I was provided with a free ARC of this book by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
"Hey, you wanted this horrid little trash gremlin." I sI was provided with a free ARC of this book by the author, in exchange for an honest review.
"Hey, you wanted this horrid little trash gremlin." I stepped up a bleacher higher to put us at eye level and yanked him close with a fistful of his sports jacket. "And I'm a pissed off little trash gremlin, so don't fuck with me. Sit down."
So.
There are so many things I can say about Ace of Blades, the first book in the Hidden Codex series, and I don't even know where to start. I guess though it makes sense to just start at the beginning and work my way down.
The characters in this novel are phenomenal. They feel so real, so genuine, despite being part of an urban fantasy story. What they are doesn't distract from WHO they are, which is so important. Nox is, of course, the protagonist of our story, and he is a mighty force in a tiny package. He's fun, witty, serious, sensual, and awkward all in equal measure. Knightley did a wonderful job in making him complex, without it being too much.
Then we have Curtis. He is a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure, and I can't wait to see more of him. I'm intrigued with his story and his past, and I'd love to see some of that in the future. Just to really get into his depth, and pick him apart. I'm that sort of person though, so I digress.
Even the background characters were great! Gideon and Allen are just the best, and I hope we see a lot more of them in book two! I also liked Aleksy and Darek, as well as Lux. I like Drew, and he is well written, but I also hate Drew because I'm on the Nox and Curtis train and I refuse to get off. I don't have a ticket, but I've handcuffed myself to my seat, so good luck.
The lore that Knightley has put together is intriguing, and it wasn't like anything I'd ever read before concerning fae/vampire type creatures. I appreciate a new take on old lore, and this book did it beautifully. It was fascinating to navigate this world, and to see the pieces starting to slide slowly into place.
This book is officially released in October, and it is definitely intended for an adult audience. I believe that this is the type of story that adult literature has been lacking lately, especially given that a big piece of who Nox is, is the fact that he is trans. We're starting to see more acceptance and interest in the LGBTQ+ community in YA lit, but that needs to crossover more into what adults are reading. That gives me an even deeper appreciation for Knightley and his novel, because representation matters and we need more of that in our books!
If you're into fantasy though, intriguing character arcs, and just a damn good read? Get this when it releases.. I assure you that you won't be sorry, and that you'll be left wanting book two right freaking now....more
I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This was a sweet little read that I actually did enjoy! The premise sounded nice, but I received an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This was a sweet little read that I actually did enjoy! The premise sounded nice, but I'm always a little skeptical of uncorrected arc's in the hopes there won't be a lot of mistakes to take me out of the story. While I did notice some errors (mostly missing words, etc) I was still able to keep with the story and to stay involved with it!
I liked the little bit of a twist with our male MC and his vision problems. It added a new dimension and kept it from being just a jock meets girl story, which is always sort of bland and boring once you've read a couple of them. It kept things fresh, and I really liked that! I thought the characters were all likable and easy to relate to on some level, and their struggles were fairly true to life.
All in all not bad, and a definite recommend for those who like this sort of YA genre!...more
NetGalley provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This was a very much uncorrected draft, and honestly that made it a liNetGalley provided me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This was a very much uncorrected draft, and honestly that made it a little bit harder to read than it otherwise might have been. Anytime there should have been an ff or an fi in a word it was left out, which made for some very rough reading at a times. It was hard to believe that that was a problem and I'm not sure how that even happened!? Also why hadn't it been corrected before the book was presented for anyone to read?
I ended up giving the book a three, because it was pretty interesting content. I love the National Parks, and I hadn't thought much about Grand Canyon ghost stories before. I have read other books about the tragedies and deaths that have happened there, but the idea of haunting's taking place was unusual and I liked that. Mostly though I loved reading the history of the Canyon itself and how that related to the possibility of supernatural occurrences.
Overall I really hope the book gets a VERY heavy handed overhaul and gets all those issues corrected before final publication. I know it isn't just me either, because I read some other reviews that references the same problem with this ARC. Maybe it was a computer glitch?
The content is decent though, and I had a good time reading it!...more
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
When I got this book for review I honestly had no earthly idea that it I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
When I got this book for review I honestly had no earthly idea that it was the sequel to another book the author had written. While that didn't necessarily make it difficult to understand, I do wish I had read the first one so I had a better understanding of the characters. I felt like I lost a lot, and that ultimately it made the story a little less for me.
While I feel for Tommy Rhattigan and the horrible sexual and physical abuse he suffered as a child, his writing style didn't resonate well with me. It felt weirdly choppy? That is likely just me though, as we all have our preferences and that's okay! It's not badly written, just not a style I care for on a personal level.
That does not, however, take away from the story itself. The things that Rhattigan suffered were horrendous, things no child should ever have to go through. I felt for him during those harder parts of the story, and I can see why writing about it would be therapeutic in a way. Also while reading this I kept thinking about the movie Sleepers. Did anyone else get that same sort of vibe or was it just me?...more
I received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, what an absolutely powerful book Nikki Barthelmess has written. GrI received an arc of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, what an absolutely powerful book Nikki Barthelmess has written. Growing up I knew a lot of kids in school who were in foster care. One particularly stands out to me, and I remember her so well to this day. We became close friends, and kept in touch for awhile even after she went home again. I always think about her, wishing I could remember her full name to look her up on social media. I can't recall that, but I remember her and her heart breaking story so well.
What Barthelmess has done here is so very honestly laid out how life is for a lot of kids "in the system". They all come from a desperate, sad, or bad situation and often times they don't want to talk about it. Can you blame them? They often feel humiliated by what has happened to them, and many blame themselves for their parents failures. Victoria's reluctance to speak up and her need to lash out at those around her just felt so true and real, and unflinchingly so.
It's not often you see foster kids portrayed in YA literature, and especially not in such a true to real life way. I really liked this book, even though parts of it were upsetting because you know there are kids who go through that, and worse, every day. Well done, Barthelmess. Well done. ...more
I'm really not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, it had all the makings of being something I would really enjoy. On the other the paI'm really not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand, it had all the makings of being something I would really enjoy. On the other the pacing, and some of the characters, just didn't click for me very well. While I really liked Julian and his backstory, I didn't feel quite the same about Katie. Sometimes she came off as being someone you could relate, other times she felt a little out of reach. I think the thing that really detached me from her was how she became wealthy when her mother died. I'm not saying that's an impossibility, but I am saying that doesn't happen to most people in the world. She got to keep a house, buy a BMW, and all this other jazzy at just eighteen. It was a little unrealistic in that regard, at least to me, and it frustrated me a bit.
I would gladly read the other books in this series though, or at least the second one, just to see if I like them better. Kayla Tirrell certainly had a good idea here, the execution just didn't always pan out well for me.
This book as a lot of good reviews, so it's likely just me who wasn't into it. ...more
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This book was not at all what I was hoping for, and even after reading other one starThank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.
This book was not at all what I was hoping for, and even after reading other one star reviews I remained optimistic as I began to read. Let me start by saying that I rarely, if ever, really tear a book or author down. It isn't in my nature, because even if I don't like a particular book the author still put their words out into the world and that is a big deal. It still is, even though I did not like this book at all or Spencer Hyde's approach to it.
While Waiting For Fitz had a decent enough premise, it was executed very poorly. I'm not sure what research the author may have done going into this, but it clearly wasn't enough (or the information was severely skewed). Their approach to mental health was...off putting at best, and totally baffling at other points. As someone has suffered for many years under the weight of mental health issues (depression and primarily anxiety), I didn't really appreciate the way that these issues were treated. It wasn't the joking, because people with mental health disorders can and do make jokes about it. That's not the unrealistic part. The unrealistic part was the severity to which those jokes went, and the tone in which it was all written.
Was it funny to have someone yelling out at random their favorite musicians, television shows, or other things they loved? Not really. He was yelling those things because the doctors told him to say that instead of cussing which...I'm pretty sure that isn't how that works. Just like how it doesn't work that Addie could just seemingly shut her OCD off at will. Just none of it made much sense, and it was just sad to see how the subject matter was handled. Like I said the idea was interesting, there was the basis for something good there, but it was never achieved. ...more
Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
So. I really, really wanted to like this book. The truth is I doNote: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
So. I really, really wanted to like this book. The truth is I don't now how I feel about it at all, and that bothers me. It had all the makings of being something really, really good but it was both slow at times and a little to ambitious at others, and that just made it fall very short for me.
The beginning of the story was cute, about how they met when they were a bit younger and about how both their families functioned. It was a really great set up for the future part of the story where they met again a few years down the road, but it just never clicked well for me. It was just like the chemistry wasn't there, and that the pacing was sort of strange. It felt like things were moving at a pretty fast clip with their relationship and how things progressed, but at the same time the book itself was progressing woefully slow. It bored me at times, and I just couldn't keep interested all the time.
I wish they had done more with Elliott's native heritage and how people treated him because of it. It got brought up when it was necessary for the plot, but the rest of the time felt pretty shunted aside. I didn't like that, and I wish that they had used that more and explored it a bit more in depth. I also started to dislike Catherine after awhile, because of her wishy-washy tendencies. She was a very yes-no-no-yes-yes-no type, and that became a bit grating.
I did like the ending though! It had an interesting plot twist that I didn't sort out beforehand, which is always appreciated. It was very M. Night Shyamalan, but I liked that about it and so it redeemed itself at the end!
All in all, it wasn't a bad book. Just a little to dull at times, and not enough of the stuff I wanted to see more of. ...more
**spoiler alert** I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand I did like the characters, even though I sometimes forgot they were so yo**spoiler alert** I'm not quite sure how I feel about this book. On one hand I did like the characters, even though I sometimes forgot they were so young because they somehow seemed older to me, but on the other hand it felt sort of rushed and disjointed as well despite enjoying the characters people. I'm not sure that makes much sense, but I promise it does in my head and I will now try to explain it!
I found the character of Casey to be fascinating, as not only is he transgender and transitioning at the young age of fourteen, but that he is also a female-to-male transition which I had never read before in YA lit. That's probably on me, I've only read a few books that feature transgender leads, but the few that I have read have all featured male-to-female transitions. So it was very interesting to read about it from another point of view, and to see Casey struggling with things from a different point of view. I felt for him a lot when it came to his desire to live with the other boys and to seamlessly fit in, while fighting with binders and dysphoria issues when it came to his body. I just felt for him a lot, especially when things started to go a bit south.
I appreciated the character of Ella as well, and the way she was struggling in her own ways in the background. Ryan was a very well written bully type too, using his "religion" as an excuse to be cruel to others, and to try and get out of trouble when his bullying went to far. I could see someone like that very easily in real life pushing a girl like Ella, who is asexual, into trying to date him and when she declines quickly labeling her as a freak. I can also see someone being cruel enough to want to trick Casey into dating a friend of his only to use that as a way to continue the cruelty. So even the bully character was well written.
The one flaw for me here was Gavin, who I didn't like much at all. I know that in the end he redeemed himself to Casey, but I didn't care for the way it all shook out. He put himself out there in front of the camp by being very public with Casey in a flirty, sexual sort of way, and then we find out that it started as a joke that Ryan was orchestrating. So maybe in the end Gavin wasn't going to help with the end result (which was beating up Casey), but I still didn't like it or that Casey ended up with him anyway. I also was a little put off by the ending, which felt rushed and to in a hurry to resolve everything very happily. That, for me, was the one big issue with this book. The time frame took place over just a couple of weeks, and at times it felt much longer and then by the end it all felt like it was to rushed.
All in all, this book is worth reading. It tells a good story from a not often seen perspective, and Gabriel Vidrine has a ton of potential! ...more
**spoiler alert** I was given a copy of this to review and WOW! Am I glad I got that email!
I love the world that Lea McKee has created with this stor**spoiler alert** I was given a copy of this to review and WOW! Am I glad I got that email!
I love the world that Lea McKee has created with this story, and I'm so glad to finally read part of book two! Especially after that cliffhanger ending in book one, damn!
While I enjoy most of the characters she has woven into the story, the two I enjoy the most besides Joanna are obviously Ace and Ethan. I'm a little bit distraught that our dear Ethan has been taken and that we haven't gotten him back yet.
Also, just saying, that Cash's betrayal in the last book was so perfect. That was just a really great little twist, and I really enjoyed that! Totally hate the guy, but it was still great!
Now I have to wait for part two of this, and that sucks! Gah! The wait will kill me!...more
I got the ARC for this, but somehow it never downloaded to my Kindle! Ended up purchasing it last night so I could finish and do a review, and wow! I I got the ARC for this, but somehow it never downloaded to my Kindle! Ended up purchasing it last night so I could finish and do a review, and wow! I was not disappointed! While reading this in parts was at time frustrating, I feel like it was worth it to get to experience the story first, and to get a chance to see the characters grow and evolve while having so much anticipation for what was coming next.
I really love a good dystopian tale, and more than that I love a non-happy ending. This delivered me both and left me really pleased! I'm glad I finally got the third installment, so that I could prepare for book 2!...more
**spoiler alert** I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I've liked quite a few of Abbi Glines past books, so**spoiler alert** I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I've liked quite a few of Abbi Glines past books, so I was excited to get an ARC for this one. I dove right in, and I think I've formed a pretty good idea of what I liked and didn't like about this one. Honestly I didn't like it as well as some of her past work, which was a little bit disappointing I must admit.
The front half of this book was enjoyable. I loved the backstory of the car accident, and how Crawford was in a coma (with little hope it seems, though his mother and Vale won't admit to it). I loved Vale's family, including her small army of protective brothers, and how she ultimately chose to do what's best for her and go to college. I even liked Slate, despite his silly name, and how that all built up.
It had the makings for a pretty good, if sappy, love story with a sad ending. Ultimately for me Crawford would have died, that would have all been wrapped up, and Vale would have continued on at college with Slate in her new life while letting go of her past all together without Crawford left to hold on to.
Then came the "big twist".
That really ruined the back half of the book for me. I felt it was sort of silly to make Vale the one who had really been in the coma, and the other players from her college life the doctors and nurses caring for her. Slate was just the guy who had been reading to her in her comatose state, and Crawford was kind of a douchebag absentee boyfriend sort. It took me out of the story I was enjoying, and made it far less enjoyable over all. The second part also seemed super rushed, which did not help matters at all.
I liked it, but only the first half. The rest felt...just not for me. Disappointing, but it won't keep me from coming back to her in the future. ...more
Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I wasn't sure how to feel about this book when I started it, but Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I wasn't sure how to feel about this book when I started it, but as the story evolved I found myself really enjoying it. I liked the characters, and I thought they were more or less very realistically portrayed. I know several young people with Autism, including some in my own family, and I thought that they didn't go over the top with it. It was very well done, and it was nice to see someone with that type of disability represented in a YA book.
I also liked how the family gravitated around her and her needs. It was very interesting to read, especially when it came to Brooke. While she made her fair share of mistakes, she was always trying to help her family and do the right thing. I also enjoyed the evolution of Brooke's relationship, and how that all played it. It didn't seem super sudden, and there was no "insta-love" feel to it which is something I always watch for in these types of stories.
I think that Julia Day did a wonderful job here, and I will definitely be looking at reading more of her work going forward. She's clearly a very good writer who did her research on what her topics of choice were, and I always appreciate that....more
Note: I received an eARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review!
This was a very well researched, written, and structured accounNote: I received an eARC of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review!
This was a very well researched, written, and structured account of the rise and fall of N.W.A. The author did hold on back when describing the lives of the Eazy-E, Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella, which was very refreshing. I appreciated that the story was gritty, honest, and true to the guys and where they came from. There was a lot of detail included that you don't really get in other mediums when hearing about N.W.A, such as on film, and it was nice that there were interviews and other information included to supplement the story.
The introduction of the book, about the hologram of Eazy-E at Rock The Bells in 2013, was very attention grabbing. It certainly sucked me in and made me want to read more. I really liked how the story focused on building up the lives of each individual group member too, before launching into the formation of the group and how they rose so quickly to fame. Reading about their decline is understandably not easy, especially as it peaks at the death of Eazy-E, but that just made it very gritty and real.
A must-read, I believe, for fans of the group or fans of early gangsta rap. ...more
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To put it bluntly: this was not great. It was actually a total letdownI received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
To put it bluntly: this was not great. It was actually a total letdown, and reading the reviews of others here tells me that my view on this particular book is not at all unfounded.
The story was, at best, a confusing hot mess. Not to mention it was all very repetitive by the end. I felt like Cory was constantly having the same conversations with the same people over and over again, and that those people were just giving her the same cryptic message in return. It got old pretty fast, and all I wanted were actual answers.
Technically, I did get those answers. They were just as muddled and entirely confusing for me as everything else. I just didn't find much about this book to like, honestly. I didn't care for the characters, the cliches buried everywhere, or the whole "mystery" and how silly it sort of seemed.
Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did, whichNote: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I wanted to like this book a lot more than I actually did, which is sad for me because it's not a bad story at all. It started out interesting, building up the dynamics between Maura, her younger sister, and her father. I liked that the father had a disability brought on my diabetes, which is not something you read about often, and it was nice to see the plot sort of revolving around that.
It all seemed to fall apart after that though. The relationship between Maura and Alex seemed to evolve rather fat, though the plot itself felt sort of slow. It was a strange juxtaposition, and I wasn't sure how to feel about it. I also couldn't quite follow the bits of plot with Maura's friend Elizabeth; that all felt sort of unnecessary to the rest of the plot.
The bones of a good story are there, I just think things need to be cleaned up a bit more. I really liked the ending though, I thought that was great and it really wrapped the story up nicely. I think a lot of people might find that ending upsetting, but not me. I love those sorts of endings, where things aren't perfect but still get wrapped up. So points for that!...more
Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I really liked the concept of this book, since it's not exactly Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I really liked the concept of this book, since it's not exactly typical subject matter in YA Lit. The idea of a girl who has survived a plane crash was just fantastic, and the setting made it all the more better. I was very interested in learning about her, her life, and why she was on the plane in the first place. Those are facts we do learn, but admittedly not until the book is nearly over.
We met our main character, Clementine, in the hospital after the accident. She has amnesia, and can't recall any events prior to the accident. She decides to call herself Jane, meets a young man named Keiran who claims to be volunteering, and very promptly leaves the hospital with him.
I don't think you need to have all your memories back in order to know that this is a bad idea. That threw me for a loop, that's for sure.
Anyway, I digress. They go to his family cabin, where he is very generous with his cash flow and in helping her. His sister is not so into it though, and keeps pushing Clementine (now going by Jane) to leave. Long story short there is a twist wherein Keiran knew the entire time who she was, and we do find out why she was on the flight. Toward the end her memories to start to flood back in just as she's preparing to return to Ohio with her father.
The ending saved this book for me, since there wasn't much to go on when piecing things together until then. It was another fast-love story up until that moment. The ending though, and all the different bits that came together, made it worth my time....more
Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I fully admit, openly and outright, that I really enjoyed this bNote: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
I fully admit, openly and outright, that I really enjoyed this book. I started reading it at work, which I should not have done considering the content, and I got so hooked I couldn't wait to finish it when I got home.
I am a huge hockey fan, so that was the angle that made me request this book for review in the first place. It's always been a sport of choice for me, and I love everything about the game. I appreciated that the writer changed the team names though, so you weren't imagining real players and taking yourself out of the story. Kudos for that angle! I also liked how she actually incorporated the game itself, and how she wrote about it. It's a nice change from just writing about the players without being inclusive of the sport itself.
The characters themselves were pretty engaging, and holy smut. If you like reading about a lot of kinky sex then this is the book for you! Hey, it was a hell of a lot better than 50 Shades of Gray so I say go for it!
I just liked it a lot, and I have no shame in it. Sometimes you just need something light and entertaining and this was it....more
Note: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Wow! I wasn't sure what I expected from this book when I requestNote: I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Wow! I wasn't sure what I expected from this book when I requested it on NetGalley, but it was better than I really could have anticipated it to be! I was more or less ready for the story of a girl with an artificial heart and whatever sadness that might entail, but this ended up teaching me a lesson in looking beyond face value (I usually know better anyway).
The part where she received her heart was a bit predictable, but the rest of it? Just really was something else! I loved the mystery aspect to it, and Matt's persistence in finding out what truly happened to Eric. All of the characters were strong, and the love story aspect felt very natural and real and sweet. I also loved how things culminated at the end, and that we didn't just get handed this perfect and neatly wrapped ending. That, to me, made it even better!
I had never heard of C.C. Hunter before this book, but I will certainly be looking at what else she has written. I really love her style, she has a great way with words, and if all of her characters are this engaging then I certainly want to read more by her!...more
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