The first 50 pages were really strong, but the lack of worldbuilding or character development made it fall flat for me. Very glad we DNF at about 50%.
The first 50 pages were really strong, but the lack of worldbuilding or character development made it fall flat for me. Very glad we are getting more queer romantasy, especially a FFA one....more
My first book by Meryl Wilsner (who I've been meaning to read ever since I saw them at LA Festival of Books in 2023). This book follows two soccer plaMy first book by Meryl Wilsner (who I've been meaning to read ever since I saw them at LA Festival of Books in 2023). This book follows two soccer players, one a stoic team captain, the other an outspoken newbie. Attraction sparks right when they meet, but playing on the same team means some conflict and tension.
I enjoyed this book but it was solidly in the "it's just okay" category for me. I had it on my list for a while and it counts for a reading bingo square for "Olympics" so I pushed this to the front of the tbr. There was just a lot of internal monologuing for me, it was endless to the point that it was either that or sex scenes. Which is fine! But I wanted more the character development earlier in the book (with some more plot) rather than the dump we got later. Otherwise it's a fun sports romance and it was nice to see women's soccer in the mix.
An ALC was provided by libro.fm via the librarian ALC program ...more
I think this just boils down to personal preference, but I am not a fan of low plot just vibes books and therefore this one didn't work for me. Most oI think this just boils down to personal preference, but I am not a fan of low plot just vibes books and therefore this one didn't work for me. Most of the story I was bored while reading, even though all of the characters are very sweet and likeable....more
Really not much to say about this one. I think I prefer Ann Cleeve's stories on screen more than reading her books. This book felt all over the place Really not much to say about this one. I think I prefer Ann Cleeve's stories on screen more than reading her books. This book felt all over the place with the reveal at the end coming out of nowhere. It's probably just me though, many other readers really loved this book....more
Book 2 in the Dark Rise series, you need to have read book 1 before reading this one. If you haven't, maybe avoid reading my review as it 3.75 stars
Book 2 in the Dark Rise series, you need to have read book 1 before reading this one. If you haven't, maybe avoid reading my review as it may contain spoilers for book 1. Also I won't do any summary, just thoughts on the book.
Dark Heir started out very slow for me, to the point that I almost quit at about 35%. There were a lot of new things thrown at us and lots of names to keep track of, but it got a lot better by the end of the book. I was sad we didn't get more of Violet in this book as she's my favorite character, but it made sense as other plot points needed to be pushed forward.
I am very excited for book 3 but nervous as there's no release date. I really want to know what happens mostly because (view spoiler)[ I was so frustrated with how quickly all of Will's friends turned on him once they found out he was the dark king. (hide spoiler)].
So if you get frustrated reading this push through because the end was great....more
An atmospheric thriller from Riley Sager about Ethan Marsh, a man in his 40 haunted by a tragic event that happened to him when he was a child. ThirtyAn atmospheric thriller from Riley Sager about Ethan Marsh, a man in his 40 haunted by a tragic event that happened to him when he was a child. Thirty years earlier, Ethan was having a sleepover in a tent in his backyard with his friend Billy. That night someone sliced the tent and took Billy, never to be seen again. Years later Ethan is back and convinced Billy's got something to tell him...
Riley Sager is an author whose books I will always read but don't always love. He can be hit or miss. This one fell in the middle for me a bit. I think this story had great bones but got a bit lost in the minutia of the everyday details. Sager paints a picture of what life on the lane was like in the 90's versus present day, and there were a lot of twists and turns. I did enjoy this book, but at no point was I scared, thrilled, or even super invested in what would happen by the end. And that's not my usual reaction to a Sager novel. I think many people will love this book, and I will always been reading this author's books, no matter what he writes.
An advanced listening copy by provided by libro.fm via the librarian alc program ...more
It's really hard to describe the plot of this book in a way that would make sense, so I won't even try. CS Pacat is an author I've read before and didIt's really hard to describe the plot of this book in a way that would make sense, so I won't even try. CS Pacat is an author I've read before and didn't super love, but a book friend asked me to trust them that this was good so I did, and I really liked this book a lot. I listened to the audiobook which was excellently done.
There were lots of fantasy bits that I didn't quite compute, but am told book 2 helps make a lot of sense of book one so I'll read it soon. I really liked the worldbuilding and characters in this book a lot and would love to see more of both in the series. You can also tell when reading this book that the author put their heart and soul into writing it....more
Unpopular opinion time: This series should have ended with the second book.
This third book was overly long and over-explained SO MUCH, which yes the fUnpopular opinion time: This series should have ended with the second book.
This third book was overly long and over-explained SO MUCH, which yes the first books also did, but not to this extent. I loved all of the characters in books 1 and 2 and became so attached to them and with this book I did not care at all what happened to them. I almost wish I hadn't read this book and just lived in ignorant bliss with the first two. I devoured the first two books and it took me over two months to finish this one because it was so slow and boring.
I'll still read Novik in the future, but this book made me think she was given too much freedom with her writing and I really wish an editor had come in and cut off a lot of the over-explaining of things because it was just too much....more
I want to start with I am glad this book exists, and as a thirty-something white cis woman this book is absolutely not meant for me and I completely uI want to start with I am glad this book exists, and as a thirty-something white cis woman this book is absolutely not meant for me and I completely understand that. I hope this book gets into the hands of those who very much need it. I read it for a book club, otherwise I probably wouldn't have picked it up.
I won't go much into plot or details. The teenagers in this were mostly insufferable with the exception of Devin and it made me wonder if me and my friends were this awful as teens (we probably were and worse). I thought the book was written really well and there were some really nice moments in it, hence two stars instead of a one star rating....more
A fun and spicy queer hockey romance, MUCH better than the first book. Not a complete 5 star read because of some issues with it (view spoiler)[ casuaA fun and spicy queer hockey romance, MUCH better than the first book. Not a complete 5 star read because of some issues with it (view spoiler)[ casual racism in descriptions of a character (hide spoiler)] and this is definitely like, a fantasy hockey league that does not follow real life rules (for obvious plot reasons).
Not sure if I would read the rest of the series though....more
Mallory takes care of her mom and two sisters by working as a mechanic, forgoing college in order to support her family. When Mallory attend 4 stars!
Mallory takes care of her mom and two sisters by working as a mechanic, forgoing college in order to support her family. When Mallory attends a charity chess event for a friend, she defeats the current World Champion in chess Nolan Sawyer. From there, Mallory ends up taking a paid fellowship and is whisked into the world of professional chess.
I really enjoyed this gem of a book, but I usually enjoy Ali Hazelwood's books so no surprise there. I will say this book is definitely on the older side of young adult fiction, pretty much borderline new adult so don't give it to a middle grader anytime soon.
I really appreciated seeing a female character in the world of chess. Aside from the Netflix show, The Queen's Gambit we don't see much of that and I hope this encourages the younger generation to try chess out and see if they like it. Mallory and Nolan were both fun and interesting characters with their own issues and it really added to the story and made it interesting. I had a lot of fun reading this book.
Thank you Kay for gifting me a copy of this book for our holiday book exchange! ...more
When Emmy returns to her small witchy town, she's facing a traumatic past she thought she left behind. Her ex-boyfriend, who is the reason sh 3 stars
When Emmy returns to her small witchy town, she's facing a traumatic past she thought she left behind. Her ex-boyfriend, who is the reason she left town, has also been making waves with some other women in the town. That's when Emmy teams up with them to get revenge. Among the wronged women is Talia, who Emmy is immediately intrigued by. As they work together, sparks begin to fly.
This book was solidly "okay" for me. It was a cute, small town, Hallmark-y vibe story and I can already see myself forgetting it in a couple of weeks. I liked it, but nothing really stood out to be as very special. I liked Talia a lot, and some of the trials and challenges near the end of the book. I do think the cover is stunning and would like to see more covers light it rather than the weird cartoon characters that are popular as of late....more
I was excited to read this book as I read the first book The Duke Heist years ago and found Tommy to be a very intriguing character and was 3.5 stars
I was excited to read this book as I read the first book The Duke Heist years ago and found Tommy to be a very intriguing character and was eager to read her book. I will say, it was harder for me to focus on the plot in this book, there was a few subplots that seemed to be mixed together and none of them got their flowers. A fraud crime, Phillipa trying not to get married off, the establishment of free libraries; all were great but I felt it might have worked better if the focus was more on just one than all.
I really loved the chemistry between Tommy and Phillipa, I love that from the moment when Tommy opened up to Phillipa she did her best not to keep secrets and didn't anguish about lying, I appreciated that a lot. I've seen comments about the author needing to establish Tommy's gender identity more firmly and I whole-heartedly disagree. I don't think we need to label people unless they wish to be and I am glad the author didn't give us labels. Tommy is unapologetically herself and I loved her for it.
This book is a three star read for me mainly because I found it hard to focus on and was easy to put down and walk away from. I still very much enjoyed it and would happily read more from Erica Ridley....more
I feel this book would have been much better if it wasn't a Great Gatsby retelling. I know that defeats the whole purpose of this being a part of the I feel this book would have been much better if it wasn't a Great Gatsby retelling. I know that defeats the whole purpose of this being a part of the remixed classics series, but The Great Gatsby story just doesn't make sense with teens.
I loved that this book featured two trans male leads with a diverse group of characters. That's where my love of this book ends. The idea that 14 year olds were fighting in the war, Jay meeting Daisy when she was 13 (yikes), and an added in jewelry heist plot point all didn't work. I know the author was approached to write this book and I think they did the best they could. But this just didn't work for me. I may be biased because I am not a huge fan of The Great Gatsby to begin with, but this retelling actually made me appreciate the original and didn't seem to accomplish what it set out to do....more
I think this falls under "I would have liked this book more had it not been so overhyped, therefore I thought it was okay and fun but nothing to writeI think this falls under "I would have liked this book more had it not been so overhyped, therefore I thought it was okay and fun but nothing to write home about".
A romance that takes place on a Bachelor style show where the Prince falls for his male handler instead of the 20 or so women fighting for him. I thought it was cute and I love the premise. I do wish I had read instead of listening because I think one of the narrators was bad, but maybe I'll give this a chance and reread it someday....more
An odd little short story that would have worked better as a full length novel for me. I heard this started out as a screenplay, which makes a lot of An odd little short story that would have worked better as a full length novel for me. I heard this started out as a screenplay, which makes a lot of sense. I think had some of the beginning been less confusing as to when portals came into play, I would have liked it more. I didn't really love either main character.
Definitely a "liked it" three star read. Not really interested in more of this universe....more
When Jack's mom is arrested for organized crime, teenage Jack leaves his boarding school on the east coast to return to his family's casino in Las VegWhen Jack's mom is arrested for organized crime, teenage Jack leaves his boarding school on the east coast to return to his family's casino in Las Vegas. There Jack decides he wants to get back at the man who put his mom away, rival casino owner Carlevaro. He enlists the help of his friends online, all five of them are asexual teens who met in a chatroom.
I'm really not sure how you can write (view spoiler)[ "A Heist" in the title of this book when there isn't even a f-ing heist in it. That pissed me off so badly. There's a difference between happenstance theft and a well planned heist and that was not present in this book (hide spoiler)]. All of the characters except the older sisters were unbearably annoying and yet all somehow lacked personality at the same time.
I feel very strongly that ace representation matters in books, but I honestly felt that the author loved the idea of a Vegas book with the title "Aces Wild" and so the characters were all made ace as well. Which is fine, but then we never really delved into the nuance of what that meant. You could remove the fact that all the characters in this book were ace and it wouldn't change the plot at all, and to me that does a disservice to the ace community.
This was originally a two star read for me but thinking about all these things and more tipped it over the edge to a one star review. That and I heard about the book originally using hearing aides instead of airpods as a plot device and was genuinely horrified....more
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