Book Review: European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #2)

 

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

Theodora Goss

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman picks up a couple weeks after the first book in this series. All of the members of the Athena Club are settling nicely into their new lives. They're working, they're making money, and they're figuring out how to live with their forced abilities.  Until they receive a message from Mary's old governess saying that there's a girl in need who could have been the product of her father's experimentation. So they galvanize themselves and go to her rescue. 

I love the lore of this series. It's basically fanfiction of horror novels of the 1800s, written about their "children" or the products of their experimentation. I love the personalities of each of the girls, they each bring so much to the table and make such a fun and quirky team. My biggest issues with this novel was the pacing, there were so many dull points where it was just droning on. I don't think it really needed to be the full 720 pages, quite a few pieces could have been cut while keeping the integrity of the plot. 

Also, because of who I am, I'm just desperate for the romances. Beatrice got her moments in this book which I appreciated and we're setting it up for something for Justine too. But what I really want is Mary and Sherlock and all I'm getting are CRUMBS. That cliffhanger at the end took me out, and the little allusions to it through the edits that the girls are adding as the book progresses are killing me. But also good for the series, because this one small element has me in a chokehold and is really pushing me to finish the third book. 

So yeah, I'm still recommending the books. I think they're great historical fictions with kind of a paranormal element that you don't see everywhere. I wouldn't be mad if this was an ongoing mystery kind of series where they just solve a new murder every book, but I can see how it's coming to a close in book three.

 

Book Review: Bound by Flames (Night Prince #3)

 

Bound by Flames

Jeaniene Frost

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Cause I'm still reading these books at this point, I'm obviously desensitized to the horrible cover images. If you see me reading these in real life no you most certainly did not. But yes, Bound by Flames is the third book in the Night Prince series. It starts with a bit of a time jump, we have Leila struggling to get a handle on her vampiric upgrades. We see Vlad struggling to get his medieval views on women in order. Mostly we're just seeing two people trying to adapt to married life while one is also trying to adapt to being undead. 

The biggest issue with this series is how everything feels so forced and predictable. It's like, in book two Vlad kept warning Leila to stop messing with people or else she would end up a ghoul or a vampire and then bam plot twist she kept messing with people and ended up a vampire. A similar situation happened in this book, no spoilers though. If I wasn't such a sucker for that whole trope then I would probably have rated it even lower but also I'm very predictable in what I enjoy. 

This one kind of putters off towards the end. It's not exciting as the other two and I don't feel as motivated to start the fourth. We'll see if I finish off strong with this series or it falls into the evergrowing category of series which I read most of.

 

Book Review: Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1)

 

Flame in the Mist 

Renée Ahdieh

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Flame in the Mist is the first book in a YA fantasy romance series. I've been holding off on reading it because I wasn't a big fan of The Wrath and the Dawn, the first book I read by Ahdieh. But I definitely think this one was a lot more fun and creative. It's about a girl, Mariko, who survives an assassination attempt on the way to her wedding. She wants revenge, so she dresses up like a boy to infiltrate the group that tried to kill her. 

It's very basic and predictable in many ways and ultimately leaves the impression of enjoyable but forgettable. I didn't mind anything about it but I don't think it's super distinguishable from any of the recent enemies-to-lover style fantasy romances. The different perspectives should have added depth but they maybe just confused the narrative. I was completely checked out during Kenshin's chapters and had gotten a little bored by the big reveal. It's not the worst ever, it definitely had its moments, but it was a little repetitive. 

I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel, but I had a good time with what was here and it's not super long or anything. Would probably be better for someone more into YA.

 

Book Review: Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2)

 

Twice Tempted

Jeaniene Frost

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Let's hear it again for unfortunate covers. I can't the longer you look at it the more unfortunate it looks (check that random ass bat flying in the corner). But this book pretty much maintains the same pacing and general plot points as the first one. Evil vampires and good vampires, mostly Vlad stabbing a lot of people, and a nice balance of romantic interactions. We also get a one-protagonist-thinks-the-other-is-dead moment so that's fun.

I appreciate the vibe of this book series. It knows what it is, but it makes strides to not be so overwhelmingly cliche about it. It was kind of insta-love, so we throw in a breakup and some "competition" without it being too distracting from the story. I respect it. It's obviously not perfect but it's definitely entertaining. The transition to vampirism was a little anticlimatic, but also how do you make something like that feel like it's the right time for it.

So yeah it's good, it gets a little boring at times but it still has it's moments where it feels like a really great series. At the very least it'll make you want to read the next. Unless you lose your mind with how pushy Vlad is and how stupid Leila can be, but I think it really works with the plot.

 

Book Review: Once Burned (Night Prince #1)

 

Once Burned

Jeaniene Frost

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

I would like to start by begging authors not to do this for their book covers. It just looks like zero thought went into it, I read it anyways but like also please don't. That being said, it's a pretty interesting book. Leila has spent most of her life being ostracized by her family and her peers after a downed power line gave her voltage and psychic abilities. When she gets kidnapped for those abilities, she meets a vampire who helps her out and shows her that they could truly be strengths. 

This is about Vlad and Leila- Vlad as in Vlad the Impaler AKA Dracula. It's a funny twist on a classic, he's brutal but also this is a paranormal vampire romance so it's just the right combination. I appreciate Leila cause she's super powerful but also still vulnerable to overloads and weaknesses. Sometimes the writing doesn't totally click, but it's still pretty funny and creative. 

I don't have a ton to say on this one because they're so addictive that I've already read three of them. I think it's great if you love vampire romances that are a bit grittier and more adult than anything in YA but with that same kind of humor.

Book Review: People We Meet on Vacation

 

People We Meet on Vacation

Emily Henry

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

They met at college orientation, they clicked at the end of their freshman year and they were inseparable best friends for ten years after that. They took vacations together every summer, until one year when it all went wrong. Now, they haven't spoken in two years and Poppy has had a hard time feeling happy like she once did. But she's finally decided she's not giving up without a fight, and she invites Alex to go on another vacation with her, one where they can hopefully fix everything that went wrong two years ago. 

Books that flip between the past and the present always give me anxiety. If there are two things I don't like in contemporary romances it's second-chance-romances and the miscommunication trope, this book had heaps of both. The conflict is built and built and built, you find yourself wondering what could have possibly gone wrong two years ago to destroy a friendship that was so strong and built on so many wonderful experiences? Then it all kind of falls flat. As a real person, maybe it would be easy to see where the disconnect was. As an omniscient reader, Poppy and Alex both seemed like a couple of hypocritical idiots. I didn't see the point of all the drama, I didn't see the point of all the heartbreak. 

I liked the banter, I thought Poppy and Alex worked really well together. Which I think was the whole point, there was no conflict at all on that front because they felt flirtatious and romantically involved with one another from the start. Their relationships with other people felt superfluous and kind of weird. I liked the explanation of how they got where they were going and the beauty of their friendship shifting into something else but the "hurdles" felt like they would drive me absolutely insane if I knew them in real life. I think it was entertaining and it definitely will be remembered, it just seemed like a lot of drama for no real reason except to cause drama.

 

Book Review: The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter (The Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club #1)

 

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter

Theodora Goss

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter is sort of a mystery-urban fantasy-historical fiction hybrid set right at the turn of the twentieth century. The protagonists take turns reflecting upon the twists and turns of their lives as the daughters of some of the most iconic creators of monsters from the horror novels of the 1800s. This is backed through the tales of their current mysteries, fighting as a squad of female detectives backed by Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. 

It's such an interesting combo of characters. They all reflect so nicely upon one another, filling in the gaps where they each fall short and developing into such a nice team. The mystery is fun, the action is quick-paced, and you find yourself being sidetracked constantly by their arguments during the editing stages of the novel. That's what makes this book even more unique, it's backed by a series of dialogue as the main characters are writing about the events of their past in order to get sell it to fund current exploits. It's fun especially because you know that all of the narrators are going to make it to the end of the book but you get little hints of what's to come as the book progresses. 

I think it's cool and quirky and has a lot of potential to grow into a truly interesting mystery series. I'm also very much holding out for a romance between Sherlock and Mary, I choose to ignore the age difference in favor of loving how awkward they are with each other but how well they work as a unit. I'm excited to see how it all plays out.

 

 

Book Review: Six Crimson Cranes (Six Crimson Cranes #1)

 

Six Crimson Cranes

Elizabeth Lim

Overall: 5/5

Plot and themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing style: 5/5

Attention-grabbing: 5/5

Six Crimson Cranes is the latest and greatest by Elizabeth Lim, author of Spin the Dawn. And just like I loved that duology, this one quickly shaped itself into one of my favorite reads of 2021. It has everything you could possibly want: evil stepmothers, forbidden magic, confusing romances, and character growth. 

Shiori thinks life can't get much worse than her imminent forced marriage to a "barbarian of the third rank" which will force her to move far from the family she adores. But then, she discovers that her stepmother is in possession of powerful and illegal magic and her stepmother curses her and her brothers as penance. Now, she is forced into silence without even her own hidden magic to console herself. She is unidentifiable, and people say that the bowl on her head is a sign of demons. Her brothers don't have it much better, forced to turn into cranes at night and forbidden from returning to the castle. With the assistance of the betrothed whom she thought she would hate and a recently befriended dragon, it's up to Shiori to break the curse and save her family. 

It made me cry. Books that make me cry always hold a special place in my heart and this one is no different. It had the right balance of adventure, romance, magic, and plot twists that kept me hooked basically from beginning to end. The end which was a cliffhanger that will probably keep me up at night and anxiously waiting for the sequel. I also liked the consistency that it had with Spin the Dawn, obviously not the same book at all but some of the same sorcerer-esque elements in a completely different setting. I can't recommend this book enough and I literally can't wait to read the next.

 

Book Review: At Last Comes Love (Huxtable Quintet #3)

 

At Last Comes Love

Mary Balogh

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

At Last Comes Love is a regency romance following Margaret and Duncan. Margaret is a spinster, she spent the glory of her youth caring for the siblings which her parents left orphaned. Now, her former lover has returned a widow and has the audacity to think their marriage is a given. She hopes to finally agree to a repeated marriage proposal, only to find herself alone on the dance floor. She happens to run straight into Duncan, the only person in the whole room more desperate for a fiancee than her. 

I thought  the whole story was fun and entertaining with a very nice underlying message. Obviously, our present society doesn't think of 30 as quite the spinster sentence that it seemed in the 1800s, but the thought that you're never to old to form a new bond or start a new chapter of your life resonates nicely even in present day. The two mains also had a nice balance between awkward getting to know each other and real chemistry that I though made the book a lot more believable. 

My biggest issue was the idea of Lauren and Tobias and his whole hidden family. It was framed in a way that would take as much blame as possible away from Duncan because we obviously can't have a main protagonist who isn't secretly a saint. But also, the way that Margaret reacted to it all at the end just made me like her so much less as a character. She very much picks and chooses what she sees as morally correct even after having been taught a lesson about everything not being as it seems. Even if you get past that, she was justifying abuse and stuff at a level I just didn't get behind. 

Other than that though, I thought it was a nice light romance with just enough depth to be realistic. I would recommend it for fans of this genre and just romance in general.

Book Review: The Silent Patient

 

The Silent Patient

Alex Michaelides

Overall: 4/5

Plot and themes: 5/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 4/5

Attention-grabbing: 4/5

The Silent Patient is pretty much a murder mystery. It follows the narrative of a psychotherapist attempting to aid a woman who murdered her husband. She has refused to speak since the day of the murder and the world considers her truly psychotic. Theo thinks that he is different though, he thinks he will be the one who gets through to her. And slowly, he starts seeing what the world missed. 

This book is way better than the Maidens. For once thing, there weren't nearly the amount of red herrings that the Maidens tried to thread in. But also, we didn't lose all of the character growth that we felt throughout the pages in the glory of the final plot twist. The plot twist actually added up and made sense in the grand scheme of the book. And the openness of the ending really gave it that additional spark. 

I enjoyed it a lot aside from the monotony of some of the central parts. I think that it was a great book that was just trippy enough to be enjoyable without being pretentious or overdone.

 

Book Review: Tender is the Flesh

 

Tender is the Flesh

Agustina Bazterrica

Overall: 2/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 2/5

Tender is the Flesh is a horror novella that illustrates a world where all animals aside from humans are poisonous for human consumption. To fulfill the very obvious and necessary desire for meat, humans now farm other humans. But not human-humans, they give them all the value of cattle and consider them completely other from themselves. The novella specifically follows a man who has recently had his life turned upside down and is now reflecting on the present societal values. 

The most fundamental problem with this book is that absolutely nothing is justified. It's like, I understand that there is a certain degree of suspension of disbelief and I read a ton of paranormal books where crazy stuff happens constantly. But this book just says it and wants us to believe there was such a limited rejection of that kind of thing. I could understand if it had begun 50 or 100 years in the past and we were told that it was a revolution where the dissenters were quickly wiped out but it's not. It happened within the recent lifespan of the main character. 

I get the "depth" of it and what we're supposed to reflect on. I just don't think it was constructed in a way that was shocking or even deep. It just felt like it was constantly going for a shock factor that I didn't really care much about.

 

Book Review: Clay's Hope (Judgement of the Six Companion #1)

 

Clay's Hope

Melissa Haag

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 2/5

Clay's Hope is the secondary perspective of Hope(less). I honestly don't feel like Hope(less) is nearly as entertaining without the existence of Clay's perspective and it really should have been threaded into the original narrative in Hope(less). It provides a lot of depth and reasoning for his decisions that make him seem like a bit less (or more?) of a psychopath. 

I don't have a lot to say because it's really just an exact rewrite of the original book. I will say that I do appreciate how often Clay is 100% on Gabby's side which you couldn't really understand from what is conveyed from his elected silence. Getting that really can only add to your enjoyment of the series.

 

Book Review: Hope(less) (Judgement of the Six #1)

 

Hope(less)

Melissa Haag

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

Another re-read of a book I did a few years ago and just really felt like rereading. Hope(less) follows the story of Gabby. No father, dead mother, basically no family to speak of. When she meets Sam, she gets that family that she's always dreamed of. But there's a catch, Sam is a werewolf and he wants to integrate her into the rest of his family. Which is just weird and a lot for her. She thinks she's finally done with it all till right before she leaves for college and she just accidentally runs into her soulmate. 

I think this book is funny in a lot of ways. It's also very different from other PNR books. Is it weird? Yes. Does it always make sense? Nope. But all in all it's still pretty enjoyable. Clay is just incredibly poorly prepared for the circumstances which have befallen him. But I also admire how adaptable he is and driven without being overbearing. I mean, technically he was but from Gabby's perspective it was just the right amount. 

It's nothing that's going to change your life but it's definitely worth a read if you're looking for something short and entertaining. I appreciate the story enough to have read Clay's perspective. I also didn't like anyone but the protagonists though.

 

Book Review: Shifting

 

Shifting

Bethany Wiggins

Overall: 3/5

Plot and themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing style: 3/5

Attention-grabbing: 3/5

I originally read this book maybe four years ago? Maybe longer I have no idea but I remember kind of liking it so I decided to do a reread. I think all of the elements that I liked it for the first time I read it held strong, several things fell flat. Maggie Mae has been bounced around foster homes for years and she's been officially known as a problem child for the last two because of her consistent run-ins with the law. But it's not really her fault, she can't control all the supernatural and freaky stuff that happens around her. At a new school, things are looking up. She has a friend and she has a guardian who can be a confidant for all her worst secrets. The supernatural isn't relinquishing its grip so easily though and things are far behind her control. 

Honestly, the shapeshifting is cool. I love it and the autonomy that it starts to give her. I wish we could've seen it developed a little more. Especially in light of the ending and all the information that we could have had. I also just did not vibe with the idea of some moral superiority cause of being a shifter like they were having arranged marriages and stuff which just very much rubbed me the wrong way. And it's like, a society that prides itself so much on lineage really shouldn't have had such a slip up in the paperwork and we should get an explanation on that. 

So not as iconic as I remember it. The romance was a lot duller too, I liked the way that the friendship was built up but oh my gosh we really did not capitalize on her insecurity of being left? Like the ending was a half-assed way of dealing with it that really annoyed me, you cannot tell me that someone without a real family would be satisfied with that whole "I only walked out on you momentarily but I never stopped thinking about you" excuse. Just very inconsistent on that front. So definitely better for the plot than the characters.