DB

There's something about enemies-to-lovers books that just keep me coming back to the trope. What I like even more is when the characters have history – where they're friends before and then something happens to turn them into enemies. But as they're (begrudgingly) spending time with each other years later... that hatred slowly turns into something else. Listen, it's just good every time. And that was certainly true here. Cassia and Zeru had that in spades. Their species, not to mention their families were at odds and total enemies. Of course, you know what happened – we all know what happens in an enemies-to-lovers book. What changes is the journey – how they went from wanting to kill each other to kiss.

The characters were well-written and developed well alongside the plot – I thought Blake did that well. Both, however, were quite slow-paced. I don't have an issue with slow-paced books in the slightest but it felt like the book wanted to be paced faster and the developments were slowing it down. Now and then the book seemed to be at a faster pace and then it would just slow down like the author remembered she wanted it to be slow. Though with slow-paced books there's more time to slowly develop everything – which happened here. We slowly got to know the characters, their motivations, their personalities, and their stories all develop.

We also got a slow romance, which was nice, even though I wanted it to speed up at times. Cassia and Zeru complement each other and it'll be interesting to see where they go from here – what they do and how they face the dangers together. Of course, and how they grow more in love with each other – because they are quite cute together. I liked how their relationship tied in so well with the plot – I like when that happens and when the author does it well. Still I would've liked the pacing of the romance to have been faster, but like I said earlier – it didn't deter me from liking it.

The plot was largely about secrets and the histories of the two species – which wasn't handled like it could've been. I think what added to it was the constant feeling of the book being a debut novel. Then I found out the author has a whole other series aka very much not a debut book. But the feeling that it was still stayed. Of course I'm not saying that debut novels are bad in any way – just that this book seemed like it was Blake's debut. I have no idea what the other two books will be about (as it's a trilogy) as I thought the book did well as a standalone) but we'll see when those books come out. Maybe about the other sisters?

dnf at 61%

As you can see by my percentage, I did really try with this one. But as you can see that it's here, it didn't really matter. Even though my Kindle told me it would take roughly another half hour to finish the book, I wasn't up for finishing it. I like Hades and Persephone retellings – which is why I requested this – but it didn't work out. My liking for Persephone went up and down as the book carried on. Some scenes I liked her, other times I felt like she didn't have a solid personality. I liked Hades, I thought he had quite a solid personality – but that wouldn't have been enough for me to carry on.

The writing was a big reason why I chose not to finish the book. It wasn't capturing my attention as much as I would like. Around the time I stopped there was suddenly a trial about to happen? And Persephone was meant to partake for some reason? If that had happened either at the start of the book or have been the main plot point, I probably would've carried on as I really like trials. I noticed the dialogue wasn't flowing neatly and unfortunately that tends to make or break a novel for me.

Yes I read the whole book in a day and what of it?

I'm so sad there's only 3 volumes

People... Like this? Like they really like this? Why

hello why did i shed some tears at the end

Normally I love magical school settings but it didn't work here. Barely anything happens at the school because it's so centred on the main character and her ‘boy troubles' (more on that later). I wasn't bothered by the book being character-driven; I just think it's silly to fully focus on the characters when you're attending a magical boarding school and have to battle all sorts of creatures. We do get sections and glimpses of the world-building but then the attention swings back to the main character. An issue I had for the first 40 or so percent is I kept getting confused between Grimm and Grievers. Grimms are the creatures that the Grievers often have to battle. A Griever is what Everly is. There are Grimms at the academy but they're good/instructors for the Grievers. I kept getting confused because in the (excellent) tv series Grimm – Grimm is the name of those who hunt down the creatures. I don't really have much to say about the worldbuilding, other than I was rather let down. I'm guessing more will be revealed and explored later in the series but I'm not going to carry on.

I didn't feel much of anything for the main character, Everly. She tried to act really smart and the book kept telling us she was smart but it never really showed her intelligence. All the characters felt the same. When they said a name I had to wrack my brain to figure out ‘best friend? Best friend's brother? Quiet girl?' etc. I don't want to do that. None of the characters felt like they were fleshed-out – not even Everly and she's the main character! You would expect the main character, her best friend, and her twin brother to be well-rounded characters because we know they all know each other before the book. It's not as if they've just met at the school – they've known each other for years now. So why did it feel like they knew nothing about each other?

Now because I know YA books and series, I can tell there'll be a love triangle. Everly, the apparent ‘bad boy' at the school (who's not? bad at all? He's slightly arrogant but you could probably chalk it up to him being a guy or the best student in class), and the best friend's brother (Hunter). Now Hunter has a girlfriend who's a bit of a bitch towards Everly (why do we have to have this?). There's a scene where he says “I love you” to his girlfriend on the phone and then strokes Everly on the face or something. And then BLAMES HER for ‘tempting him'? Everly, if I were you I'd be running away. But no, she CONTINUED to be attracted to him. Honestly even Ian, the ‘bad boy' wasn't a great contender either. I have a feeling this will continue on into the trilogy – which I won't be carrying on with. I don't know what I dislike more – best friend's brother or love triangle.

I also can't tell you what the plot was about because I just... had no idea. I couldn't firmly grasp it, it seemed to be all over the place. Even near the end it didn't feel like anything had really happened. A girl goes missing from the academy earlyish on in the book (I think early) and then it's not really spoken about until the end mark. But you can clearly tell it's the first book in a trilogy. Plot points are started with the intention of carrying on in the next book. Characters are set up with the bare bones of personalities so you have to read the next book to see their story. At 89% it still didn't feel like anything really happened. I had an hour left in the audio and it felt like I was halfway.

Another thing I didn't understand why it even happened was they have to set up fake social media accounts. So it looks like they're doing normal things at their boarding school (that's it, that's the reason). Everly, of course, doesn't have social media accounts (#notlikeothergirls) and they have to create ones for her. For some reason Everly gets paired with Ian and the whole thing... is just to have them ‘act' like a couple in the photos. Which brings tension because “he's a bad boy. Holland and Hunter told me so.” They then give her a book and she just... sits down and reads and they snap pictures of her because she's giving the perfect casual look while reading? They also allow her to only read the book... when she's taking photos in the on-campus photo studio. I think this happened like once in the book so I really didn't understand why.

Throughout the book I kept getting this feeling that the book reminded me of something. And then it dawned on me – a (bad) CW tv show. Classic paranormal, school setting, love triangle, mystery. Holland was annoying in that CW best friend way.

Actual rating 4.5

This is super short at 82 pages but it packs quite a punch! I highlighted quite a couple of quotes in the book because I liked how it spoke of death. I liked that we got this pov – a cleaner who specifically cleans dead hoarders' houses. That even though we like to fill up our houses with everything we could ever want, but not need, it'll just... stay there in our house. Whatever you might have done in life, your possessions will merely be thrown away by a group of people who are paid to do so – which makes you just as ordinary as the next person. I liked that we were being told all of this sort of from a future perspective. Like we're looking back at the events to see how it all played out. Meet Paul before things happened to him, find out what kind of person he is.

Another thing I really liked was the writing. Spooky, atmospheric, chilled me right to the bone. Sometimes actions or feelings were being described and I sat there wide-eyed and grossed-out. That made me love the book even more. Busby did a great job at making me feel like I was there cleaning with Paul (and I didn't want to be). Even though this was a really quick read it made up for it in its strong writing and characters.

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.

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on any future horror books that she narrates – I really hope there'll be more. I see I've some of her books on my tbr but I think this is the only horror book she's done. There are quite a lot of characters in here and the narrator does a fine job of differentiating them so it was rare that I got them mixed up. Which doesn't happen often with a single narrator – unfortunately, try as they might, a lot of their voices tend to sound the same.

The story dragged a bit in the beginning but it picked up after a while and then I didn't want to stop reading. Which I like in a horror book. I think it's better to read a horror book quickly or read a bunch in one sitting. It helped that the story was also really interesting and mysterious so I wanted to read more quickly to fully figure the story.

Temple was an interesting character because it's almost as if she doesn't want the readers to like or root for her. She'll show all the darker parts of herself, show you why you shouldn't be friends with her but every now and then she'll say or do something and I'll want to like her. So, yes, she is an unlikable character. She pushes everyone away, she doesn't want to share herself with others (though with her family who can blame her, I guess). But then she did. She opened up to others, she made connections, chose to trust others – which is a huge feat for anyone, let alone herself.

The premise is what initially drew me in. Camp setting in the horror genre? It's classic for a reason. And all of the members are LGBTQ+ Black teen girls obssessed with horror? That's all I needed to know. What I got was just so much more. I'd actually thought it was just horror, I didn't even know that there was a fantasy/paranormal element to it until it actually happened. Which made me be even more interested because I really like paranormal horrors.

But this was also just more than a simple paranormal horror. It's about secrets, family and how they can help and harm you. About keeping your self to yourself until you decide to show yourself, trusting others to understand you. I liked that with Temple it was with new people and not any friends (well she didn't have any). Through literally every terrible thing that happened in here to her, she still decided to open up. She decided to get close to people and make friends.

Katon-Donegal did a fine job when it came to the plot and all the plot twists. It was another reason why I couldn't put it down. The intrigue kept me going, had me saying ‘one more chapter' because I had to know what was lay next in store for the characters. If you're a reader who loves a plot that takes you places you won't believe your eyes or ears are seeing.

I want to eat this duology I love it so much.

When I tell you Damian is one of my favourite fictional characters ever, you better believe it because he is. He's just that amazing and I love him. I love Roz as well, but Damian just takes my heart (and Roz's). I've recently learnt the “if he could he would” trope and I think it applies to Damian (I think).

There is a bunch of politics and I get that it's not everyone's cup of tea but I really enjoyed it! I like it best in fantasies when the politics of the world is really intertwined with the rest of the book and characters. I think Lobb did a good job with that – I think that when readers get confused with the politics it's because the author doesn't explain it as well as they could. Maybe that's just me, I don't know.

The magic system did take me a while to wrap my head around it (even though this is the second book). It did get better when I reread the audio (plus audio helped me to understand it better). Plus in this book they explore more of the magic system, which I liked to see.

I didn't really think I was a big fan of one character “simping” for another but I was extremely wrong because Damian simping for Roz utterly won me over. Like I see it. I see the vision. I get why people love it. Roz was great too, don't worry. I loved her passion for wanting to help and stand up for everyone. I always love it when we have a strong female main character and that definitely describes Roz.

My heart broke for them two a ton while reading this. I loved to see it because, for some reason, I love it when characters are in danger and have a lot of angst. This duology has it in spades; stemming from the romance, plot, world-building, everything.

Also the progression from the first book where Damian always calls her Lacertosa and then her first name (full name when he's annoyed, short when he's more emotional) when it's serious. To this one where he mostly always calls her Roz but Rossanna when it's an emotional scene. It's a good trope and I love seeing it every time.

Now and then I get a sequel I didn't like but I'm so happy that this wasn't the case here. Especially this being a duology – you don't want the final book to be a bummer. I don't think Lobb can write a bad book; and I'll say this just having read two books by her.

When I started this I thought I would love it. Everything about this (the cover/synopsis) should've given me all the reason to love it and devour it in one or two sittings. Except it took me days to finally finish the book and I didn't have a good time throughout. Since I juggle multiple reads, if I'm not super interested in a book, I tend to take longer to read it. However, this is under 300 pages, so I should've read this in like 2 sittings.

I only cared for two (supporting) characters. If the book would've followed them instead of Lotte and Maryse, I would've (maybe) rated it higher. I found them both to be annoying and boring. Even when they were in danger or got hurt – I wasn't interested in it. The book is very dialogue-heavy – which I'm not bothered by in the slightest because I love dialogue – but since I didn't care for most of the characters – I was less interested in that.

I saw the plot twist coming a mile away and I was annoyed because of how it all led up to it and then everything afterwards. I think one of the biggest issues I had was the pacing and the plot twists. It was so incredible slow – and remember, it's under 300 pages. It should've flown by. But it didn't. A plot twist would happen and I'd look at the percentage and think “really? At this %?” like why are you putting a big plot twist at like 60% in the book?

I really wanted to like the book and I did really like the whole Dragon Tongue thing and I was interested in that. It was just everything else that wasn't working for me.

Tuli is such a captivating writer and I can feel her passion and creativity in every single page. I love that I'm rarely bored in her books and that I have to force myself to stop reading because I don't want to.

I already really liked Zarya from the first book and I definitely love her now. She's fiery and passionate she is. She stands up for herself, for others. She's a strong character and actually shows it, not just says it. I can't wait to see where Tuli takes her in the following books (hopefully to get more books!).

The plot thickens in this sequel with twists and it was done well, as I knew it would be. The pacing was slower but that's good! Plus it's a 4 book series so there'll be a long arc with several smaller ones set over the series.

The slow burn love interest in this definitely heats up extremely and I wanted more! Zabin was a great character – I mean, sure, he did annoy me from time to time. But what's a romantasy love interest without being annoyed at them? I loved the slow burn aspect. I can't wait to get to the next book and see where the characters go and how they continue to feel about each other.

I can't talk about the plot too much because, obviously, spoilers are heavily abound but I thought it was good. It picks up right after the first book and I can tell a lot isn't revealed yet – because we have 2 more books to go through. And honestly, I can't wait for that! Tuli writes such rich plots and entangles side and main plots together well enough you don't realise it.

I always like it when we have a protagonist who's new to all of what's going on because we get to learn through them. Plus when it's magic, most of them are magic-learned, so we get to know the magic system through them. I didn't fully understand the one in here but I hope the next ones shed more light on it.

She knows how to write plot twists. Other writers should follow her (not naming names but crown and island curse book

This was such a cute graphic novel! I was so happy to see it's set in a small South African coastal town! They peppered in SA references – which was also fun to see! It's a really cute story, as well. Focuses on freedom and poaching, and the line between what's right and what gives one more money.

Pearl was a great main character. I felt connected to her almost immediately and enjoyed seeing everything through her eyes. I want to read more of her! I think I probably also loved her almost instantly.

The illustrations were done so well. I loved the design of the sea creature the most, I think. I could definitely see this as a movie and since it was created by Triggerfish Studios – an animation studio in Cape Town – I really hope they have it somewhere in the pipeline! Not only is it a great story about nature, creatures, and how we must protect it; it's also needed representation – in animation, in kids, in just about everything!

Cute and quick read that took me a day to finish! Okay, not so cute's the wrong word to use when there's a body found haha. But it was nice to go back to the Theatre group and see the changes – in the characters, in the dynamics between them. Those dynamics were interesting to see and more visible here than in the first book. There's hierarchies and people trying to curry favours with the family ‘at top'. There was one character who would berate Character C with Character A and then in an email to character C, berate Character A. A and C didn't like each other and are vying to be the new ‘it family' and Character B changes her personality to fit in with both of them. All for... a bigger role in the next play.

I think Hallett really shone with these characters so I'm really hoping that her other books have characters like this again. It was a nice change from how they treated me in her first book (that I read). They changed a bit in this book – the dynamics, how they treated each other – but they still maintained most of their personalities, which I liked.

The law students were in here again and the police officer is now retired and he annoyed me. He strung them around, the end was confusing, he wasn't helping. Not to be that person but I don't like to be too confused by my books! I did like the crime in this and I think that the person who was involved, I'm absolving them of any accusations that they might have against them. To me they're totally innocent.

This was such an amazing and sad read. I'll definitely want to reread it so I hope there will be an audiobook and I can read it again. Or take it out of the library once it's on one of mine. Because I very much want to read it again.

This was such an atmospheric read, I didn't want to stop reading. I wanted to stay in the world, read slower, but also I couldn't stop reading. So I was quite sad when I finished because I couldn't stay with them. I loved everything about it (well, except most of the town members).

I love weird forests and weird things happening in them and this turned out to be different than what I was expecting! I liked that the Lord of the Wood wasn't what Leah thought he would be. Which I gathered early on but I liked how they showed it. I'm a sucker for a guy who's supposedly a big baddie but really he's very sweet and caring. I'll take this trope in any genre. He was definitely that guy but not in that typical Alpha Male way. The Lord of the Wood was only perceived to be bad but I'm glad we almost immediately saw him to be different.

Leah isn't your traditional strong female main character but she sort of has that quiet strength that's actually quite nice to see as there's a lot of strong fmcs in books. Specifically in fantasy and a bit in paranormal, which I guess this book straddles those two genres. I liked that she was a bit lost in what she wanted to do but she knew she didn't want to stay in the town. My heart hurt for her (and wanted to hurt her mother a lot).

I was surprised to see mentions of TV and phones and such because I think when I read the synopsis and started reading the book it reminded me of The Village (the M. Night Shyamalan movie). They had the same vibes – small town, something creepy in the woods, mounds of secrets piling up. So I expected the village and the book to be in a total fantasy world, not like, I don't know, an hour's drive from a McDonald's. Since I love The Village, I immediately started to like it. And then it changed and very much wasn't like the movie – but it was great because it went above and beyond (my expectations).

I liked that the book showed early that most of what the church and town say and believe in are wrong. In small towns like these, I think it's quite easy for religion to have a foothold and dominate over others. If you're not going to church, well... Everyone knows where everyone else stays. Of course not all churches are good; quite a lot of them have lost the light or reason why they started up. In here it was interesting to see what the church was doing – even though they were utterly in the wrong – but obviously nobody would tell them too. Also makes you wonder that these types of things are... surely happening but there's no Lord of the Wood to receive them.

I liked that, of course, the plot wasn't something that could be avoided – like she had to get her brother back, and that might be difficult (when she thought The Lord of the Wood to be all bad). But she still managed to sit and smell the roses, start to realise she's not the person the town's painting her out to be. Which I really liked!

I keep having to remind myself that with a longer series, like this one, the plot points will be more and confusing and it won't all be neatly tied up in this and that's fine! It's hard but I'm getting there

I haven't read an R.L. Stine book in YEARS so I was hyped when I saw I was approved for it. It's under 300pgs so reading goes really fast – which considering it's a middle grade book makes sense, obviously. So while I managed to read it quickly enough, it unfortunately wasn't a pleasant read. I disliked all of the characters and couldn't get myself to try to like any of them. It seemed like the main character's main personality trait was disliking her brother, and she didn't have any other real traits. Maybe liking theatre could be her other trait, I guess.

There was something big that happened which is linked to the biggest spoiler – so of course I won't say it. But I didn't like how they handled it and spoke about it. It revolves around a specific topic and (in my opinion) what they said didn't paint the topic in a good light. They didn't outright say that said topic was bad; just their way of handling it I wasn't a fan of. If you really want to know, just message me privately and I'll tell you.

The story wasn't wrapped up nearly . It seemed like it just stopped right after the plot twist and that was that. It also just... praised Arnie's bad behaviour (even after we knew the cause of it) in a way I didn't like.

I don't have anything else to say other that at least it was a quick read? I do eventually want to reread the Goosebumps series. I only ever read whichever ones my library would have; so I have no idea how many I've read and I don't remember all their titles precisely. Who knows when that'll happen and if I like them or if that experience will mirror this one.

Wasn't the good, but wasn't too bad. Thumbs up for the interesting take on Medusa, but the book could have been better.

review to come, but i did love love this so much!! This was my first book by Holly Black and I can't wait to carry on with the series

I just want to create all these characters and love them all to bits and they're all very dear to me! Seriously though, if you're looking for a good fantasy read, love quirky characters and love a good dose of mythology -this series hits all the right notes.

Longer review to come but tbh the synopsis was better than the book.

The book was confusing. Things didn't make sense to me. If she's supposed to forget her past, then how does she remember her mother and best friend?

I won't write any spoilers, but I would just like to say that I nearly cried in this book, which I never do. Thank you, Cassie, for writing this series. I have been with this series ever since a friend of mine introduced it to me, and I am forever in her debt.

I can honestly say that is Cassie decided to write a hundred books about Clace, I would be one step behind Cassie, supporting her.

This book deserves to be on everybody's beside table.

Loved this book. Wish I could say more but I'm too astounded by the fact that this amazing series is nearly finished. So, Richelle, I really don't like how you ended the book.