Anita
Root and Bone was a good read, with the right amount of magic and mystery to keep me hooked.
I enjoyed the Spencer sisters, with little snippets into how they got into magic and their own individual attitudes towards how to use it. I also enjoyed their interactions. However, I wasn't 100% sure of their ages. There were mentions of their children, as well as their husbands, but they were very loosely mentioned and used as plot points. The romance between Leona and Cale was also endearing, but it did ruffle me a little bit when I found their backstory.
A main issue, however, was that the mystery was very well introduced, the plot point building very well, but alas, the reveal and ramifications felt a little rushed. There was hardly any interaction with the culprit, albeit some bad feelings and then, before you noticed, it was all over.
I also would have loved to know more about Granny Kay - prequel perhaps?
A unique take on a fantasy immersed world, with talking animal posties, a grumpy marshal x sunshine undertaker and zombies all rolled into one.
The world is interesting, with the drudges and the force set to deal with them. The little lore we discover behind Tanria itself is also nice to know. There is a decent bit of setup, which may put some off, but it added to what was to come.
The story itself is enjoyable, with lovable characters, including the main characters themselves. There is actually a lot of development for them, which is nice to see. They're also of an older age (early to mid 30s) so things didn't seem as juvenile. I love Duckers, with his unique surname and even more unique forename.
A shame that the side plot with Cunninghams wasn't utilised as well. It felt like there were two side plots fighting for words and this one was eventually sidelined. Overall though, it was very cosy (minus some areas surrounding the drudges) and nice to read.
A fun fantasy in a well-built world involving a dead God, attempted assassinations, a berserker paladin who knits socks and, oh, perfume.
There is a weirdly compatible mix of dark and cosy in this book, with some evidently dark bits to the plot line, and yet it turns into fluff when the two protagonists are together. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this first book and look forward to reading the rest.
Arguably the best book in the series so far, though it might be because the story felt like a sidestory from the build up of the smooth-skinned men.
Our main characters are both known from the previous books, their attraction to each other another signature nod to Kingfisher's writing style, yet because of how short this book felt compared to the others, there was less yearning. While Galen did mess up, he eventually pulled his head out his backside and just communicated. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly their relationship developed as well, weirdly fitting for the two's personalities.
I enjoyed the exploration of the labyrinth beneath, an interesting bit of insight into the lore of Clocktaur War, as well as the twist at the end of the epilogue.
Looking forward to see if anything comes out from it in the next book.
A continuation from “In the Shadow of the Bull”, “On the Horns of Death” brings a more interesting and, personally, more thought out mystery. There is a higher focus on the mystery element than there was in the previous book, with Martis at the centre of it all.
Taking place about seven or so months since the end of the first book, this book focuses more on the bull leaping team and their relationships. We delve deeper into some existing characters mentioned in Book One as well as new ones, seeing this all occur through Martis' eyes as she tries to solve the mystery. The world building is as good as it was in the first, with a good description of the way people lived and their customs. The details on the clothing and jewellery are also a nice touch.
The downside to this has 100% got to be the ending. It was very abrupt, very rushed and felt highly unfinished. There was no closure, the big reveal and event happened, Martis was told what happened, and then it just ended. It just felt like a huge letdown, since I did not know who the killer was until the reveal and was brought to a high to just be doused in cold water.
Overall, a decent read and a good sequel though. I look forward to a third if there will be.
I found it quite difficult to stay engaged and focused with this book, and it felt that way until the end. Normally I would have DNF'd something that I struggled to stick with, but there were bits and pieces of the story that I thought were worth staying for, only to be a little let down.
I understand the issues with translated books, where sometimes things don't come across as intended, or it's lost in translation. And unfortunately, I feel like this was one of those times because it left me feeling unsatisfied. There was potential, but it didn't come across as much as it was supposed to.
This was a relatively light-hearted story with fun characters that turned it into an enjoyable read.
Leovander is an insufferable rich-kid, with a tragic childhood incident that causes his once prodigal status to fall, leaving him with charms and cantrips. Grimm also has a tragic childhood incident, which doesn't hold him back academically but gives him the personality of a plank of wood. They can't stand the mere presence of each other, but are paired together by a teacher who I'm pretty sure secretly ships them.
The adventure in the latter half of the book was more interesting and to my taste than the initial half. It was paced in a way that allowed ample time for the scenes to take place without feeling rushed, as well as good character interactions. I loved Sybilla, and I hope to see more of her in the rest of the trilogy.
I also did expect more of a romance to bloom between Leo and Grimm, especially when they theorised two potential ways of removing the spell - felt like foreshadowing. Not only that, but I'm inclined to believe that it sneakily came into play during the events of the last scene, setting us up nicely for the sequel.
Looking forward to seeing more of Leo and Grimm (Beau too maybe?) soon!
After what seemed like a slow start with the world building and a slight information overload, the story was launched into a pretty gripping ride finishing off on a slightly sweet strange taste. Definitely left me needing to pick up the sequel asap.
An interesting premise with a typical overly handsome and broody male romance interest who hasn't been interested in anyone else apart from the main character (hence the half point knock off).
The plot and the writing is very well done though, keeping interest and providing characters with their own little oddities.
Looking forward to reading the sequel.
An initially good first half, but alas there was a lot of musing in the latter half was didn't really feel necessary. I did end up skipping a lot of the paragraphs without actually feeling as though I missed out much on any of the information/plot.
Despite being a smutty book, there was a strong premise on heavier topics, such as fertility and relationship issues. Whilst it did add to the main character herself, it isn't something that's as light as the initial two books.
30/06 - I'm not sobbing, you are
01/07 - I'm actually a sucker for the HEA and although this one did give me an almost hallmark HEA, the build up to it was not fun. There was ANGST, there was MISCOMMUNICATION and most importantly there was a hot cousin who just wants to treat you right and make sure you don't trip and mess up your heels (yes Shepard, I might have a tiny crush on you too)
Firstly, I enjoyed the fact that it was the ‘girl who gets left behind' that became our main character. Did she end up going to a small town and finding romance? OK, yes, BUT she still girl bossed and didn't let romance throw her entire life as she knew it out of a box tied with a neat ribbon like the movies (and all her exes apparently).
It's almost refreshing to have a character similar to my own age, so I can relate to them better on some things, such as an unspoken need to protect loved ones and ensure that you can do by them the best you can. But unlike Nora-at-the-beginning-and-most-of-the-middle, I understand you can't protect them forever, and they need to learn how to fight their own battles. Seeing Nora open up to this is a massive growth step, and it left me very happy.
Charlie, oh wow. 5'11, broody with a rent-stabilized apartment? Those last three words had me gunning for him as soon as I read the words. Even better, he didn't make Nora choose between her dream job or him, but actually communicated and worked something with her.
This book made me feel all sorts, and I'm looking forward to my next Emily Henry read.
29/06 - This book did not pan out the way I expected it to, but it actually fit into my usual type of reading more.
01/07 - Honestly, I thought this would be a light, fluffy beach read (as indicated by the title and bright-coloured cover) and yet the deeper I got into the story I realised that it was very realistic, and some parts bordered on no-nonsense almost despite the banter and clich??s between our main character and love interest.
While the setting seemed to be set well, the underlying reason behind why January was there to begin with was not. The book, while still having its moments of romance and cute interactions, was almost a (second) coming of age for our main lead, who has had reality crash down on her, and she's slowly trying to understand that it's OK for it to not be OK. Life isn't something you can plan down to the nth degree, and it certainly isn't (always) a hallmark film waiting to happen.
I ended up enjoying this more than I thought I would since it seeped into my usual genre of reads with the realism added in. Looking forward to reading more Emily Henry books in the future.
An enjoyable historical mystery set in Ancient Crete with a young female protagonist.
There is a lot going on with the historical element of this book, which kind of overshadows the mystery side, despite it being the selling point. It had good world-building, from a point of view of how the Ancient Cretans would see others arriving to their homeland. The bull-leaping was also interesting to read, a high risk high status role in the community.
The writing was easy to read, maybe even a little too simple at times. It was paced well with short chapters.
Looking forward to reading the sequel.
Eternally grateful that Joan took the time and patience to not only write a bonus epilogue for closure, but to also thoroughly and thoughtfully annotate it.
Thank you for everything, especially Zephyr and Crow.
May they always meet again in another life.
An enemies to lovers story which was decent to read but not very believable.
The characters in this book have their own quirks to make them standup, and the main character herself is an overachiever who worked very hard to get where she was. Her rival is a guy who seems to be effortlessly perfect and has been a thorn in her side since she was nine.
Yet, despite the scathing emails she has written, this somehow pivots them away from rivalry and into a romance that just immediately ignites despite years of disinterest.
Basically, if you want a fluffy quick romance, then this is up your alley. More of a slow-burner myself.
An enjoyable, guilty-pleasure romance read, for cleansing between bulkier books.
While not all parts of the story felt believable, did they add to the events of the plot. The characters involved are fun to read, with their own quirks and interests.
The age gap between our love interests seem a little larger than I'd usually read, but it didn't feel too forced or unbelievable. Our FMC is plus-sized, and our MMC adores her and her body wholeheartedly from the beginning. It's gratifying to not see size being used as a plot point, but as representation.
The writing does leave a little wanting sometimes, especially during the spicy scenes but I enjoyed their gradual attraction growing into love.
A very well-written and thought-provoking read. The deep delve into political matters in the 1800s, as well as the discrimination of different races, were done very delicately but still got the intended affect across.
A slow beginning as set up happened, but once it picked up it was really difficult to put down, despite how difficult some of the topics were..
This book both destroyed me and helped me.
06/10/24 I didn't hate it, but I started to dislike Mara towards the end.
31/10/24 Like a lot of other reviews, I was looking forward to Mara's story because she was such a firecracker in the first book. However, the more I read, the more I hated her character - she was by no means a perfect character, in fact I love flawed characters, but her mindset was so selfish and centred entirely upon herself, even though she had opened herself and promised she would be inclusive of Jonas' feelings and their relationship. If Jonas did anything wrong, it would be to let himself be treated the way that he did, despite how emotionally open and transparent he was.
Now I understand that a romance book isn't a romance book without a HEA, but this is one book where I would have happily accepted that despite what they felt for each other, they went their separate ways. With so little of the book left, it seems like it was going to steer towards this direction, yet it didn't, and I almost disliked myself for feeling so flabbergasted by how it ended.
It was a little disappointing to say the least, most of it being acceptable with promise of a character revelation, but we were hit-and-run with the last chapters after being so invested.
This sequel was off to a slow start for me, with some slight confusion due to the chapters being different periods of time during that year for Alex. However, once I settled into it, it picked up just as Ninth House did, and I was rushing to finish the book so that I could find out everything as soon as possible.
I would have loved to see some more development between the characters - there were always little hints and teasers, but nothing more ever developed from them. Especially between Alex and Darlington, as the author kept throwing at us like a bouncy ball.
Maybe in book three?
