Darcy Alexander
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upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Darcy Alexander
@upmosttoaster.bsky.social
61 followers 98 following 85 posts
Reader, Writer, Coveter of colourful things
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upmosttoaster.bsky.social
I'm so excited for my January TBR pile starting with a bit of gothic maritime epic fantasy! 2026 let's go #BookSky #reading #books #fantasy #sff
January 6, 2026 at 1:40 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
DNF 33%. The ideas were so good but I found the way they were presented a little disjointed and hard to follow. I might come back to this, it feels like an important story with insightful exploration of difficult themes but I don't have the bandwidth to appreciate it just now. #BookSky #reading #sff
The book cover for Womb City. It's a bright orange with the side profile of a robotic human head in the centre. The shoulders are dark grey metal with leading wires trailing from inside. Above the nose, the face and head have been replaced with a tank. A baby floats inside.
March 6, 2025 at 9:08 AM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Another 5 star for Feb! I really appreciated the restraint shown in the pace that information was revealed to engage me in the mystery. It was truly delightful to half guess some bits and be taken by surprise in others. The plant based magic system was so fun! #BookSky #fantasy #sff #reading ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book cover for The Tainted Cup. The background is black with an embellished gold border of overlapping triangles. At each corner is a dark silhouette of a person. In the centre of the cover is a gold goblet fallen on it's side. The roots of a plant lead out of the cup, growing upwards and shooting off into flowers with a skull symbol at the centre. The title unfurls across a banner in front of the plant
March 3, 2025 at 12:19 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
This was so steeped in atmosphere I could have sneezed clouds. It was dark and gothic in the most delicious way. Having to use corrupted magic despite a horrifyingly steep cost is 1 of my favourite tropes. The prose was beautiful, I stopped a couple of times just to reread a sentence
#BookSky ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The book cover for One Dark Window. The background is a misty white and green with a stone tower on the right and left sides. They are connected by a stone bridge which stretches across the cover. In the centre of the bridge stands the figure of a woman cloaked in blood red with a spill of brown curls tumbling down her back. She faces away and above her, trails of grey smoke coil into the sky
February 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
My 1st DNF of 2025 at 50%. The world building was so great but the mc just wasn't for me. I tend to fall in love with characters who are a bit more vulnerable. But I'd still recommend for anyone looking for romance against a unique fantasy setting and an interesting magic system
#BookSky
#reading
The book cover for When The Moon Hatched. The background is black with a pearlescent white dragon in the top right corner. On the bottom left is a smaller stone house.
February 27, 2025 at 10:19 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
This was incredible! I went in expecting a fun, jaunty space heist and was blown away. The bonds between the characters was magical and the way friction between friends was explored was so unflichingly earnest. The world was also vibrant and unique. I loved this so much ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#BookSky #reading #sff
The book cover for The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei. The background is blue/ black space with streaks of crimson looping across it. Within the red is the outline of clouds. In the middle of the black is a glimpse of three large tentacles with bright blue suckers.
February 24, 2025 at 9:47 AM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Finished the 1st writing game for #FantasyFeb! The Style Jam. Won myself 3 points and a Jammy Dodger badge. I don't often read/write contemporary romance so this is super out of my comfort zone. Fingers crossed my writing club like it 💙 #writing #writers #writingcommunity #BookSky
A writing prompt, the aesthetic is a light academia style with white pink and green colours and floral accents. The game is to rewrite a basic prompt in your own style. You can win a Jammy Dodger badge and 3 points for completing this prompt
February 2, 2025 at 2:14 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
I've drawn up my February TBR and I'm so excited I don't know which to start with! #BookSky #reading #sff #books
A collage of 8 book covers. One Dark Window, A City on Mars, I Cheerfully Refuse, When The Moon Hatched, The Tainted Cup, Womb City, The Stardust Grail and City of Saints and Madmen.
February 2, 2025 at 9:24 AM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Such a brilliant January to kick start the year 😊 #BookSky #reading #sff #books
A collage of book covers with star ratings - a big ship at the edge of the universe (4 stars), Silver in the Wood (3 stars), Candle Children (4 stars), the Secret History (2.5 stars), The Wager (5 stars), Guns of the Dawn (3 stars), The Warm Hands of Ghosts (5 stars) and 5 cms per second (3.5 stars).
January 31, 2025 at 10:48 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Outlining plans for an event I'm facilitating for my writing club #FantasyFeb! Creating games, prompts and writing exercises for each day. Any writing folks - could you please share any writing tasks in the past that have been helpful for you? #writing #writers #writingcommunity #writingq
A picture of a power point slide, in white with a pink border and a line art flower in the bottom right corner. The title is Fantasy February and beneath that is a quote from Louis May Alcott "I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship." there are two square pics of aesthetic writing notebooks stuck at an angle in the top right corner with pink tape at the edges
January 27, 2025 at 9:38 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
First 5 star read of the year! This was such an incredible read, getting to connect with the story of this ship and it's crew from over 300 years ago was amazing. The writing really makes you feel like you're there with them. Fantastic! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#BookSky #reading #books
A book cover, The Wager A tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder by David Grann. A 3 masted ship is being rocked on its side by a tumultuous, stormy emerald sea beneath a grey sky. White spray is splashing up against the ship's side as it is cresting the top of a huge wave.
January 25, 2025 at 10:38 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Innocently putting together a playlist for a writing exercise I'm facilitating for my writing group when this masterpiece flooded my goblin brain with all the happy-sad. Time for a rewatch ❤️
#anime #music #writing
A screenshot from Spotify showing the Your Name album by Radwimps. The album art is the dark blue night sky with lighter blue clouds. A comet trail pierces across it, trailing light strands of pink, green, purple and azure like a braid through the stars in its wake
January 22, 2025 at 3:37 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Finished a buddy read of Guns of the Dawn. There was a little less focus on the magical elements than I was hoping for and a few plot moments I didn't enjoy but it was great seeing Emily change and the bonds that developed with the secondary characters was really heartwarming ⭐⭐⭐ #BookSky #fantasy
A book cover, mottled black and grey background with cursive writing visible in the lighter shaded areas. Two red and gold flintlock pistols are crossed in the centre. The title is written in white medieval looking font beneath them "Guns of the Dawn" and the author's name is in smaller text at the top "Adrian Tchaikovsky".
January 19, 2025 at 2:58 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Finished Silver in the Wood - this is such a sweet and magical story. I loved how the fantastical elements were woven throughout in vague, dreamy hints. It had the perfect amount of danger to still be cosy and had me smiling from the first page to the end. ⭐⭐⭐
#BookSky #reading #sff #lgbtq
The book cover for Silver in the Wood. A black cover with gold writing. The name at the top of the page is slightly bigger than the author name (Emily Tesh) at the bottom. In the middle is an overhead view looking down at a wood. The shape of the green leaves and brown branches coallesce into the side profile of a man's face.
January 15, 2025 at 12:04 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Although there was a lot to love, like the beautiful prose and wonderful moody aesthetic, this wasn't my cup of tea. I disliked seeing plot points in hindsight from the POV of someone who wasn't present and while the characters were written brilliantly, I didn't enjoy spending time with them ⭐⭐ +1/2
The book cover of The Secret History by Donna Tartt. The cover is a black square with a gold embossed oval coin in the centre. On the coin is the image of someone killing a deer in the Greek style. The text is grey and in block capitals.
January 13, 2025 at 11:59 AM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
I grew up on these streets
A screenshot from the game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time showing the central Market Square at night in the adult time line. The buildings are ruined and delapidated. The silhouette of the royal castle rises over the square with the temple of time on the right. A corona of purple magic halos around the highest spire.
January 12, 2025 at 12:28 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
My first sci fi of 2025 and I had such a great time with it. The choke hold the action scenes had on my emotions! A downside of audiobooks - it doesn't pause automatically for me to shout "wait wait..." and prepare myself whenever my favourite crew members are in danger ⭐⭐⭐⭐
#BookSky
#reading
#sff
A white book cover with a small grey spacecraft in the bottom right corner. It has a trail of black smoke which blooms out into a cloud of star speckled space in the middle of the page. The name of the book is in white text over the top "A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe". The author's name is in black on the bottom left corner "Alex White".
January 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
1st read of 2025 finished! What a great story to start the year, the setting was so vibrant and imaginative. The bond between Bluejay and Beth felt so bittersweet against the grimdark backdrop. I loved the lore of the different spirits (especially Gasp). Some wonderful plot moments as well ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A picture of the cover of Candle Children by M. J. Baker. A black silhouette of a child in side profile looking up and to the left. Behind them is an orange blaze with cinders and smoke covering the wreckage of buildings on the right and left.
January 9, 2025 at 1:45 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
So excited to kick the reading year off, I've made up my January TBR! Already half way through A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe and already in love with everyone on board the Capricious. I adore the mix of magic and sci fi.
A collage of book covers. ABig Ship at the Edge of the Universe (a space ship with a trail of black and starry smoke) , Silver in the Wood (a top down view of a forested land mass in the shape of a face side profile) , Candle Children (the silhouette of a child from the side looking up with an orange blaze behind them) , The Secret History (A gold coin in the centre of a minimalist black cover) , The Wager (a ship cresting a green wave in a storm) , Guns of the Dawn (two old fashioned red flint lock pistols with gold edging crossed over a grey green cover) , Warm Hands of Ghosts (two small pale hands gently holding a bright red poppy in a black oval against a gold back) and 5cms per Second (two young children looking upwards at a blue and purple sky.)
January 3, 2025 at 8:24 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
2/20 City of Last Chances. An incredible glimpse into the shifting political landscape of a whole city, I was blown away by the number of POVs and seeing each tiny gear in the heart of the machine stutter and stall in the wake of oncoming revolution. Highly recommend!
#books
#BookSky
#bookchallenge
A copy of the book "City of Last Chances" by Adrian Tchaikovsky is resting on a fluffy, burnt orange duvet with a sleeping black and white short furred cat besides it. The cover is of a fiery industrial city over a hellish river of lava all done in reds and golds with embossed writing
December 22, 2024 at 1:03 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. 1/20 The Cold Forge by Alex White.
I still think about Dorian, have I ever hated a character this much? Amazing
#books
#BookSky
#bookchallenge
A screenshot of the audible interface with Alien: The Cold Forge by Alex White open showing a picture of a crouching Xenomorph on the cover
December 13, 2024 at 12:39 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Writing date with my WIP❤️ Turns out salted caramel latte was the perfect accompaniment for editing chapter 2. Happy Sunday Blue Sky
The picture is of a cherry red wood table with two cups of coffee, a saucer of apple pie, a notebook - planner and glasses in a pile with a red laptop in the middle.
December 8, 2024 at 2:02 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
This blustery weather was the perfect atmosphere to start my buddy read of House of Leaves. The mysteries are already piling up, the footnotes are starting to mess with my head and the clever little notes my wife has added for her PhD is the perfect extra dusting of 'what is actually happening?'
A copy of the book House of Leaves is sat on a wooden table next to a cup of tea, a blanket and some Christmas candles
December 7, 2024 at 3:53 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Not sure if things will work out with my new writing assistant. He's paid in biscuits and whatever he can steal but he's pretty rude in his feedback tbh
Picture of a black and white cat stood up with his paws in the table in front of a laptop and cup of tea
April 16, 2024 at 12:49 PM
upmosttoaster.bsky.social
Me and Tanjiro finished up the first of our Narratess finds The Reanimator's Heart. Absolutely loving the romance, especially the dialogue. Really enjoyed the setting as well. 5 stars from us on this one, even more excited for the next one now.
Picture of a handsome black and white cat with a copy of the book "reanimator's heart" on the kindle.
April 15, 2024 at 6:27 PM