Book Review: King of the Court

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

I'm so desperate for sports romances at this point that I'm really reading a basketball romance. King of the Court follows a basketball team spending some time in a small Texas town to train for the Olympics. It's your typical basketball superstar meets small town poor girl and tries to solve all her problems. But here, we have kind of a broken part one and part two with the added benefit of a time jump just to avoid actually maybe, I don't know, developing their relationship. 

That seems harsh, but it did feel like a cop out. I also don't know enough about basketball to gauge if this is anywhere close to a realistic portrayal of how a basketball superstar might be treated. It felt way overdramatic. It was pretty entertaining up until the cheat of a plot-twist. Beyond that, everything felt rushed and half-hearted. It's definitely not in my top tier sports romances, but was also not the worst. 

Book Review: Dear Aaron

Overall: 4/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

Dear Aaron is what I think people refer to as a Dear John story. The protagonist, Ruby, starts writing a soldier through a program decided to comfort those who are deployed. But they talk a lot more than she ever has with any of them before and they get to know each other beyond the words. It's set in 2008, but I feel it's more reminiscent of like a Tumblr love story of 2012.

At this point, I've read quite a few Mariana Zapata books and I'm a fan of the formula she has established for writing these books. It's a slowburn that is isolated to a standalone, so she has to get through all the character-building separately while pushing them to be together. Dear Aaron throws the additional challenge of trying to get us to understand these characters through their messages exclusively rather than any sort of additional dialogue. I think it's not my favorite of her reads, but it's definitely fun and different to feel like you're meeting the characters as they meet each other. You don't have any of that reader's omniscience that allows you to see into their heads and gives you that told you so feeling. 

So, not my favorite of the Zapatas but definitely not the worst. I still need to read From Lukov and I know these guys get a feature so I'm excited to see how they've progressed. I was deprived of my usual Zapata married with children epilogue and I'd love to see where they end up. 

Book Review: When it Falls Apart (The D'Angelos #1)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

When it Falls Apart is the first book in a contemporary romance trilogy that follows the relationships of three siblings. In this one, Luca and Brooke meet at his family restaurant in Little Italy. They bond over their willingness to do whatever necessary for their families, despite a rocky start. 

My biggest issue was the title honestly. When it falls apart implies that something catastrophic is going to happen, and then synopsis supports that idea. But it wasn't dramatic enough for me. I didn't feel like much had gone into the foundation of the relationship prior to the big dramatic earthquake that was supposed to destroy everything. It wasn't catastrophic and it wasn't even that deep as I didn't feel as though their relationship was serious enough for that. I started getting annoyed by it all because it felt like we were supposed to interpret the relationship as much more intense than it actually was. Thus, the fallout wasn't nearly as big as they wanted us to feel it was. 

Still a decent read, but just kind of meh all the way through. Predictable without any of the fun that should accompany such a crazy title. Maybe I was just expecting something closer to Things Fall Apart.

Book Review: The King's Captive (Gates of Myth and Power #1)

 

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

The premise of this book was strange. She turns into a cat- and like exclusively a cat. It kind of became obvious from the start that there would be more to it eventually and we spent the whole book waiting to see what her next trick would be. But in the middle of all that waiting, she gets... adopted? By an elf king who just decides he needs a pet cat. She fit the bill and he places all her trust in her and then we have the awkward and unique experience of watching someone bond with a pet that is totally sentient and basically trapped. 

I think points for being quirky but like it lost me at points. I started dozing off cause it was just so slow-paced and it felt like things were being rehashed that didn't necessarily need to be rehashed. Definitely not as weird as the plot premise sounds, but also I would need a big opener to get me interested in the sequel. 

Book Review: Untainted (The Crystal Island Series #1)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 4/5

This book was interesting for the same reasons that it felt boring at times - because it followed all the desired tropes pretty much exactly. I enjoyed it and I think it was an enjoyable read, but I think it also could benefit from a really good plot twist. The prologue gave away more than necessary and after that I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.