Book Review: Druid Vices and a Vodka (The Guild Codex: Spellbound #6)

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 4/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5 

This right here is the culmination of all the other books, finally some plot progression. Things are falling about, not only is Tori dealing with the whole Ezra's demon taking over, she's dealing with keeping a crystal druid away from certain death/imprisonment. She prides herself in her judgement most of the time, and despite what everyone around her tells her, she's going to trust him. 

These installments are weird because we're trying to build whole friendships and relationships while still providing sort of mundane snapshots into their lives. As I've said before, I prefer the Taming Demons half of this little situation but it's still interesting to get all this insight that I was missing during Taming Demons. I think this one was a lot more action-packed than the last two segments, and I'm finally feeling like something crazy has to happen in the next installment. 

Again, I don't love this series as much as Taming Demons but I'm appreciating seeing everything unfold book by book. 

Book Review: Love in the Time of Serial Killers

 

Overall: 4/5

Plots and Themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5 

Love in the Time of Serial Killers centers on Phoebe Walsh, a PhD candidate dealing with the death of a father she never really liked all that much. She has to clear out his house in the middle of writing her dissertation and dealing with her disaster of a personal life. Oh, and her dad's neighbor might possibly be a serial killer. Not probably, but possibly, signs definitely point to maybe. Except that he's not, actually he's one of the sweetest most down to earth male protagonists in a romance that I've ever read. 

Phoebe definitely had her moments where I was reading this and I wanted to shake some sense into her, but those moments were authentic to the characterization that was designed for her. I loved all her little quirks and I loved the way her interests were threaded into the narrative. I could tell that the author really took the time too look into academia and true crime and make it a realistic element of Phoebe's life- if the author isn't super invested in either of those things herself. It was all extremely realistic but extremely whimsical at the same time. You're reading about this love story and thinking about how cute and sweet and amazing it all is and how it's that sort of once in a lifetime story but it's definitely something you could see happening between two real life individuals. As basic as that sounds, I think it's a point that many contemporary romances struggle with when they're trying to add that cute factor. 

So I definitely loved it, I feel like we had a great balance of platonic and romantic relationships. I wish that Sam had gotten a bit more screen time without that end of second act conflict but that and a couple of overdone quirks were really the only things that kept it from five stars. 

Book Review: Half a Soul (Regency Faerie Tales #1)

 

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5 

When Theodora Ettings was young, a faerie took half her soul. She has spent the time since trying to act normal when she is nearly entirely without emotion. She doesn't react the way young women are supposed to act, and her aunt is constantly trying to rid the family of her oddities. But then Dora meets Lord Elias Wilder, a sorcerer for England, she starts her journey to reestablishing those emotions she's missed for so much of her life. 

I have a problem with these fae books sometimes. They just feel so disconnected from the actual characters, like I'm reading it through the lense of a dream. Also, this was advertised as a combination of Pride and Prejudice and Howl's Moving Castle and while it was definitely not a bad read, you might feel that way if you go into it expecting that. I liked Dora despite how difficult it might be to empathize with her as essentially robotic character- you do see the depth of her emotion though she doesn't technically think she has any. I don't think she and Elias had all that much chemistry, they weren't around each other all that much so it had the feeling of insta-love.

I do love a good historical book with magic infused into the plot. This one isn't my favorite example of that, but it has it's moments. 

Book Review: The Takeaway

Overall: 3/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 3/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5 

The Takeaway follows Hazel, a young woman still trying to figure her life out. She loves the piano, but she's afraid to play in public. She doesn't have too many friends her own age, she doesn't know how to interact with people and she's struggling to figure it all out. Then she meets Hatch, a star football player who she hears through their shared apartment walls. They become friends and they help each other navigate all the struggles that come with trying to figure out what to do with your life. 

I liked it well enough. A little bland and I felt like I was being spoonfed important details at times rather than being able to reason them out myself. Like we're not supposed to like this character and we know it because everyone says we shouldn't like them. But I like how their relationship progresses from a friendship to a romance, despite not getting a lot of the romance. The only issue there being she felt a bit infantilized at points, not in a completely overdone way, just that I would've liked to see a bit more independent thought. 

So enjoyable, definitely will be reading more by Jamie Bennett in the future and looking forward to reading more in her canon.

Book Review: From Lukov with Love

Overall: 4/5

Plots and Themes: 4/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5 

From Lukov with Love is another installment of the Zapataverse following Jasmine as she pushes herself to the gold in Olympic figure skating. One issue though, she doesn't currently have a partner and she's a pairs skater. When one of the best pairs skaters in the world asks her to be his partner, it should be an automatic yes as it could be her last chance to get a true title. The only issue? He's been her public enemy #1 for a literal decade and she would rather do just about anything than work with him for hours every day. 

I think that my issue here was that Jasmine was type casted too much in Dear Aaron so she had to really play up being obnoxious in this one. While I feel Zapata books usually have a moment where everything becomes clear and their true love is declared and the slowburn is finally fulfilled, we got more of Jasmine's complaining and we were supposed to accept a lot more of their interactions on the premise of the significance of their history. So I wasn't as into it as I usually am with her books. 

That being said, she still had her moments where I was giggling and screaming so I think she still did her job. I also feel that, based on the hype I had seen for this one versus her other books, I was expecting a lot more but I just didn't connect with them as much as I've connected with other characters she's written. So still super good as I'm highly biased towards loving Zapata, but definitely could have been better.  

Book Review: Chick Magnet

Overall: 2.75/5

Plots and Themes: 3/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 3/5 

Chick Magnet was a definite adjustment from what I usually read because it's extremely contemporary. We have an influencer who makes her living teaching people online about the joys of keeping pet chickens and a vet who is sick of people encouraging people to get exotic pets. We have mentions of the pandemic and TikTok and all of the things I don't expect to see in books, so very extremely contemporary. 

I have a hard time with these books cause I feel like they force the pandemic down our throats and they also simultaneously try to say that everyone is fine and the worst has passed. I think it's a tricky perspective to take as an author and easier to pretend that it never happened. As it stands, it took away from the near fantastical element I feel with these sort of contemporary romances. I still liked the enemies to lovers vibe and the central plot, but I feel it could've been better without all that real life. 

So it was unique and interesting, not necessarily bad just not my absolute favorite. I did learn a lot about chickens so that definitely helped and it was probably a bit of my bad for reading something that looked so incredibly current. 

Book Review: In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

Overall: 4/5

Plots and Themes: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Writing Style: 4/5

Attention Grabbing: 5/5 

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife is a non-chronological murder mystery. It starts at one point but we're gradually getting more and more information about their dramatic tragic backstories. It's the perfect blend of the realistic and the unhinged that really gets you to the point that you can't put it down. 

I hated Jess at first, but the author did a fantastic job of revealing her past in a way that gradually won me over. I still would hope I wouldn't deal with events the exact same way she did cause she was messed up. I appreciated it though, we weren't wholly on her side and we get frustrated with her being an unreliable narrator until the point that we see it all clearly. 

Definitely one of the best mysteries I've read in a while, I guessed the ending about halfway through but they kept introducing plot twists to the point that I wasn't 100% correct. I also enjoyed the slight dash of romance despite how messy and unrealistic it was. 

Book Review: Bound & Barbed (The Fated Creations #1)

Overall: 2/5

Plots and Themes: 2/5

Characters: 3/5

Writing Style: 2/5

Attention Grabbing: 2/5 

Evaline grew up with her father, a man who believed in his daughter above all else and gave her strength in body and heart. When he is violently murdered in front of her, she seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle. Two years later, they are desperate to marry her off when all she wants is a weapon and an escape. In a kingdom where women are granted few freedoms, even a dagger is difficult for her to obtain. When she meets Maddox, she finds a way out. But not before a bit of revenge. 

This was such a From Blood and Ash knock-off. I don' t like calling books knock-offs because I totally understand that books are subject to trends and fads in popularity, but this could have probably been a lot better had in not been following the progression of that book. That being said, there were also a few problems in execution. We got her tragic backstory immediately, I don't like being told these things like that. The progression of her relationship with Maddox was jumpy, and her whole revenge plot felt senseless in the face of the power she had with Maddox on her side. A lot of the book felt strangely out of pace with itself.

So I don't think I will be continuing the series, but it was decent enough to get to the end. I don't think I would write the author off entirely, it just wasn't my style.