DB

Review coming soon.

Review coming soon.

Stunning, beautiful, must readFor some reason I'd been putting this off. I can't explain or understand why because as soon as I started this I was invested. Ezra and Jonathan were two stunning main characters and I'm so glad we got to go on their journeys with them. I liked that both were doulas at two entirely different stages of life – Ezra being at birth and Jonathan being at death. It's interesting and can take a lot of avenues. Shelly Jay Shore did a good job with both of their jobs.

I highlighted so many quotes in my arc. There were so many good lines regarding grief and emotions. Growing up, finding yourself. I probably couldn't even find a favourite one because I love so many. The author really did a good job exploring and talking about grief. I really like it when the theme of grief is handled well – to me it shows the author is able to handle difficult themes/topics well. I liked the friendship group and the roles they played in both of their lives – how they all were friends so it wasn't awkward. It took me a while to like Ezra's family but once I really got into the book I liked them more.

The romance was just so sweet and I'm now following the author because I need to know when their next book will be out. I'm a full fan now, I want them to write a hundred more books. I found myself grinning a lot throughout this and their transition from friends to lovers was ever so sweet. I also liked that they were friends first before getting together – I think I'm starting to like friends to lovers more? I'm finding it's the writing and characters that definitely makes or breaks it (me liking the trope in a specific book). This book had that in spades.

So first of all – Lightlark was written in the morning, before Aster had her breakfast. She had a word goal and then she could eat (which must've been eggs every morning because why was the sun being referred to as a yolky thing etc). Nightbane was written late at night. Aster must've had to hit her word goal to be able to go to sleep – because it was boring and I wanted to SLEEP after every chapter. I want to speak to Aster's editor because what does Aster HAVE over you or WHAT is written in that contract. Why are there so many ellipses? Sometimes it was THREE IN ONE PARAGRAPH.

A lot of the chapters just ended and I don't like it – like there was meant to be more or Aster just wanted to get to the next chapter. It just makes me feel as if the author isn't doing their due diligence in ensuring the chapters flow from one to the next. The ease of chapter flowing is something I've only recently picked up on and I'm not a fan. Some choice words/phrases were used and I wonder why. His eyes had been hollow as honeycomb. Someone was built like a tombstone and then referred to like being carved out of a mountain – which I'm used to seeing. It's just... tombstone. Okay, I could argue Aster had been watching Twilight but Edward was never likened to a tombstone. My favourite sentence – “her own shoulders were small, tiny slopes. His were wide cliffs.”

Isla goes back to Wilding Isle (because remember, she's actually the ruler). The text mentions that Wildlings have animal companions, her tutors had them, she's always wanted one. That was entirely new to me because she had never mentioned this before but apparently it was mentioned in Lightlark? One time I think. You'd think if she really really wanted a companion that it would have been mentioned more, no? Adding on to this new information – other information of the other isles are given. And while a lot of sequels do this (of course, it's totally natural to add on to the world-building); the way Aster did it made it sound like this info was given on like page 267 of Lightlark and we just weren't paying attention. You can't put brand new information in the second book and act like the readers should've known this in the first book.

Maybe I'm cynical, maybe you'll say I'm a romance hater (which I'm not) but EVEN TWILIGHT has literally a better love story/love triangle than this. And that's saying something as it's Twilight. All three of the characters of the love triangle are absolutely horrible and Isla shouldn't end up with either of them. She should just stay single, on a deserted island, so nobody (me) has to look at her. They're all so boring – I don't care for any of them. Either romance is extremely unbelievable, their personalities are so bland. I don't understand the allure of this love triangle in the slightest. Also please read this line about Oro and Isla: The love between them was like a bridge. It went in both directions. I read a bunch of romance and I've been reading forever – I know about chemistry between characters – whether platonic or romantic. I can tell what works and what doesn't work. It's not only the romance that doesn't work in here. Literally nothing at all worked for like even a second in here.

Grim is not a person, he's not a ruler, he's not even a fictional character. He's just 3 badly written tropes in a (black) trench coat. You cannot write characters made up of tropes. They won't work like that. They fall flat, they feel boring, and they don't work. Not as interesting characters and not as believable love interests. You want me to root for them, you want me to care for them? I can't care for characters that aren't even fully fleshed-out characters. Oro... I don't even know what to say about him because he was so incredibly bland and boring in here. Aster stuffs so many tropes into Grim that poor Oro only receives scraps and then has to figure out how to create a personality from that.

If I thought the world-building didn't make sense the previous book, then basically all the work that had possibly been done had unravelled for this book. It was a mix of just loose world-building and plotlines flying around. A war was going to happen but the reason for it happening was never addressed? Oh no, wait, it was only addressed at like 98% and that still didn't make a lick of sense. There's a lot (like every other chapter and I groaned when I saw it) of flashbacks and I guess that and the “incoming war” were supposed to be the plotlines? Except they weren't because they were both written so dully. The first book (and I can't believe i”m saying this) actually had a plot (well multiple and Aster didn't do a good job of juggling them) so it'll be interesting to see what the third book will be like.

I think this is probably my favourite out of the Reforged world (note they're standalone sequels but names/events are mentioned). Reforged a close second and Reborn, unfortunately, being third. Now, do I understand most of Haddon's world-building? Very much not, but I love it a lot. Plus I can tell that it's incredibly well-thought out and built up over the years. So I don't mind that I'm lost regarding the world-building at all.

Haddon always does such a good job with the characters and it just shone in this book. Saba and Zek were two great characters. I loved seeing them interact with each other and side characters. Even though we didn't get Zek's point of view, we were able to understand him through Saba's eyes. If you're looking for a slow burn, definitely come here because these two just made me want to push them together. I really liked how Zek's chronic leg pain and Saba's trans identity/body dysphoria are sort of linked? Or not really linked but it's both about not having the ideal body, not being what you see as the “ideal man” in this sense. And how you come to terms with the body you're given, learn to eventually love your body (which can be seen for just about any body type and experience, in my opinion). I commend Haddon for the chronic pain rep, which I enjoyed and thought was written well!

The plot and the world-building go so hand-in-hand together it's like they're stitched together. Both are done so well – which you can find in the previous books too. I love when fantasies are big and well-written and the world-building something so meaty you can easily sink your teeth into. There was a mystery subplot and I'm glad that I didn't solve the mystery before it was revealed – I was enjoying the book too much to focus on the mystery, I think

I will admit, I had extremely high hopes for this one. Not that I didn't like it, but I was expecting much different things and unfortunately it didn't give me everything I wanted. The first half of the book took so long to get through and the second half I flew through. Not too happy when I do that although it can't really be helped. I've read and enjoyed another book that the audio narrator's done so I think for the next book (duology, ending next year), I'll reread this book in audio and keep with audio for the second book.

Elise and Layla were two compelling characters and I liked seeing their journeys. As for whom I liked more, that changed every now and then. Elise would do something I didn't like so Layla became my favourite. But then Layla betrayed me so back to Elise. The side characters were interesting but at times they seemed to fall a bit flat.

The plot was confusing at times and it didn't flow as easily as I'd like. Perhaps that's because this is Dennings' debut and maybe she'll improve as time goes by (I hope so). I'll piece together a plot happily but I like having some jigsaw pieces just fall into place without me putting them in there – if that makes sense. I could definitely see Dennings' passion for writing and for the genre and that was great to see. I always love reading vampire books because they're new every time! New meaning the lore, history, rules tend to change and I like that. I liked the history of the setting and felt she wrote well in that – it never seemed like we weren't in Jazz Age Harlem.

I immediately felt for Abby because I am her, she is me. I’m really bad with posting to my Instagram and while she’s definitely better at posting than me and has way more followers; we feel exactly the same with posting. Anxious about if it’s a good angle, checking the stats/analytics constantly (I’m so bad), wondering if we’ll ever be good 😅. Honestly I think we can all relate to that so Voinson wrote that so well in Abby. Pretty sure I let out an “aww sweetie” every time Abby got really anxious over something.

I know Marie has a sister and the sister would also guest post on her (Marie’s) book blog and I love a good sibling relationship. Abby and Lizzie’s relationships was well-written and it felt real, which I always liked. Their relationship hits rocky waters throughout this book and it was good and felt real.

We see Abby’s social media journey when she’s already amassed quite a bit of followers and as she begins to rise (in followers) it starts to take a toll. She takes risks, isn’t herself, puts even more stress on her because she ‘has’ to gain a lot of followers. I liked that even though she had to go through that, it made her stronger in the end.

The supporting characters, even the one that I wanted to rip her hair out, came right off the page because of how well they were written. Every one felt real, like I could speak to them and their personalities all rounded out. The travel bits were good too! I loved reading about them and seeing Abby explore them all and see why she likes travelling so much.

This is my favourite of Tuli's series (that I've read) and I think this book is my favourite of this series. It had everything I like in a book and especially in Tuli's books! She's fantastic with character building and building connections between those characters. I definitely don't mind reading longer series if this is how it goes! I love how I'm never bored in basically any moment in her books. I quickly like the characters, root for them early on, their villains are my villains. For me that's not only a sign of a good writer but a good reader! Tuli knows her work, uses her strengths to make a really good book and capture her readers' attention.

Obviously I can't really talk much about the plot because, well, it's the third book in a quartet so I'm a bit limited. What I can tell you is that it's a solid plot – I wasn't confused (which I'm always happy about) and also it worked so well with the characters and world-building. The plot flowed so well from the previous book and I can't wait for the fourth book! What I liked is that there was an extensive glossary so you could refer back to the various characters and places in the book. There's also a map on her website so clearly she knows how to treat her readers.

Like I've said so many times before, I absolutely loved the cast of characters in here. Rabin and Zarya have been so through much and they continued to go through a lot in this book; which I both hated and loved. I love angst, but at what cost, right? I love how they became closer in this book and there were so many scenes that had me grinning. Something I really liked was that Zarya still stands up for herself, makes Rabin know she won't just let him walk all over her. Which he absolutely loves, which is something I love. As much as I'd love for them to just not have to go through more battles and turmoil; they just do it so well! They work together fantastically and I like that they lean on each other. They aren't afraid to be weak.

Tuli is also really good with her side characters. Yasen is my absolute favourite and I love him ever so much. Yasen is a bigger side character, so he's seen a lot – and I love Tuli for that. I also love that she puts in so much work for all the other side characters too – which isn't something I can say for a lot of fantasy books! I actually tended to forget that the side characters in here are only side characters because they feel like main characters!

I really like the magic system in the book, it's a very interesting one and I like how Tuli wrote it and tied all the different knots together. It's neatly woven into the world-building and explained in a way that doesn't bother me, isn't too long – which, yet again, is not as common as I would like it (in fantasy books). I liked how the magic was also tied to power and not only freeing yourself but freeing others and the power that comes from that too.

Listen the AMOUNT of times I keep saying this as Frank and Twyla 😅. Even NOW I typed the title the other way around. I’ve only ever heard the name Twyla from Schitt’s Creek so I don’t know how common it is. I had hoped I would enjoy this as much as the first book so I’m glad to say that I totally did! It introduces new-to-us characters in a familiar world and brings new life to the world-building.

This, unlike its predecessor, isn’t so heavy on the world-building. Which is a feat considering there’s literally dragons 😂. I don’t know about you but when I see there’s dragons in a book I automatically think heavy world-building. Guessing Bannen thought we got enough of that in book 1 and dialed it back. It’s not even that this focuses more on the romance; it’s more character-driven than anything else. Twyla learns how to be more herself, put her first, what her dreams are in life. Plus she delves into new love – but clearly her journey and character growth is set ahead of romance.

I so loved Twyla and Frank as main characters! They show up for a scene in Hart and Mercy (which I didn’t even realise). Bannen does such a great job in letting you get to know them and their personalities before you’re even halfway through the book. Twyla shone in this book. Not to say that Frank didn’t have a great story, but the focus was more on her. Her journey, her story, dreams, wants, all that. I liked that what she wanted to be her own person, be more than a mom, grandmother, friend, Marshall. I loved watching her realise that she could do things for herself.

Frank is an absolute darling and he fit Twyla so well. Not only as a romantic interest (look it’s not a spoiler, it says so in the synopsis), but as a main character. Even though his journey isn’t as big or prominent as Twyla’s, he still develops quite a bit over the course of the book. Just like Twyla, he realises what he wants and tries to go for it. I’d definitely love to have Frank as a best friend/romantic partner.

I love it when book characters do enemies-to-lovers well. I want to not only see but believe that they dislike each other. How they're annoyed with each other and how that turns to tolerating each other... And then love. Hart and Mercy do it so well – how could I not love it? One thing I love is pet names in books. I like them even more with enemies-to-lovers as you can be SURE the irritating nicknames will turn into being said lovingly. In here Mercy uses Hart-ache, and Hart says Merciless and my heart practically soared.

Bannen did a great job with Hart and Mercy's personalities. Even though I know I don't like communication like this, I still wanted them to work it out, to not be mad at each when it would eventually crash and break apart. I liked how they poured their hearts out to each other in the letters (not knowing it was the other, of course) and then disliking each other when meeting physically. I kept yelling at them “DON'T YOU KNOW (but of course they don't).

I'll admit the world-building is quite confusing and I certainly didn't understand everything, nor do I intend to understand everything. I've learnt there's an art in letting yourself not understand books fully and it can be great! Honestly I could in fact write a whole post about that

So first of all – Lightlark was written in the morning, before Aster had her breakfast. She had a word goal and then she could eat (which must've been eggs every morning because why was the sun being referred to as a yolky thing etc). Nightbane was written late at night. Aster must've had to hit her word goal to be able to go to sleep – because it was boring and I wanted to SLEEP after every chapter. I want to speak to Aster's editor because what does Aster HAVE over you or WHAT is written in that contract. Why are there so many ellipses? Sometimes it was THREE IN ONE PARAGRAPH.

A lot of the chapters just ended and I don't like it – like there was meant to be more or Aster just wanted to get to the next chapter. It just makes me feel as if the author isn't doing their due diligence in ensuring the chapters flow from one to the next. The ease of chapter flowing is something I've only recently picked up on and I'm not a fan. Some choice words/phrases were used and I wonder why. His eyes had been hollow as honeycomb. Someone was built like a tombstone and then referred to like being carved out of a mountain – which I'm used to seeing. It's just... tombstone. Okay, I could argue Aster had been watching Twilight but Edward was never likened to a tombstone. My favourite sentence – “her own shoulders were small, tiny slopes. His were wide cliffs.”

Isla goes back to Wilding Isle (because remember, she's actually the ruler). The text mentions that Wildlings have animal companions, her tutors had them, she's always wanted one. That was entirely new to me because she had never mentioned this before but apparently it was mentioned in Lightlark? One time I think. You'd think if she really really wanted a companion that it would have been mentioned more, no? Adding on to this new information – other information of the other isles are given. And while a lot of sequels do this (of course, it's totally natural to add on to the world-building); the way Aster did it made it sound like this info was given on like page 267 of Lightlark and we just weren't paying attention. You can't put brand new information in the second book and act like the readers should've known this in the first book.

Maybe I'm cynical, maybe you'll say I'm a romance hater (which I'm not) but EVEN TWILIGHT has literally a better love story/love triangle than this. And that's saying something as it's Twilight. All three of the characters of the love triangle are absolutely horrible and Isla shouldn't end up with either of them. She should just stay single, on a deserted island, so nobody (me) has to look at her. They're all so boring – I don't care for any of them. Either romance is extremely unbelievable, their personalities are so bland. I don't understand the allure of this love triangle in the slightest. Also please read this line about Oro and Isla: The love between them was like a bridge. It went in both directions. I read a bunch of romance and I've been reading forever – I know about chemistry between characters – whether platonic or romantic. I can tell what works and what doesn't work. It's not only the romance that doesn't work in here. Literally nothing at all worked for like even a second in here.

Grim is not a person, he's not a ruler, he's not even a fictional character. He's just 3 badly written tropes in a (black) trench coat. You cannot write characters made up of tropes. They won't work like that. They fall flat, they feel boring, and they don't work. Not as interesting characters and not as believable love interests. You want me to root for them, you want me to care for them? I can't care for characters that aren't even fully fleshed-out characters. Oro... I don't even know what to say about him because he was so incredibly bland and boring in here. Aster stuffs so many tropes into Grim that poor Oro only receives scraps and then has to figure out how to create a personality from that.

If I thought the world-building didn't make sense the previous book, then basically all the work that had possibly been done had unravelled for this book. It was a mix of just loose world-building and plotlines flying around. A war was going to happen but the reason for it happening was never addressed? Oh no, wait, it was only addressed at like 98% and that still didn't make a lick of sense. There's a lot (like every other chapter and I groaned when I saw it) of flashbacks and I guess that and the “incoming war” were supposed to be the plotlines? Except they weren't because they were both written so dully. The first book (and I can't believe i”m saying this) actually had a plot (well multiple and Aster didn't do a good job of juggling them) so it'll be interesting to see what the third book will be like.

Review coming soon.