Julia

This series is growing on me? I can't tell if I'm desensitized or it was slightly less gore-y, but that part felt more tolerable. Spicy was also spicier in some fun and creative ways. I still really don't buy the premise that vigilante murders are different than "regular" murders, but overall, I'll finish the series.

My star rating here is ambivalent, not average. This moved at a really nice clip, was very funny, and I liked the romance! The parts I didn't like were that it really was just shy of too gory for me, and even if they're motivated by vigilante justice, I'm still not on board with serial killers. I'll still finish this series, though, so I wasn't excessively bothered.

I basically underlined this whole book, therefore defeating the purpose of underlining. Wong just transmits so much wisdom that hit me at the perfect time. The trick will be being brave enough to keep jumping into the slipstream, as she puts it. What a gift this book is to the world.

Okay, I am stating in writing for perpetuity that I need to focus my energy on COMPLETE D series. It's not that I can't stand a cliffhanger, but it's gotta be a GOOD cliffhanger, and my primary beef with Onyx Storm (other than it's hard to maintain same spice intensity when the protagonists are in a committed long-term relationship hah) is I can't tell if there were lots of loose ends that we're going to get AMAZING plot cohesion on in the next books, or if there are loose ends because the editing should be tighter.

Oh, interesting. This is by far Hazelwood's kinkiest, and I liked the collegiate/Olympic athletic subplot. It's not as explicitly feminist as her STEMinist ones, but that's just an observation, not a criticism.

WOW. Read this for book club, and was gobsmacked. Benally's writing is more poetry than prose, and he is idealistic, uncompromising, visionary, and incendiary. This was so powerful and I'll return to it frequently.

Good, but not my favorite Tibbert. Should have seen that coming - I'm not a monarchist! Neither is she, but it's obviously central to the plot in a way that irked me more than I anticipated. Still, it's sexy like Tibbert always is, and her most adventurous in terms of dynamics (e.g., power exchange).

Cute! I think you can tell reading this that this is early Hazelwood - not as many sex scenes as she writes in later books! Still, great banter, good politics. I think I'm always going to want to read what she writes.

Liked this better than the first in the series so am now definitely game for the final in the trilogy, with less of a delay! This was again fast-paced, but less gory, which I appreciated, and I can now see the longer arc of character development. This ended on QUITE a cliffhanger, but one I'm not mad about? Felt appropriately propulsive and in keeping with the series? Two books in, I'll also say that the whole premise feels quite original.

Wow, THIS is how to end a series. I loved this! Love the characters, and it was interesting reading the Q&A at the end. You really can tell that the arc of the series was planned from the start. Everything felt intentional, she beautifully resisted pleasing the reader in a way that I wouldn't really have wanted to be pleased, and the end felt so SETTLING. Not due to plot, per se, but completion. Loved these characters in all their complexity.

Read for collective liberation book club. Beautiful & thought-provoking. I am most struck by Coates' humility. He realized (through feedback) after "The Case for Reparations" how much he still had to learn about Palestine, and then wrote a book as his apology-through-education. I do wish there was a little more in the book about the time between this first feedback and the trip to Palestine he discusses, but you can't have everything!

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Found this Kleypas in a Goodwill and given that clearly I'm a fan will read the rest of this 3-book series - not my favorite, but a characteristic pleasure to read!

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. This is a suitably tense middle of a trilogy, as I was cringing to watch the world and central relationship both fracture, but also drawn to keep reading (saved the third for a while to be able to really relish it in 2025!).

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Came highly recommended by one of the most rigorously ethical people I know - you wouldn't expect it by the blurb, but this is a joy to read, equal parts comforting and appropriately challenging.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. MY GOD WAS THIS COMPELLING AND RIVETING; no notes, would recommend it to anyone.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. As a romantasy reader, I really wish for an alternate universe with the adult version of this series, but otherwise no complaints about this propulsive read with a compelling protagonist and carefully visioned world.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. I cannot believe I've never catalogued a read of this as this is for sure my 3rd or 4th read, and does Austen just slap so hard every single time - doesn't get better than this!

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Gifted from a friend and I think the quote on the front says steampunk fantasy or something like that - mix in themes of imperialism and queer theory and BOOM you've got a fun read.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Really glad to have read this in book club; I expected to despair but felt hopeful instead.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Maybe my 2nd favorite Emily Henry (just behind or tied with People We Meet on Vacation), with a cute premise and her extra sparkly dialogue.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. The vampires don't actually like it hot, as it turns out, and although they sound hot, the dialogue is way too clunky.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Not my favorite Emily Henry, but a charming romp nonetheless - will say she's great at evoking a location, in this case the Great Lakes.

Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. An acceptable romance-suspense found in a lending library, but definitely dated and wouldn't revisit.

Found this in the library of the old-fashioned hot springs resort I was at for a family reunion (Capon Springs, WV! Can't recommend it enough!). Interesting to read a pretty early precursor to the current rash of romantasy (of which I've read plenty). I liked the world-building, found the plot propulsive, and was an overall fan. I don't love "we connected in past life/past versions of ourselves" trope particularly, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I'm not rushing to finish the trilogy, but am at least curious about the sequel eventually.

This was okay. Not my favorite Emily Henry (still People We Meet on Vacation by a wide margin). I sort of appreciate her reimagining of the divorce-remarriage plotline, but didn't find the amount of miscommunication particularly believable and/or sympathetic, and (although thinking back on it, includes her other stuff I've read), there's so much drinking! Now I'm sounding like a hater, but I don't regret reading, was entertained, and her best work means I'll keep reading!