Review: Exes & Oh's ~ Amy Lea

 

 Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used: Audiobook

Pages:398

Running Time: 9h:37m

My Rating: 3 stars

Publication Date: January 10, 2023

 

 

Possible spoilers ahead so read on carefully

Well, the third act break up, wasn't as dramatic as I thought it was going to be, so hallelujah for that. Ugh, I HATED her stupid gaslighting ex, but loved her newly reignited friendship withhhhhhh... Daniel? Yeah, that was his name! (sorry, goldfish memory right now)

I liked Tara and Trevor together for the most part because they were absolutely HILARIOUS. Although I was HIGHLY annoyed when they were arguing with each other about not texting each other enough? Like, excuse me sir, YOU were the one who wanted to take things slow, and gave her a hard time when she was over texting her other exes. You have NO right to be upset when she was just taking your comments to heart.

Also, love the idea of her being a book influencer!

This was 100% giving me To All The Boys I Loved Before but for adults, and I loved it.

Series Review: My Gently Raised Beast volumes 1-9

  

 You can click on the cover of the book to learn more about this series on Goodreads

Format I Used: E-book

Pages: 2,600 (for all volumes)

My Rating: 4 stars

Publication Date: 2021-2023

 

Review for the series overall. As always, be careful when reading my reviews, because there might be spoilers.

*You can buy volumes 1-3 on Amazon now, with 4 and 5 up for preorder. OR you can read it in its entirety on Webtoons*

I'm quickly running out of Shojo manga to read, so I'm going through and picking up their Korean counterparts. This series is as charming as it looks, although there are some dark moments in it, so make sure to do your research on some of the trigger warnings for this series, before you dive into it. I will also say that I was glad that this wasn't an Isekai story. Not that there's anything wrong with those, it's just a nice change of pace that it's not.

I love the relationship Amon and Blondina have, and there were a few times it made me lol. The way Amon would get jealous if Briddy wasn't paying him enough attention was actually adorable. (not annoying like I thought it would be) and I loved how protective he was of her, even though he was younger than she was.

There were also a few times that it had me SO stressed out because I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and I was trying my hardest to not flip to the ending to see how things played out. And the friendships that she was able to cultivate with Lucy and her half brother, Lart.

Lart had the best and most drastic character development in the whole story, and I was glad to see it. I was hoping at least one of her half siblings would be good to her.

I was prepared to HATE Trije. I was expecting him to be a horrible person. He's not. Not really. He made some pretty crappy decisions that hurt a lot of people. But he finally realized what was happening and made some changes. He's still got a long way to go to make up, but at least it's a start.

 

Did It Make Me Cry? Yes.

ARC Review: Kitty Language ~ Lili Chin

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used: Digital E-Arc
Pages: 160
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date:June 13, 2023

I've always had cats in my life from a very young age, so I didn't pick this up because I was looking for information ABOUT cats... I picked it up to see the cute illustrations lol.

However, it really does have a lot of good information in it, so I would definitely recommend this if you're thinking about getting a cat, or if you're wanting to learn more about them. Not every cat is the same, so some of this stuff might not be applicable (which it tells you that at the very beginning) but it's definitely a good starting point.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Lili Chen, and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Review: Chasing Your Ghost ~ Magie I. Fields

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.



Format I Used:E-book
Pages: 439
My Rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: March 27, 2023

 Spoilers ahead so read on with caution.

This was okay. I was super interested in the premise and the characters, and it started off super strong. What really pulled me in at the beginning was the fact that I was getting Veil Diaries meets Ghost Whisperer meets The Mediator vibes, and I really love all of those things.

 I really felt for Riley and her situation. I was so angry on her behalf at how her mother treated her, and there were so many times, had I been in her shoes, I would have just left. I also really enjoyed the relationship that Riley had with her step brother. They were so funny together!

There were things that were a little but predictable, but maybe that's because I've watched and read so many supernatural things. The one thing that WASN'T predictable was the fact that Brett was the bad guy  I for SURE did not call that.

There were also a few spicy scenes thrown in at the very end, which was fine, but it also felt weird to me. I get it. They were making up for lost time when Asher was a "ghost" and they thought that they couldn't touch each other. But, in my opinion, it didn't add anything to the story for me. 

 
Will definitely be reading the next one to see what happens.

ARC Review: Stolen Sorcery & Other Misadventures ~ Annette Marie

 

 Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used:Digital ARC E-book

My Rating: 5 stars

Publication Date: April 7, 2023

 

I can always count on Annette Marie (and in this case Rob Jacobsen too) to bring me a book that is filled with so much action and adventure that keeps me obsessed and wanting more.

I'm so in love with Kit and Lienna, and I've enjoyed watching their characters grow. There's still so much that they're learning not only about themselves, but each other too. I like how opposite they are and how they balance each other out.

Kit is so so funny, and I'm a big fan of his POV.

And, as always, I love love love getting to see my dearly beloved characters from the rest of the Guild Codex Books, because the interactions are so fun. I ESPECIALLY enjoyed watching Kit's interactions with Zylas, it had me lol-ing the whole time, and I would like an entire book with just them together.

I'm curious to see how things are going to go for Kit and Lienna, especially with how the book ended with a few surprises.

Thank you SO SO much to Annette Marie for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Did It Make Me Cry? No. But There was a point where I gasped out loud, even though I had already guessed what was going to happen.

Review: Stardust In Their Veins ~ Laura Sebstian

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.


Format I Used: E-book
Running Time: 16h:20m
My Rating: 4 stars
Publication Date: February 7, 2023

 

SPOILERS AHEAD

Mostly because I've decided to be more specific so I can read my own recap of a book instead of always having to re-read a book series or hunt around the interwebs for other spoilery recaps.

Read on with caution

Now Entering The Spoiler Zone

.

.

.

.

I'M STILL UPSET THAT THEY KILLED OFF SOPHIIIIEEEEEEEE

Ugh, ANYWAYS.

I started reading this book in early December, and just BARELY finished it. Why? I was a little nervous about how it was going to end. I did manage to read big chunks of it during two different snomageddon's, which seemed apropos, considering last year when I listened to the first one, I did it while I spent a l o o o o o o n g time shoveling my driveway from a 30 thousand (not really, but close) snow fall.

This book was full of twists and political intrigue, and just when I (and our wonderful characters) thought they were going to outsmart Mommy Dearest, it turns out that N O P E, she's still 10 steps ahead and around the corner.

So let us go about the rest of this review in a similar fashion to the one I did for the first book. 

Daphne

I'm still not Daphne's biggest fan, but I dislike her less than I did in the first book. She was a complex character, and while I wish she would have pulled her head out of her butt and believed her sisters about their mother sooner, but she wasn't ENTIRELY to blame. Her mother was IS such a toxic person and spent so many years trying to twist her daughters to fit her plans, so of course it's going to take a while for them to untangle themselves from what they've always known and been told. She spends a lot of time putting all her doubts into a box and shoving them in the way back corner of a closet, so that she can do whatever she can to please her mother. She craves her mother's approval, so the fact that she was able to pull herself out of it was impressive.

Bairre

We learn so much more about him, but at the same time, it still doesn't feel like enough. He is such a strong and sturdy character. He and Daphne spent a lot of time being suspicious of each other, which doesn't really surprise me because of who his mother is and who her mother is. I'm trying to figure out just exactly how their whirlwind marriage at the end of the book is actually going to turn out, and whether everything will be okay for them. I did appreciate the fact that Bairre didn't blow up at Daphne when she finally sat down and told him everything that had been going on with her and why she was even there in the first place. I'm very interested to see how their relationship progresses.

Beatriz

The little revelation about Beatriz and how she's some kind of special Empyrea was something that I didn't see coming. It's kind of interesting that she can wish on a star and "kill" it only to have it come back. This is slowly killing her, and she still won't stop using it. She's going to turn the stars dark or something similarly sinister sounding as foretold by some prophecy, and as such Nigellus tried to kill her. Buttttttttt that backfired and she ended up killing him instead because she has unfinished business to attend to. I'm wondering if it's possible for her to bring Sophie back, or if it would be another life for a life kind of thing (Equivalent Exchange and all that) Oh. And she wished on a star to heal Violie's mother, and by doing so gained the backing of The Crimson Petal.

Pasquale

Is still one of my favorite characters. He deserves all the happiness in the whole wide world, and I hope he's able to get his happy ending. He's such a good supporter of Beatriz and is always going to be down to help her do what's right. I still absolutely adore their friendship and if something bad happens to him I WILL RAGE AND THROW THE BOOK AGAINST THE WALL.

Violie

I guess I'll insert her here since she'd the new Sophie. L I T E R A L L Y. She gets herself caught up in some trouble (trying to kill... Leopold's mother, because she's just as whack as Marguex is (they're like, in cahoots too), and was A BIG REASON WHY SOPHIE GOT KILLED AND LEO ALMOST GOT KILLED, AND THEN THE WHOLE THING WITH LEO'S LITTLE BROTHERS!... I can't actually if that was her fault or the rebels... ehhhh.. It's really interesting to me to see her character development and how much loyalty she still feels towards Sophie. I thought it was genius to use Violie and Sophie's similar looks to their advantage to ger her out of being killed for an attempted assassination. I'm wondering how that whole plot twist will play in the next book. I'm thinking that there will be a Violie/Leopold romance unless something dramatic happens, and I honestly don't know if I like that or not.

Leopold

Was the character in the last book who had the most character development, in my opinion. And he still is continuing to grow. He spent so long living with a blindfold on so to speak, and he's relearning a lot of things.

Nico

Does not actually get a lot of page time in this book, and I'm wondering how things are going to play out with him in the next book. I still don't have a real solid opinion of him to be honest, so we'll see. *shrugs*

Margaraux

Still a crazy beech, and I don't really know what her next move is going to be. When someone told her that "Sophie" is still alive, she "threw her head back and laughed" so I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing? Did she see this coming and that's why she chose Violie to do her bidding in the first place? She's using that similarity to her advantage somehow?

Overall, I enjoyed this book, even though it is a very slow paced read. I didn't enjoy it QUITE as much as book one, but that happens sometimes. So many twists and turns that I didn't quite see coming (not that I was trying to predict anything.) And I can't wait to see what happens in the next book which is forever away I'm sure.

Did It Make Me Cry? No.

*I read an early copy of this book via Netgalley*

Review: Akarnae ~ Lynette Noni

 

 Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used:E-book

Pages: 373

Running Time: 13h:3m

My Rating: 4 stars

Publication Date: February 1, 2015

Spoilers so read on with caution.

 

This book came out back in 2015, but I'm just now reading it because I'm desperately wanting to feel the same love and emotions that I felt when I read The Prison Healer trilogy.

Did I? 

 

No. 

 

Not yet at least. It was a very sloooooow moving book (but so was The Prison Healer) So with at least 4 more books in the series, I'm hoping it will start to pick up. There was a lot of world building and set up going on. It has a lot of potential, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed.

I liked Alex's friendship with Bear and Jordan (who keep showing up in my head as Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin for some weird reason), and even DC, however there were a lot of timing things that were off a little and had me all sorts of confused. I like how Alex proved herself in her... combat? class and got the respect she so rightly deserved from those classmates.

 Also, looking at reviews after I finished reading it, I saw where a lot of people are comparing it to Harry Potter and other similar books, and I can 100% see where that's coming from. I definitely made those observations while I was reading it.

As far as DC being a princess, I did not see that coming at all, that was a surprise. But I did figure that Darrius was going to be Headmaster Marselle. That jumped out and screamed at me from the moment he showed up.

I'm excited and nervous to see what's going to happen next, so wish me luck.

A to Z of 2022

Hey! I actually finished an A to Z reading challenge for once in my entire life. Here are all of the books that I read.

 

 

Review: Prince Of Song & Sea ~ Linsey Miller

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.


Format I Used: Audiobook & E-book
Pages: 352
Running Time: 7h:28m
My Rating: 5 stars
Publication Date: October 4, 2022

 

Oh okay 2023, I see you coming in strong with a book that I loved so much. (this was the very first book I finished for 2023, btw. I'm just now getting around to posting the review here though.)

Also beware of possible slight spoilers

But for real, I want about a million more books like this.

Eric is one of my FAVORITE Disney Princes. Flynn Rider is second. So imagine my surprise and delight when I found out that Disney Prince novels were going to be a thing. And ERIC was going to be the first one? Yes please! Sign. Me. Up.

But even with all that said, I put off reading this one for a while, because I was skeptical if I'm being honest. I wasn't sure how they were going to pull it off. Because as much as I love Prince Eric, I didn't know how they were going to make the story from his perspective interesting. And sometimes books like this can be a miss.

But they did make it interesting!

The author did a great job weaving new things into a story that I already knew like the back of my hand. Is it perfect? No. Don't go into reading this thinking that you're going to get a brand new story, because that's not what's going to happen. It's LITERALLY Little Mermaid from Eric's perspective. Don't go into it thinking it's going to be a story that changes everything around.

Do we get to learn new things about Eric and his life and what's going on? Yes. Does it make me think about the story of The Little Mermaid differently? YES. I thought it was so interesting that Eric was cursed, and it made me look at the story from a different perspective. He wasn't just some oblivious dope during the Kiss The Girl scene, he was literally trying not to kill anyone. He had so much more depth. He didn't come of as just a pretty boy.

I also love the addition of Sauer, Nora, Gabriella, and Vinny, and the pirates/souls thing. I could literally read a whole spin off series about adventures that they all have with that.

There were a few things that I wish had been a little more fleshed out, like Nora and Gabriella and the whole "surprise" mermaid thing, but overall it was a HIGHLY enjoyable read.

Did It Make Me Cry? No.

 

Review: Forging Silver Into Stars ~ Brigid Kemmerer

 

 

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.

Format I Used: Audiobook

Pages: 560

Running Time: 17h:28m

My Rating: 4 stars

Publication Date: June 7, 2022

 

Another promising start to a new series by Brigid Kemmerer. This one is a companion series to A Curse So Dark And Lonely, and we get to see some of our favorite characters again.

I didn't KNOW it was a companion series at first. I just saw it on Goodreads and went "Oooh, another Brigid Kemmerer book? Yes please!" I just dove straight in without looking at the summary. But as I started reading, things were starting to stir a sense of... deja vu. That's when I actually went to Goodreads and found out that it is, in fact, a companion novel.

I thought that it was interesting to be able to see characters we know and love from a different perspective. It was interesting to me, because the way Grey and Rhen were portrayed before, I didn't really like Rhen. I was pretty much always Team Grey. But in this book, we see a different side of things and Grey is the one in a bad place and having to make hard decisions that don't paint him in the best light. I like Rhen much more in this book than I have in the past.

I didn't much care for dear Cally-Cal. Both she and Jax were in not so great places, and although they both made poor choices, she was too stubborn about admitting she was quite obviously wrong about a lot of things, and by the time she started figuring it out, she was in way too deep. It will be interesting to see how her character develops in the next book.

I also REALLY didn't like Alek. He's dangerous, and a gaslighter, and I don't remember much about him from the ACSDAL series, but I don't like him at all. Unless he changes MAJORLY, he's going to remain one of my least favorite characters.

My brain is trying to remember what else happened, but it's kind of on overload, so I'll probably add more to it.

Also, make sure to check out the Trigger Warnings other people have posted. The one that got me was animal death. But there are also a few others in there that could be of concern.

Review: The Holloway Girls ~ Susan Crispell

  

Image from Goodreads. Click on the image to learn more about this book.


Format I Used: E-book
Pages: 352
My Rating: 3 stars
Publication Date: June 7, 2022

  

 

 

Woo hoo, I'm finally marking one of my many "Currently Reading" books as "Read" that feels good. And also like I'll probably just start three more instead of finishing another that I'm already reading...

ANYWAY.

Even though it took me forever to read this book, it wasn't because it was bad. In fact, when I was reading it, it kind of flew by. And I actually really enjoyed it. Tobin and Juliet were so charismatic and I loved them both so much. They're the kind of people who literally shine so bright they light up a room when they're around.

I thought the whole concept was super interesting and I really liked the way it was executed. Were there a few moments that I was annoyed? Yes. But it wasn't anything that was too over the top

Did It Make Me Cry? No 

Favorite Quotes and Highlights:

I paste on a smile for Tobin, pretending to be the girl he wants me to be. It backfires almost immediately. His smile ignites like a fuse. He could set the world on fire with a smile like that. And he’d willingly burn with it, I think, if he thought that would make me happy.

I meet Tobin’s gray-eyed stare and say, “Salted caramel doesn’t cover up the flavor of blood. For that you need red velvet. But thanks for letting me know you’re not the person to call when I need help hiding the bodies.”