DB
It's a dual-pov with slight appearances by the youngest sister, Brianne, who's under the sleeping curse (slight here meaning like 3? chapters at the most). So not a true multi-pov which makes sense as to why everyone's saying dual-pov. I liked both main characters but I probably would say I preferred Sabine's chapters more. Not to say that I didn't like Elodie – I did. I just didn't agree with her thoughts and actions all the time. Also (and obviously this is the whole royal vs. commoner differences) she was a bit naive now and then? She's hasty in her decisions – which isn't really her fault. The book is very fast-paced. Mom dies a few days before the book starts and then the youngest sister is crowned and then boom she goes to sleep. So it's hard to fault her for making rash decisions when there are deadlines on various matters. Even though I was keeping that in mind it didn't help me in forgiving her carelessness all that much.
This further showed in how she treated Sabine and acted around her (more of the royal vs. commoner differences). I won't say anything really about the end of the book, obviously, but it will be interesting to see how the sequel changes in these terms. I related more so to Sabine than Elodie. Interestingly enough, even though both had siblings, I felt Elodie's relationships with hers is more believable. Nothing entirely wrong with Sabine's relationships with her brother and sister, it just didn't feel as real as Elodie's did.
I really liked how Tooley took the church and made us look at the darker side of it. Like it or not, whatever feelings you have on the church; unfortunately there is a darker side. The Chaplain in here definitely represents that. I sussed him out the first time we meet him on page and I wanted to go inside the book and just punch his annoying face. He knows exactly what to say to get what he wants and he has no problem in manipulating everyone to get his way. I wanted to drag his greasy hands away from Brianne and throw them into the ocean or something. And then, you know, might as well carry on with throwing the rest of his body in the ocean.
It's a fast-paced book and the action is well mixed up with the silent moments. Tooley did a good job in writing and balancing them. I think a lot of writers are usually focused on the action scenes and creating a believable romance, adding witty banter (if they choose). I think they forget that you can have silent moments and it can be good. There's sadness in both girls – sadness that actually is the same when you look at the heart of it all. I hope Tooley carries that into the sequel. If her other books also have it that definitely makes me want to read it more.
This was a long and slow-paced book but I did it! The book is good but unfortunately on the “just okay” side of good.. This book is like... vaguely set in a slightly European country/inspired by all that. But then uhh we had the words “venus fly trap” – used as a metaphor so sort of okay but not the best metaphor that could've been used? I could see that the author didn't want to do all of the research – which, like, I get as a writer because I desperately do not want to put horses into my drafts. Because then I have to think about everything that goes into it. It's difficult. So I understand why we didn't get a lot of mentions of their clothing or what they're using to eat with – both which would show where it's vaguely set in or inspired by. But I would've liked it anyway and maybe it would've changed my thinking of the book.
Most of the book was a lot of politics. And like – I don't mind politics in books. I find it interesting most of the time, especially when tied with magic and all. But also you have to be good at writing said politics and explaining them in a way most readers can understand. Because, you know, sometimes I want to read a fantasy book but not have to deal with a lot of world-building and politics.
Quill kept putting (confusing) politics and world-building and didn't explain it all that well. And because it was all so slow-paced, it made me less wanting to understand everything. I don't mind slow-paced books at all. But naturally they have to be written-well in order to keep the reader interested. Which this wasn't unfortunately.
That's why I can't really say a lot about the plot or politics – because it wasn't exactly memorable. I definitely felt like Quill focused more on the characters than the plot and maybe that's why I didn't remember much of the plot (and more of the characters).
But, all in all, the book wasn't too bad – I liked the main character, Ruztuv the most. I liked the fact that his 4 siblings all have Z's in their names. And there's a Razul and a Reoul in the book so I got confused most of the time
This was an absolute fantastic read and I loved it. It was a stunning debut for Andrew Joseph White and I can't wait to see everything else he comes out with. His second book looks extremely creepy and stunning as well. Within the first, maybe 10? 5 even? percent of reading this book I knew it would be a 5 star read and the author a top author. He had such a way with words that I kept wanting to read.
I love the post-apocalyptic genre. Give me it in any format and with any origin story. Virus, alien apocalypse, ton of natural disasters – I don't care. Two of my favourite things in this genre is a) people creating communities. Getting together, living in a school or small neighbourhood. These people creating a school for the children. Anyone who has medical experience setting up a “hospital”. Give me all of it. B) the environment taking over man-made structures. Give me grass all over parking lots. Vines and ivy growing all over buildings. I love it.
This book had both of that in spades and I was here for all of it. The community building here was done by an LGBTQ+ centre – which I thought was excellent. I felt so much for these characters and I was happy to do that. The author did a great job at that and I hope his next book will also feature characters that I love almost immediately.
Benji and Nick were two fantastic characters and were a big reason I didn't want to stop reading. I loved that we got both of their povs and were able to know them more (than just dialogue). Even if we just had Benji's pov I would've been happy because we got to know Nick through the dialogue and his interactions with Benji.
The plot was fantastic. The author definitely has a way with words that make you keep reading and keep you invested in the plot. Almost every chapter had me on the edge of my seat and I wanted to know more about the beginning of everything. So if he ever wanted to write a novella... I'd be right there.
The gore was so well-written. Extremely visual in the writing and pulled no punches at all. Extremely descriptive but done amazingly well, which made it all the better to read it. Tying the gore and the post-apocalypse so closely to religion was a great choice. White certainly didn't hold back but I didn't mind it at all because I know religion often isn't kind to those who don't tick their boxes. This is a dark book and it dealt with very dark themes, specifically church-related but it was done really well.
I’m someone who really loves dual and multi povs but multiple audio narrators… I’m still getting there. It is easier when there’s at least one male narrator to at least change things up at the risk of the female narrators sounding the same. But when you’re listening at double speed just about everyone sounds the same. It’s not the book’s fault that I rated it 3.5 (even though that’s not really a low rating). It took a while to get into the story and the characters. In fact most of the trilogy was me trying to fully understand the story and characters. The action was great, Stewart is good at letting her readers be immersed in the world and action. I found that she’s good at writing physical action and magic – which is great because not many authors can successfully balance the two. The magic system was confusing but also interesting! I didn’t expect myself to understand it by the end of the first book (although I didn’t really understand by the end of the trilogy either) and I’m glad it didn’t stop me from enjoying the book.
There’s five main characters and all of them have their own chapters. It took me awhile to like Lin, the Emperor’s daughter who’s trying to make her father proud of her. I think it was around the mid-mark (of the book) that I liked her a bit more and also further on (into the series). She’s a strong character who figures out what she wants and her place in the world – I liked that. Jovis was probably my favourite main character. He’s got that ‘accidental dad vibe’ to him which showed when he got an animal companion – who was absolutely adorable and basically my other favourite character. I almost immediately liked him and liked getting to his chapters. I had an issue where I’d started reading Lin as as Upper YA (like she’s 18 or a bit younger) and Jovis as nearly 30. So I side-eyed this book for a while until I realised that Lin = adult. I still don’t know her actual age but after that I felt better 😅. For most of this book she did feel younger but at least not actual teenager. Other than that I liked their relationship and was happy to follow it.
The next two characters (Phalue and Ramani) are in the same place so you get a lot of the same plots (but different feelings). It didn’t help that their individual character voices weren’t distinct in my opinion, though their personalities were well-written. I would’ve picked one, not both of them as a point of view – but I couldn’t tell you which one I would’ve chosen. My least liked POV is Sand, an outsider, and not much is really revealed about her at the start. She was an interesting character but I don’t think I ever really liked her.
Originally posted at dbsguidetothegalaxy.wordpress.com.
Wren and Asher were two characters I loved basically from the get-go. Asher's sweet personality and the way he gets just about everyone to like him almost instantly had me liking him easily. Wren was relatable with having her walls up and I liked seeing how she went from “nope I have x amount of rules. Can't break them” to “whoops, another rule broken for Asher.” Which, I mean, is understandable because Asher is very adorable.
Most of the secondary characters I liked. Kamala – Wren's friend – I really liked. She was funny and a good friend to Wren – cared, comforted her. Dale was just annoying all around – he didn't raise himself in my eyes at all. If other readers liked him – that's their choice. I suppose there was an instance here and there where he was sort of okay, but that happened when I had already made up my mind about him. That meant I wasn't interested in changing how I thought about him.
I quickly sussed out Wren's mom's personality when she first appeared on the page. I would groan every time she was in a scene because I knew whatever she said would hurt Wren. And she kept proving me right! I also got annoyed with Wren's sister because I felt like Wren should've been the older sister and Zoey the younger? Like Wren's personality is very much older sister – how she thinks, how she views their mom; while Zoey's is a younger sister's view (that's just my thoughts on the matter, of course). I liked Zoey slightly more at the end of the book and I wonder if the sequel will follow her or Kamala.
I love the fake dating trope – don't mind reading it over and over again and this was a cute one! I appreciated what was done here with social media – expectations, downfalls, and the various issues it can bring. I felt like it did a good deal of that without being too preachy – which could happen very quickly when an older author is writing teen fiction.
The reason (or one of them) why I like the fake dating trope is because I like seeing how the characters develop. Sometimes they're friends who agree to fake date but strangers fake dating (for whatever reasons) is also pretty popular. I'm good with either (strangers or friends) but I do enjoy strangers a tad bit better? You have them both trying to fit into each other's friendship groups and trying to establish that you are, in fact, dating this person while also getting to know them.
It's even funnier in this instance because Wren has to now act like she actually knows Asher and things about him (because she's filling in for Gemma) – even though they're are the strangers fake dating trope. It gave me a lot of second-hand embarrassment – which is another reason why I love the faking dating trope. There's something about awkward squawking at a book when a character is being awkward.
The plot was (mostly) sweet and the pacing easy. Very glad there's no animal harm/death in here – so so glad. West did a good job in making the animal characters their own characters – and they were sweet and I loved them. It's such a a quick read that you won't see the time flying by.
I didn't feel like the third act breakup was unwarranted – definitely something I knew was coming and I liked how it was handled. Wren should also go to therapy. I hope she gets that because she really needs it. I also liked how they made up – it didn't feel too unbelievable for me (I mean they're also teens so they wouldn't have all the emotional maturity feeling like most adult romances do).
Merged review:
Wren and Asher were two characters I loved basically from the get-go. Asher's sweet personality and the way he gets just about everyone to like him almost instantly had me liking him easily. Wren was relatable with having her walls up and I liked seeing how she went from “nope I have x amount of rules. Can't break them” to “whoops, another rule broken for Asher.” Which, I mean, is understandable because Asher is very adorable.
Most of the secondary characters I liked. Kamala – Wren's friend – I really liked. She was funny and a good friend to Wren – cared, comforted her. Dale was just annoying all around – he didn't raise himself in my eyes at all. If other readers liked him – that's their choice. I suppose there was an instance here and there where he was sort of okay, but that happened when I had already made up my mind about him. That meant I wasn't interested in changing how I thought about him.
I quickly sussed out Wren's mom's personality when she first appeared on the page. I would groan every time she was in a scene because I knew whatever she said would hurt Wren. And she kept proving me right! I also got annoyed with Wren's sister because I felt like Wren should've been the older sister and Zoey the younger? Like Wren's personality is very much older sister – how she thinks, how she views their mom; while Zoey's is a younger sister's view (that's just my thoughts on the matter, of course). I liked Zoey slightly more at the end of the book and I wonder if the sequel will follow her or Kamala.
I love the fake dating trope – don't mind reading it over and over again and this was a cute one! I appreciated what was done here with social media – expectations, downfalls, and the various issues it can bring. I felt like it did a good deal of that without being too preachy – which could happen very quickly when an older author is writing teen fiction.
The reason (or one of them) why I like the fake dating trope is because I like seeing how the characters develop. Sometimes they're friends who agree to fake date but strangers fake dating (for whatever reasons) is also pretty popular. I'm good with either (strangers or friends) but I do enjoy strangers a tad bit better? You have them both trying to fit into each other's friendship groups and trying to establish that you are, in fact, dating this person while also getting to know them.
It's even funnier in this instance because Wren has to now act like she actually knows Asher and things about him (because she's filling in for Gemma) – even though they're are the strangers fake dating trope. It gave me a lot of second-hand embarrassment – which is another reason why I love the faking dating trope. There's something about awkward squawking at a book when a character is being awkward.
The plot was (mostly) sweet and the pacing easy. Very glad there's no animal harm/death in here – so so glad. West did a good job in making the animal characters their own characters – and they were sweet and I loved them. It's such a a quick read that you won't see the time flying by.
I didn't feel like the third act breakup was unwarranted – definitely something I knew was coming and I liked how it was handled. Wren should also go to therapy. I hope she gets that because she really needs it. I also liked how they made up – it didn't feel too unbelievable for me (I mean they're also teens so they wouldn't have all the emotional maturity feeling like most adult romances do).
Kokoro is a character that I loved instantly and I'm glad we had her as a main character. I really liked that as the book went on she opened up to her mom – I think that relationship will improve (after the book is finished). I'm also very happy that her parents didn't force her to go to school – I think that helped me to like them more. She (Kokoro) was a great main character to follow because she fit the essence of this book so well.
It's a slow-paced book but the author writes it without making it seem too slow. Sometimes it felt like the story was dragging a bit but the author quickly managed to bring it back and therefore keep my interest piqued.
I definitely did not predict the plot twists that happened in the book and I think I can predict about 60-70% of plot twists in books? So the fact that everything here took me by surprise was a joy to read. Especially because it meant that I could just sit and enjoy the book without being (somewhat) annoyed at where it was going because I could predict the plot.
The other characters in this were also slow to get to know but I think as you delve deeper into the story you really get to know them. And I hope that, just like they made me cry, that they'll leave you in tears – or at the very least, wanting to hold the nearest thing to you tightly because you feel sad.
As I've said countless of times before – one mark of a good book is when I don't realise how much I'm reading until I make myself stop and it's like 40% or I've just finished the entire book. Glad to say this was one of those cases. Also I'm glad that I've had a couple of those experiences in my read book for this year. Makes up for the not good experiences that I unfortunately had to endure.
Johnathan Newman, a vampire hunter, newly assigned to a small town, was a good main character to follow. He's smart, empathetic, and has a sad backstory. The sad backstory wasn't a reason for me to like him, I'm not that kind of reader; but it allowed us to get to know him really well.
I liked Vic. I liked how he appeared to be all mysterious in the beginning and how he reveals his personality through Johnathan. Not only does that mean Johnathan gets to know him but we as the reader get to know the both of them (as they reveal themselves to each other). Plus we see their relationship growing.
I definitely want to read the sequel to see their relationship grow. I think Jacques did a good job of forming it and hopefully more cute moments will appear in the future. Luckily I'm able to get the sequel from the same site (StoryOrigin) so I hope I can read it soon.
I really enjoyed the plot in this! I thought it would go one way, be abc and then it was entirely upside down and I couldn't predict like I thought I would be able to. I actually prefer these to the books where I can predict what happens. I hope that the next book also has a plot where I don't really get to predict it.
I'll admit – Detective Richard Zuraw didn't give me a lot to root for – and he's a main character. I mean he automatically assumes that because Jack is a Black Mage and is able to to suck life energy out of people – that Jack's bad. Like, the Mages that can wield fire can just as easily set people on fire – and kill them – just as easily as Jack could suck their life out? But, you know, no – Jack's bad because he deals with life.
Then the Detective tries to stop Jack from carrying a book in his (Jack's bookstore) bookstore because it's banned – promotes dangerous ideas about magic. So that really pushed my liking of him down. By the end of the book I liked him a bit more (not by a lot though). Hopefully the next book has him more fighting against his employers (the magic police, unfortunately). Or maybe even just rebelling entirely and not being a magic cop anymore. Who knows!
Also he just up and asked Jack “where he's from... ethnically”. And then followed up with “you don't look exactly white”. What is that even supposed to mean? Jack does tell him off but that question shouldn't have been asked? Like if Jack had told him on his own accord – that's ok – because Jack chose it (to share his ethnicity). He better do a lot in the next book to make up for it – because this... wasn't a good look for him at all. Please note that I have no idea of the author's nationality, race, or ethnicity. All I know is that Lily C. Strauss is a pen name for this series. Meaning I don't know if the author perhaps shares Jack's ethnicity – I'm criticising Zuraw, the characer; not Strauss, the author.
I'm glad we had Jack as a main character because I liked him almost immediately. I mean, he owns a bookstore so boom? Also he's very “rage against the machine” compared to Richard. Other people too, not just Richard, harbour a stigma against Black Mages that they're bad because of the type of magic they wield and I didn't like reading that at all. Another thing I hope happens in the next books – that the stigma lessens and/or Jack doesn't feel like he has to explain himself all the time.
I think as a first book in a series (I have no idea if Strauss has written before – only has a Tumblr and apparently Lily C. Strauss is a new pen name?), it works. You can see it's a first book in a series – there's a lot of room to grow – for the plot, story line, characters, author's writing as well – I hope Strauss manages to take that opportunity.
There's a big secret surrounding Jack that comes out in the book (it's not his sexuality, don't worry – I would've added outing in the Content Warnings). He refers to the secret a bit before it's revealed but I didn't really understand why he was keeping it a secret? The reasons he gave felt, I don't know, not good enough? It felt like he was the only one who acted like it was a big deal? Maybe the secret will be told to more people in the sequel and there will be a bigger reaction then? As usual, I'll have to wait and see.
I'm a big fan of magic systems in books – I think you have to be if you grew up with fantasy books like me. I don't think there's a lot of fantasy books without magic? Or at least I don't read those so I don't really know
Something I'm doing more often and something I have to constantly remind myself is just to enjoy reading, you know? Even if it's for a review – there's no sense in not enjoying a book. You're only going to hurt yourself. So that's the thought I had when I went into reading this – that I maybe wouldn't like it. But I was wrong, I did, and I'm glad.
I think a mark of a good writer – fantasy or otherwise – is that you're able to lose yourself in the story and just read a ton without actually realising that you're reading a ton. With this book I went from like 2 something percent and then finishing the book
Reading and liking A Curse of Salt didn't go hand in hand at first. I think it was maybe around the 20% mark that I actually started to enjoy it? And – I know – I should've dnfed if I wasn't really enjoying it – but I decided to carry on for a bit. I was rewarded for that as I enjoyed myself the more I carried on! It'll definitely stay in my mind as a favourite and a title to recommend if someone's looking for a sea-faring journey or a retelling.
And a retelling it certainly is! As I said at the start – it's Beauty and the Beast – which probably is one of my favourite Disney movies and Belle a top Disney Princess. Street definitely knew what made the movie so good and she captured the magic of the movie and the couple very well. A good part of what makes Belle, or in this case, Ria, a good person is that she has a good heart. Ria put herself in danger to save her family – knowing very well she might not coming back because of how, well, heartless, The Heartless King is.
What I really enjoyed seeing was how Ria comes to know the Blood Rose‘s crew – seeing past the fearsome front they all put on. Going “Oh, they're super scary” at the start of their journey to “they're family now” at the end was a delight to read as I also got to know them and saw them like Ria did. It's also a found family story – something I always enjoy seeing and reading about. And it was done well in here! I could tell they cared fiercely about each other and would indeed take up arms if one of their own got hurt. Which is exactly what I like to see (re found family).
The romance in here is my favourite – enemies to lovers! I'm glad Street wrote it well because that allowed me to root for them all the more. There's nothing that I like more indeed than enemies moving to friends and then eventually lovers. It literally never gets old for me
Entrée to Murder
We're introduced to the characters in this story and I knew whom I would like and wouldn't like. Drew was good from the start – I liked his easy narration and his character grew on me quickly – which I'm happy about as it's hard to read and finish a book where you don't like the main character/their narration.
I sort of liked Mac – Drew's love interest. He's unfortunately a cop – plus there's a thing of his family being in law enforcement. That coupled with it being a small town – there's a big possibility of there being... bias for the cop family. This showed itself in the third story. It did make me dislike Mac and it seemed to me like he just fell into being a cop because there was basically a job waiting for him. Did he not want to become something else? Or did he have to go into law enforcement because “that's what the family wanted/needed”.
I did like Mac's stoic personality – especially when met with Drew's almost chaotic personality. I liked seeing the two mix and that they (their personalities as well as the characters) and I thought they would probably continue to be a good couple. A feature/? of cozy mysteries is that the solver (who's usually in a profession not known for solving crimes) often buts heads with the law enforcement, often creating banter. This did well here as the banter flowed easily into a relationship.
I didn't care for Sam – Drew's business partner. She flits in and out of the stories and I felt I could never get her personality? Either she wasn't fleshed out properly or just not written well in the first place. So every time she was on the page (screen for me) I sort of skimmed over until she left again.
Recipe for Trouble
Michael is terrible (he's Drew's ex that pops up) – is it bad to say I was sort of... rooting for him to end up on the other side of the living experience?
But then, that's how pain works: When you're in enough of it, there's no thinking of anything or anybody else.
Wendy Heard really wrote grief and managing grief well. I could feel and see it. It definitely made me feel more connected to Casey because I understood her more. When I started the book I wasn't really connecting to her (Casey) but as I carried on and she spoke about grief more; I did feel more connected. This is my first Wendy Heard novel so I have no idea if the theme of grief is present in her other books – I certainly hope so as I really enjoyed how it was written in We'll Never Tell.
Sometimes, grief seizes me in a violent grip, and when it does, I almost double over in pain. I pause, breathe, try to release the image of how my life was meant to be. It doesn't matter what was destined; it only matters what actually happened. That's what I tell myself. But in reality, there's no romance in a crime of passion. There's just the ending of a life, small and quiet, and the broken people who get left behind. I like how they approached the story of the supposed ghost house and the true crime/unsolved murders. That in the end they're still people and they deserve respect. They should've received respect but they didn't get that. Instead they got a whole media circus over and over again. Every aspect of their lives were searched through and stories were made up left, right, and centre. Of course, being that the main characters run a YouTube channel there's a lot that can be said about true crime and these topics being shown in media. The world is so obsessed with true crime podcasts and they're the first ones who'll sit and binge watch unsolved murder tv shows – often forgetting that the victims were all people before all of this. Many times in fact, their families are often still alive and are witnessing the world obsessing over what happened to their loved ones. I did want their YouTube channel to have been a bigger plot point. People finding out about it, more reminiscing about other projects they did – even just a simple scene or two responding to comments or looking at analytics. They're apparently a huge channel (a million or more subscribers?) but it felt like after they went into the house the channel was simply forgotten about? Maybe ghosts are real. I don't buy it. Humans are worse than anything we dream up. Casey and the boys (Eddie and Jacob) were my favourite and I disliked Zoe – I didn't feel connected to her like I did to the others. But there's probably others who disliked Eddie and Jacob and whose favourite character was Zoe – that's what's great about reading – that we can like different characters. I hoped that I would see and believe the friendships in the book and I did! Even though I thought Zoe was the weakest one for me (personally) I could still see her friendship with the others. I think that made me like her a bit more, not enough, though. But then, we're all one of a kind. That's the point, really, in the end. None of us are replaceable. When one of us dies, it leaves a hole that can never be filled. Ever.I think this is probably my favourite quote of them all. This can be applied to any character in the book – living or dead. But it also can be applied to the reader – and you can take this quote anywhere it needs to be in your life. In this book it's referring to Casey's mom and how Casey will always be thinking of her (as is with loved ones who are passed away). The quote is also about the Valentini murders – how they were more than what was written about, and that all the headlines and articles never really seemed to get their personalities right. Which they wouldn't because they care more about how big of a story it would make and how to sensationalise it all. Merged review:But then, that's how pain works: When you're in enough of it, there's no thinking of anything or anybody else. Wendy Heard really wrote grief and managing grief well. I could feel and see it. It definitely made me feel more connected to Casey because I understood her more. When I started the book I wasn't really connecting to her (Casey) but as I carried on and she spoke about grief more; I did feel more connected. This is my first Wendy Heard novel so I have no idea if the theme of grief is present in her other books – I certainly hope so as I really enjoyed how it was written in We'll Never Tell. Sometimes, grief seizes me in a violent grip, and when it does, I almost double over in pain. I pause, breathe, try to release the image of how my life was meant to be. It doesn't matter what was destined; it only matters what actually happened. That's what I tell myself. But in reality, there's no romance in a crime of passion. There's just the ending of a life, small and quiet, and the broken people who get left behind. I like how they approached the story of the supposed ghost house and the true crime/unsolved murders. That in the end they're still people and they deserve respect. They should've received respect but they didn't get that. Instead they got a whole media circus over and over again. Every aspect of their lives were searched through and stories were made up left, right, and centre. Of course, being that the main characters run a YouTube channel there's a lot that can be said about true crime and these topics being shown in media. The world is so obsessed with true crime podcasts and they're the first ones who'll sit and binge watch unsolved murder tv shows – often forgetting that the victims were all people before all of this. Many times in fact, their families are often still alive and are witnessing the world obsessing over what happened to their loved ones. I did want their YouTube channel to have been a bigger plot point. People finding out about it, more reminiscing about other projects they did – even just a simple scene or two responding to comments or looking at analytics. They're apparently a huge channel (a million or more subscribers?) but it felt like after they went into the house the channel was simply forgotten about? Maybe ghosts are real. I don't buy it. Humans are worse than anything we dream up. Casey and the boys (Eddie and Jacob) were my favourite and I disliked Zoe – I didn't feel connected to her like I did to the others. But there's probably others who disliked Eddie and Jacob and whose favourite character was Zoe – that's what's great about reading – that we can like different characters. I hoped that I would see and believe the friendships in the book and I did! Even though I thought Zoe was the weakest one for me (personally) I could still see her friendship with the others. I think that made me like her a bit more, not enough, though. But then, we're all one of a kind. That's the point, really, in the end. None of us are replaceable. When one of us dies, it leaves a hole that can never be filled. Ever.I think this is probably my favourite quote of them all. This can be applied to any character in the book – living or dead. But it also can be applied to the reader – and you can take this quote anywhere it needs to be in your life. In this book it's referring to Casey's mom and how Casey will always be thinking of her (as is with loved ones who are passed away). The quote is also about the Valentini murders – how they were more than what was written about, and that all the headlines and articles never really seemed to get their personalities right. Which they wouldn't because they care more about how big of a story it would make and how to sensationalise it all.
I moved between liking and disliking the book throughout. I had an okay time reading it but I wouldn't reread the book. I thought of maybe carrying on but I'll let go. There's so many other books and series I need to get to.
I liked the friendship group and how they interacted with each other, but I didn't like the main character. I did like the casual touching amongst the friendship group. There wasn't much of a solid plot and I think that's what annoyed me the most. I also wasn't following along really because it just wasn't holding enough of my attention but it felt like there wasn't a good amount of plot anyway.
This was interesting to read! I really like Hamlet (the play) and I'm up for most of Shakespeare retellings. There's a lot of talk and discussion to be had around the play in terms of madness and what that all entails. Hamlet being an android here made for an interesting change because madness is (mostly) a human emotion. But an android could be mad if their code were faulty. We've seen a lot of movies where androids perform human emotions due to their coding – it's one of my favourite things in science-fiction. So I really liked how the author approached it here.
I liked the characters in here. Hamlet and Horatio were fantastic. I think in like any retelling (of this I might read) and the original play – I feel for Ophelia. I've always felt for her. She's probably my favourite, I think. I like how in here she's given more of a voice and treated like a well-rounded character.
The prose was outstanding. I highlighted a lot of it and I reread most of them to let it sink in. I want to see if their other books also has this level of writing/prose – if so, I definitely want to read it. Plus, there was a Lion King reference? Which is doubly funny if you know that The Lion King is loosely influenced by Hamlet. So then to have it – or at least a loose reference to the Disney movie in here – it was just really funny to me.
I liked this book for the most part. I had the audio and liked Hailey's narrator. Unfortunately I didn't like Wes's at all. I'd waited for the audio a while and the ebook would be even longer so decided to just do it.
I like Wes – more than Noah, but Chris is still the best Jansen brother. I liked that Wes didn't share Noah's sentiment when it came to money (that it's meant to be used for everything) and that he respected Hailey a lot for having her own business.
Hailey and Wes wercute together. And I'm saying this as a person who's NOT into the friends-to-lovers trope. I'm not a fan of it. I either have to trust your recs or just happen upon the trope while reading. But I ended up liking it a lot! It fit the characters well and I'm glad it did and I liked it. Though I won't go running to read all the friends-to-lovers books anyway.
I loved Hailey almost as soon as we were introduced to her. She runs her own business and wants it to be successful. She doesn't want people to help her out with her business just because they feel sorry for her. I'm glad that Noah wasn't her love interest because I think he would very easily throw money at her and they would've clashed too much.
Wes fit her well. He gave her solid business advice without coming across as “I know better than you”. It made me like him a lot – happy to after his brother did me dirty. He did do a little “here, lemme throw money at you/the problem” but I'm glad Hailey stood up to him.
I liked how he's analytical, a bit uptight, wanting to do things his way and Hailey's just “lets do this”. It makes for a good balance and one that could go very far if they communicate well. Which they didn't do all the time. That was one of the things that annoyed me – especially in the third act breakup.
I did like this book but I do think it should've been worked on for longer. The pacing jumped all over the place and I found it difficult to keep up with “are you slow or fast now?” The plot also felt like it wasn't tied down too much – I like my plots to be neat. Especially in a Contemporary Romance book – which I don't read as much as other things. Like Fantasies I could accept a bit of a messy plot because there's so many things to keep track of. With Romance books you're always in the real world, so what's your excuse?
As I'm reading more romance books I become more acquainted with the terms and discourse surrounding the genre. One term I'm very familiar with is the third act breakup. Mostly I'm fine with them. The other two books handled it okay (the second one a little less, but I could just be feeling that because of Noah); this book didn't at all (handle it okay). I felt annoyed all throughout and just wanted to get it over with. Which I didn't like because I liked the book otherwise! I didn't understand why the breakup had to be that and why it took so long. I could see in the future they might run into further miscommunication issues if they don't work it out.
I was drawn in by basically the first chapter and didn't want let go of the book anywhere in my reading of it. I love social media and texting in books and I think it added to the enjoyment of this book even more – specifically because during COVID there was such a large uptick of us being online and communicating with each other – although I just do that anyway.
Ezra and Oliver were so so cute. I liked how they went from “I'm messaging you because I need to” and then moved into the “starting to text for fun” group and then “I'm chatting with you several times a day” and then eventually into the super cute “relationship messaging”. I really enjoyed being able to join them in moving into all those different stages.
I liked how Ezra was more than he seemed at first. That on the surface and probably to a lot of people who knew his surname and family – they would probably think him arrogant and self-absorbed. But he most certainly wasn't. He was kind and tried not to judge people – which is hard to do seeing as he was judged so much by his family.
I loved that Oliver had Rheumatoid Arthritis. Well not that he had it – because it's a difficult disease – but that a character shared a diagnosis with me. I sympathised with him so much about his pain and his frustrations of it all. I don't have my vocal cords flaring up but as someone who (admittedly) talks a lot I can imagine that'll be sore. But I liked that while he was (obviously) very aware of his diagnosis he tries the hardest to remain as positive as possible – which is hard anyway and then you add a pandemic!
It's extremely easy to become negative when you have a chronic illness and I think even more (easier) when the pandemic hit. So I definitely didn't think less of Oliver when he pushed people away or got angry because as I said – it's very easy to get angry/become negative. But through it all he still tried to have moments of happiness and positivity and those small moments are what helps a lot.
When Ezra first called Oliver “Ollie” I awwed so loud I was glad I was in my room
This is under 300 pages and yet it felt more like 500 or something because it was extremely slow-paced. With the horror genre, if it's slow-paced, I'm more inclined to like it if it's a movie than a book. Nothing really against the book or its author – just my personal preference.
The book focuses on 3 friends who travel to a secluded cabin – it's in the family of one of the men. I very much could not tell the friends apart, whoops, so I can't really tell you anything about them? I remember things that happened to them before the book – leg injury, something about drowning or ice? But I can't tell you their names or which name belongs to which character (and who had which incident happened to whom). Which, this book is like 98% solely these three men; so I should've known their names before the 50% mark or something. That's half on me and half on the book, in my opinion? Like, of course you should make an effort to remember their names (even if your memory is bad like mine) and differentiating the characters and such. But also it's up to the writer to make sure no two (or three) characters are the same.
The horror was well-written, I'll give it that. It's a very slow one but it has all the elements of “spooky things start to happen and we start to notice them”. That's something I like a lot. It's fun to see the weird things happen – often before the characters do, because of course, they don't know they're in a horror book so they often don't think xyz is weird until the weirdness increases/an actual injury occurs.
There was a big Indigenous/folk tale subplot but unfortunately it happened in the second half of the book – when I was already bored of most things – so I didn't pay as much attention as I should've. I did like what I read – most of what I can remember – I liked. It tied in a lot with the main character's family, but as I said, I don't remember much so I think it made it all the more confusing to try to remember anything.
I am sad that I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would because when I saw the comps I thought “oh wow yup I'll love this extremely”. And it let me down because I didn't really care about the characters much. I forgot most of the plot and basically everything that happened but the other books I read around the same time as The Broken Places I remember much better.
Although this was a super quick read I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted t or though I would. It helped that it was a dual-pov. I preferred Jacob over Hannah so I might've dnfed if the book was solely Hannah's pov. It's not that I didn't like Hannah, I just didn't really have much of an opinion of her. Jacob (to me) was more interesting and I wanted to know more about him over Hannah. I was fine with Hannah when her and Jacob had scenes together but that's about it
It's a pretty decent plot, but then again, I honestly don't remember much of it. I remembered I liked Jacob's family and his whole storyline. I thought Hannah's ex was really annoying so I rolled my eyes basically whenever he was on the page (well screen because ebook). Like, Hannah, I'm sorry, but can't you tell you and Nate don't have much in common? Like clearly you and Jacob are better together! I liked their romance (Hannah and Jacob) but I really didn't remember much of it to tell you lot. Cute read, but that's about it in my eyes.
I'm finding the joy in reading and enjoying books that aren't the best more and more. And you know what? You should too! Not all books have to be well-written in order for you to enjoy them. I found Kingdom of Blood & Salt to be that exactly. There were things I would've changed if I were writing/editing it but as a reader I just allowed myself to enjoy it – and that I did.
I liked that there was a bit of Greek inspiration to be seen in the book. They wore peplos – a type of Greek outfit commonly worn by women. Hades was mentioned – actually I think he was the only one to be mentioned – I'm not bothered by that because he's my favourite. Hoping the second book (which seems to be the last one as well – so just a duology) will have more of that.
I was a bit upset that the entire book was set in the Kingdom. I think from reading the synopsis I had surmised various things would happen and when they didn't I was annoyed. But that's not the book's fault – just mine for assuming things
I moved from liking it and not liking it all throughout my reading of the graphic novel. First I though it was an interesting take on the Final Girl trope. Then it's giving too much of the trope. One time it says what I feel about the horror genres, next I could tell so much that it was written by a man.
I first gave it a higher rating and now I'm thinking just a solid 3 star rating. Middle of the road, average etc. The 3-star rating is honestly very versatile so with Sacred Lamb because while I was reading I thought 3 star but more towards 4. Then when I finished it I thought “Nope, this is definitely closer to the early stages of 3 stars. Or like 2.5 to 3 stars.” I decided to just give it 3 because in the end it did focus on horror, the different aspects and elements of it, which I did like.
What I really liked was the different “eras” shown amongst all the Final Girls – the babysitter – though I guess it's also the “home invasion” horror genre as a whole? I was waiting for a Haunted House or Exorcism Final Girl but oh well. Can't have everything. I did want some type of Final Girl from a Final Destination/Wrong Turn/I Know What You Did Last Summer genre – which would fall under the slasher sub-genre, I suppose? I love all three of those movie franchises) and was waiting for one of those (the Final Girl) to show up.
I liked the illustrations and way they were shown – I did like that they weren't visibly perfect. I think a lot of the times in horror movies the female characters are always in tight clothing, hair's messed up but still looks great. Even when they're running away from the murderer they look super perfect. And I don't want that! I want messy protagonists – like physically messy – because looking super hot is a thing in horror movies. Either the Final Girl is a virgin and innocent or she's sexy even when she's in danger. I just want messiness!
I didn't really connect much with the main character? I think her whole thing about being an Influencer is fine, but she was... famous for just unboxing things? That just sounds like Brooklyn from Camp Cretaceous for me and I'd much rather watch that. I liked “The Babysitter” much more and would've preferred her to be the main character – even though that would've changed the plot around a lot.
To me the synopsis didn't indicate that it was a fantasy set in our world so when Tamsin used a cell phone I was so confused for a few minutes. But that quickly changed because I really liked how the author approached it and mixed the two (a typical fantasy world and the ‘normal' world) together. Bracken really did a good job at it, which made my reading of the book easier because I was able to enjoy myself without having to work too hard on tying the two worlds together. As Bracken did such a good job on that – all I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.
There are a lot of new terms in the book that I had to learn. I was reading on my Kindle so I was able to highlight them all in a specific colour and just refer back to them at any point in the book – that helped a bit
I enjoy urban fantasies – like I do like epic and high fantasies, especially with tons of quests available for the taking – but there's something almost easy about urban fantasies/fantasies set in the modern world (since I think urban fantasies are specifically set in cities and not smaller towns like some modern fantasies?).
I like urban fantasies/modern world fantasies because it's sort of more accessible for new readers. Also to readers new to the genre. There's less of the typical fantasy names (listen, those apostrophes and accent marks are difficult even to a trained fantasy reader!); there's not too much world-building and info-dumping because you already know most/half of the world presented to you.
Cassia's love for her sister is plain to see from the get-go. I mean she did literally go into a who ‘nother world to help save her sister. Basically all of her motivation throughout the book is focused on her sister. As someone who really likes (positive) sibling relations; I definitely appreciated seeing the love Cassia has for her. I really like Cassia and Lucas's close friendship (bit of a spoiler but they stay friends and don't go any further). As someone who's not a fan of friends to lovers in books (it has to be written a certain way), I cherish any friends who stay friends. I like how they were dependent on each other growing up and they came back to that a bit in this book and I hope the next book has that more.
Speaking of morally-grey characters, we have one in the form of Lochlan and he was great. Definitely can't wait for the next two books to see what he gets up to. I don't know if I was a fan of morally grey characters in my younger years (my word, that sounds weird to type) but I definitely am now that I'm older. Maybe it's because I can tell (most) authors have a lot of fun writing them and that makes me like them more. Lochlan is probably one of my favourites so I'm only going to say nice things about him because I usually had a grin when he was on the page.
Dual-Pov for the win! Patel Papathanasiou did it well as I liked how it went from a newcomer (Cassia) and she's learning about the world-building and the magic system and we, as the readers, are learning about it with her. And then it switches to Lucas and the way he thinks of the worldbuilding and the magic system – there's no real second guessing because he's very familiar with it. Which I liked as well because it allowed me to ease more into the world-building because of the easy way he viewed it.
I always enjoy it when I can see that the author is passionate about their writing. It shines through in their work and also wherever they talk about their work. I could see it on all of Shameez's social media and all throughout the book. It makes for a more enjoyable read – the author enjoyed writing it, therefore you can enjoy reading it.
There was a bit of found family and I relished every bit because – I mean – it's found family. What else can I say? I hope that the found family aspect is a bit better written in the sequel and that it comes easier – the camaraderie and the way the characters interact with each other.