I love Tricia Levenseller's medieval fantasies - Warrior of the Wild (standalone, Vikings/monsters) and Blade of Secrets (duology, magical bladesmith) - both easy, light reads, with a fun cast of characters. Legends & Lattes is an awesome "cozy fantasy" - not much plot, but a fun vibe.

I recently read this in a book club, and most of us had similar mixed thoughts (most of us rated it 3-4 stars with some critiques, while a few loved it and rated it 5 stars). Personally, I was fascinated by the writing and really enjoyed the overall vibe, but also found the characters mostly unlikeable (except for Marx!). But...I almost felt like that was the point of it? At the very least, I think we are all supposed to hate Dov. Sam and Sadie were just likable enough for me to stay interested, but I was frustrated with both of them throughout most of the book. The most compelling themes to me were the unique narration with some interesting foreshadowing + the way in which games were woven throughout the story.

I often feel this way finishing books! Especially if the world is really immersive, I never want to leave it. But I try to focus on the fun of freeing up space to explore other awesome book worlds and characters, and then dive into my next read and hope it gives me the same feeling as well.

I pictured Klara as being young-looking simply because her voice (at least in my head / based on how she is written) feels quite childlike, and it made the most sense for me to picture her resembling a child as well.

And by the end of the book, it's mentioned that Josie has to bend down to hug Klara, suggesting she is child-sized (especially since as a sickly child, Josie likely does not grow up to be that tall).

I love this idea :)

I struggle with book choosing anxiety as well! I've recently started using Libby (through my library) as an online reader, and I've found that having a 21-day loan period and a set number (I think 10 or 15) books I can check out at once has helped me to feel less overwhelmed with selecting books. I tend to pick 3-5 books at a time, and only "check out" new books once I'm done with those.

In terms of choosing books in general though, it's always a hard one. There are SO many good books out there, and never enough time! But it's helped me a bit to prioritize whatever book excites me most in that very moment, and accepting that it's okay to leave the others for another time, or never read them if other books catch my eye more.

Throne of Glass would be my top rec for a series that makes you fall in love with the characters and world, AND where the main character is barely recognizable by the end of the series given what they have gone through.

And I recently read William Ritter's Jackaby series, which is sort of like a paranormal Sherlock Holmes - very cool atmosphere of supernatural & unexplainable events!