I fight back uh, I definitely fight back with an eye mask. Slash Bluetooth headset. So I pretend like I'm just going to pull it down, but I'm just really secretly listening to some quantum physics.
Ashley:Youtube video while she reads it's usually why I can't sleep.
Jonathan:Yeah, I listen the first two minutes and I pass out, but every night I pick up an hour and a half version, so that way I'm like what if I accidentally stay awake this whole time? It doesn't happen. I'm just trying to download the information into my mind while I sleep.
Mari:Any reading recs for neurodiversity.
Jonathan:I mean, I think, reading in general. I mean, I think, reading in general, if you're, I think, maybe not reading rec, but pro, tip nothing pro at any of this, but you know, find the style that suits you and then lean into it, whether it's having paperbacks or maybe you're. Maybe you need it to be on a specific screen, uh, or maybe you need the audio, or maybe you need everything all at once in order to be able to, uh, enjoy it.
Mari:Yeah, it all counts.
Jonathan:Yeah, yeah, fine, fine. Find your special mix, find your cocktail and, uh, get down on it. Matter of fact, if you have a reading cocktail that you enjoy that really gets you across the finish line, let us know.
Ashley:That sounds so dirty. What do you?
Jonathan:mean oh. So I mean, ladies and gentlemen, I don't think my statement's all the way through. In my mind it makes sense.
Ashley:It did not make sense. It just also sounded dirty. I just put it out there.
Jonathan:I'm not afraid to expose myself.
Mari:That also sounded dirty, very dirty. I just put it out there. I'm not afraid to expose myself.
Jonathan:That also sounded dirty, very dirty. Yeah, if you have a style or something like that, I'm always open to new things. Currently, I like the immersive reading where I've got headphones on, it's cranked at like 3x the speed, and I like to do it with a, a. My preferred method is a paperback and I like to have a new bookmark with every book and then when I'm done, I just put the bookmark in that book that's cool so that's where I'm at right now all right.
Mari:Last bit of news is that april is also national poetry month, so my reading rec for poetry is the Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace. It is not new. I've had it for several years. Do you remember at the beginning of the year when I was like, hey, I'm going to read my physical books? This is one of those. I finally read it I think it was last month or the month before and then it's like a three book poetry series. The first one is about resilience, but it's really good. They're very short style poetry, for the most part Very like Emily Dickinson kind of vibe, but modern. Yeah, I would recommend. And if not, tell us who your favorite poet is, or new to you poet or who you would recommend. Anyone have a poet they'd like to recommend? I do not. Poetry was never really my particular jam yeah, dr seuss is my favorite.
Jonathan:I knew that was coming. Uh, hands down. I think if you're ever in a, if you're ever like in a mood where you're just not feeling 100, one of my pick-me-ups, what has always been to just not always, but has been to just read a Dr Seuss book, you can get them in small like not palm size, but close to palm size versions for, like, little kids, and they take two, three minutes and you usually end up leaving that situation feeling better. On a side note, I was on, I had um, a project interview with um, a company that controls that, probably the most common search engine, and that topic came up and they stopped the interview and dug into that so deeply and they just, if you ever just say something in an interview where they just stop you, stop them in their tracks and they're like this is completely new information. And that's when it hit me that maybe this is something I need to share with more people. So, um, yeah, if you're looking for a mood reset, he does it for you in three, four minutes, something like that.
Mari:So have you ever read any Shel Silverstein?
Jonathan:I have, but I was not mature. And I have, but I was not mature and this is going to sound weird I was not mature enough to want to enjoy it when it was in my possession. Does that make sense?
Mari:Yeah, yeah. Okay, we are finally done with the news, unless anybody has anything else they want to add Later.
Jonathan:I know I would say, for poetry. Tonight's book leans into that.
Mari:Yes, oh my God. Yes, 100%, I agree. Okay, why we chose this book? Kelly, you recommended this book. You had read it first, before any of us. How did it come to you?
Kelly:Somebody on social media recommended it to me.
Mari:Good rec, Definitely a good recommendation. Let me read the synopsis and then we can go from there. Published September 22nd 2022. Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her. Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mislocked kingdom she calls home. She needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it. Except the highwayman just so happens to be the king's own nephew. Captain of the Destriers. I read it. I didn't listen to it, so you have to correct me.
Ashley:Sorry, same.
Mari:Okay. And guilty of high treason. What is it?
Jonathan:The Destriers, destriers.
Mari:Okay. In my brain when I read it it was like the destroyers. Of course the destroyers. He and Elspeth have until solstice to gather 12 providence cards, the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret. Yet the nightmare is slowly darkly taking over her mind and she might not be able to stop him. So we're getting right into it. Overall rating what you guys think five, no notes, just five, just five.
Ashley:I have no notes. I so like maybe the first 30 pages I was like where where is this going? This tone hurts, right like we've been reading some more upbeat or more classic you know toned things recently. So I was like, hmm, I'm not sure about this, but that was very brief moment and I very quickly learned the error of my ways. And if rachel gillick has a hundred fans, I'm one of them, and if rachel gillick has one fan, I'm one of them, and if rachel gillick has zero fan, I'm dead. Like I loved this book. I have no notes. It it was fine.
Mari:Nice, I'll go next. I thought. For me it's a very high four stars. I thought the prose was beautiful. Like we were mentioning earlier, it read like poetry. The vibes were gothic, gothic romance. It was wonderful. The only thing that kept it from being quite a five-star read to me and honestly I may change it once I read the second one. I do plan on reading the second one, so once I finish the story I might feel differently. But it feels like some of the characters were underdeveloped. It felt more like I was reading almost like a fairy tale retelling. So it made some of the characters feel a little flat for me. But because it's not a fairy tale, that it's not really a retelling not something I have experience with I felt like I wanted to know more about the world and the characters and why they made some of the choices they did. So it was a strong four for me as my overall.
Jonathan:I'm going to give it a five, with a caveat here. It was a very it was a very good story. My mind kept going to into like Marvel's Moon Knight, and so, like I was, I was impressed. And then the um with the audio book version of it. Every time it's uh, the nails go, click, click, click.
Mari:Oh, that's kind of cool.
Jonathan:When you read it at a high rate of speed, it's more maniacal to hear the nightmare voice, and it's just the nightmare's voice is just a twist on Elspeth's voice, but it's just the laughter. It becomes more maniacal because you're at like two and a half, three X and then click, click, click, just like dang. My only beef with this book is the ending. He was so mad. Where is it? I haven't found, I haven't found it yet.
Ashley:It feels incomplete. You found the ending. No, no, no, it feels incomplete, I keep searching for it in book two you. You found the ending, you didn't find the closure.
Jonathan:Yeah, I didn't guess, I didn't know it's a duology he was so mad.
Ashley:He came racing across the house, pounding on the bathroom door because I was not in the same room as him. He was so mad.
Jonathan:I don't believe this is a duology. I think this is just one fat book that they were like cut in half.
Ashley:Well, yeah, it was like over 500 pages, wasn't it?
Jonathan:It 500 pages, wasn't it? It was, um, yeah, but still I don't know. I'm just, I'm gonna put it out there. Maybe, if you're an author and who am I to decide this yeah, just, maybe just a reader, maybe just put that uh for the book.
Mari:Give the book, uh, ending so here's my take on that, because on the one hand, I agree with you because I do love a complete story and I feel like my rating is incomplete until I read the second book. On the other hand, I think of like something like when the Moon Hatched and how many people won't read it because it's too long. And I think that if they made it a complete story and put like both books in one, a lot of people would not want to read it because they'd be intimidated by it or just not feel like it's worth their time, for whatever reason.
Jonathan:Which would be a shame because, like I said, the prose was amazing in this. Yeah, I, I don't, I don't disagree, uh, with that at all. I just for me, it's just yikes. I really just I was like gonna get an ending.
Ashley:I think this is the first like real big cliffhanger. You've had to be fair I mean besides, like you know, you know, fourth wing kind of had some jaw-dropping moments but it wasn't necessarily a cliffhanger in this way like unresolved correct they, she.
Jonathan:She managed to like wrap it up in some way, right, I wasn't sorry kelly, what did you think?
Kelly:I ended up giving this book a four. I thought it was very well done. I liked the overall theme of the book, which was about the struggle trying to make, sacrificing yourself and knowing that you're running out of time. So that was an appealing topic. So I found that idea interesting and a lot of the other themes and elements of the book interesting. Overall, so definitely a good book. It was definitely darker than what we've read in the past recently, but I think it did a lot of interesting things that we haven't seen in some books so far yeah, I agree, I thought it was.
Mari:I thought the whole like her, paying for the magic with her body and I guess not just her. The other some of the people who use magic also pay for it with their body is not something I've seen that often, but it's also not like world-breaking new. But it's interesting that I just finished reading this and am also reading the first Dragonlance book right now, the Dragons of Autumn, twilight. I'm also not terribly far into that one, maybe 20%, but one of the main characters is a. This is not a spoiler. Also, it's like a book written in the 80s, but it's a wizard who has paid for their magic with their, their body, permanent damage to their body, um. So that idea of like magic having a price, being very personal, very visceral, is very interesting. What was your reading?
Ashley:I gave it a four no I thought oh, I thought marie was saying no I, I think I jumped.
Kelly:I'm so sorry um marie already said she gave it a four.
Mari:Four for overall. Yeah, World building. Sorry, keeping in order. Ash, put your world building fantasy. Vote on it. Five.
Ashley:This is going to be a recurring theme for me. There will be no surprises here out of me. I enjoyed everything about this. I enjoy, you know, enjoy, the concept of a cursed village, right, it's not necessarily new, but I thought the magic system, the deck of cards, how they function independently, how they impact the human that's wielding them. You know the scarcity versus the availability of some of the cards, the individual personalities from you know well, I mean, we really only see her, elspeth, in this book.
Ashley:But I, I really liked the you know the poetry as we were talking about it, because each you know chapter basically starts with some saying from the book or from the cards, right, and they're all kind of like children's stories, like spooky ass children's stories, um, and it kind of lends to a phrase that happens in another series that I enjoy very much. And it's all the stories are true, right, in some way, shape or form, all of the stories are true and I just I thought you know her, how she came to be at that point with nightmare was a very unique situation, parasite-like but also symbiotic, almost venom, maybe that's what I'm thinking. It was very like they existed within each other. They weren't upset with each other most of the time. They understood that they relied on each other to an extent, and I just thought that was a very different perspective than maybe any other story that I can think of that might be similar. I enjoyed everything about it.
Mari:I agree on the fantasy world building that Venom allegory is. Yeah, that's definitely it. I gave it four stars because I thought that the magic system in it was interesting with the cards, and that it fleshed out in a way that made other stories make sense to me. So like there's lots of video games that use like this idea of like spells and cards or there's like Magic the Card Game, there's anime and stuff where you have like this card that you pull out and that's your magic, but the way this book kind of fleshed it out, it felt very organic.
Mari:It didn't feel cheesy or hokey. It didn't feel cheesy or hokey, yeah, which in a goth, like a dark gothic romance kind of situation, like a dark vibes, dark gothic story, it could have easily leaned that, leaned that way, and it didn't. Yeah, it was. It was really interesting the way that magic existed in the world. But the only magic that was okay, the only magic that was exact, acceptable, was the magic of the cards and any other kind of magic was forbidden. And I don't know if it's because, like I had just recently gotten back from a trip to salem and the whole, like witch hunt and puritan historic vibes were in my brain, but it felt very much like a you can only believe in this one thing, and if not you're a witch, you know? I mean like, yeah, it very much had those vibes to me. So world building four for me um, am I next yep?
Jonathan:world building, world building, world building. There was a world or fantasy magic system.
Mari:However, whatever you want to focus on, perfect I'm, I'm, definitely I.
Jonathan:You know, it's very split personality, odd type of like magic to catch the fever and like I don't know if it was, if catching the fever was available to everyone and that everybody who caught the fever left with some sort of magic. Um, that was a side effect and is it a fever to have magic? Is it, was it seen as an illness? Or is that just the transfer of magic into the body and the human?
Ashley:and a human wants to reject it was very much perceived as as a, as a disease, like as an illness.
Jonathan:Yeah, but by by the controlling power by the controlling party, seen as as an illness, but it could be that that's just a trend. That's nature sharing, bestowing magic on you and your body, rejecting what is coming from the outside, and then the survival is a gift of magic you're staring at me and he I've read.
Ashley:I've read book two or I devoured. So I know the answer. I have book two coming to me don't tell me I'm not gonna read.
Jonathan:I'm gonna be honest here I'm not gonna read book two wow because I don't know, once you hell hath no fury like like a jonathan scorn, correct? Yeah and when you deny me the ending of book one, in actual book one you place the ending of book one and book two.
Ashley:I'm very upset so much more needed to happen uh, and that's cool, it's very cool.
Jonathan:There was uh to me. I felt like. I felt like the idea of the mist, the, the idea of like magic, leaving this like salt um stench, the idea of people having to anchor to charms to not be uh infected and to not be crazed, the and lose, lose control of one's will, unless you have some sort of well, the charms were the protectant against the mist from from catching yeah, and then I think I started to get a little bit um, the world building started to wear off on me a little bit, because every time everybody turned, somebody was like, yep, I got the fever too.
Mari:I absolutely wrote that in the fable book club. I was like, oh my god, does everybody survive the fever and hide it, or is it just the rich people? Is there some poor people? Is it just the poor people who who get killed if they have the fever? But if you're rich or noble or connected, then you're okay to hide it I have.
Jonathan:Have you come across any poor people?
Mari:so I think, yeah, I'm sorry go ahead.
Ashley:I was gonna say I think this stems back to the stigma of catching the illness right.
Mari:So the thought process was you weren't supposed to grow up with it, you were supposed to be killed like the kid that was killed, though that that was supposed to be killed, the one who I forget the name, but his his parents hid him and they were going to do the public execution. I I got the feeling that that was not a noble, rich family right.
Ashley:So the the concept of finding quote survivors in an older age was surprising. It was forbidden to live with the illness and to harbor them and to harbor them Correct.
Jonathan:So this is like this is very much a card game, right? How many? How many decks are there? There's one deck, but each card has X amount and there's, and then okay, and so rarity, there's one like one Pokemon.
Mari:Have you ever played magic card game, Jonathan?
Jonathan:Um I you know what I I didn't um. I'm aware of it since high school and I think I always felt like I was at a disadvantage. Um, you like rules. No, no, I like that, I like the idea of it, but the for me, I think it started and I wasn't there at the beginning of this, and then I always felt like, well, I'll never catch up, so why would I even jump? Why would I join this race? That was my mindset.
Ashley:What did you rate the world building, did you say?
Jonathan:You're so funny. Thank you for keeping me on track. Five stars.
Ashley:Five stars, but you're not going to read the next one.
Kelly:Jonathan five stars, overall stars, but you're not going to read the next. Jonathan, five stars overall five fantasy. Not reading the next one.
Ashley:I mean, it's not that I didn't like the book.
Jonathan:I just I don't want. I don't want extracurricular activities. For the ending, put it in book one that is all kinds of, but you're going to read five throne of glass books I know right like five rebecca yarrow's books when they yeah, we finish there's a, there's a sense of closure.
Kelly:No, even with like so there'll be a sense of closure if you read all the books it's just one more, not five.
Ashley:You don't even have to wait, it's already out.
Kelly:I mean gosh, kelly, you're next kelly, no stop so I gave the fantasy and world building actually a 4.5. This was incredibly different than what we've seen in the past in books. I liked the idea of the magic being relegated to these tokens and that's how they took it away, because if you look at it, there's a lot of interesting themes in there. You have magic which is taken away from the everyday person and basically forced into the elite by making it. So there's only 78 total ways that you can have magic, 78 total cards between all of them. So if you don't have one of those cards and several people had multiple cards so essentially this is a very much a the rich get richer and the poor get poorer type allegory here. So that was interesting. Mm, hmm, charm or whatever in order to go into the mist, go into the fog. But I think the overall interesting part of this was, you know, the idea of the monster within, the monster within being something that lets you do terrible things without taking the blame.
Kelly:You know, elspeth wanted to blame everything on the monster within, but she was the one all too willing to let it come out when she needed it to call it but and then it's a convenient excuse of being able to say, well, I didn't really do it, it was the monster within and he was always like very clear, like you've always had a choice right it was.
Ashley:It was your choice to call me out. You had to. You knew bad shit was going to happen. You knew magic had a price.
Kelly:Yeah, Right. And then the source. You have the same idea of this magic being more represented by the wilderness and the woods being eradicated by civilization. So a lot of the themes you see in other books, which is the idea that magic gets destroyed by civilization or takes a new form by civilization.
Kelly:Yeah, and then there is a lot of themes of family and just the crazy things that happens within a family. You know found family versus loyalty and family and what not. So overall I thought the themes were very interesting. I liked a lot of the characters. So overall I think it was really well done.
Ashley:That's such high praise. I'm so excited I've been dying for you to love a book.
Mari:All right, ash romance. What do you think of the romance? So this actually.
Ashley:I know more than I should.
Jonathan:And so that hurts. Rank it on one, babe. Rank it on one.
Ashley:I'm pulling myself back. So, romance wise, I think it's a four. I think we see relationship develop against both of their wills, right, it's almost like that, you know, like the forced marriage trope or the one bed tropes, right, and I'm a fan of those. I don't care, I love me a trope. One thing about me I love a trope.
Ashley:But I really liked the evolution of them discovering each other to find each other In their own ways. They had been isolated. Raven had to be the protector that could never show any pain or fault or defeat, or defeat, right, he's deceiving his king. He's trying to save his family, specifically his little brother, while being the captain of the Destriers. You know what I mean. So he's deceiving everybody at all ends and trying to keep his shit together and he's basically just like a young ass adult, right, he's barely an adult himself. And then Elspeth has been keeping everything a secret, everything. She barely. She doesn't have any friends, she only has her cousin. So I mean it was really wholesome for me to see them come together and find some reprieve in each other.
Mari:So it was a three for the same reasons that I gave earlier for the overall not being quite a five. I didn't feel like I had a good vibe on what was going on in these characters' heads or their motivations. They felt a little flat for me and that may change completely after I read book two. Because it felt a little flat for me, the romance just wasn't there. I felt there was more of a camaraderie thing between all the people coming together in the found family, but the romance was not quite it for me. So I would say it's a three.
Jonathan:I'm going to give it a two. I really didn't get a romance vibe, okay, I mean there was a little bit of spice, but I think she was more hurt by her cousin.
Mari:Yeah, that was really tragic.
Kelly:I mean, I think the romance was a three and that's. I think a lot of the romance came in from the fact that she had such a strong love still for her family that raised her, despite her cousin kind of being corrupted by the power of that. Uh, the beauty card, yeah, the maiden card, which you know is again another allegory for how the pursuit of that beauty changes you and alienates you I'm so stressed out, you guys, because I know more.
Mari:I know too much, I'm sorry we'll have to touch when we read all of them. Please, kelly, have you read the second one? No okay I can tell uh, spice ash what you think oh, the spice was minimal.
Ashley:This was more like fade to black spice, um, which is not always my jam. I thought it was tastefully done, it wasn't rushed, it was just a very tiny bit. I think it. You know, it happened in the last quarter of the book, maybe third of the book, which felt important because, again, it wasn't forced. It was something, you know, that they found together as willing consenting adults and I think it strengthened their bond ultimately.
Mari:And, but I think it was only like a two and a half for me, like there wasn't a lot of it, it was what was there was minimal and this book. I think it would have been weird to have a lot of detailed spice when some of the characters didn't feel super detailed to me. I think it would have made it stand out in a bad way. So I think the spice was probably appropriate for the rest of the book, but just in general, the spice, I'd say it was a two I'm gonna give it a one for spice.
Jonathan:What happened was very. It was minimal, it was very blah, it wasn't even like it wasn't that kind of book, yeah it was. It was just like oh, I don't even think it was pivotal to this story so I gave, I gave the spice or two.
Kelly:I think it was what you had. You guys had already said it was minimal, not very right. It wasn't that kind of a book. So so what's?
Ashley:there was fine.
Kelly:Yeah.
Mari:What's there was fine, yeah Right, do we think it's a kissing book?
Jonathan:Based on book one Ash.
Ashley:Based on either book, I'm going to say no.
Mari:Okay, I'm going to say no as well, because I don't think that any romance aspect between them was necessary or integral to the plot.
Kelly:I'm going to say no as well. Yeah, in the sense of romance, for it to be a kissing book, no. But I think everything that she did was probably out of the love for her family that raised her.
Ashley:This is one of my favorite books this year. I've read some pretty good books this year, but I was genuinely surprised at how much I love this book and how non-romantic or spicy it was and how that wasn't pivotal to the story being as good as it was. I think that says a lot.
Mari:I would definitely want to read more by the author.
Mari:Read the second one of this, but I also plan on reading more by her because I very much enjoyed her writing style. Agreed. Here is a quote I kept telling. Very much enjoyed her writing style. Agreed. Here is a quote I kept telling random people, like random people at work and everybody. So the way this author writes this, this gives you, if you're thinking about whether or not to read this, instead of this one character saying that she was tired. The way the author wrote it was quote weariness was king and I his servant. End quote Poetry yeah, done.
Mari:Thanks for listening to Of Swords and Soulmates. Before we go, make sure to check the show notes, rate, review and subscribe to us on your podcast app of choice. It helps others to find us. Follow us on Instagram at Of Swords and Soulmates, or join our Facebook page at Of Swords and Soulmates. Check us out on our website ofswordsands soulmatescom, or on youtube, tiktok and pinterest with the same username. If you'd like to offer a suggestion for a future episode or reach out to us, feel free to do so. Any of those options. If you want to read along with us as we prep for a new episode, follow us on goodreads at of swords and soulmates, or for chapter by chapter interaction on the fable app at the of swords and soulmates book club, and we also have a Tome account. You can follow us on there. The next episode we're going to be reading before we announce that, I wanted to read one little review that someone left us.
Mari:We have a review. We have a review. Yes, this review is from Sarah Evelyn 21. I was looking for a review on the spell shop for a project at work, so I didn't have to reread the entire book, lol. The spell shop for a project at work, so I didn't have to reread the entire book. Lol, and they were one of only two episodes on the whole app that I could find. Romanticity is my favorite genre, so finding out that they're reviewing books I've read is so exciting. I personally like all the points of view brings more diversity and chances for someone to express how I'm feeling as well.
Ashley:Yay, look at us, look at a fan.
Jonathan:That was Sarah. Thank you, sarah. Thank you Sarah.
Mari:Yeah, last but not least, we hope you'll join us in two weeks for our next episode, when we will be discussing Crown of Midnight, book two in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J Moss. Oh, so excited, thank you.
