Review: The Prison Healer ~ Lynette Noni

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Format I Used: Combination Audiobook/Ebook
Pages: 416
Running Time: 14h:40m
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date: April 13, 2021 

 

  !!!!!Spoilers Ahead Read On With Caution!!!!!


I was rather intrigued by this story, it felt like Hunger Games meets The Maze Runner.

I kept forgetting that this book was supposed to be set in a prison, because the danger level wasn't really there for me. I didn't know too much about this book before I started reading it, and I wasn't trying too hard to figure out what was going to happen next. I was literally just there for the ride. 

 

There were a few plot twists that I saw coming (Jaren being a prince or someone equally important, Naari being someone important/close to the him) but the one that I didn't see coming, and made me go uhhhh the heck?! was the end where we find out that Kiva is Tilda's daughter. I literally went

 

 OH SNAP

 

 I definitely did NOT see that coming, and was happy that it was able to catch me off guard like that. I also like the revelation about Kiva and her other secret... and now I'm looking at her and her actions throughout the whole book in a whole new light.

This book did move at a rather slow pace (for me at least) I listened to a big chunk of it (and I listen to it at 1.5-2.0 times the normal reading speed) and I could have sworn I was further into it, but when I looked only an hour or two had passed. So just be prepared for a slow and meandering book.

Tipp was probably my favorite character. He is the most precious child ever, and there were a few times when I thought the book and I were going to have issues, because I did NOT want anything to happen to him. I literally yelled at the book a few times when I thought things were going to go bad.

Anyway, can't wait to see what's going to happen in book two!

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No, but I wanted to scream a few times when I thought Tipp wasn't going to make it.

Review: This Might Get Awkward ~ Kara McDowell

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Format I Used: Combination Audiobook/Ebook

Pages: 336
Running Time: 8h:28m
My Rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: March 1, 2022

 ****Possible spoilers ahead so read on with caution****



A fun and fresh summer read for sure. Perfect for fans of Sarah Desssen and Morgan Matson

I adored Griff and wish we had even more page time with him. Even though he was the "outcast" he was still so sweet and understanding and patient with Gemma. I liked watching their relationship grow.

I wasn't the Beau's biggest fan. Yeah I realize that the amount of time that he was actually ON PAGE was very small, but I was pretty annoyed with him. I don't remember--and correct me if I'm wrong--him ever apologizing to Gemma. I mean, yeah it was partly her fault for not owning up to the fact that she wasn't actually dating him, but he played it off as a joke instead of explaining oh yeah she was just doing what I asked her to.

I don't know how accurate the social anxiety representation is, but I will say there were a few times that I was like, yes I can relate to how you're feeling. Maybe not quite as intensely, but it was there. There was also a point where Gemma and her dad are talking and her dad says this:

“The first time you ever squeaked ‘no worries,’ you were three years old. You sounded so precocious, and your mom and I laughed and laughed. But now I worry about how much you say it because something tells me you have a lot of worries bottled up in there.” He reaches over and taps my forehead with his finger."

And I felt that. I say no worries SO MUCH. and I really do actually have a lot of worries bottled up in my head but will never say them for a variety of reasons.

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

Review: Aurora Rising ~ Amy Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

 

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Format I Used: Audiobook
Pages: 473
Running Time: 14h:4m
My Rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: May 17, 2019

This keeps flippity flopping between a 2 and a 3 star rating...I mean... It wasn't terrible. But also it wasn't my favorite either.  There are three reasons I ended up reading/listening to this book even though I do not read Sci-Fi books:

1. The cover is B E A U T I F U L (because Charlie Bowater is the bees knees)

2. It fit a prompt for a reading challenge that I am participating in.

3. I listened to The Illuminae Files, and thought they were pretty ace, so I figured, w h y n o t ?

So, like, I was intrigued by the whole premise and things started out a'ight, but then the farther it got into things, I started having problems. You know, despite the obvious that I kept wanting to compare it to Illuminae, but they're not even in the same universe. SO THEN WHY DID THE TWO KEEP BLENDING IN MY MIND?!

I wasn't crazy about Aurora. I was expecting her to be this hardcore heroine, but she was kind of...not. Maybe that will change in the next book?

I wanted to throttle Cat for 99.9 percent of the book, and by the time I decided she might be okay, it was too late.

Zila was almost forgettable, I wasn't really emotionally attached to her.

Scarlett was great, I wish she could be my BFF

Finn was okay, thank goodness for comic relief

Tyler was okay, I thought he was going to be Aurora's Love Interest and I almost rioted.

Kal was my broody alien Cinnamon Roll and I loved him so much.

I say that, but I did not like the romance between Aurora and Kal. It was like, Kal felt the pull to her, but she didn't even think about him romantically until he told her what he felt, which was pretty late into the story. I didn't like it. I wanted to see more of them together, falling in love and that just didn't happen. So boooooo.

So after telling you all what I didn't like... Here's some of what I did like.

I am ALL FOR audiobooks that have a full cast, especially when there are a bazillion characters. It helps me keep things straight in my head.

The friendships that happened and grew and blahbity blah. It is always nice read books where the characters have a good, tight relationship (like the Inner Circle)

I kinda liked the evil aliens at the end, and the whole Hive Mind thing that was going on (It reminded me of Ben 10:Alien Swarm)

If I can get my hands on the second book in audio form, I will probably listen to it, because if I start a series, I like to try and finish it, so we'll see.

Review: Broken Wings ~ Jaymin Eve & Tate James

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Format I Used: Ebook

Pages: 304
Running Time: 8h:42m
My Rating: 3.75 stars
Publication Date: May 16, 2019

 

Okay, so this has been sitting in my Kindle library for what feels like forever, and I was bored and nothing else seemed to catch my interest, so I started reading this. This definitely is one of those books that you have to be in a specific mood to read (at least for me it was) I started this book in the wee hours of the morning and read it in a couple of hours and then immediately started on book two. But today when I sat down to pick up where I left off, I was like... ehhhhmmmm? So now I'm thinking book two will sit in my Kindle library for forever and then I'll have to read the whole thing over again because I'll have forgotten what happened.

This book is a little outlandish at times, especially considering it's not a fantasy book, and it was giving me Inheritance Games vibes, except much more intense and steamy.

I'm not much of a fan of the bully romance, which is what this is (actually it's a dark bully romance) but I like Riley well enough to be cheering her on and hope that she gets the things that she needs and wants. She (and this book) are also giving me Alexis Delaney vibes a la The Veil Diaries, and I kept switching the two series in my head while I was reading this.

I'm still suspicious-ish of Dante. He knows too much. I think it's more than just him being in a gang. Maybe he has something to do with the rival group? The Huntley's? I don't know, it'll be interesting to see, if I actually get into reading this one again anytime soon.

I HATE Deboise (is that even how it's spelled? I don't know) and I hope that she gets booted off the pedestal she's put herself on.

There are lots of triggers in this book, so please make sure that you do your research before reading. Don't just jump into it blind if you're at all a sensitive reader.

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

Review: Husband Material ~ Emily Belden

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Format I Used: Book
Pages: 304
Running Time: 8h:28m
My Rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: December 30, 2019

So I thought that this was an interesting book. I had a hard time connecting with the main character for a while. I didn't understand why she was so negative about everyone and everything in CA. Why didn't she just move? But that all kind of smoothed itself out towards the end.

I really respect they way that Charlotte ended up handling two of the confrontations that she had with two people. However, I kind of wished she had yelled a little more, especially after the way that she was treated. And I loved the fact that she finally figured herself out and what she wanted from life.

Casey and Leno were my favorites in this story, and Brian was a close second, although I still am a little bit upset with him for... something that happened.

But all in all, it was an enjoyable read.

Did It Make Me Cry? No

 

ARC Review: Sakura's Dedication ~ Fuyu Yukimiya

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Format I Used: Digital ARC

Pages: 174

My Rating: 4 stars 

Publication Date: February 22, 2022

 

Awww, well this was a super cute start to a new series. Sakura is so open and straightforward with his opinions and affection, and Hanasaki is so adorable and awkward. They make a great couple and balance each other out nicely.

I am curious to see how long this series is going to end up being, especially since the two main characters got together so fast.

Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for allowing me to read a digital ARC.  

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

 

ARC Review: Having An Idol Loving Boyfriend Is The Best ~ Mito Aoi

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Format I Used: Digital ARC

Pages: 167

My Rating: 4 stars 

Publication Date: March 1, 2022

 

This is a VERY promising start to a new series, and I hope it stays on the fluffy cute side. The MCs are both adults so it could drift to the spicy side (but I hope it doesn't)

I think the two MCs are absolutely adorable, and even though I think they take it to the extreme at times, I can appreciate the level of fangirling that goes on (I mean, who doesn't fan girl/boy at some point in their life?) They're quirky and awkward but at the same time totally relatable.

I can't wait to read volume 2 to see how their relationship and the story progresses.

Thank you to Kodansha and Netgalley for the digital ARC! 

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

ARC Review: One For All ~ Lillie Lainoff

 

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Format I Used: Digital Audio ARC

Pages: 400

 Running Time: 12h:23m

My Rating: 3 stars 

Publication Date: March 8, 2022

 

So I thought this genderbent 3 musketeers retelling was fun. I was hoping there would be more... action? There was a lot of build up and suspense, but to me it felt like the action kind of just teetered out. I enjoyed the friendship that the girls all had and I was so glad when there was no petty backstabbing going on. I love it when women support women. There was a hint of romance, but that definitely wasn't the main focus of the story, which actually worked out okay in my opinion.

The main character had POTS--and I don't know enough about it to talk about how well or not well it was portrayed--but I liked that Tania didn't let it ruin her life. She fought hard to become stronger and work through her struggles, and wasn't obsessed with trying to come up with a cure for herself (as someone with an autoimmune disease, I hate when I read books and that's all that the character seems to be wanting to do.. "cure" themselves. Let's have more books about people with chronic illnesses THRIVING. Because we can and do.)

And I loved how much Tania's sisters were there to support her and catch her when she was quite literally about to fall.

Thank you to Netgalley and Recorded Books Media for letting me listen to an Audio ARC!.

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No

Review: Seasons Of Chaos ~ Elle Cosimano

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Format I Used: Combination Audiobook/Ebook 

Pages: 464 Running Time: 13h 

My Rating: 3 stars 

Publication Date: June 8, 2021 

 

Do you want to know something that I find absolutely hilarious? The bad guy's name is Doug. DOUG! But the whole time I was reading this book, the name wouldn't stick. They would say his name, or it would be there as an indicator that DOUG was the narrator, and then two seconds later, the name just slipped away from my brain, and I wanted to call him Roger. And I would call him Roger until they said his name again and I swore I would remember it, but no. That did not happen. This repeated itself all the way through to the very end of the book, and now I can tell you exactly what his name is...

I don't remember a good percentage of what happened in book 1, but I was able to piece together enough to make this book make sense in my head. I thought this was interesting, and I still was really into the idea of the seasons being actual real live people. This one did make me a little anxious and fidgety every once in a while for some reason, and I kept finding myself skipping forward to see what happened, and then back again.

 

Did It Make Me Cry? No