Dolly
The premise of this book is definitely intriguing, and it grabbed my attention right away. I also appreciate that I didn't need special approval to read the ARC. However, once I started reading, it just didn't deliver on its potential. The writing style felt disjointed—there was no consistency between the use of archaic/medieval and modern language. One moment, the characters are speaking like they're from the Renaissance, and the next, it's all very contemporary. It made the narrative hard to follow.
The world-building was also lacking. While I appreciated the glossary to help make sense of things, I wish more of that information had been naturally woven into the story. Instead, it felt like everything in the series was jam-packed into this first book, which made it overwhelming.
The characters, unfortunately, didn't resonate with me, and the uneven flow made it difficult to immerse myself in the world. While the magic system had potential, it just didn't come together as well as I'd hoped.
Overall, the book was a challenge to connect with, and despite its interesting concept, it struggled to live up to expectations.
I got this ARC from NetGalley.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Crimson Wolf is a fresh retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, where our FMC, Mildred (Red), is a New York journalist who returns to her hometown to investigate a string of grisly murders. As she delves deeper into the case, she begins unraveling long-buried secrets about her past and her family's mysterious lineage.
I found this book to be a fun, easy read with an intriguing plot. It's entertaining and engaging, but there were some minor inconsistencies that pulled me out of the story. For instance, there's a scene where Red claims she can't tell the time because there's no clock in the room, only for a clock to magically appear on the bedside table the next day. Another moment that didn't quite add up was Red's supposed lack of knowledge about werewolves—yet somehow, she's familiar with the “knot,” one of the most intimate details about them. It left me scratching my head a bit.
The romance between Red and the MMC (no spoilers here!) also felt a little forced. The author aimed for the enemies-to-lovers trope, but it didn't fully land for me. The banter lacked the playful tension that usually builds anticipation, and instead, it felt like Red was just in it for a physical release. The MMC's attempts at dirty talk also fell flat, feeling more awkward than seductive.
The book was quite short, and that may have contributed to the rushed feeling. With more scenes to build up the tension between Red and the MMC—even if it extended the length of the book—it could have made a big difference. This might have been a 5-star read with that extra development.
Overall, while The Crimson Wolf has a lot of potential and a captivating premise, the execution left something to be desired. Despite its flaws, it kept me engaged, and I think with some fine-tuning, it could really shine.
Liked the ending, didn't really enjoy the journey.
We now see some character development but most of for me, this book is dragging. A lot of scenes from side characters, could have neem novellas. Yes, they play a critical role, but their backstories and love stories could have been novellas and not part of the main story. I wish this book focused more on Slade and Auren, especially Auren's journey in Annwyn and Wick too.
Kinda disappointed with this 5th book but still an interesting story overall.
This might be my least favorite book in the series. It's not that it's bad; it just felt too drawn out. In fact, it took me the longest to finish because of how repetitive it seemed.
I did enjoy seeing different POVs—Leon's chapters, in particular, were really funny—but even with those additions, they didn't significantly impact the story's progression. The first half of the book was heavy and heartbreaking, with everyone mourning the losses from the previous book. While I completely understand and shared in the grief, it eventually felt excessive. It wasn't until the last 20% that I found myself enjoying it again, as the story picked up with more action.
Overall, this book gave me the impression that the publishers might be trying to stretch the series out for the hype. A few extra chapters in Book 7 could have wrapped things up nicely. Instead, this book feels like it drags the plot too thin, making it exhausting to read. At this point, I just want the series to conclude.
The story follows Signa Farrow, a girl who cannot die, though everyone around her mysteriously does. She can see ghosts and even communicate with Death himself. After her latest guardian passes away, Signa is sent to Thorn Grove to live with her last living relatives. However, the family is haunted by tragedy, and the ghost of the recently deceased matriarch tells Signa that her death was murder. This leads Signa on a quest to uncover the truth.
I like this book but I'm not in-love with it.
I feel like this book was quite slow, although I understand that it's mostly because there are a lot of flashbacks in here. I appreciate the flashbacks because it helped me get to know Slade more. However, I might just be impatient but I feel like Auren's character is not developing as much as I would expect from a 4th book in the series. Yes, she has embraced her power. She's learning all about it. She's dealing with her trauma. But in the end, she was still a damsel in distress.
The spice has also become a bit repetitive for me and why oh why do they have to talk so much while doing it?
You know the writing is effective when you feel all sorts of emotions towards the characters in a book. And you can't imagine how livid I was with Midas throughout this book. My hate for him is higher than Burj Khalifa.
Now that I got that out of the way, this book is astounding. At first it was quite annoying that the writing style focused so much on emotions and streams of consciousness from different characters, but in the end I appreciated that because it did the trick. It made me emotionally invested towards the characters. It also helped that we now have POVs from Slade and Midas and not just Malina and Auren.
Overall, I loved this book. Gave it 4 stars cause I'm not really a fan of Auren's power but that's just my personal opinion. Still going to read the next books cause I am here already. I need to know what happens next and who the villain will be!
This is an interesting story but be wary of the content. Read trigger warnings because it is not easy to read if you are too sensitive about female rights and harassment.
This book is quite slow and dealt with a lot of Auren's (FMC) inner thoughts. But I understand that as the pilot book, the author is still building the world in our minds and introducing us to the characters. I just didn't like that the Auren was like a damsel in distress here but I hope her character grows more in the coming books. She did grow balls over the last few chapters, but I hope there's more.
In my opinion, it was written beautifully. It was not as simple or as crude as some of the dark romance books I've read, to the point that the spicy scenes were already cringey. Raven Kennedy wrote this book in a way that balances elegance and spice.
Will start reading Glint now!
It's raining plot twists!
Took me a while to love it though. At around 50% I almost DNF-ed the book but when the plot twists started, I literally gasped! Then I couldn't, for the life of me, put it down! Will try reading other Kiersten Modglin books soon!
I did not see that ending coming. I did not see thaaaaat.
This was a great book, albeit a bit slow and repetitive. The trials weren't as exciting as I expected/hoped but I loved the characters.
Not a fan of the audiobook though. Sounds robotic and the pauses are awkward. I think those awkward pauses actually made it sound like it was made by an AI. Idk.
Still enjoyed the story, though.
Been a while since a book made me cry. I am truly invested in these characters. Freakin' stars!
That last few chapters broke my freakin' heart!!!
I can't stop reading this series now!!!
Started loving this now. The first book was a bit hard to read for me but as the story progresses, I'm getting hooked! I love the pacing in this book better than the first one. I also love that the Vega twins are now fighting back in this book. The growing tension between Tory and Darius is hoooooot!
Can't wait to dive into the next book!
This series has been breaking my heart since book 2. Why oh why are the authors so mean?!?! Jk!
This book made me feel all kinds of emotions while reading it. I laughed, I cried, I got mad, I got happy again only to find my heart crushed again and again and again.
Now I know why everyone's addicted to this series.
I listened to the graphic audio of this book because I didn't really enjoy the writing style. People do say that it improves as the series develops. I just couldn't really get myself reading the too long paragraphs in the book.
Overall, the story is great. The first book is what they say a bully romance and I felt really sorry for the Vega twins. The mystery hooked me and the guys, wow, they do seem gorgeous as the author describes them. Just wasn't a fan of Orion's voice on the audiobook lol.
For the graphic audio, it also seemed lacking because I read the first few chapters of the book. The Orion's and Darius' POVs and how they dealt with nymphs weren't much presented in the graphic audios. So I thought there were some details missed.
Overall, I loved the story. I'll push through with the series but I do hope they finish it already. 9 books? Really?!
Really starting to enjoy this series. I like that this time the Vega twins have really started to stand up for themselves and that they're growing strongly.
It has also started to get spicy in this book. Perfect balance between spice and plot.
This is one of the best books with the best character developments across everyone in the story - not just the main ones.
Will definitely continue with the other books!
I enjoyed reading this, but the audiobook made it even creepier. The narration really helped with the confusing parts, especially since it was written from a child's POV.
It wasn't as scary as
“War is coming to us quickly” but then at 80% of the book, war still hasn't come for them.
I super loved the 1st book in this series but hated how the succeeding books disappointed. I think this book could have been shorter if not for the tautologies at each chapter.
Like, yeah. You're mates. You can feel each other. Get over it! I didn't like the writing style as well because the lyrical writing felt out of place.
And the way the king was killed? Anticlimactic.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Victory Editing in exchange for an honest review.
This book surprised me—in a good way! I loved the atmosphere of the world the author created. It is set in Argleton (in the UK), which, by the way, is a phantom village! Apparently, the village appeared on Google Maps but doesn't actually exist! Anyway, back to the book: I had no expectations going in, as this was my first time reading anything by this author. The cover initially caught my attention because, as you can see, it's really chic.
The story was highly entertaining and gave off a spooky, supernatural vibe—perfect for this season. I loved the world-building and how descriptive the author was; it truly immerses you. While the plot is familiar, with common tropes like fake dating/fake fiancé, love (or more like obsession) at first sight, forced proximity, and all that jazz, I'm a sucker for those (except insta-love), which is why I enjoyed it so much.
The story was well-paced, although the cleaning and organizing with the “Winnie Wins System” felt a bit much at times. As someone with OCD, though, I could relate. MariKondo all the way! Romance with a touch of mystery is my go-to, so I enjoyed the crime thriller aspect. Who is the killer? I still can't figure it out, lol.
The side characters—OMG, I love them! The Nevermore Murder Club & Smutty Book Coven (quite a mouthful) were amazing! I want to be friends with them! I really enjoyed the banter among these ladies.
And the spice...ooooh, I did not expect that! I thought this would just be a light, entertaining read, but oooohhh, I loved the spice! The spice is spicing! Even though the story leaned towards instalove, the build-up to Alaric's and Winnie's relationship was well done. The tension between them was intense, and when the spice kicked in, it buuuurned! It's not a dark romance, but rather sensual and passionate, and I loved every second of it.
Overall, the book was well-written and entertaining. It wasn't too heavy, but it does touch on themes like trauma, hoarding, torture, nightmares, and murder. Nonetheless, I'm eagerly waiting for the second book in this series and will definitely be checking out the Nevermore Bookshop Series because Mina and her three fictional husbands have me curious!
These fae might be the weakest fae in the history of fae fantasy ever.
What happened?! The first book was amazing! What happened to this book? I felt like I was not reading a romantasy book but instead a romance with weak people just trying to escape their lives!
I loved the banter in the first book but hated the dialogue in this book. And the dialogue during the spicy scenes? Too much. It's too cringey!
Nyra/Verena started as someone with determination, angst and that “oomph” factor in the first book. Then became a damsel in distress in this book.
Her training in the hidden city was all for naught! She couldn't even fight for herself, let alone run without getting a sprain! And I thought Dacre was strong? A freakin' ship captain beat him?! Whhhyyyy???
And as mates, they were supposed to be sharing powers to make them stronger. What the eff happened?! And that wave that destroyed the dock? Why weren't the king's guards affected?! What? Verena had faulty aim? Wtf?!
As the second book you would expect character growth but this book did otherwise. I am just really disappointed.