Book Review: Dance with the Demon (Deals with Demons #2)

 

Dance with the Demon

Stacia Stark

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Dance with the Demon is the second installment of Danica's journey in the Deals with Demons universe. She's still bonded to Samael and has no way of knowing how to get out of it- to make matters worse the whole world now knows that she saved his life and she's being shunned for it. Her powers are also completely out of control and she has no way of knowing if her parentage has anything to do with it because she has never known her father and she's still on the hunt for her father's killer. 

Very mixed feelings with this book. On the one hand, it's entertaining and kept most of my attention till the end. On the other, the protagonist is so freaking wishy washy that it's driving me insane. I understand that she's been told to perceive demons a certain way and I wouldn't expect her to just jump into anything, but she basically did just jump into something and then tried to back out of it then jumped back in? I think that their relationship is a series of his manipulations and attempts at micromanaging her. Then the author backtracks and tries to justify it as the protag being strong-willed when it really feels more like she's being beaten into the ground. 

That's an aggressive read on it, like I said I did enjoy most of what was going on. I just think that it's really hard to manage such a large age difference without it seeming like total bullshit. I'll still be reading the next book in the series cause I do enjoy the premise, I just think we definitely need this bond to be absolved for their relationship to go anywhere.

 

 

Book Review: Bad Witch (Cat McKenzie #2)

 

Bad Witch

Lauren Dawes 

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Bad Witch is the second novel in the Cat McKenzie series, a paranormal detective book. Cat has come to terms with the fact that all supernaturals are not evil, even accepted that some of them are genuinely good people. That doesn't change the fact that she's more confused than ever about her parents' deaths and answers are in short supply. But witches are being murdered and she has a job to do, a job that once again threatens her personal safety and keeps her from said answers. 

I enjoyed this one more than the last because I felt like the main plot was actually driving stuff forward. There were witches being murdered and they were able to solve the mystery. I appreciated that it wasn't super predictable but it wasn't incredibly convoluted or hard to follow. The romance also heated up a lot and we definitely saw some serious development on that front. I do kind of resent the fact that the timeline is so short, I thought we were dealing with a lot more than two weeks. Like, you're telling me she dropped all her prejudices and started catching major serious feels for this dude in that short of a timeline? Kind of hard to imagine and I'm more of a fan of a slower burn. 

Still genuinely good though, exciting and building up to a bigger reveal on her identity and how that's going to factor in with her new romance. I'm looking forward to seeing more of these characters and their great teamwork.

 

Book Review: Bad Vampire (Cat McKenzie #1)

 

Bad Vampire

Lauren Dawes

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Bad Vampire is the first book following Cat McKenzie, the newest detective in the Paranormal Investigation unit. It's only been a few months since the supernatural world was revealed to the regular humans and society is still reeling. The Paranormal Unit is a new department used to bridge the gap and solve the crimes that the regular cops cannot. Cat is assigned to this unit as a punishment due to her failure to save her partner from a supernatural threat, but it's actually a little more complicated than it seems. 

It's an interesting premise and I'm a sucker for supernatural detective stories. My only complaint is that the vampire itself wasn't really all that much of a threat. When you see that the title includes it, you tend to expect it to be a bigger deal than a couple of references and the final boss battle. The whole way that the vampire was integrated into Cat's entire plot line felt just kind of weird and like it didn't really fit in with the rest of what was going on. 

All in all, I think it was pretty good but could've had more action. It might get better once we learn more about Cat's past and get a little more into the probable romance. I definitely liked it but I feel like I could have loved it.

 

Book Review: The Portrait of a Scarred Duke

 

The Portrait of a Scarred Duke

Patricia Haverton 

Overall: 2/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 1/5

Writing style: 2/5

Attention-grabbing: 2/5

I was in the serious mood for a regency romance and this book really just did not deliver what I was looking for. The Duke of Worthwood needs a portrait painted, a complicated endeavor for a man with a face like his. When his primary artist gets sick, he endorses the artist's daughter as the proper replacement. But the more time he spends with her, the more he comes to see her goodness and think that she maybe could be more than just his artist. 

It's bland, and that's on me for not recognizing it and reading it straight through. I wanted to give it a proper chance but it was dull all the way through. I think it had a decent starting premise but that there wasn't enough real conflict to give the book any substance. We didn't even really get the conflict of heart as the duke had to make the decision to marry for love rather than position. I don't really think a commoner could marry a duke with as little fuss as what was created through their match. So it wasn't authentic to the period and it was just disappointing. 

It wasn't the worst regency romance I've ever read and maybe I'm being too harsh on it, I just didn't find it super entertaining or enjoyable.

Book Review: Dark Curse (Dragon Bound #2)

Dragon Bound

Annika West

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

I'm way behind on writing reviews and I read this a couple of weeks ago so my take is a little out of date. This is the second book in the Dragon Bound series. Aster remains Huxley's "employee" despite her emerging magic and newly discovered powers. She's at odds with herself, she's always been a Cut and now people are trying to tell her she's more. While trying to figure our her heritage and who she really is, they're also dealing with an army of undead witches and warlocks. It's really a full time gig. 

Not much super notable. I thought that the matching marks thing was cute but predictable and it's kind of weird that there are all different kinds of shifters and yet the dragons are the ones who will fit so easily into her new heritage. I thought the culmination of their relationship was fun but I also think it needs a lot more conversation than what went on in that brief scene. Looking forward to them actually dealing with their problems a bit in the next. 

So yeah, I'm late to the review party but I appreciated it and I think I'll probably read the third at some point. It's a very classic PNR but it has all the elements that can keep you entertained.

Book Review: The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1)

 

The Bridge Kingdom

Daniel L. Jensen

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

The Bridge Kingdom is the first in an enemies-to-lovers series covering a forced marriage scenario between a king and a princess. Lara has prepared her entire life for the potential eventuality of being the bride of a king. Along with a whole huge group of her other sisters who have consistently been her allies and enemies. After staging a masterful plan to guarantee this marriage, she knows that without bringing the kingdom to its knees she will never have her freedom. But Aren is different from anyone she's ever met, and she can't help but start to consider the possibility that her father may have been preparing them for a scenario that doesn't quite exist. 

This book isn't bad by any measure, it's just incredibly basic. It relies completely on what people want to see from a book of this vein. Probably pulled up a list of enemies to lovers tropes and just figured out how to integrate them in the most cohesive manner. While that can work for some books, I would  have liked to see some actually growth and development in the plot of the novel. Things were picked up and dropped left and right, and the main characters were very obviously invested in one another from the start to finish. It was obvious and it wasn't even all that cinematic.

I didn't hate it, I might read the second one but I feel as though I know exactly how it would end. If you want an enemies to lovers with a betrayal I think that Winner's Curse is much better and this is more a cheap amalgamation of everything that came before it. That might just be my disappointment cause it was hyped up for years and when I finally got it it was weak, but it really could've done so much more.

 

Book Review: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls #1)

 

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Hank Green

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is Hank Green's debut novel, and despite this book's 2018 release date (and maybe I'm projecting my expectations) but it definitely took me back to 2012. Carl is street art that April May stumbles upon late one night, and as the discoverer and YouTube originator she gains a certain amount of fame. But then they figure out that there's a lot more to Carl than street art and bam it's no longer contemporary it's science fiction and nothing is making sense and they have the course of a book to try to figure it out. 

Starting with the negatives: April May is a horrible person. I really disliked her from start to finish. She isn't loyal to her friends and definitely not to her girlfriend or any of her love interests. She complains constantly about undiagnosed psychological issues that are preventing her from doing so but frankly she just seems like the kind of person who is very much used to instant gratification. She's not a celebrity persona but she can handle paparazzi and interviews like a champ. Despite giving us a detailed commentary on why she can do so and how this is destroying her, we don't really see that playing out in live time. We're just told why she's being exploited and I didn't really feel it on the page. 

The best parts of the book occurred in the final 20 percent- the first 80 percent was pretty boring. I was like I don't even know this is a one star read until we got to the action of the ending and heard some more about what the Carls actually were. I think that Hank Green did a good job of keeping us interested while giving us nearly no information on them. The Carls were much better characters than April May was, because again she was complete trash. 

I think I'll probably read the sequel because like I said, there's so much still on the table even without considering the huge cliffhanger which the book ended on. It wasn't my favorite read ever but it definitely had a lot going on it (in that last 20 percent exclusively).

 

Book Review: Dark Hunt (Dragon Bound #1)

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

The first book in the Dragon Bound series starts off strong with the protagonist losing literally all of her personal autonomy. As a Cut, Aster has learned to go through life expecting the minimum. Being part of a marginalized group doesn't exactly entitle you to expecting a fair trial. And when she's set up for destroying something she has no possible means of repaying, her choices are multiple lifetimes in prison or indentured employment for an individual whom the world generally views as corrupt. Her choice was a pretty obvious one. 

I liked the idea of Cuts- kind of like glitchy magic-types that don't fit into cookie cutter molds of magical perfection. I think Aster built off of the trauma of never belonging decently, though she didn't have to reflect upon it quite so often. Her character got to the point where it was like 75 percent complaining about being an outcast everywhere she goes and 25 percent new development. Not entirely horrible for a first in the series as long as there's development. 

But I think it was pretty decent. Obviously her very convenient facial mark is going to come into play and her father is definitely not who she thinks it is but like it is what it is. I hope we get to see some more unexpected plot elements and some great growth in all the characters.

Book Review: Black Arts, White Craft (Black Hat Bureau #2)

 

Black Arts White Craft

Hailey Edwards

Overall: 5/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Black Arts White Craft is the second book in the Black Hat Bureau series narrated from the perspective of Rue, a reformed Black Witch. Black Witches in this universe feed off the powers of others. They eat hearts and they're stronger for it. White Witches pull magic from themselves and though they are weaker, they tend to live lives much less determined by their urges. Rue is the child of both and could have gone either way. After a fifty year stint as a Black Witch, circumstances forced her to the White side where she gained a ward and a new life. Her old life is once again encroaching and despite her desire to stay away from it, she might have to reveal things better kept secret.

The first book I was like desperate for romance and thought that the protagonists were keeping such a far distance from one another. This one was a lot more on the romance side of things so I'm pretty satisfied with where that's going. But these books are so freaking short that we only got a teaspoon of the backstory that was hinted at with the epilogue of the first book. I think the little plot twist about her heritage was fun and unexpected, definitely drove it all towards more of a Hailey Edwards book. 

I'm really excited for the third book in this series, I think that there's a ton of potential and that I can't wait to actually meet her grandfather and his father and have a super fun and quirky family gathering. I also think that the magic is super unique and weird and has lots of room to grow. There's really no way it could go wrong.

 

 

Book Review: Speak of the Demon (Deals with Demons #1)

Speak of the Demon

Stacia Stark

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Speak of the Demon is the first book in the Deals with Demons series that's dual-narrated by Danica and Samael. She's a witch and he's a demon, she's also a bounty hunter who has a lot of beef with demons so there relationship has that very typical flawed base. When she's caught breaking his rules in his territory, he binds her to service and tasks her with hunting a murderer. There's obviously a lot of conflict on that front but more tension than anything else for their unspoken unbreakable and inexplicable bond. 

The main problem with the story is how little it's separated from any other book in the same kind of genre. Nothing original happens with the plot and nothing amazing happens to make me love the characters. It was alright but forgettable. Not poorly written, but not inspirational either. I didn't have all that many problems with it aside from the cringey moments, but it didn't have anything super special. 

I think I would still read a sequel when it comes out though because I think it has potential to be more interesting if we get some more insight into Danica's backstory. Right now, she has that super typical single parent life with a mystical probably all-powerful father that kind of just falls into the norm for this genre. But wasn't bad enough that I don't think it couldn't later grab my interest.

 

Book Review: Delivering Evil for Experts (The Guild Codex: Demonized #4)

 

Delivering Evil for Experts

Annette Marie

Overall: 5/5

Plot and themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Okay I'm incredibly biased I don't know how well-written this whole series was especially on the rise and fall of the conflict but the romance was done impeccably. It was a slower burn than what you would typically expect from a PNR but it was definitely worth the wait. This is the fourth book in the Demonized series, Zylas and Robin are attempting to prevent the opening of a portal and potential enslavement of the entire demon race while also trying to break the existing curse upon demons. Simultaneously, they're dealing with the eventuality of their separation and the differences which plague any potential relationship they might form. 

I have gotten bullied so much already for liking this pairing because of their obvious differences but frankly the author handles it so well. We don't just jump into anything and even when we see them together, we do so knowing the considerations that have gone into it on both sides. The ultimate message of individuality and self-love and development really hit me too. It's just really expertly done and really had me in all the feels. 

The plot itself and conflict aside from the relationship is good but more forgettable than the romance and relationship is. I liked the series a lot but I could recognize the flaws in that element. I'm still recommending it, once you get past the weirdness of it it's honestly the cutest thing.

 

Book Review: Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (The Guild Codex: Demonized #3)

 

Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped

Annette Marie

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 5/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

This is the third book in the Demonized part of the Guild Codex universe following the adventures of Robin and Zylas. Despite being a bit filler-ish as a middle book in the series, this book definitely provides a lot to the development of the original character arcs and their ultimate resolution. 

I love everything that was happening- so much that I immediately went ahead and read the conclusion. Only thing I was a little dissatisfied with was the introduction of Ezra, his whole character is completely confusing to me. I don't think he was developed enough to become as instrumental to the plot as he almost immediately did. This definitely isn't a reason not to read just something that confused me. 

But totally recommend this series. It's fun and quirky and has a lot of stuff that you know and love from a PNR. I think it also doesn't focus too hard on the building romance, you see a lot of the relationship build as a mutual partnership prior to any actually romance. Zylas and Robin completely carry the series but I'm not complaining.

Book Review: Slaying Monsters for the Feeble (The Guild Codex: Demonized #2)

Slaying Monsters for the Feeble

Annette Marie

Overall: 5/5

Plot and themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Slaying Monsters for the Feeble is the second book in the Demonized series and like the ninth in the Guild Codex universe. Robin and Zylas have made a couple of deals with one another centering around her protection and his return to the demon realm. But there's more than just a contract between them, they have the abilities to work magic that neither has ever heard of before and the mystery is getting a lot more complicated than just figuring out the specifics of Summoning. 

I'm really loving this book and these characters. I think that everything is really being given the attention it deserves and nothing is just happening instantly or without consideration. Robin hasn't practiced magic for pretty much her whole life and that shows in her ability to use it, but she's also very driven and practical about it. There's also the whole cultural difference thing between her and Zylas and they really manage that on a case by case basis. But they take the time to talk it out (most of the time) and I think it really creates an interesting bond between them. There's real substance to the argument that humans haven't put the time in to really understand demons and vice versa and you can see that through their interactions. 

Yeah I'm loving the plot and the characters and the building romance. I think that the rest of the series has a lot of potential but I've really loved it so far and totally understand what's going on. It has a lot of solid lore and a lot of sold development through and through.

Book Review: Taming Demons for Beginners (The Guild Codex: Demonized #1)

 

Taming Demons for Beginners

Annette Marie

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Taming Demons for Beginners is the first in a PNR set in The Guild Codex universe. Robin's parents passed away a few short months ago and she's desperate for her inheritance- not the money but the precious artifacts that her and her mother bonded over. She's staying with her uncle to try to convince him to relinquish them but has a tough time making herself heard. When she begins to communicate with a demon, she finds herself as an unlikely contractor and has to figure out how to defend herself from the forces that want to use him while preserving her heritage. 

I really liked this book- so much so that I immediately downloaded and finished the second and most of the third and have to be really careful about spoilers in the review. I think that Robin is a pretty relatable character, she has problems with anxiety and doing things for herself but she still has certain morals that she's unwilling to back down from. The integration of Zylas into the normal human world is also really funny and great to watch, I think it's a nice balance between the obvious culture shock and someone who is trying to learn how to adapt to changing circumstances. They're also just both pretty authentic to the characteristics set out for them at the start of the book and they don't compromise themselves. 

It was a bit overdone at points and a little hard to believe but honestly, a great read overall. I'm completely recommending it and I think it's way overrated.