laur gluchie
[Listened to the audiobook narrated by Kate Beckinsale.]
Wow. Oh wow. I did not expect to love this as much as I did.
Late last year, I read Pride by Ibi Zoboi. Prior to reading it, I stated that if I didn't enjoy it I would read the actual Pride & Prejudice for comparison. (Spoiler Alert: I didn't enjoy it.)
This was my first ever audiobook that I was able to listen to in full, which I think helped me to understand Austen's very formal writing. I loved Elizabeth and Darcy (aka the original enemies-to-lovers blueprint), the Bennet sisters, the drama and the unexpected humor. This was a great read, and I will definitely be checking out Austen's other works!
Edit: I'm raising this from four stars to five stars because I've had many revelations about this novel over the past few days and also Mr. Darcy is autistic because I (an autistic person) said so.
helluva book to get through.
so JLA is back at it again with her self-insert Vampire Academy fanfiction, and i gotta say, Alex is even more annoying in this one than how she was in Half-Blood. i honestly cannot stand her childish attitude and decisions, and she's definitely moved way up in my personal rankings for worst protagonist of all time. as for aiden, he is a literal piece of cardboard (as are most other characters in this book tbh).
the only saving grace this book had for me was the dark romance perfection that is Seth. every scene he was not it was skimmed by the time i was halfway through the book, and his POV bonus chapter was the best part. he would be perfect with Alex if she wasn't such an overgrown toddler.
not sure if i'll read the next one or not, considering i know that seth and alex aren't endgame. i guess we'll have to wait and see.
I have received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book through a giveaway hosted by the publisher. This has not affected my rating or review in any way.
2.5 Stars
The Forest Grimm had potential, but unfortunately fell short for trying to be too much at once. I feel that it would've worked well as a middle grade fairytale retelling, but it forces itself into being a disappointing young-adult paranormal romance.
Update: Idk why Goodreads keeps putting this back in my Want to Read shelf... it's is the second time this happened. A glitch, maybe? Idk.
- - -
This was pretty good! (Besides the fact that it was kinda predictable, Thomas has the same last name as my old Math Teacher From Hellâ„¢, and Audrey Rose is a bit of an airhead... love her though.)
A Few Things You Should Know:
- I am not the biggest fan of historical novels. (But this was set in Victorian era England so it gets a pass.)
- I originally did not want to read this book at all.
- I am very glad that I did end up reading this.
- This cover is fucking gorgeous.
(Also, Thomas has been added to my top ten list of book boyfriends. He reminds me of Rhys. For some reason.
DNF ~ 50%Basically go read my [b: An Abundance of Katherines 49750 An Abundance of Katherines John Green https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360206426l/49750.SY75.jpg 48658] review. :)
cannot wait to read poetry from the woman who wrote solitaire, teen idle, numb, savages, weeds, honestly any song from froot works here etc
May contain spoilers for the next books in the series.
I've had some time to collect my thoughts, and I believe my review can be summed up in one question and one answer.
The Question: Why didn't I read this sooner?
The Answer: Because I'm a fucking idiot, that's why.
Every time I take a break from this series I forget how good it is. I read Frostbite over one year after my second read of Vampire Academy, and now I've done the same thing with Shadow Kiss. I always regret the distance in time between books but now I can hopefully read them all without the long Vampire Academy-drought period.
Rose is still an amazing protagonist. I love her attitude and sass. The only problem I seem to have with her in these books is that sometimes she can be really childish and immature, and it really gets on my nerves. And while I love Rose, Dimitri is still my favorite character in the series. He was my second book boyfriend ever (the first being Four from the Divergent series) and Dimitri being turned Strigoi at the end broke my heart even though I know they end up together in the end somehow.
Adrian was a lot more likeable in this book than in Frostbite, while I found Lissa to be more annoying this time around. Adrian's flirtiness grew on me and I began to really enjoy his presence in most scenes. Lissa, on the other hand, began to really piss me off. Believe me, I still love her but after the scenes at the Moroi Royal Court she began to get really annoying. Overall, Lissa is a good character and I think she needs to grow a bit in the next books.
Christian is still... interesting. I haven't figured out what it is with him, but I'm still borderline on whether I like him or trust him.
I loved Rose's new ghost whispering abilities. The St. Vladmir and Shadow-Kissed Anna/Lissa and Shadow-Kissed Rose plot is so intruiging to me and I hope it plays a bigger part in the next books.
All in all, this is my favorite Vampire Academy novel so far and I can't wait to get into Blood Promise soon!
This was alright, but it wasn't anything interesting enough to make me want to continue on with this series.
The plot was barren. The love story was meh. The protagonist sucked fat pancakes.
Cassia is Tris Prior from the Divergent series, but as if she chose Abnegation instead of Dauntless and never broke out of the system because she's a little goody-two shoes fraidy cat. She's so fucking boring. I would've rather read a book centered around Ky.
That's really all I have to say about this. :/
The most goated and underrated young adult paranormal series of all time. I said what I said.
I love spy stuff. My favorite superhero is Black Widow. I grew up watching reruns of the original Charlie's Angels. I'm obsessed with all things espionage. So happening to come across this book in a lousy old Goodwill that day (I have a whole story for this day btw) seemed to be fate.
I loved it, and I wish so bad that I could attend the Gallagher Academy (despite the fact that I've graduated already). Though I wish it was a bit heavier on the espionage, easier on the romance. If there's gotta be romance, I hope there's a Mr. and Mrs. Smith-esque feel to it.
Cammie was kinda annoying at first, but I grew to love her. She definitely deserves better than Josh. I want to see Macey developed more, I feel like other than her introduction we barely got to see her in this book. Bex and Liz, unfortunately, I could really care less about. I hope they get some good development too, though.
Otherwise, this was great and I can't wait to see what's next!
(Goodwill: A man tried to steal a fold out table- more specifically the table that my mom had already taken the tag off to purchase at the register. He tried to physically fight me, my mom, and the store's manager so he could get out of the store with the table. I don't know if he was drunk or on drugs or what. Needless to say, the security had to escort him out kicking and screaming. We got our table in the end. That was a wild day.)
I feel like anyone who really likes this probably think this is what the south looks like... it doesn't. Trust me, I've lived in the bible belt all my life and I've never heard of cortillion.
I think I knew from the first page that I wasn't going to like this. This book just wasn't my cup of tea. The author's writing style, the characterization, and just the story in general were all things I didn't enjoy about this book. However this book was entertaining enough to keep me reading to the end, which is the only reason why I didn't give this 1 star off the bat. In conclusion, this didn't suck fat pancakes, only medium-sized ones.
I have received a digital Advance Reader's Copy of this book through the publisher. This has not affected my rating or review in any way.
[Listened to the audiobook narrated by Jeanne Syquia.]
A cute, spooky, and comforting read. Reminiscent of Crave but with less angst and Harry Potter but with more ghosts. I believe that gothic/dark academia fans and cozy contemporary romance readers alike would enjoy this.
Read my full review here.
Compared to Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series, this was extremely disappointing. I felt like this would've worked better as a middle grade novel. The story was bland and too fast-paced, the characters were not characterized well, and the writing was more juvenile than expected, especially compared to the Gallagher Girls books.