Merili
W.R. Gingell has a beautiful and very complicated writing style, which i enjoyed in this book because it slows down my reading so i actually know whats going on.
Alexander and Isabella's relationship was soooo funny in this book, i loved their banter and that they seem to annoy each other for 85% of the book...... but the subtext and ending suggest otherwise.
surprisingly gory but i haven't read any of the other books in this series yet so maybe that's normal.
overall a great read and i will probably read it again sometime to enjoy the banter
This is my second time reading this book, and it got even BETTER. (I listened to the audio so if I misspell the characters' names, blame that and not my poor memory haha)
- author does a great job giving FMC actual struggles, I literally almost TEARED UP on the train listening to when everyone is framing her for Papa Clements' murder, and the world just feels so set against her. and it HURTS. As a reader i'm 100000% invested. Few authors have actually made me feel this deeply invested in someone.
- Emeric is a great ML. He's just great. Very real, I appreciate that he's not considered this attractive dude at the start. Author does good job making the reader discount him with his awkwardness. No insta love
- Magic system is cool
- Bad guys are just bad, love it.
- Again, just so shook at how satisfyingly emotional this book actually is.
- I am 71% sure this is a weird retelling of the Goose girl? It probably should've been obvious, but I didn't realize it until the second time around. so kudos for an INCREDIBLY original fairy tale retelling, I am a Fan. This is top 10 books of all time currently.
- No spice but lots of innuendo. not for the young'uns
This is my fourth time reading this novella, and it is sooooo cute every time. Love this Cinderella retelling, Kate stradling is incredible
This one is the BEST in the Elves of Lessa trilogy/series. They're all good, I just thought the romance in this was the cutest and funniest.
4th time rereading this and it only gets better every time - but the third and fourth books are currently fave rn
As always, Beth Brower is a phenomenal writer and makes me wish I read more poetry. i didn't love this installment as much as previous ones. but i want to be clear that this is a GREAT BOOK.
Brower made it clear(?) with the fortune teller scene that Emma has two romantic possibilities, both of which are very different from each other. I'm assuming one is Pierce. I hope that the other one is Hawkes bc while I LOVE Islington, I don't need another rich duke romance. Hawkes is soooo fun - I think a love story setting up between him and Emma would be absolutely hilarious. So even though there hasn't been any romance suggested between Emma and Hawkes (unless you squint....maybe it's there......), if there are 16 books left in the series I can hold out hope. Unless they're related bc of Emma's dad's letter to Hawkes. then forget I ever wrote this review. *edit also i fully acknowledge that hawkes probably has a chick or someone sending him romantic letters but let me live in my alternate reality of st. crispians Islington's house was great. It made me want to travel to the country and go swimming a bunch. The reveals Brower included about his family/loss were very sad. While the Pierce-Emma fling has been fun, it's starting to feel stagnant. Pierce also had some more issues brought up in this book that don't bode well for the future of their relationship (i.e. losing money, alcoholism(?), doesn't want kids). I felt like this book was setting up for the two of them to break up while Pierce dramatically goes to America to get over his problems, or something else big. But nothing actually happened. I realize things take time but I'm hoping it moves faster in the next book. I also just don't feel like Pierce is the right dude for Emma long-term. However, Brower is a phenomenal writer so i've still enjoyed the romance.
Overall, loved this book - especially Hawkes. I'm 1000% biased. He's an absolute hoot.
I finished all 200 chapters and i felt like the last 100 chapters could have been merged into, like, 10? not kidding. it was wayyyy too drawn out. but i was so glad jeffrey was endgame, his relationship with her disciples was sooo funny. and the flashbacks to their academy days were so sweet. don't think i'll reread but overall it was a fun and interesting plot.
there are some scenes from books that i think about often. the scene where El kills the mawmouth is one of these scenes. i love this book, El is one of my favorite genres of main characters ever. same vibes as Nora Stephens from Book Lovers. Will probably reread this book again before the year is over.
I'm not trying to be offensive or anything about this book, but I'll just be honest with my thoughts. I couldn't figure out why the prince was so attractive to the MC. He didn't really have a personality or act like any real man I've ever met. Like he's just... it's like she's talking to a computer screen that bases its entire dialogue back to her off hallmark movies. There were a lot of cringey lines. And don't get me wrong, I'm all for the cliche cute romantic and yes, even cheesy lines, that get repeated a lot in romance novels. But the part where the prince was like “I can't wait to stroke your baby soft skin every night” (referring to their upcoming nupitals) waskaljs dflkasdflajlsd;fkl please no. Please no.
Anyways, again, this isn't intended to be rude. Just honest. I'm sure this book will be enjoyable to a lot of people. Just not me.
Reread in preparation for book 8 coming out next week. I love Hawkes. He needs 8000% more screen time.
I thought we were over the era of having mean and unkind borderline abusive love interests be considered romantic, so far this isn't my favorite but since it's popular I'm giving it a chance... we'll see if it gets better.
this series is. THE. slice of life. 1000/10.
a little slow in the first 20 chapters but picked up quickly after that. I am soooo excited for it to continue.
I definitely just realized I skipped book 4. Which is why i couldn't remember some characters names or what was happening for half of this. But it was a great ending to a fun series. When I reread this series in a few years I will have to include book 4 lol
This was fine. DNF near 60%. I understand the hype, the plot is quite clever. the chemistry felt a little forced and oddly paced
This book had SO much potential in the beginning..... and then it fell very flat. while i like robin mckinley's writing style usually, this one just had way too much description that didn't really provide anything to the story. I also needed 80% more screentime with constantine because he was the most interesting character and the vampire who brings the vibes. also.... why didn't rae break up with her boyfirend or think about her boyfriend when she made out with constantine/???? or later when she was with her boyfriend she didn't seem to remember the whole thing with constantine??? not a fan. the story itself felt uncommitted to any actual ending with someone. again premise and first few chapters were sooo good and spooky but afterwards just didn't deliver.
This book was 5 stars until the 80% mark. I know it's just me but her and Luthe were great and both immortal and in love? and then right at 80% she's like, i'd better go back and marry Tor since i love him too and i'm meant to be queen. ??????????? idk i just was not a fan. felt a little duplicitous. i know she'll end up with Luthe after her mortal marriage dies but still like... not a fan. so 3 stars for that section. but it averages out. a great dragon read.
Callisto was LAST place on my list but dang, now i'm torn. the brother with black hair - not a fan.
wow, that ending. i was not expecting who they said was the murderer. these books are amazing because they actually take me several days to read and i'm loving it. only 14 more books to go
What the literal crap. That ending. This book is great and the romance is great I wanted more tombs though but still great, whit and Inez are phenomenal but the ending?.?.!!
DNF at 53%
The book was fine. Some parts were poorly written, some parts were better. Overall I have no desire to finish it
The good and bad:
- Violet's character was inconsistent between the first chapter and the later chapters (i kept waiting for her sickliness and TRAVAIL of HEALTH to hold her back but she seems fine?? in fact there seems to be nothing she CAN'T do, apart from being short. but I was disappointed by the delivery, since was such a huge emphasis on her weakness and being sicky in the beginning that I was pretty confused by the end of the first few chapters because that was never actually shown... as being a problem...Cmon, give me actual struggle here.)
- The part where violet tells Dain off was VERY satisfying, Dain SUCKED. Great job here
- The main guy (Xerxes? I think his name started with an X or a Z) very cool, no issues here. romance was fine.
- Mostly just DNF bc I felt like the characters were so inconsistent, especially violet, and it irked me. Also I was gonna have to start skipping scenes because the spice level was increasing lol
- I have no issues with multicolored hair on the female MC but it was giving 13-year-old fan fiction vibes
- Magic system never explained????? Just statements of fact without actual explanations.
- It's obvious from the start of the book that Violet is going to get a cool dragon, so none of that reveal felt amazing - it was so obvious that she was special , and while that doesn't have to ruin the reveal... the reveal didn't make up for it. yes of course she's going to get the mated dragon so her and the ML are even more special. and TWO dragons... idk I feel like I would've liked the story better if she'd just gotten the small baby dragon and had to scrape by with that.
Really loved this. Lots of messy characters, author does a good job of making you both hate and empathize with the main ladies throughout the book
