Book Review: Baking Me Crazy

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

Baking Me Crazy is a friends-to-lovers story. Five years ago, Levi met Jocelyn. He saw her and he knew she was the one for him, she wasn't so sure. They've been best friends since, and he knows he's losing his chance to be with her but he also believes that his family is cursed with love-at-first sight and there won't ever be anyone else. 

I think for the most part this was a cute read. I completely understood where Jocelyn was coming from, she had a relatable and reliable perspective. Her disability was well represented and I could tell the author put some real work into researching the limitations and possibilities. I think that the romance was nice especially since Levi was so good about it all, he was kind and patient and just seemed like a pretty decent person. 

My issue was probably with how clunky the transition from friends-to-lovers really felt. I didn't see the issue of why Jocelyn wouldn't have considered it, it just felt like weird stuff for her to forget/ignore. And then after so long of ignoring it, I have to imagine the chemistry would be off there. I just didn't see the conflict so beyond the lack of conflict it just didn't feel they were all that meant to be until after they were together. So aside from the clunky transition, it was a cute romance, but it was hard to get into. 

Book Review: Burn for You

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

When Bianca finds out her mom has cancer, she commits herself to being there through the whole journey. When money starts to get tight, she scrambles for a solution. Her restaurant is all she has and she wouldn't want to sell it. Enter Jackson, a millionaire who drives her crazy and has just offered to pay for her mother's treatment in exchange for a fake marriage. Should be easy, aside from the fact that he's still driving her crazy. 

This book started out fine, but I was getting really sick of Jackson towards the end. His trauma defined his whole arc and he was obviously holding out on telling us as readers and Bianca until it all comes out after she meets his family. Fine, whatever, but it all felt like sort of weird and out of place reasoning. Then it was all resolved way too quickly and the reasoning behind it all felt stilted and forced. Because of that transition, the whole narrative felt off because it didn't feel like the correct kind of rise and fall. 

Decent start, predictable but fun premise, but the follow through wasn't there for me. I didn't hate it, but there were points I had to stop reading just because of how ridiculous it had gotten. Also, the way that Bianca talked was overexaggerated and it started getting really annoying about halfway through. 

Book Review: The King's Shadow (Gate of Myth and Power #2)

Overall: 4/5

Plots and Themes: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 4/5

The King's Shadow is the second book in this series, immediately following the dramatic revelation of Chloe's supernatural status. K.M. Shea delivers another quirky addition to her Magiford Supernatural City universe where being able to shapeshift into a cat is actually a much bigger advantage than anyone expected it to be. 

I like Chloe and Noctus and what their alternating POVs provide to the narrative. It's fun and it's camp and feels not so serious but still has a conflict that is engaging and adds action. I've noticed in K.M Shea's books that you don't really know what to expect going in, but the fact that the characters are just as confused as you sort of immerses you in their world. It feels like you discover plot points at the same time that they do rather than being told the plot points directly. 

The romance is subtle and nearly non-existent at this point, it's a fun slowburn where you can feel the character's confusion. Neither of them really understand what's creating the pull and they're both awkward and sort of figuring it out as they go. And the book doesn't neglect the side characters, it provides nice separate support networks. I don't know, they're very authentic and the book make you as a reader feel apart of the action. A super fun and entertaining read. 

Book Review: Hate Notes

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

After walking in on her fiance cheating on her, Charlotte breaks that off and subsequently quits her job at his company. She's trying to sell her dress when she finds a beautiful note sewn inside another and decides to stalk the dude on social media. Their embarrassing first encounter leads to her getting a job, though she doesn't realize till later on that it's at his family's company. With a scheming grandmother throwing them together every chance she gets, they have a hard time battling their chemistry. But Reed has good reason to avoid attachments, no matter how hard it feels. 

I don't know this one is pretty slow. I understand Reed's hesitance, obvious trauma from his previous relationship and fear of the future. It was decent representation of a scary diagnosis. But it just felt like it dragged so much and I'm kind of sick of that "grumpy" protagonist that would be an immediate red flag in real life the way he sort of leads her on then snaps at her about it. It was a nice and realistic ending, but nothing that really stands out as all that special of a love story.

Book Review: Book of the Most Precious Substance

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

The Book of the Most Precious Substance is a standalone. It's a thriller, the sort of thing I feel like people who liked Verity would be all over. Lily Albrecht is alone. Her husband has all but left her due to an illness outside of anyone's control and she sells books as a way to make enough money to support him and all the medications he needs. When she learns about the Book of the Most Precious Substance, she is initially intrigued by the huge commission she could get for securing it. But she soon learns that there are things about the world beyond her understanding, and that in addition to money the book could give her her husband back.

This book was freaky. It was paced in such a strange way, like the side by side journey to find the book and to get to the end of the book and be granted her wish. It felt almost like reading two separate trains of thought. I thought it was interesting, but I also feel it gave the whole thing a dream-like quality that made it difficult to understand at times. And the chronology of it all further confused me and emphasized that dream-like quality, I never knew how much time was passing and if the achievement of the events coincided correctly with that timeline. It made it all a bit jarring and hard to assign significance to the events.

I did like it though, I think it's original and weird in its own way. Kind of dark academia without the academia, but that same sort of literary take. How much I liked the ultimate message was a different story, but I can respect the way that it got there.

Book Review: Dance of a Burning Sea (Mousai #2)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

Dance of a Burning Sea is the second book in Mousai trilogy and follows fairly soon after the conclusion of the first. This book shifts to the middle sister, Niya, and her relationship with a pirate captain. They first met four years ago, their encounters ultimately leaving Niya heartbroken and filled with rage towards the man. When he kidnaps her as a bargaining chip, she can't resist trying to get the upperhand on him which does not work in her favor.

Mixed feelings on this one. I hate it when men trick women in books and I hate it when characters are described as all powerful and clever and yet they are constantly humiliated. It felt like we were being forced to watch Niya fail at points and I nearly DNFed cause I was tired of it. I don't feel like she ever got her moment of triumph, even when she was one step ahead he caught up much faster than she did. It also didn't rub me right that their initial confrontation occurred when she was 17 and he was 20,  made it feel like he had an unfair amount of power from the start. I loved the pirates part of it and I love the Mousai, but I don't think it matched up to the first novel. It might have been due to the overwhelming number of quests and side plots, I couldn't get comfortable with the characters cause there was just too much happening.

I do think it gave me a much better understanding of Niya's powers. When I read the first, it seemed obvious who the most powerful sister was, but I can better understand the balance of it all now. The writing all together was very well done, it just could have been a hundred pages shorter and dragged less with a bit more empowerment for Niya threaded in. 

Book Review: In Darkness Forged (Night Elves of Abreia #1)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

In Darkness Forged is the start of a new series by Kenley Davidson. I thought it was a series of standalones but it might be interrelated quests? I'm not quite sure, but this book feels pretty self-contained. Aislin needs to save her family from a cruel lord unwilling to accept their continued deferral on rent. To do so, she risks her life to collect a rare ingredient for a night elf lord on the brink of death. She is paired with another night elf to do so, one who wants little to do with her and is completely focused on his own revenge. 

I was disappointed by this one. I loved The Faceless Mage, even did a reread of it last year. This didn't feel like it spent enough time working on the lore. Though it's in the same universe and maybe we were just supposed to build off preexisting knowledge, it felt like way too much was just happening with sort of the expectation that we would just follow it. Not the worst, but definitely not as good as The Faceless Mage.

I liked Aislin well enough, she seems a bit forgettable but she wasn't overwhelmingly annoying or anything. Not much to say beyond that, I'll continue to read Kenley Davidson but this one just wasn't exciting enough for me.

Book Review: A New Shade of Summer

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 2/5

Characters: 1/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

A New Shade of Summer is a contemporary romance, set as third in a series but can be read as a standalone as I didn't even know it was third in the series. It follows Callie Quinn, an artist who loves to travel and is against setting any sort of roots. Visiting her sister and her niece and nephew in Lenox every summer is about as sedentary as she gets. Until she meets Davis and begins to wonder if maybe there's a better way.

I'd like to start off by saying there's a big difference to me between a clean romance and Christian fiction. This book wasn't marketed to me as Christian fiction, maybe I didn't read into it enough but it was frustrating to bring all the talk of religion in so far into the book and trying to make it into a facet of morality and integrity. Now maybe I'm just not the target audience, but it didn't seem like Callie was either so it felt very out of character for her to just jump on the religious bandwagon. Maybe that's just me being judgmental though. 

A big issue was character arcs for me. I didn't see growth that was realistic to who they were at the starting point. No spoilers, but I felt Callie just ditched everything that made her unique in favor of a more conventional life. I don't feel like her hangups or her personality should have allowed for it and it felt very forced. That wasn't a problem till like the last fifth of the book, but it really took away from the conclusion. So I liked it at first, but the whole resolution just wasn't good for me.

Book Review: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches

Overall: 5/5

Plots and Themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches is contemporary with a paranormal twist. Witches exist, they manipulate golden waves of magic that dance around them to do all sorts of things from potions, to fire, to flying on broomsticks. Oh, and they're always orphans. Mika Moon uses her solitude and her magic powers to run a semi-popular video account where she teaches her followers real magic tricks that no one would ever guess were real magic. When someone does recognize the realness of her magic, she is recruited to an odd home filled with three young witches to guide them to self control of their own magic. Only, witches are always meant to remain alone, but Mika can't help but want to help the little family stay together. Even if the distrustful librarian of the house doesn't seem to want her anywhere close. 

This book made me feel nostalgic which is so weird considering I've never read it. But it was so wholesome, found family with a dash of romance with the best sort of pacing. The characters were all so eclectic and unique yet fit with each other so well. It was the perfect mix of quirky and serious, everything I want from a book trying to run the line between magic and contemporary. This book also handles diversity so nicely, rather than making a big deal out of it, they all find their places perfectly in a natural narrative where everyone belongs. 

I would totally recommend this book, it's the coziest of fantasies. There's really no word for it outside of wholesome, and I know that these characters will be living rent-free in my mind for quite a while. 

Book Review: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)

 

Overall: 5/5

Plots and Themes: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 5/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5

I read this book for the first time in like 2011, before any of the movies had come out. I haven't read it since. I did read the prequel when it came out a few years ago and I was shocked by how well-written it was- not to hate on the original but only because I feel I'm often disappointed by books I read in middle school. Really though, the quality of this book holds up. 

It's firmly YA, but it's done in a way that doesn't belittle the intelligence of the age group. It's well-written and it has deeper themes that come together so nicely. I think that current YA books struggle to balance themselves that way, they either dumb it way too far down or they stray too far into new adult or even adult territory. This book is covering something truly horrific, but I don't believe it's too gory or traumatizing for the age group. I think it teaches valuable lessons and it continues to deserve all the hype it gets.  

Book Review: Hummingbird (A Charade of Magic #1)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

Hummingbird is the first book in a new trilogy by Helen Harper. I've read several series by her and I find that when she hits, she really hits. But I've also read a few misses, and this one is no Firebird or Slouch Witch. It's falling somewhere in the middle of all of them. It exists in an alternate Glasgow, where brutal mages control the city and the magic. The protagonist. Mairi, has been especially wronged by this system as a mute orphan who seems to possess magic- something the mages will allow no woman to possess. 

Part of the problem was that I hate when a character is written in with a disability with the implication that it is temporary. I would rather that they learn their strengths work with their disability rather than trying to say they were broken. I liked that premise, I didn't like the follow-through. The taste of romance we get is entirely too rushed and honestly just feels weird in the circumstances. It was another case of initial interest but poor follow-through with weird pacing. 

So it was pretty good, but I don't know if it was good enough to continue the series. It didn't entice me enough and I'm not on the edge of my seat looking for more. 

Book Review: The Raven Song (A Conspiracy of Magic #2)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

The Raven Song is the second book in what I believe is the Conspiracy of Magic duology. It follows Edwina, a witch grappling with a recent traumatic loss and the more general loss of quite a few things. She has an unusual magic that makes her a target and is trying desperately to outsmart him and protect those close to her. 

I loved the first book in this duology. This one wasn't as significant to me. It lost a lot in the last fifty or so pages when we got the final culmination of all that loss and drama that we'd seen throughout both books. It was anti-climatic and felt pointless in the grand scheme of things. It all felt rushed, the whole books took two weeks total compared to the months and months of not knowing things. I kind of felt like the series was going to be a trilogy and then, like all the best Netflix shows, it got canceled and it scrambled to provide some sort of closure and ending. 

I liked it but I was definitely expecting more from an author that I like and a series I had previously connected with. I still enjoy the whimsical element of a magical London in the 1800s, of course, and the more complex ideas of fae that were being integrated into the plot and society. But I think that they were much wider than the 500 pages of these books allowed for.  

Book Review: In the Heir (Westerly Billionaire #1)

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 1/5

Characters: 2/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

When their grandmother installs a new condition on their inheritance - be married or have it donated - one of the Westerly siblings decides to fake an engagement to gain the money. Alisha has been a friend of the family for forever, so when Spencer asks her if she'll lie for him she's completely on board. Things only start to get complicated when she starts having feelings for his brother. 

Honestly, my bad for downloading this book hoping for a simple and straightforward conflict-solution romance. The book lacked any real problems and felt shallow. They argued back and forth for 100 pages then said you know what, maybe we should actually try to fix it, and then you can guess what happened next. That's the spoiler-free run through, it just felt like there wasn't any point to any actual problems between them. I don't like books that argue a point into the ground then just decide to ignore all of the aforementioned previous arguments. 

My least favorite part was at the end leading into a sequel. The dialogue felt pretty consistently stilted, that little piece at the end being the worst of all. I won't be reading the next book in this series and I probably should have DNFed this one. 

Book Review: Through a Darkening Glass

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5

London in 1940 is on the precipice of war, no place for a literature student like Ruth Gladstone anymore. So she escapes to the country with her grandmother to visit a great-aunt she never knew existed. While she becomes engrossed in the town rumors and wartime gossip, she investigates the long-standing urban legend of a white lady ghost who haunts the hillside with the help of her new neighbor, a wounded soldier with an even more wounded wife. 

I liked quite a few parts of the story. It had a lot of POVs and it did a good job bringing the townspeople to life through them. Ruth was a great protagonist to follow with her curiosity and strong drive to get to the bottom of things. Though she probably felt closer to 18-20 than 25, she also lived a sheltered life. Her relationship with Malcolm was strange and very deliberately ambiguous at the end. I think it makes sense, and I'm glad we didn't try to vilify Elise for her circumstances, but I also think we spent a whole lot of time to basically get nowhere. 

The ghost story took the back seat through the whole narrative.  It was convoluted and it wasn't all that fun to follow because the ghost wasn't really doing anything. Rather than a ghost story or a mystery, I think this book would be better framed as a way to depict the more common WWII stories, what many of the people did to escape the tragedies of wartime. Not the most exciting thing out there, but the reality for many people and an interesting time in history. 

Book Review: Most Valuable Playboy

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

It's the annual charity auction - FOR THE CHILDREN - and football superstar Cooper is being threatened by a radio personality who could destroy his reputation. He doesn't want to upset her but he definitely doesn't want her to win a date with him. Thankfully, his good friend Violet was able to use his money to win the date for herself. But it looks like their little hometown romance is benefitting them both, so they decide to play it up for a bit. 

This book was original as far as these books go as it was entirely narrated by the man. I don't know if I've ever seen a book in this genre do that. That also might have been why everything felt so quick, women are written with so much more self-doubt than he was. I don't even know if he hesitated a second, it was all about his wants rather than hers. Kind of rubbed me the wrong way. 

There was no real conflict, no drama, everything just sort of fell into place. It was also like the starting point kept shifting and I found myself wondering why they had never discussed being together in the first place. It was strange and weird pacing. I didn't hate it, it was entertaining enough, but I would have liked to see more depth. 

Book Review: Digging Up Love

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

Digging Up Love is a standalone contemporary romance that follows Alisha, a baker who feels trapped by her familial obligations, and Quentin, a paleontologist desperate to prove himself. They meet when Alisha's grandparents accidentally discover bones in their backyard and the chemistry is pretty instant. 

It was a cute story. I don't feel like I've ever read a book featuring a paleontologist and the dedication of both characters to their careers gave them depth. It was original in that respect and it was fun. The only issue, which really interrupted the flow for me, was the lack of conflict. It felt like we were just rehashing all of the reasons why it shouldn't work without really backing up those thoughts. And maybe that's personal preference, I can totally see this happening in the real world outside of the fact that I doubt there are many 33-year-old hot paleontologists out there that would be sent to a discovery of this magnitude. But it was just all too real without any of that gut-dropping whirlwind sort of thing that I love to see in a romance. 

So definitely average with decent characters if nothing else. But also probably not one I'd recommend for people looking to use romance as a way to escape the monotony of life. 

Book Review: A Dawn of Onyx

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

This book follows Arwen, a village healer who has been waiting for word from her brother at war for over a year. Her family has accepted the fact that he's probably dead but she's not giving up. When he does show up, it's with stolen money and a poorly planned desire to get out of the country. Her family escapes, but she's captured by the ones he stole from. 

The whole captured plotline is boring. The stakes don't seem as high as the synopsis makes it seem. Her powers had the potential to be developed into something interesting but I feel like they kind of just existed without any real fanfare. They made it seem like it was unique and rare but they never even really showcased it. 

The romance was predictable. I didn't hate it, but it was definitely not something I'll remember. It was just so cliche and at times felt like we were being forcefed their chemistry cause I really just did not feel it. Like a lot of the plot points in the book, they made sense sure they just all felt too easy. 

I probably won't read the sequel because I won't remember enough from this one to go on. Too much was happening in the last fifty pages to even follow where the next will go. I didn't hate it, I just had expected more from the synopsis. 

Book Review: House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5

House of Sky and Breath is the second book in the Crescent City book series by Sarah J Maas. It's over 800 pages of conflict and conversation with nearly as many characters to match (most of which with names ending in -ion). My thoughts on this one are similar to my thoughts on the first book, a lot of pages with some interesting fragments peppered in. 

One of the things I appreciated from SJM in this series versus her others was the focus on feminine friendship. Despite the unfortunate reality of the bond and how we knew it would have to end, it still had some beautiful moments and bonds that existed outside of the romantic pairing. But she couldn't let that slide, and she used a significant portion of this book to dissolve the trust of that bond giving no power to one side to defend themselves or to repair the breach in trust. 

I kind of liked the ending despite the confusion. Like the first book, the last fifty pages are what really got me. Without that, I would have rated even lower. I liked Bryce in the first book, but I feel she was sacrificed in this book in an attempt to build the arcs of everyone else. When I don't feel her and Hunt's story is well-rounded at all. ACOTAR and TOG did the same thing, but at least she provided us a bit of closure before diving in headfirst. 

So, there were good parts and there were bad parts but the book's greatest weakness is the fact that it relies so heavily on twists and turns rather than actual plot or character development. It was too long for that, and I think it would have been a lot better if it came in at 400 or 500 pages.