Lili V

Read this in one day because I absolutely loved the writing and reverse harems just do it for me; which, if you've seen what I typically like to read, is not a big surprise.

The biggest problem I had was how secretive the boys were when it came to explaining what they were and the connection they had to Seph. One of the main reasons I initially liked this book was because Seph is quietly strong in her own way but the the author strips that away from her when the boys are introduced. There's absolutely no world building in this book because the author spends too much time trying to develop chemistry between characters who is deliberately kept in the dark about each other's feelings.

The author seemed to prioritize developing an evil villain than explaining the basis of what the villain is fighting against. I wanted to root for the characters to connect and become stronger as a group but I literally have no idea of what to root for because the main character doesn't know what's happening around her most of the time.

This book had all the convenience and benefits that is shown in The Academy series of a damaged girl rescued by a harem of boys but it has none of its amazing background development and relationship building.

Overall, I was disappointed because this could have been another favorite series of mind but the ending seemed so half-assed that I don't want to continue it.

Sam returns home and some friends from the past make an unexpected reappearance into her life as she's trying to cope with her mother's return and discovering for herself what she wants to do with her life and who is she outside of her family(ies).

Solid read. This author is a must-read for me so I knew I had to give this a chance, and I'm glad I did. The writing was perfectly executed and one of my favorite aspects of this author's books, as well as the characters! The smart-ass camaraderie the main character shared with her demonic trio, Sacha, and Laila was hilarious and effortless.

The only reason this book received 3 stars was because the tension didn't really lead anywhere and I missed some of the back-and-forth pull that we got in my favorite book by this author, The Wall of Winnepeg and Me.

Overall a pretty quick slice-of-life read as the writing flowed and had a simple style.

This book covered the expanse of about 15 years, from when Wavy was 8 to 21 years old. The story was the best part of the whole book because it followed all of the characters that interacted with Wavy or Kellen and their perceptions of the characters' unusual budding love story. I usually have to like the characters to some capacity in order to really enjoy a book, and for the most part I did, but I didn't connect to them all that much in this book. A lot of them seemed very two-dimensional and their backgrounds seemed very good-on-paper but not realistic. The writing, as I mentioned, was simple, and while not my favorite, it did allow for a relatively fast read. The story itself kept me interested because it unraveled over a longer time-period than we see in most books and provided a good backdrop to Wavy and Kellen's love story.

1) I just realized I've been thinking of this book as the “The Cassette Girls.” Why? I blame work.
2) I didn't especially like the ending of this but the plot is pretty thrilling and the pacing is very nicely laid out.
3) The storyline and history of the French Quarter and New Orleans was by far the best in execution. The author grew up in New Orleans and she weaved her knowledge and experience effortlessly throughout the book.
4) The characters were unique (as only New Orleans can be). However, the supernatural aspect isn't as fleshed out in this first book as it could have been. I did enjoy the main character. She was strong, independent and charismatic. I didn't love her so much around boys because she dismissed a lot of her judgements of them as soon as they were around.
5) The writing is very easy to follow and I loved the storytelling aspect that's woven throughout the entire book with the past narrative diary entries.

Reading this series is a little like being hopped up on sugar. You know what's about to happen but you can't stop it from coming at you like a freight train. Even though the pacing of this book is hella fast I wouldn't want it any other way. A lot of the questions left up in the air at the ending of the last book were answered and again the structure of this second book reminds me a bit of the Forever Evermore trilogy. The main group of characters are taken to a remote sanctuary after being threatened by an outside force in their home setting. Relationships between them further develop and the overarching plot thickens.

It's a feminist history with real anecdotes from women of all different backgrounds and circumstances, including the author's own story. I loved every bit of it because it is true and it is necessary.

It's the textbook that I wish I had growing up as a young girl who knew that she didn't want to get married and didn't want to have children. I grew up in a Hispanic family that took my premonitions and profession of a single life the same way the Hispanic family in One Day at a Time takes the news of a niece who proudly pronounces her lesbian sexuality: with a care-free hands thrown up above the shoulders gesture, and a “what can you do? It is what it is but I'm not completely acknowledging it” attitude.

All the Single Ladies provides a history that I only knew glimpses of, mentions a movement that I knew from one feminist history course in college but desperately want to know more of. It provided the context of this nation's history of the single woman and the life-changing powerful impact single ladies have on this country's social, political, and economic old-fashioned structures.

Really enjoyed this one. Glad that it started out by throwing us straight into the action. Really enjoyed the fact that we got a lot of answers that were left up in the air from the first few books in the series when Jane started working for Leo. Loved the fact that Jane is developing her own family and I hope she gets to keep them for a long time.

My only gripe is that the last action sequence was slow-going and could have been sped up a bit. It was kind of boring to read about the witches but overall I don't like any of the New Orleans witches just because they are only peripherally integrated into the plot of most of the books.

This installment was a nice conclusive piece and I'm not sure how many more books there are going to be but I'm definitely onboard.

Such an imaginative read. Definitely want to read more from this author, especially the rest of this series.

Binti is the first of her people to travel outside of her home, travel outside of her planet. All to pursue her passion and thirst for knowledge at Oomza Uni. She's faced with an unimaginable amount of tragedy soon after befriending a people she knew she would be spending the next part of her life with.

Her strength and dedication to stay who she is and adapt to change simultaneously threaded throughout the novel and ultimately made her journey an enjoyable one to read.

Hope to pick up other Tor.com novellas soon. I'm loving them because they're my kind of SFF.

This was a classic feel-good sci-fi space opera with two prisoners who befriend each other; one of them happens to be an AI. Loved the parallels I saw to the AI from Anne Leckie's Radch trilogy since it's one of my favorite series of all time. Really enjoyed the reverence the Gidth people have for music and singing.

3.5

This was such a thrilling read! Really nicely paced and written. I really wish the main character was able to connect to characters as herself in the ‘Now' chapters but overall a great, descriptive, captivating read.

Pretty good read. Skimmed it for the most part but that's only because I was looking for an escape book that I didn't really have to commit to. This was perfect for that.

Party girl Emerson who vows never to commit really can't stay away from new protective knight that moves in next door.

So if you've read King Cave, you've pretty much read this book. It's very similar in structure and the characters are also very similar but the world-building is unique. The plot worked the same way though the relationships were a bit muted compared to the Forever Evermore trilogy.

Basically a reverse harem but the main character–Jessa–mainly focuses on one guy though all of them love each other dearly as friends. Another female comes into play and share the relationship that the two main female characters in King Cave shared, a sisterly friendship. The future relationships that will occur are only hinted at in this book and I'm guessing that just like the Evermore trilogy, things will get a bit steamier and more developed later on. I enjoyed the plot in this book a lot more because it wasn't as dramatic as the Evermore trilogy, that is to say, none of the characters that we're introduced to in this first book died. Something that I couldn't never really get behind in the other trilogy was how dire everything had to be. It was either sex or something horrible is about to happen, there was no middle ground in the Evermore trilogy. Mind you, there's not really a middle ground here either but as the plot progressed the circumstances and the emotional reaction weren't as drastic and my heart really appreciated that. These supernatural new adult series never give you a moment to breathe and just connect to the characters, the plot is always churning up new dramatic challenges that the characters have to figure their way out of, it's exhausting to read at times; especially if you like to read your books in one- to two-sittings like I usually do nowadays.

So this was by no means bad or unenjoyable, but it was forgettable. I only put this book down once since this series is usually a quick, fast-paced read for me. And this time it was the same, but that small pause took me out of the “rolling with the punches” plot long enough for me to take a moment to realize that there wasn't anything stand-out about this installment. Like always, there's a million different mysteries that Charley is trying to solve and by the end they are all wrapped up fast enough for Charley to get a new shock to her personal life (usually via Reyes or someone else close to her). I usually get a kick out of this formulaic series (Charley never fails to get quite a few chuckles out of me) but this time the ending was so lackluster. The emotions didn't really fit, and the shock that Charley got this time was not a shock to me.
I never really remember the million different mysteries that Charley's wrapped up in for the majority of the book, I'm just along for the fun of it. It's usually the personal moments Charley has with her friends and family that keep me invested. This time the wrap-up of the mysteries was a bit muddled and whenever anything supernatural happened I had a hard time imagining it because there was no build up to it. It just happened and then everything was fixed. Since it's Charley herself, and her miraculous abilities, and her relationships with the people close to her that keeps me tied to this series, I'm sad to say that overall this book was ultimately very forgettable. (So much so, that as soon as I got on my laptop to mark the book as read and write my thoughts, I spent a good 20 minutes just exploring emails/Youtube/social media before I remembered why I turned my computer on in the first place.)

I greatly enjoyed the relationship in this first book, I would love to read an entire book of just them two developing themselves as characters as well as their relationship. The focus instead was 50/50 relationship to plot building. While the plot was entertaining I will always prefer to learn more about the characters than the development of the storyline.

I won't be continuing with the series based on the direction the epilogue is taking the series. I don't care for the 180 in storyline and think it's a bit on the nose to take it in that direction. Since the author highlighted during multiple conversations that the two main characters had with each other and other people that they were "not important" to the succession of the throne - it seems almost too predictable that the plot twist of the second book is that now they're the successors.

Jones's writing is so freaking brilliant. I cannot believe that an author can whittle me down so hard then build me back up so fantastically. It's amazing!

Okay so halfway through this book I was ready to take a break from it because it reintroduced a motif that ran through the entire series that I didn't particularly care for. Basically, the fact that in every single book there's always a lack of communication between Reyes and Charley. There's always too many secrets and it was really starting to tear me down in the sense that I wanted a break if the book series was going to continue on this way. But oh, what a surprise I was in for! Once I decided to stop being a coward and keep reading the second half of the book, I was able to see the deviousness behind Darynda Jones and her amazing writing skills.

There was a second thing that really fascinated me about this book and that was the character development. No doubt it goes hand-in-hand with what I mentioned before but Charley was almost like a–should I dare say it?–an adult in this book. She didn't lose any of her quirks–thank god–but even Reyes was proud of her. She was able to be objective about certain things that involved the people closest to her while not losing any of her fiery passion. She's able to see the consequences of her actions and either face them and apologize when she's in the wrong or fight for what she believes in and confront the risks.

Reyes grew a lot as well because he's able to open himself up and express his insecurities. For lack of a better word, it shows the humanity in him and the utter depths of his soul that have nothing to do with his hellish background but how he was able to rise up from the ashes, so to speak.

Overall, another awesome installment in a wonderful series.

(Can someone tell me if there's a blog out there that's collected all the little quotes that are posted at the beginning of every chapter? I'd love to revisit the ones from past books because they just keep getting better and better.)

Another read I had to stay up half the night for. Damn Darynda Jones and her addictive writing and characters. Even though I was so not a fan of the ‘amnesia' trope in this book, I'm glad the book had a solid ending. Overall Ms. Jones knows how to jungle a lot of plot lines in one book and wrap them up with their due diligence. She ended this installment with her famous “give them just enough to be hooked on for the next book” ending. This book in particular made me cry, a lot, for happy moments and sad. If you're deep enough into this series already I would highly recommend reading this book because you will just fall further in love with the characters and the fantastic world Ms. Jones built around them.

Sidenote: I've been thinking this since the first book but could I please have all the quotes at the beginning of the chapters on a t-shirt? They always make me laugh and I feel it is my civil–no, divine–duty to share her humor with the world.

This has to be one of the most challenging books I've ever read. This is definitely not going to be everybody's cup of tea, and if you know a whiff of what this is about, then you'll know if you have the emotional stamina to withstand its narrative trials. I went to this with my eyes wide-open about it's potential triggering substance but also not fully aware of the encompassing nature and the jumps in time and perspective. I knew I'd enjoy this book for the same reason I enjoyed the last few literary contemporary novels, they follow a slice-of-life portrayal that allows the reader to get an in-depth look into the characters' background, mentality, and all the general life experiences that developed who they are. I find myself more and more riveted by books that are more a character-study than an actual story.

Speaking of characters, this book was overflowing with personalities and interpersonal relationships that began throughout various stages in each main character's (the main four friends) adult life, from college to just beyond mid-life. Jude's history, in particular, and his friends' reactions to Jude's coping behavior are the main focus of this book. The author slowly reveals everything about Jude's past that shape who he is as an adult and the characters around him only really get to see what he decides to show them. That was my biggest–and only–problem with the book: Jude didn't communicate effectively (which is honestly to be expected) but while I can't fault his friends' logic and hesitancy to push for more open communication and therapy early-on in the book, I really wish they had.

Overall, when it came to the characters, Willem and Harold were obviously my favorite. It's hard for them not to be everyone's favorite. Andy is definitely a close second, and if he had more screen time, he probably would have tied for first as well. It's the relationship that these characters have, not only with Jude (though that does provide the biggest piece of evidence) but with all the other characters that illustrates so deeply and sincerely their compassion for others and their unyielding love for themselves and others.

I love the writing, it's one of the best I've ever come across; not for its use of language necessarily, but how it's stream of consciousness is constructed and presented. When I initially started this book, it was immediately apparent that I wouldn't be able to read more than a small chunk (50 pages at most) of it at a time; however, once I reached the half-way mark, it picked up the pace. It's long-winded but in the best way.

The stream of consciousness in this book is almost better than what I would expect, to the point that I'm sure there might be a better descriptor of the writing style. But stream of consciousness for the most part encapsulates the narrative perfectly. The reason I think there might be a better descriptor is because the multiple character POV passages flip back and forth in time, and their perspectives are sometimes reflecting on the past. This reflection and introspection provided an insightful view of their lives and the impacts of the relationships they developed over the span of years with the other characters. I enjoyed getting a full picture of certain events but the story was not superfluous in the slightest. The one caveat I would say to that is the actual writing itself is something I had to get used to and called for many breaks while reading. Its run-on style did not allow for the reader to come to a natural stopping point.

I could not in good conscious recommend this to everybody, but if you've made it through the synopsis and my review of this and think this might sound like something you'd pick up, then I say go for it. You won't regret it.

I actually really really loved this book. I'm only giving four stars because I didn't understand half of it. By this I mean the writing was too impeccable for me but God I loved the Goldmans. I dare anyone to introduce me to a more wonderful family. This is one of those book club books that would probably serve best in audio format because it deserves discussion and to be heard with the native accent.

I couldn't believe how addicting this book was. And to think that the first time I saw it, it wasn't going to be a good read, but that completely changed as soon as I read the very first chapter! I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good, understandingly half-claustrophobic loving read. I say claustrophobic because not having one of your most important senses can make you feel that way, no matter how tough your facial mask may be to break through.


No matter how much gossip she may spread, there may be only one thing she's looking for: she just doesn't know it yet. Though author Teri Brown implicates that Serena just wants to get through her new school “under the radar”, she [skillfully:] goes above the radar and beyond; without even trying. Not so typical for a skater chick I would think, but hey what do I know, right? Anyways, all I'm saying is that we all have our transformations, sometimes in more ways than one.

It's official. This is one of my favorite series of all freaking time. This installment in particular was so unbelievably charming. One of my favorite parts had to be the whole Cousin routine between all the AIs. Pure genius!

It's so good.

Read in one sitting, approximately 11 hours.

Awesome read about what it means to be a part of a fandom. I would recommend to anyone who is a fan of anything because you will be able to relate in one form or another.

Just read it.

I enjoyed it. I didn't think that I would initially because I thought it was some contrived retelling of Cinderella but oh, how wrong I was! I loved the prose and the seamless incorporation of dark, visceral aspects. I can appreciate how the story relates to Eastern fairytales and that was one of the things that ultimately kept me reading. The fact that it wasn't like any of the fairy tales I've read before. I hope to read more by this author and other Asian inspirations.

I would give this 3.5 stars.

The trio faces a new adversary who has already shown himself to be someone more dangerous than anyone they gone against before. He has connections and won't stop until Mason's under his influence. He has two first names so I don't remember if it's Park Sebastian or Sebastian Park, doesn't matter. He has more connections in the real world than the three can even dream of and they have to ask for outside help if they want to take him done once and for all.

Not a huge fan of fairytale retellings but I definitely enjoyed the story as a singular entity.

I love The Book Smugglers and am planning to catch up on all their amazing publications.