DB

I chose this book because it seemed interesting. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to and was a bit disappointed by the book. I didn't connect with the story or the readers.

First of all, the name they give themselves is ‘The Essential Five'. It sounds pretentious and when reading the novel, I had the feeling that they thought too much of themselves, which is a trait I dislike in a character.

I did not connect with Rebecca. To me she was annoying, pretentious and thinks she can only be good at one thing. Truthfully, I did not connect with nearly any of the characters. Expect maybe Liane and Mary. The characters didn't mature during the novel and they weren't relatable.

Does Rebecca not have any other friends than ‘The Essential Five'? I had my small group of personal friends that I hung out with most of the times, but I sat with other friends from time to time. Even if she only has one extracurricular (like, hello, I also took Drama as a subject in high school. It doesn't take up that much time). I'm sure with her sparkling personality she could have made a few other friends who actually treat her better than her ‘supposed' friends do.

So, Tess doesn't acknowledge that she was friends with Rebecca before meeting the others, but feels free to make jokes relating to Rebecca's past? That makes Tess seem like a crap friend (which she turns out to be in the end-totally called that).

What makes me annoyed is that Rebecca and her friends might be the best in the Drama Club, but the teacher/director ought to give the main roles to others. It's seriously annoying if five people have the best parts all the time. The teacher is playing favourites and someone could report him for that.

Charlie and Rebecca's relationship does not seem real. They only kiss in secluded areas and don't talk about their relationship or go out on dates. I'm not the greatest with relationships, but I think a relationship might need more than this.

All in all, this novel was annoying, boring and difficult to get through. It had its good parts, but most of the novel was bad parts.

I don't read that many short story anthologies but I usually enjoy them when I do. This was such a stellar read! Normally I find myself rating them 4 or so but this time I couldn't rate it anything other than 5! I enjoyed almost every story. I loved the casual representation featured in them and see! It's easy! To include them!

I'll write specific thoughts for each of the stories and then add a ⚔️ by my favourites – I like doing that for short stories.

One Cream, Five Sugars by Harper Kinsley – This was a cute one! The cute meetings and there's a service dog. This one I could've definitely had more of (like with a lot of these short stories).

A Witch's Tale by Rascal Hartley – I'm always up for a good mentor story. I liked how the main character in this adapted – going from “Oh I can't do x” to “I can do x, just in y way”. And that's something you can either be taught by someone else or learn by yourself.

Use Your Words by Zira McFarlane – This one was cute (I'll say that about a lot of them haha). I liked the inclusion of sign language and how the two main characters worked well together.

⚔️ The Changeling of Brushby by Natalie Kelda. I loved the inclusion of autism and “oh everyone thinks I'm weird but the Fae... Like me”. I liked getting to know Tilde and just wanted the best for her – luckily she got exactly that.

To Make Her Eat by M. Stevenson – listen, I'm just out here eating up all the weird Fae stories (look, romantasy Fae is fun and all but normal weird Fae stories... Even better)

⚔️ Hope, Be It Never So Faint by Ashley N. Y. Sheesley – I'd first heard about this anthology from Ashley so I couldn't wait to get to it! I LOVED the idea of Marian in a wheelchair!

A Night for Mischief by Elior Hayley – This one was a fun ride with deception and twists. One thing shown multiple times in this anthology was aids – in this specific story it was hearing aids but they're called sound-catchers. And that shows that you can have hearing and other aids in fantasy!

Lessons in Botany by Casper E. Falls – I always love this story that it's based upon and seeing it like this is a cool change.

⚔️ Stroke of Midnight, Shoes of Glass by Adie Hart – I'm always up for a Cinderella retelling. I like how she bonded with the prince (as always) and had fun – that's what I enjoy the most about the retellings, seeing her have fun.

In Another World, I Twist The Knife by Rory G. – This was quite confusing to follow but I managed to eventually and I ended up enjoying it.

The Knife That Makes The Cut by Lynne Sargent – This was also confusing but interesting in the end. But what I like – because I'm sure about this – even if I don't really understand the story, there'll be others that really do.

Angharad Ferch Truniaw by Tam Ayers – While this wasn't one of my favourites I still really enjoyed it and the journey it took me on of family and the determination showed by the main character.

The Girl and the Gum-Riddle by Ella T. Holmes – This was so weird and I loved every moment i was reading it. I liked how it just ended and “hey, the girl might be okay but she'll also go through a lot of flares” like same.

City of the Sun by Kara Siert – This was sad at times but I liked the turn it took because it was focused on community and being with loved ones – through the hard times.

Review to be coming soon.

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.

Absolutely let the forest in by reading this book

Andrew, Thomas, and Dove, Andrew's twin sister, were three main characters who all felt so real. I don't know how Drews did it but it worked so so well. The characters, along with the atmosphere of the setting, allowed me to feel as if I were right there along with them; going to school with them, battling the monsters in the forest with them. Even though Dove featured less than the boys you still got a feeling for her personality, how much she loved her brother, had a confusing relationship with Thomas. I loved how codependent the boys were. It made me think of The Wicker King by K. Ancrum – another book I loved. Andrew and Thomas wanted to be near each other, had to be near each other. Even if it sometimes seemed to be a bad thing, their relying on each other. That they both had this innate need to be near each other. I drank it all in so much.

Thomas with his “I hate everyone but you” attitude (a microtrope I do love). Andrew with his near-obsession with Thomas. Dove pulling away from her brother and Thomas even though she was close before. I couldn't pull myself away from any of it. I did think their school was a bit weird/unbelievable for not being more present in their lives. But also I'll choose to believe that either they had no idea how to deal with everything or the school was (dealing with it) and the characters just refused to listen. I think with another writer I would've gotten annoyed at how many times Andrew went on about Thomas, how almost all of his thoughts and (nearly) his whole world revolved around him; but I never got that with Drews. I think that spoke of how good their writing was.

The plot was interestingly weird and there was a definite focus on the characters rather than the plot. Even so, the plot was still excellent. it balanced whatever weird things were happening in the woods with their lives and glimpses into their schooling. Obviously the focus wasn't meant to be on their classes, it never was. Only what they were going through that day, how it made them feel. The book did something I love (specifically in horror movies) where things seem to be fine... until they aren't. Until odd things start happening, keep rising until they're so visible. It's one way to get me into a story and to keep me there.

The writing was so good. I easily fell into the world and the descriptions of Andrew's writing and Thomas's drawings were so well-written they came alive. Also the physical books have illustrations (I think maybe the normal ones not just special editions). Now I know what to look forward to for Drews' backlist books and their new releases (the cover for Hazelthorn just released and it is absolutely excellent). It's magical and stunning and I thoroughly recommend it to you all!

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.

Actual rating 4.5. really enjoyed this!

It took me a while (15 days) to read and finish this book, which for me is long time. Now I know it's a long book but also I know I've read this many pages before (aka 600+ page books) and read them quicker. It all depends on the pacing/characters/plot strength and obviously, how much I'm enjoying it. It's a big world and there's a lot of world-building attached to it. It's done well, even though I took a while and rated it 3 stars. I liked that the book was very rich on all three fronts – plot, characters, world-building. Luckily the author was able to balance it all well enough (it was other reasons why I didn't rate it higher).

This is probably a me thing but... modern terms/word in a full-fantasy world are still a new concept to me. If I see them in a book it tends to take me out, reminding me of where I actually am. When I'm reading fantasy I like to think I'm in the book itself. One or two “Yeah” in a full fantasy world isn't that bad (in fact it works for me in other books but that's due to the author's writing style). There were multiple and other modern instances

Absolutely stunning

I actually like this... Better than the first one

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 dislike it when a book is short but takes forever to get to like anything that's said in the synopsis. Or just slow pace in a short book in general. When I started realising this had that, I started thinking of not finishing it. Once I'd started thinking that I saw the main character wasn't really making sense and the bit of the world-building I'd read also didn't add up.

For instance, the main character, Khiara, has red hair – which in this world means shes a witch. She has to hide it because that's very dangerous and she'd likely be killed. Then her red hair gets uncovered and... those who see it are... totally fine with it. All right, granted, it was in a sexual manner. Khiara was one of those characters who's written to be all fierce and “I'm going to do what I want” and the book showed none of that. Plus everything else was all tell, not show.

I don't so much mind modern words and phrases in fantasy worlds but to me if I see them I'm more likely to think a character will soon use a phone or use magic with technology. Writers don't have to use long or old words to create believable fantasy worlds. I was enjoying how Page had crafted her world and characters and I think using the modern words actually took away from that. I think if she had not used those modern words I would've enjoyed reading the book more.

I liked the characters but I kept feeling they could've been more throughout the book. I was promised banter, and only got a bit. I was promised enemies-to-lovers, and it didn't give me that the way I've read it in other books. I could tell that the potential was there but as readers we didn't get it. I think I might've loved Erik, had he been written better. Isabel was the main issue for me, I think. She wasn't working the way I had hoped she would (as a main character).

I liked the plot and definitely wanted to see it through. It wasn't that it was wholly original but was written in a new way, which is nice to see. It wasn't all neatly tied up and could've been better – but it's also Page's debut so I'm not so fussed about that. I could also see the potential and I think I might keep an eye on Page's future books to possibly see what else she has up her sleeve. I did really enjoy the side characters. I think she shone there (if not with the main characters). They had a ton of banter and improved throughout the book. I sort of liked them better than the main characters but maybe that'll change if I read the sequel.

Another factor of the book I liked was the magic system. I would've liked to have learnt more or see if there's any subsections of the magic shown in this book. Maybe that'll be a bigger plot point in the sequel, who knows. I think the world-building was set up well enough but like most of the other aspects of the book – just not enough for me to like it more.

As I said earlier, this was quite an interesting read. For the most part, and just as I'd finished, I decided on 3 stars, maybe add on a .5 stars for the vampires. Now it's a solid 4 stars. Did I like the main characters? No, they're terrible. But they're meant to be terrible and they're written great (in that sense). If you like unlikeable characters I recommend this book!

It's not that I don't like unlikeable characters, I do, I also tend to get really annoyed with characters if they annoy me. I'm aware of how it doesn't make sense. For this book I liked the male main character (Susenyos) way more than the female one. Arguably, he's definitely the worst as he's a vampire and doesn't care about silly human things like morals and values. The female lead (Kidan) hated Susenyos for being a vampire and doing bad things but like you knew that? In this world vampires are extremely bad. They're not sparkly romantic ones like Twilight. They're terrible! But I did like that she herself felt connected to those dark areas of Susenyos and disliked herself for that. Somehow I think that made me like her more – like her disliking herself led to me liking her more.

I've said it before and I'll say it again – I love world-building. With paranormal creatures the lore is built into the world-building so it's technically more world-building, which is great for me. Plus the creature lore is almost always different every time. That was definitely the case here. Girma created new and really interesting vampires and explained their rules in different ways – through the classes, Kidan interacting with Susenyos, through her learning about her family's history. Made for quite an interesting reading experience.

I also liked the other characters we got to know to. I'll admit, I didn't like Slen as Kidan's friend but then I read her sporting a South African pin so I feel like I have to support (as a fellow South African). I'd probably say Taj (Susenyos's friend, another vampire) and GK, a student in Kidan's class were my favorites of the supporting characters. I will say that I didn't like June

Ok but that cliffhanger makes me want to give it an extra star 😁

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.

THAT ENDING??? I need the next book immediately I'm not even upset about the cliffhanger

Can't believe I've finished the series! There's so much that goes on in every book and tons to enjoy. I'll try not to spoil but as this is the fourth book in the series, bit difficult not to. A lot of the overall plot points come together and are finalised and we also have some new ones being introduced. Boleyn shines in balancing the new and old plot points well, I wasn't confused with any of them. She's also quite strong in forging relationships and the characters that come with them. They're well-written, likeable, I want to root for them to achieve their goals. The villains, too, are quite well-written and complex. I like having a good villain (not like good deeds/hearted good, you know what I mean).

Morgan and Draven have been though a lot and they still continue to go through a lot! Can't they catch a break? Let them just relax, watch a play together, just sleep for most of the day rather than having to put our fires and swing swords constantly. But, even though they were hounded by literally everything and everyone against them they still managed to have their happy and sweet moments! I've loved them together from the first book (Enemies-to-lovers, need I say more?) I love that they rely on each other so easily. They're connected to each other, know the others' strengths and weaknesses. Able to step in and help wherever needs be.

Plus, I'm always up for a man who loves a strong woman. Draven's been like that from the first book – oh, Morgan's holding a sword? Draven's basically got heart eyes. He's more of an ‘alpha male' type character (and mostly those don't want their female love interests to be equal in strength, or even stronger) and he isn't upset. Which made me like him more.

There's a lot in this book, just like the rest of the series so while I want to recommend it to a lot of people; it definitely can get confusing quite often. But there are readers (me, most of the time) who like confusing books so it works!

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 realised early on that I was just tapping the screen but not really... reading it. I tried to push ahead and eventually just decided to stop reading. For me it was the way this was written – I just wasn't vibing with the writing style. I think if this were a movie I would like it. Then I wouldn't be bothered by the writing/narration style, plus I think the book idea would carry on over to a movie very easily.

I think that was the biggest reason for not carrying on. Writing style is a big part of a book for me so if I don't like it early on, it's very difficult for me to read further and enjoy. I didn't really have much to say about the characters because to me they didn't really show their personalities all so much and I was about 30% in.

Full review supposedly coming soon.

Thinking Kubica might not be an author for me lol. The way that Meghan was the main character and the whole book was from her first pov and YET AND YET she was so utterly boring.

I'll see which Kubica looks sorta the most interesting next but then I think that's the third strike. Gripping! Says the reviews, boring! Says I

Sophie Kim does it again! Enemies to lovers elite over here

wasn't enjoying myself anymore and it's too long for a YA Mystery/Thriller

I take most adult mystery thrillers with grains of salt. Young Adult (mystery thriller) I'm more fine with. But I'm trying to shop around and see exactly what I'll like and dislike from Adult books. Unfortunately while this looked really good and I was interested at the start it petered out quite fast. I didn't like the deaths, I really didn't like the ending. I could see how it could've been better but unfortunately it didn't go that way.

I liked locked room mysteries, I like it when people are getting picked off one-by-one and anyone could be the killer. This had all three but just threw it all away for an nonsensical ending. And the characters seemed to be interesting all for the first few chapters. Every time I thought I liked one of the characters they did something or said something and we were back to the beginning. The book might've been more interesting and likeable if Davey, the one character, just wasn't there. He was totally my least favourite and thought himself to be the bee's knees. I don't think I even had a favourite, or, the character I disliked the least.

In most Adult mystery/thriller books it's the characters I don't like. Their personalities, how they treat the characters around them and their dialogue. I like unlikeable characters but only if they're written well. They were well-written in here but because I didn't like their personalities at all, it was hard to like their unlikeable personalities. I don't know if that makes much sense.

I didn't pick up that this would be a series but I'm totally fine with that. I think my favourite part is when Rae made them believe AF stood for As Foretold. Think about it! If you were in a fantasy book and the villain who claims and then proves herself to be a seer tells you a certain phrase means something – you'd believe it! There's no Google to back it up. Which is why I think Rae was able to be successful here, why this bizzare plan worked. While there are obviously modern elements in the book, it's largely set in a world where there are things as seers and prophecies. So if she said something weird, she can just chalk it up to a prophecy! Normally I'd side-eye it and say “No, that absolutely cannot work” but Sarah Rees Brennan made it work in a way I really enjoyed.

I liked how we had a modern insight and character experience a fantasy heavy world. It was almost like we were speaking through her because I could see myself react like that in those situations. While I found myself not liking Rae in every scene, I grew to like her, her personality, personal growth throughout the book. She realized that the characters in the book were people instead of just fictional characters. She found strength in her that she likely didn't even know she had. I can't wait to see her journey in the next book, what Brennan has planned for her.

The secondary characters were so fun to read and get to know. I think my favourite would probably be Key – he was funny and even though he did annoy me for a good half of the book – he certainly made up for it by creeping into my heart and stabbing anyone who wanted to come close. Seeing the other secondary characters encounter and communicate with Rae was also quite fun. They either had no idea what to do with her or just did whatever she demanded them to do. Which Rae definitely enjoyed and utilised to her heart's content. I think next book she'd probably ask for more/make them do more because she has the experience now and knows they'll do what she says. I think I might be rooting for a villain arc for Rae here