This was very depressing, but in the most compelling way. You see hints of it sprinkled throughout, but you don’t realise quite how dep|| 4.0 stars ||
This was very depressing, but in the most compelling way. You see hints of it sprinkled throughout, but you don’t realise quite how depressing it is until you get further into the story.
There was a constant air of mystery and mystique around Gatsby, but in reality he was just a very lonely and sad man. He tried so very hard to appear sophisticated, to showcase his wealth, to make it seem like he belonged. Yet, it was all show. Nobody ever really accepted him. Nobody really cared for him. He was insignificant to everyone, even to the people who went to his parties; they only cared about the lore surrounding him, not the actual person. But still, Gatsby kept trying to fit in, to appear important. But he simply wasn’t. And nobody wanted him, no matter how generous and inviting he was. He just wanted to be loved, but he never was. Not even by Daisy, whom he did all of this for. Everyone just used him in one way or another, and Daisy worst of all. He loved her so much, he would have done anything for her, and in the end she just completely abused that in the most careless and brutal way possible. Honestly, I just think that no one really saw Gatsby as a real person, they just saw him as a “figure”. Someone to gossip about or to use to get whatever they wanted, but not someone to actually befriend. No matter how much Gatsby would have liked to find someone who cared, he never did. And so he just remained alone, forgotten and left behind, showing that all of his efforts had been for nothing. Therefore, his tragic ending was very fitting for him and his life, no matter how sad it made me....more
Well, that was disappointing. I had such high hopes for this, but absolutely nothing about it delivered. I thought this would be a beau|| 2.0 stars ||
Well, that was disappointing. I had such high hopes for this, but absolutely nothing about it delivered. I thought this would be a beautiful and perhaps even emotional book, but it wasn’t.
First of all, the pacing was horrendous. I think the entire book takes place over only three days, and you can definitely feel it. Each scene crawls by so very slowly and absolutely nothing happens.
The plot was also beyond boring. It was painfully predictable and uneventful. It’s about witches who live in a graveyard and who can talk to the dead, so that sounds like it should be pretty cool, right? Well, somehow it wasn’t. It was all very repetitive, and almost every chapter felt the exact same. I started skimming when I was about halfway through the book and never felt like I missed anything, because nothing was really happening and I could always fill in the blanks myself as everything was just so obvious. Almost the entire book felt like filler to me. Also, I could guess everything that was going to happen from pretty much the very beginning, so there was zero suspense or mystery left…
I don’t even really want to talk about the characters or the romance, because it was all just so empty and flat. The protagonist had no personality whatsoever, and his romance with the dead boy, Julian, had less than zero amount of depth. The only thing I can really say about the protagonist, Yadriel, is that he was very self-absorbed. For example: When his cousin (who was always extremely kind to him) DIED, he managed to make the entire situation all about himself and his own issues. His cousin’s mother was literally right there, grieving the recent news that her SON had died, but Yadriel thought it was appropriate to throw a tantrum about himself (that had nothing to do with his cousin; so it was not because he was grieving too).
The writing was also just plain bad. It lacked any kind of emotion and had a lot of info-dumping, which was especially odd since there wasn’t even a lot of information to give? Honestly, the writing style was just very bland and dry. It wasn’t engaging in any way, shape or form.
Of course, I really do appreciate the trans representation, but to me it really felt like this entire book was about that. I mean, the whole plot about becoming a brujo was just a metaphor for Yadriel truly being a boy; which was kind of inherently sexist, by the way, because why do boys have to play with knives and why do girls have to heal people? Why is it based on gender, anyway? I mean, Yadriel was really bothered by the fact that the men didn’t incorporate him into their little club, but he was never bothered by the fact that the women weren’t allowed to do whatever they wanted to do either. The entire vibe of their family was just very sexist, but Yadriel didn’t give a damn about that, because, as I said before, he only cared about himself. Truly, though, Yadriel’s entire personality revolved around being trans and how he struggled with acceptance from his family. Literally, that was his one and only defining feature. Nothing else. So, yea, all that kind of sucked. And don’t get me wrong, representation is important to incorporate in a story, but it can’t be the whole story. And if you do decide to create a book only about the trans experience, it would need much better writing and a more meaningful storyline. Otherwise it’ll become very flat and simple and boring and even annoying, which was the case here.
All in all, this book never captured my interest in any way, and I simply did not have fun with it or have any kind of emotions while reading. I didn’t connect with anything and I was just bored....more
Oh my god. This was just too much. Too ridiculous, too nonsensical, and too cringy.
I swear, the heroine was so insanely QuiRKy that it|| 2.0 stars ||
Oh my god. This was just too much. Too ridiculous, too nonsensical, and too cringy.
I swear, the heroine was so insanely QuiRKy that it genuinely made my head explode. She was very much giving “I’m not like other girls” and it made me roll my eyes non-stop.
“You are a brilliant engineer who knows the Premiere League stats of the past three decades off the top of your head. Physically, you are the uncanny combination of every singe feature I’ve ever found attractive—no, I will not expand on that. And you saved me on your phone as Corporate Thor, even after I gave you my full name.” “I wasn’t sure about the spelling and—you saw that?”
—His name was Erik, by the way. Because apparently this brilliant scientist struggles to spell basic names like that. But oh well, isn’t that just absolutely adorable?? She can’t spell his name so she gives him a silly nickname. Aww. She’s just so quirky and perfect! *insert eyeroll right here*
Anyway, the insta-love?? It was insane. They met for one single day and fell madly in love. Then, they had a HUGE falling out but they’re still quietly obsessed with each other. So, about a month later, they have a quick chat with each other (the first one obviously, because of course they didn’t think to talk it out in all that time) that makes it clear there was actually NO problem at all, and so, they’re madly in love again. The end. I will give them this, though: They had some chemistry. Their interactions could be quite cute and they were obviously well-suited. If their relationship had been better developed and not had this crazy insta-love, then I think I could have actually liked it!
Lastly, I don’t even want to go into that one sex scene we were forced to endure in this book, but I feel like I must. Because it genuinely made me want to gauge my own eyes out. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m also not a smut fan when it’s actually good, but this one really was horrendously bad. I just want to know: Why was there so much goddamn TALKING during the sex? They did not need to narrate everything and make everything so freaking awkward. They were constantly being like “oh should I do this” and “oh are you sure” and “oh I could also do this”. JUST STOP. PLEASE. Also, she was very scared of his penis. Because it was so big. No, I’m not joking. This was seriously a situation that happened and which they talked about at length. Just… NO. Oh, and do you know that the hero ends up thinking that he SA’d her during all of this, and that that’s the reason she’s angry at him? It wasn’t SA and the sex was not why she was angry, but still, in what world is it romantic that he thinks this…? It’s just creepy.
The 'STEMinist' Novellas: 1. Under One Roof - 3.0 stars 2. Stuck with You - 2.0 stars...more
This wasn’t bad, but I don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about either. I get that this was likely a very progressive and revo|| 3.0 stars ||
This wasn’t bad, but I don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about either. I get that this was likely a very progressive and revolutionary entry for female mental health fiction in the 1960s, but compared to modern books on the subject this is by no means anything extraordinary or special. If anything, I mostly think it stands out for its historic value; it’s interesting to see how mental illness was treated in the 50s and 60s, and also to see what was considered as feminist back then.
Although still not perfect, mental health prevention and treatment has progressed immensely, and the creepiest part about this book for me really was the casual use of electrotherapy. And the fact that this book actually makes it seem like it worked...? Yikes. I mean, it was obvious that our main character didn’t like the shock treatment, but in the end, she does get better because of that. So, the book kind of makes it seem like a necessary evil? Which, obviously, it’s not. It’s absolute bullshit. But yea, they didn’t seem to think so in the that day and age.
I found it quite annoying that the feminism in this book mostly meant that our main character hated every single woman she encountered. She judged everyone and everything, but meanwhile she had no idea what she wanted either. She didn’t want to get married, but she didn’t really have the drive to become a careerwoman either... She was in limbo. She felt pushed in a lot of different directions, which eventually meant she had no passion to truly take any of those directions for herself. I suppose the book is trying to tell us that the pressures and expectations that are put on women can be very damning and can make it impossible for women to succeed. Which is a good point, but I don’t feel like the ‘hating every woman’ approach is the best way to show that.
All in all, this was an okay read (for the time it was written), but I’m not a big fan or anything. It doesn’t stand out to me at all....more
Okay, so you know how a lot of romances always couple the virginal heroine with the manwhore hero and we’re all supposed to be swooning|| 3.5 stars ||
Okay, so you know how a lot of romances always couple the virginal heroine with the manwhore hero and we’re all supposed to be swooning because “her pure heart can change his arsehole habits,” but in reality we’re all just collectively rolling our eyes because come onn?? Well, yea, so this book does a complete gender role reversal with that concept and I kind of love it for that.
Our main character is Mallory, a young woman who works in an auto-repair shop to make enough money to support her family and who frequently hooks up with men and women but is too afraid of emotional intimacy to ever let any of her partners get too close to her. She used to have a very powerful passion for chess and she was one of the best players in the world as a child, but something that happened in her past made her turn away from the sport completely, and now she’s all bitter and defensive about it. This type of character description sounds pretty familiar, right? Yea, I know, but I think it’s cool that this time it was the girl who was scared of vulnerability and who had a past that made her a little bit of a dick. Maybe we shouldn’t want any characters like this, because honestly, it is pretty annoying, but hey, I think it’s progress that this slightly irritating character description is no longer exclusive to men. Don’t know why I feel like that’s progress, but I just do. LOL
Anyway, on the other side we have our love interest, Nolan Sawyer; the number one chess player in the world, who kind of seems to be bored with life and who doesn’t seem to feel any particular draw to anything or anyone any more. That is, until he meets Mallory and he’s pretty much smitten at first game, when she beats him at chess despite not having played for years. He’s intrigued and enamoured with her from the very first second they lock eyes, and he can’t help but pine after her. He becomes pretty much obsessed. It’s the first time he ever feels any kind of attraction to anyone in his life, and he would do anything to get to know this beautiful, smart girl. Also, I love that the reason that Sawyer was still a virgin wasn't because he was awkward or geeky or whatever. No, he was handsome, popular, mysterious and very sexy, but he simply never felt the motivation to be intimate with anyone until he met Mallory. I mean, it can’t get much more swoony than that.
Despite loving the initial dynamic between these two, I do have to say that I would have loved to see more depth and development in their relationship. I thought it was very endearing that Sawyer fell in love with Mallory’s chess game first, but I did want to see why his feelings changed beyond that eventually. I don’t think we really got that, which is a shame. I mean, chess is fun and all, but I think you need more than just that to create a functional and meaningful relationship. But hey, maybe I just don’t get it because I’m not smart enough to have chess orgasms or whatever.
Lastly, I want to have a quick rant about all the other people in Mallory’s life, because damnn, did they suck HARD. Mallory’s mother and sisters were all selfish, ungrateful users and I truly couldn’t stand them. I hated her bestfriend too, because she basically ghosted Mallory for months and then gaslighted her into pretending like it was Mallory’s own fault, when it literally wasn’t. Anyway, these people really pissed me off and I was pretty annoyed with the way they were all forgiven like it was nothing. Genuinely made me a bit angry. But whatever.
All in all, I thought this book was very fun and charming with an engaging writing style, but I did definitely miss a little more depth in the romance part of things....more
This is such an insanely short story, it almost feels a little ridiculous to write a review for it, so I’m going to keep this very brie|| 3.0 stars ||
This is such an insanely short story, it almost feels a little ridiculous to write a review for it, so I’m going to keep this very brief: Without using many words, the author still manages to incorporate an interesting and unexpected twist in her story. A twist that gives us an intriguing perspective on fear, danger and appearances....more
When a girl gets dropped into a field surrounded by four Victorian houses, she is asked to choose one of them to stay in forever. She d|| 2.5 stars ||
When a girl gets dropped into a field surrounded by four Victorian houses, she is asked to choose one of them to stay in forever. She does get to visit each one before making her choice, but none of those visits go particularly well…
Her choices are: The House of Content, The House of Lust, The House of Obsession and The House of Euphoria.
Honestly, I thought the idea behind this story was pretty cool, but the execution was a little lacklustre for me. The only truly creepy house was The House of Obsession, while the others were definitely weird but not that awful. I feel like all of these houses could have been a lot scarier or at least more interesting, but they just weren’t....more
This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly good either. It was shallow and simple.
There was no real development or build-up in any of || 2.5 stars ||
This wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly good either. It was shallow and simple.
There was no real development or build-up in any of the relationships; not even in the main romance. All of it lacked depth and progression.
I could also not connect with the main character much. She was cold and distant, and although she clearly had a good moral compass, I still couldn’t bring myself to feel much love for her. When it comes to the love interest, I don’t feel like I know much of anything about him. Who is he really? No idea. When or why did he fall in love with our heroine? No clue.
The story itself wasn’t especially interesting to me either, and although it was short, it still dragged for me.
This is a tragic story about a sweet, happy, but poor little girl, who sees beautiful angels dancing in the street everywhere she looks|| 3.5 stars ||
This is a tragic story about a sweet, happy, but poor little girl, who sees beautiful angels dancing in the street everywhere she looks. She is beloved by everyone, but most of all by her older brother, who tries very hard to see the innocent beauty in the world that she sees, but simply can’t. The story itself follows the aftermath of this precious little girl’s death, and it honestly broke my heart a little bit. The writing was very beautiful and haunting....more
This is the first thing I have ever read by this author and I hope it will be my last. Of course I already knew about her infamous habi|| 2.0 stars ||
This is the first thing I have ever read by this author and I hope it will be my last. Of course I already knew about her infamous habit of writing without quotations marks, but jesus, it’s even more aggravating to read than I imagined it would be. It’s just so wholly unnecessary that it truly pisses me off.
The story itself wasn’t bad… but I don’t think there actually was that much of an actual story to speak of? And even if you argue that there was, we definitely did not get a resolution to any part of it.
Also, Sukie and Nathan’s relationship was just weird and I don’t think I get what it was trying to be. Like, was it meant to be creepy or cute? I genuinely can’t tell. All I know for sure is that this chick had some serious daddy issues.
Lastly, the writing was literally the most stilted thing ever: The characters talked like robots and the inner monologue was simply emotionless....more
This is kind of like a paranormal/fantasy version of The Hunger Games with another competition where all contestants have to compete ag|| 3.0 stars ||
This is kind of like a paranormal/fantasy version of The Hunger Games with another competition where all contestants have to compete against each other with only one possible winner. The difference, however, is that it’s all voluntary and there are even options to give up (without losing your life), so it definitely doesn’t have the same horror, heartbreak and tyranny behind it. The competition itself also wasn’t as interesting to me; it was less about survival and more about brutal trials with a lot of action in it.
The writing wasn’t my favourite either. There was a lot of repetitive vocabulary and phrases, and therefore never felt like it really delved beneath the surface. Oraya’s inner monologue kind of remains the same throughout the entire book; even when it seemed like she went through character development, I still noticed that nothing really changed within her thoughts or even her actions. And honestly, the premise of this story and this main character had a lot of potential for depth and intrigue, but somehow I just didn’t feel that.
Oraya’s father/daughter relationship with Vincent was by far the most interesting part about the book, even if I didn’t always like it. There is just something so intriguing about a cold and heartless vampire king, who cares about no one, except for his human daughter. The thing is, however, that I struggled to see his love for her a lot of the times. The book kept telling me he loved her, but the way he spoke to her and treated her often suggested the opposite. I’m not sure if I thought this was a good part about the book or a bad one; on the one hand, I really wanted to experience his love for her on a deeper level, but on the other hand I found it kind of realistic that this ruthless killer didn’t suddenly turn into a giant puddle of goo for his daughter, even if he did love her. So yea, I don’t know how to feel about it, but it was definitely interesting at least.
"Be careful with him. He's a dangerous person." "Some would call you a dangerous person." The corner of his mouth curled. "Not with you."
The romance here didn’t do all that much for me. I never felt the chemistry or romantic tension between Raihn and Oraya; I wanted to, but I just didn’t. I could see friendship and perhaps a kindred spirit in some ways, but why did they fall in love? Specifically, why did he fall in love with her? I have no idea. Their love story felt a little shallow and random to me: They are in a competition where they ought to kill each other eventually, and I did not feel like their connection warranted them developing such strong feelings for each other under those dire (and hopeless) circumstances. All in all, their interactions just didn't do much of anything for me and I’m still not fully behind their supposed love story. Then again, the ending of this book definitely made the future of their relationship a lot more intriguing in my eyes. Or at least, there is potential for that. The only thing required is Oraya not being a doormat and actually sticking to her anger for once. I’m not sure if she has it in her, though, and I fear she might forgive him very easily, even after all that has happened. But who knows, perhaps she will surprise me in the sequel. I hope so.
Well, damn. This was incredibly disappointing... I don’t even really know where to start with this review, because I feel like I have s|| 2.0 stars ||
Well, damn. This was incredibly disappointing... I don’t even really know where to start with this review, because I feel like I have so many complaints.
First and foremost, let’s start with one of the book’s most glaring issues: the writing was genuinely bad. It’s as plain and simple as that. This whole thing dragged like crazy and I was just so bored most of the time. Not only that, the writing was also painfully shallow. Nothing and no one had depth: all of the characters were completely one-dimensional and the plot failed to be interesting or engaging in any way.
Speaking of the characters, let’s go on with my complaints by talking about our failure of a main character. I don’t know what happened to Violet between this one and the previous book, but I don’t recognize her whatsoever. She used to be the perfect balance of kind and bad-ass with a clever and sharp mind to boot! But now this girl we all knew and loved disappeared completely and instead we got this whiny, insecure idiot without a single rational thought going on inside that annoying brain of hers. I suddenly couldn’t stand her anymore! Same goes for Xaden: he suffered from major character assassination as well. He used to be strong, smart, mysterious, intriguing, and swoony as hell, but that was all gone now. Xaden turned into the most flat character ever, and he had no depth whatsoever. He truly felt like a robot to me, and I lost all interest in him. He is gone for most of the book, and at first I really missed his presence, but after a while, I was just bored every time he came on page, because I knew he would be the same repetitive and annoying character he was during all his other scenes, so I kind of didn’t care anymore if he was gone or not.
The fact that both Violet and Xaden turned into insufferable characters is probably a big reason as to why their romance was terrible in this book too. First of all, after the end of the first book I needed to get some groveling from Xaden, but did we get that here? No. Not even for a second. Xaden wasn’t sorry, he wasn’t regretful, he wasn’t trying to earn back Violet’s trust. No. He didn’t do anything. He didn’t even fight for Violet to forgive him. He was just... waiting. Not lifting a single finger to get back the woman he supposedly loves. He was so cocky in knowing that Violet would crawl back to him anyway that he refused to do anything to speed up the process. He just waited. And I guess he was right, because our spine-less heroine did indeed take him back without getting anything in return: no promises, no trust. Just nothing. Which obviously leads to a very unhealthy relationship between them where they don’t trust each other and in which they refuse to communicate. EVER. All they do is be horny and have sex, but they never actually talk anymore. They don’t confide in each other and neither do they let themselves fully open up to the other. Their entire relationship was just shallow, boring and irritating. I no longer liked anything about it. And then we even got some goddamn other woman drama, and my patience just vanished! I hated it.
Now, when it comes to the side characters I don’t even know where to begin, because I feel like none of them were written well or with any depth to them. It’s like the author could never seem to focus on more than a few characters at the same time, so whenever she wanted to pay attention to one side character, all the other side characters just fell away. For example: at the beginning of this book we have quite a lot of focus on Imogen, and I was really seeing some amazing progress between her and Violet. I thought I saw the start of a beautiful friendship forming between them. But then, the moment Rhiannon started coming back into the fold (after being ignored in the first part), Imogen completely fell away again and her relationship with Violet never picked up. It’s like the author couldn’t handle Violet having more than one close female friend; she couldn’t focus on both at the same time. And therefore, neither Imogen or Rhiannon ever truly felt like friends to Violet because they were often suddenly ignored in her inner monologue or in the story. They were more like decoration, like tools to further the story along. Thus, none of Violet’s friends ever feel like real characters on their own..
I loved the dragons in the first book; they were my favourite part of the entire book. But now, I couldn’t care less. Tairn used to be this sassy, grumpy dad-type, but now he was just a flat, monotone character with no real personality. Everything he said was repetitive, and his entire character just seemed way too simple and lacking any sort of depth. When it came to Andarna, I genuinely think her entire character was butchered. She used to be this cute and precious little baby, and now she turned into someone annoying, bitchy and arrogant without any meaningful connection to Violet. She was like an entitled teenager, and there’s a reason why nobody likes those.
Of course, there were also other characters of whom I was really looking forward to seeing their story develop, but I didn’t get anything remotely satisfying when it came to them. Liam’s sister was only in a few scenes and in most of them she was just flat-out exasperating; everything about her character was anti-climactic. More importantly however, I feel like Dain just got completely ignored during this entire book. He used to be Violet’s best friend for such a long time and after it is revealed he didn’t even really do anything to betray her, Violet doesn’t remotely seem to care?? She doesn’t think about him and she doesn’t give him the time of day... she sort of forgives him but not really?? It was so weakly developed and I honestly expected more. It was, once again, very anti-climactic.
Long story short, the only reason I somewhat enjoyed this book, and why I even finished it, is because I still felt a semblance of attachment to the story and these characters after book one, but even that wasn’t enough to keep me engaged for long enough. I couldn’t help but skim near the end of this book, because I was just so bored. I genuinely didn’t care anymore, and this book was just way too long for no reason. All in all, this was one big disappointment to me.
'The Empyrean' series: 1. Fourth Wing - 4.5 stars 2. Iron Flame - 2.0 stars...more
I know everyone is completely in love with the romance between Xander and Violet (which, admittedly, was amazing too), but I’m kind of || 4.5 stars ||
I know everyone is completely in love with the romance between Xander and Violet (which, admittedly, was amazing too), but I’m kind of obsessed with the dragons. Tairn just had me cracking up 24/7 and Andarna was literally the cutest thing ever. I just loved all of the scenes that showed Violet bonding with her dragons. I mean, Tairn was genuinely like a grumpy dad being protective of his sassy kid while also helping her in every way he could, and I ate that shit up.
This book kind of felt like a mix of a lot of our favourite fantasy books, but it never felt like a copy of any of them; it only took a few aspects of each book, leaving this story to still feel fresh and original. It seemed more like an homage than a rip-off. For example, the world-building really reminded me of Ranger's Apprentice, but I’ve heard a lot of other people say they think it was like Divergent. And I can see that too. So, really, it can probably be compared to a lot of books, but not always the same ones. Thus, it’s not really a copy of anything in particular. It just feels familiar.
Now, to get back to the romance for a second, because that’s certainly not to be ignored either; I really did love Xander and Violet together. The way he respects her and her abilities while encouraging her to be better but also cherishes her and is insanely protective? Perfect combination! They were just so freaking good for each other; you could tell they were just what the other person needed.
“I don’t deserve you.” His arm curls around my hips and he tugs me closer. “But I’m going to keep you all the same.” “Good.” I lean in and brush my lips over his. “Because I think I’m in love with you.”
Everyone loves a good enemies-to-lovers, and this was definitely that. They thankfully never dove into bully romance territory (which, unfortunately, a lot of people seem to confuse with enemies-to-lovers) as they were apprehensive and combative with each other, but never downright hostile or cruel. The tension was really simmering for a long time, but eventually they do give into their feelings. The thing I didn’t really like about that part though is that she ended up being the one begging to give their relationship a chance; I definitely like it more when the hero is the one fighting hard for them to be together. Considering this, that definitely means the sequel sounds really promising for me, because it looks like we are getting a second-chance trope for them… but then it’s going to be Xander fighting for them to be together!
“You love me, and—” “Loved,” I correct him, sidestepping so I can get some fucking space and then taking it. “Love!” he shouts, stopping me in my tracks. “You love me.” Slowly, I turn to face him. “Everything I feel—” I swallow, fighting to hold on to the anger so I don’t fall apart. “Felt for you was based on secrets and deception.” Shame burns my cheeks that I was naive enough to fall for him in the first place. “Everything between us is real, Violence.”
I really hope Violet makes him work for it, because what else is going to happen with their romance these upcoming FIVE books? I have to say that I was kind of surprised they already got together so seriously in this book because I expected more of a slow-burn throughout the entire series. But I guess not. So I’m curious to see what will happen next. I hope we’ll start with some good, long groveling.
WARNING: SPOILERS!! When it comes to Dain I actually feel betrayed. I kind of thought him and Violet could end up staying friends at first, but then he became more and more annoying and overbearing, and then that final reveal?? Nu-uh. Instant death for this man. RIGHT NOW! I feel like I went through the same shockingly eye-opening journey with this dude as what happened with Adam from Shatter Me.
Lastly, I just want to point out that this ending absolutely broke me. I’m being utterly serious when I say I cried like a little baby. Liam was literally my favourite character and throughout the entire book I kept hoping he would find love in the sequel and we would see him become truly happy. But then he died. Just like that. God. I didn’t see it coming and I just cried. He was so sweet and gentle and humble and kind-hearted. His friendship with Violet and his dedication to Xander warmed my heart, and I really loved him so much. He was the last person I wanted to die…
'The Empyrean' series: 1. Fourth Wing - 4.5 stars 2. Iron Flame - 2.0 stars...more
I thought this story started out cute and fun with Jack and Roux’ animosity and tension, but then it quickly turned into porn without p|| 2.0 stars ||
I thought this story started out cute and fun with Jack and Roux’ animosity and tension, but then it quickly turned into porn without plot between Jack and some other creature.
Was it just me or was Elsie pretty much completely sociopathic? The way she calculated people’s emotions, analysed their thoughts, and || 3.5 stars ||
Was it just me or was Elsie pretty much completely sociopathic? The way she calculated people’s emotions, analysed their thoughts, and then manipulated herself into the person she thought they wanted her to be made her seem like a straight-up sociopath. Seriously, it’s what sociopaths do. Look it up. She was also very angry and sometimes even oddly aggressive with her emotions. Like, she was obviously not doing okay. She was a complete and utter mess. Which, honestly, made her a very interesting character. Not an immensely likable one, perse, but definitely someone who intrigued me and who I liked to read more about. And I really appreciated the amount of character growth she went through. She started out as a pitiful, crazy MESS but she had some serious development and I loved to see it.
What is up with people calling me on my bullshit lately? Am I suddenly giving off main character vibes?
Jack, also, was a pretty strange character. Not in the same way, though. Namely, not in a good way, at all. Like, he was kind of bland but also not?? I just had no idea what this guy’s deal was, but there was something. He was so calm and collected but also scarily intense. There were times where I was really thinking he would finally do something cute or swoon-worthy, but he never quite hit the mark for me. He was too... impassive and apathetic. Definitely not my favourite hero. Even though I didn’t dislike him, I just wasn’t feeling him.
I just don’t really understand why Jack fell for Elsie. Maybe I didn’t see it because I simply couldn’t read his character well due to his blandness, but I really feel like it’s more than that. His infatuation with her just genuinely didn’t make sense to me: After all, he didn’t know anything about her, aside from the fact that she was pretty much sociopathic with the way she changed her personality depending on whoever she was talking to. So then, why did he fall for her? I mean, is that really a trait considered charming? I would be more likely to call it creepy. Sure, I understand why he would find her interesting to figure out, but not necessarily interesting to date. Oh well, to each their own, I suppose.
Also, what on EARTH was Jack’s deal with sex?? This dude was so unsexy it physically hurt to read. I mean, if I literally had to beg for a guy to have sex with me, only for him to tell me “no, it’s too soon. YOU’re not ready” like twenty times, I’d be out the door so damn fast; he would never see me again. Like, sir, seriously, who are YOU to tell her what SHE wants? Just fucking DO HER ALREADY!! She is BEGGING! Urgh, and when they did finally have sex he was literally asking her sixty-million questions about what she wanted, and they just kept TALKING in a very awkward way, and honestly, the smut simply made me want to die. I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. It was horrendous.
All in all, I can’t say I was really vibing with the romance here. It definitely had the potential to be amazing, but something was simply missing for me. I wasn’t feeling the romantic chemistry, and I definitely blame Jack’s blandness for that. I didn’t understand his obsession with her, and I also didn’t feel his infatuation with her; it’s like I was told he loved her, but I didn’t feel it. He was just too... emotionless.
“You could be my entire world,” he whispered in my ear before moving to my collarbone. “If you let me.” I stroke his hair. “I think I will.” “Then I’m sorry.” “What are you sorry for?” “Because I’m never going to let you go.”
Oh and by the way, Elsie’s obsession with Dr. Laurendeau literally made ZERO sense. I get that she felt like she owed him a little bit, but there’s no way she didn’t realise that he didn’t have her best interest at heart. He was clearly dismissive and degrading, and she even knew he wasn’t all that smart, so why on earth would she let her academic career be dictated by whatever this man told her to do? It was just weird.
So, really, why did I still enjoy this book then? I’m not sure. I guess it might be the addictive and easy and fun writing-style, or maybe the interesting character of Elsie, or maybe the academic setting, or maybe the plot (which I genuinely found very entertaining and engaging). No matter what it was, I still really enjoyed this book. A lot....more
In a way, this kind of felt like a Buffy x Spike fanfiction from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That’s definitely not a bad thing, though, b|| 3.0 stars ||
In a way, this kind of felt like a Buffy x Spike fanfiction from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That’s definitely not a bad thing, though, because I loved that show and I loved that couple.
“Do you think I’m pretty?” I heard myself ask. Something I couldn’t name flashed across his face. “No. I don’t think you’re pretty. I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen.” “Liar,” I breathed.
Considering the length of this series, I was definitely expecting more of a slow-burn between Cat and Bones, but that wasn’t the case at all. Bones seemed to have a love-at-first-sight thing going on with her, and they were having sex regularly from about the halfway point onward. I didn’t mind Bones’ instant obsession with Cat (although it would have been better had there been more depth to or reason for his affections), but I was seriously disappointed by how easily Cat gave into him. They were enemies at first and Cat had a giant chip on her shoulder with a major prejudice against vampires, so I thought it would take a lot more for her to fall in love with him! But nope. It was pretty easy. Unfortunately, there was really no great build-up here.
“If you run from me, I’ll chase you. And I’ll find you.”
Cat is our main protagonist, and she teeters the line between slightly bad-ass, slightly unhinged, slightly heroic, and slightly giving off pick-me girl vibes. But really, she explains it best herself:
“I’m a moody, insecure, narrow-minded, jealous, borderline-homicidal bitch, and I want you to promise me that you’re okay with that, because it’s who I am and you’re what I need.”
And, as promised, Bones definitely accepts her exactly for who she is. He admires her fully and adores her for all her flaws. He loves how stubborn she is, and he goes absolutely feral for her bravery. Really, he loves her. And he’s surprisingly sweet about it. He’s charming and smooth, but not in an alpha-man kind of way. He respects her choices and follows her wishes. Really, my only genuine problem with his character was his excessive use of the nicknames “luv”, “Kitten”, or “pet”. Not only are the last two of those nicknames absolutely horrendous, it was also just way too much; he literally never called her by her real name! It made me cringe so hard. His over-the-top British slang was also just way too much. I understand the author is American and doesn’t know how to authentically write a British person, but making all of his vocabulary stereotypically British was definitely not the way to go.
“I can’t just let us go our separate ways, Kitten, because I am in love with you. I love you.”
Anyway, I liked the general plot of this book well enough. It didn’t blow me away, but it was okay. The ending pissed me off so much though!! My heart is already breaking for Bones, and I’m so angry about Cat’s decision to choose her mother over her and Bones’ happiness. That woman was the literal devil, and I was already hoping she would somehow die along the way, but for her to be the reason Cat and Bones are both going to be unhappy? Fuck that. I hope that abusive piece of crap dies sometime soon....more
This really wasn’t bad, but I just found it to be kind of boring. I didn’t really feel engaged, whether it was through the characters o|| 2.5 stars ||
This really wasn’t bad, but I just found it to be kind of boring. I didn’t really feel engaged, whether it was through the characters or through the story, so I often found myself losing interest in what was happening (which already wasn’t that much to begin with). The only side character I really cared about was ART; it was such an adorably precious and sarcastically witty robot!
'The Murderbot Diaries': 1. All Systems Red - 2.5 stars 2. Artificial Condition - 2.5 stars...more
Once again, very romantic and very sweet, but honestly, what else are we expecting from any story about Asa and Jude at this point, let|| 3.5 stars ||
Once again, very romantic and very sweet, but honestly, what else are we expecting from any story about Asa and Jude at this point, let alone their wedding? They’re just the absolute best couple. Period.
I just cannot get enough of this beautiful family!! The love between Asa and Jude is so vivid, and their banter is still going strong a|| 3.5 stars ||
I just cannot get enough of this beautiful family!! The love between Asa and Jude is so vivid, and their banter is still going strong as ever. The way they always pay attention to the little things and are so considerate of each other will never stop making my heart swell. And of course little Billy just makes every moment even more adorable with his mere presence! I just love them all so much.
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