Book Review: Dance with the Sword (Bluebeard's Secret #2)

Dance with the Sword

Sarah K.L. Wilson

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 2/5

Dance with the Sword is the second book in the Bluebeard's Secret series, books that revolve around Bluebeard and his wife Izolda. It's a combination of the tale of Bluebeard and maybe Howl's Moving Castle? Along with a bunch of other really random and quirky references throughout the story. 

I unfortunately liked the first book in this series a lot more than I liked this one. Where it was interesting in book one, it was overdone in book two. I was really pushing myself to get to the end and it felt a lot lengthier than the 300 pages that it was. It might have had to do with the pacing, we were building up so much the whole time with so much happening that even the significance of the ending just felt like another dramatic event in a long series of them. I did appreciate the romantic progression but I also feel like we haven't seen much development on that front. I hate betrayal plot lines because it's like they're turning their back on something that's important but it kind of feels justified here? There's not a lot of teamwork and while a lot of things are being said, I'm not really seeing them in action. 

So it was decent, I might read another book but honestly I'm more bored at this point than anything else. It's not great pacing and it's not holding my interest to the point that I think 300 more pages would be interesting.

Book Review: Rules of Redemption (The Firebird Chronicles #1)

Rules of Redemption

T.A. White

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Rules of Redemption is the first book in a romantic space opera. Let me tell you, I thought I wasn't a fan of sci-fi but really I'm just not a fan of sci-fi books that don't follow the foolproof romantic fantasy chosen one progression of events cause I was loving this. Kira has never known a family, she was rescued from a facility designed to experiment on her and then was funneled directly to the military. She's spent the past decade trying to make a life for herself as a loner and a scavenger. Until she saves some kids and she finds out she has a much more significant heritage than she could have ever imagined. 

Aside from some editing issues in this book that really frustrated me, it was set up for a perfect introduction. We've got drama, we've got romance, and we've got secrets still waiting to be revealed. It's told in dual POVs, Kira and Graydon, a soldier for an Emperor of a very powerful alien race. I love it because it has everything I'm looking for to be easily entertained yet continuously intrigued. 

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the sequel because I'm really just struggling for answers here. I'm glad it's fully released but I think I might have to make some purchases because I don't know how I'll wait. As long as you're not super intense about spelling or grammatical errors, totally recommend this for people who are big fans of the best romantic fantasy tropes along with a well-paced plot line.

Book Review: Bad Wolf (Cat McKenzie #4)

Bad Wolf

Lauren Dawes

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Bad Wolf is the fourth installment in the Cat McKenzie series, following the lone human in the Paranormal Investigations unit. She used to hate the supernaturals, she's come to her senses and is now dating one. Life would be perfect if it weren't for all the random monsters and people who are constantly setting their sights on murdering her. 

I like how quirky the characters are. I have a bit of an issue with the pacing of the romance. I love to see how naturally they work together to like host parties or be like a functioning couple aside from supernatural chaos but I also think we've gotten to that point way too fast. The characters have only known each other for like a month and we have this level of intimacy? Hard to follow. Also, I really need them to both get more background on one another cause we really know nothing and it's frustrating. 

The plot line on this one is also a bit sketchy. I don't like delving into Native stories and then manipulating them to the extent which we see here. I don't think it was intended to be rude but I think it could have been phrased a bit better. It didn't destroy the narrative, but it definitely left me feeling a little like we had missed the mark here.

Still enjoying the series and looking forward to when the next one comes out though. Cat and Sawyer are really just the perfect amount of cool and weird and I need to see some real explanations behind it all.

Book Review: Alpha Magic (The New York Shade #4)

Alpha Magic

D.N. Hoxa

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

This is the final book in the New York Shade part of this world, the closing to Sin and Damian's story. The Uprising is brutally set on ending her, either via exposing her or via death whichever comes first. When she gets put in the most danger she's really ever been in, she has to figure out a way to save herself and those around her. 

I'd say this is a pretty solid conclusion. It has it's problems just like anything else but honestly it ended things in a way that leaves things open while still tying everything up. I wish we had seen some more open communications but you win some you lose some. I really liked the way we resolved the whole her-survival-is-a-crime thing cause it stays authentic to the idea that she's still illegal but also leaves room for a realistic solution.

Not much to say, I think I might even read the sequel series just because I like the way that magic is build and the way she writes characters but also we'll see. It took me forever to crack this review out too so I've mostly mellowed past any issues I may have had with it.

Book Review: Immortal Magic (The New York Shade #3)

Immortal Shade

D.N Hoxa

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Sin has unique magical gifts that puts her into unique magical situations... most of which include someone trying to arrest or kill her. She saved her best friend from a life time of magical dampening but at the expense of that friend's safety. Now, she has to figure out how to protect her, avoid Damian, and how this is all related to the Uprising.

This is the third book in the New York Shade series, and you'd think after having nearly three books together maybe Sin and Damian would know how to communicate with each other. But also if you thought that you're literally dead wrong because they would rather die than talk an issue out.  The ending of this book is particularly frustrating cause like there is modern technology in this book so why can't we pick up phones and talk to people??? It seems so obvious yet is so difficult. 

A decent addition, still a fun series to read. But these middle books are more frustrating than anything else from the romance perspective. A ton of backtracking and a truly circular narrative. The actual conflict is cool but could also use some more development. I don't hate it but it's not crazy unique.

Book Review: Stolen Magic (The New York Shade #2)

Stolen Magic

D.N. Hoxa

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Stolen Magic is the second book in the New York Shade series following Sin and Damian as they try to root out the real basis of this Uprising so set on ruining everything. Sin hasn't heard from Damian in months though, and she's pretty sure that he kind of holds her attempted murder against her and she's learning to be okay with that. But when he drops back in she has to figure out where this is really going. 

I accidentally got behind on reviews and finished this series before writing this review so I'm biased. This one is kind of boring because you get the back and forth of Sin and Damian just being annoyed at each other for different things that's really just the baseline epitome of the miscommunication trope. Her brother is completely out of the picture and it's just a weird balance of trying to integrate regular life into their quirky magic circumstances. 

Had mixed feelings about the introduction of another possible love interest, Damian and Sin have a kind of instalove story so competition is fun but also I don't think it's really challenging their relationship to authentically develop. I do like the werewolves though and I'm all in all not mad. It was just very much a filler novel, not detrimental to the series but not as exciting as the first.

Book Review: Magic Thief (The New York Shade #1)

Magic Thief

D.N. Hoxa

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Magic Thief is the first book in the New York Shade series. Sin has been trying to live under the radar since she faked her magic for her Guild test when she was ten. If they knew what she really was, she would have been killed then and now. Now, a vampire is threatening to expose her and her brother if she doesn't find an amulet for him. They make an unlikely team but they're both determined to release themselves from their respective cages. 

I was very close to just putting it down and DNFing because it wasn't super interesting at the beginning. I think it really balanced itself out though and made for a great introduction. I love when there are powers like hers because I'm a huge fan of the overpowered female protagonist and her powers are definitely OP. I also very much appreciate how Damian completely acknowledges this and just goes on his way. 

So it was a great start. Not much to say about a book when there aren't major issues. Though I would appreciate if we got a little more depth on everyone involved. I think later it'll feel a lot more solid as a book series and hopefully a lot more exciting.

Book Review: The Guest List

The Guest List

Lucy Foley

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

The Guest List is your typical murder mystery who-dunnit type story. A celebrity wedding on a rural island out in the middle of nowhere packed with guests bringing all kinds of baggage. Julia just wants her perfect happy ever after and Will is the perfect groom. Her sister Olivia just wants to get away. Charles is Jules' best friend and married to Hannah, the unfortunate plus one. While Johnno is the childhood bestie who can't seem to catch a break. All of them combined with the wedding planner, Aoife, make for an interesting and random group of chaotic individuals. 

I think that the beginning was kind of hard to get into and the pacing was off across the board. We were obviously trying to hold the reveal off till the very end to be more dramatic, but it just made for a whole lot of boring and pointless exposition at the beginning. I love reading books like this for the way that all the elements combine into something convoluted and impossibly complicated at the end, and while this book nailed that, we could have done with a lot less of the attempted red herrings. 

I was also mad about the ending. I think that considering all of the tedious introduction we should have gotten a bit more insight into the consequences of each of the characters' actions. Without spoiling anything, I feel like we got the reveal and then we got kicked off the set. That was disappointing for me as I was more invested in the arcs of the characters rather than just the act of the murder. I don't know if I would never recommend it to anyone, but it's definitely not the best mystery ever.

Book Review: Night Watch (Soul Reader #1)

Night Watch

Annie Anderson

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 2/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Night Watch is the first in an urban fantasy series following the life of Sloane Cabot, a recently resurrected blood drinker who can't really seem to catch a break. First, she wakes up at the foot of her and her parents' grave with no memory of how she got there. Then she finds out that she requires blood to survive, which also is occasionally accompanied by the need to eat souls. And the supernatural police force also has a bounty on her head. 

Not the worst book ever of course, but also a bit forgettable. The characters were fun but could have been developed more or given deeper backstories. I'm sure they have more in them but at this point I don't really know anything about any of them. While the vampire-ish thing was quirky, I'm not really understanding how her specific combo of parents makes her have fangs and need blood. I can sort of understand the soul eater thing, but where does the vampire part come in? 

The romance is okay too, again not super memorable. She also has that vampire trait of inspiring complete devotion without being a vampire. It also just seems so convenient. You expect a certain degree of convenience with these novels but like the fact that she's been a hunter for a year and she just happened to kill the pack that killed this other vampire's kid and just happened to reveal that during the course of an argument? I just didn't like the things like that. So bottom line, not the worst but nothing special.

Book Review: Entranced (Prince of the Doomed City #1)

Entranced

Sylvia Mercedes

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Entranced is another book by Sylvia Mercedes, a bit of a slow start to a brand new series featuring a previous character. Clara is an Obligate to the fae, she has been assigned 15 years of indentured servitude as penance for a crime she does not remember. The rest of the human world ages on but she is trapped, far away from her friends and her childhood sweetheart and forced to serve in a mystical library. After an attack by a powerful creature, her Obligation changes hands and she is once again thrown into an unknown world. 

I wasn't a big fan of the romance in this book. There wasn't a lot of chemistry and I don't really see how it can build up in a realistic way. I was also just disappointed to see the outcome of two characters I really liked from another novella. Maybe it will be better in the next book and I'll get more closure but it's like we got a great little love story only to end like this? I really wasn't satisfied. 

Not much else to say, I think it was interesting but really not super invested and it was hard for me to get through to the end. Her crime was pretty freaking obvious to me but I guess it'll be explained away as unintentional or something in the next book. I think that it was a lot of drama without a lot of back up and I don't know if I'm a big fan.  

Book Review: Bad Fae (Cat McKenzie #3)

Bad Fae

Lauren Dawes

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Bad Fae is the third book in the Cat McKenzie series. Cat is really getting into the rhythm of the supernatural, she's ditched her biases and is really thriving working with Sawyer. That is until a fae makes it his personal mission to murder her and she has to ditch constant assassination attempts. Plus, things have really heated up with Sawyer but her trust issues are preventing her from making a full commitment. 

I liked Cat, I think she's a good amount of quirky. Sawyer balances her out too and I think it's great how he's not this disconnected angsty dude. You really see the effort he's putting in. I'm also a sucker for the books where the guy gets obsessed first cause you know that's real fantasy. I did have a bit of an issue with her obsession with unicorns, it felt a little too babyish and off considering we already have the age difference here. But I'll let it slide unless it gets super weird in the next one. 

I'm still liking the series though and I'm excited to get into the next one though I've been delaying because I haven't made time to write this short little review. I want to see their relationship develop and I'm really hoping for a thriving dynamic duo.

 

Book Review: The Storm of Echoes (The Mirror Visitor #4)

 

The Storm of Echoes

Christelle Dabos

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

The Storm of Echoes is the fourth and final book in the Mirror Visitor series. It's been a long wait for the translated works to be released, and a big shout out to NetGalley for getting me an ARC so that I could enjoy it prior to its release date. Ophelia and Thorn have been through a lot during the course of their tumultuous relationship, their ultimate challenge being to basically decode the meaning and fundamental creation of the world as they know it. This book is a series of convoluted twists and turns, and if you're anything like me it'll take you twice as long to read because you'll constantly have to flip back to reread section that have transcended your level of comprehension. 

When I went to write this review, I noticed that the average score is somewhat low. I understand that from a non-biased perspective there are a lot of things happening and the paragraphs are dense and hard to follow. I think that the plot kind of got away from me at points and I had to go back and make sure I was following. If I hadn't done nearly a complete reread in the past couple of months, I don't know if I would have been able to follow the characters that kept popping up from all over the chronology of the series. 

But I think that it's supposed to feel like a fever dream. Ophelia and Thorn want to understand the basis of their universe but they really have no idea. It's like if you tried to jump down a rabbit hole of theoretical psychology and philosophy. I don't completely understand it and I'll definitely need a reread to have a more solid grasp on it, but I think that the ultimate message of the whole series was definitely closed out nicely. 

I'm still recommending this series despite the lack of fulfillment which I derived from the ending. I'm not saying it was disappointing to the integrity of the universe, but disappointing to what I'm always looking for and striving to get as a reader. I won't spoil anything with that, I still appreciate the way it ended, but I really hope that someday down the line we see more of them. Ophelia holds up as one of my all-time favorite protagonists and it's really bittersweet to think that this is the end of her story. 

Thank you again to NetGalley and Europa Editions for giving me the ARC, hoping to see more great things by Christelle Dabos in the future!

 

Book Review: Untamed Fate (Magic Side: Wolf Bound #2)

Untamed Fate

Veronica Douglas

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

Untamed Fate is the second book in the Wolf Bound part of the Magic Side universe. A few weeks ago, Savy had no idea that magic existed. Now she has to deal with her shadow magic combined with some other... unforeseen events. Combined with the shadow man who keeps invading her dreams and the dreams of those around her and she has quite a bit to deal with. 

I don't think I liked this one as much as I liked the first one. Where we got a lot of build-up in the first book and kind of hints at a bigger picture, this one had us diving straight in headfirst. Savannah was a little bit harder to like, and there was an incredible amount of back and forth that could have been easily solved with a bit of surface level investigative work. Like, Jaxson is going to talk about the importance of family and everything but isn't going to talk about the possibility of her heritage? It seems like very deliberate ignorance of the most obvious solution. 

But I still think it's a well-written book with a lot of great plot points. I'm excited to see how the next book pulls us deeper into the world. I just hope that we get more background and less of the obvious delays.