Book Review: To Carve a Fae Heart (The Fair Isle Trilogy #1)

To Carve a Fae Heart

Tessonja Odette

2/5

I read a lot of this genre and I have a lot of patience for protagonists being stupid. I just couldn't handle it here though. Evelyn and her sister are chosen to be the human diplomats to the fae courts, secured every hundred years through marriage. She's mad about it, she's determined that she won't be misused or abused and that her fate will ultimately remain her own.

When a character makes the most unfounded accusations at the start of a book, you'd hope that she would realize that maybe she isn't as smart or educated as she thought she was. That's the whole reason I read books, for character growth. Evelyn is stupid from start to finish, with a weak romance thrown in as an attempt to justify her stupid actions. I know that I have the benefit of omniscience when I'm reading, but she had to know how bad some of these choices were and yet she continued. I'm fine with characters making bad choices, I'm not fine when they do it over and over. 

It was interesting enough to keep me reading till the end but not to make me want to read the sequels all that much. To each their own but I just couldn't handle anyone's personality.

Book Review: Tempting Hades: A Greek God Romance

Tempting Hades

Emma Hamm

4/5

I've had problems with Emma Hamm in the past, where she starts books and they're pretty interesting but then they kind of lose me towards the end. This book was good all the way through, a rewrite of Greek history that I can really get behind. The story of Persephone and Hades is up for constant debate- was it a romance or just a twisted power move? I think that this book very succinctly puts it forward as a case of an overbearing mother rather than an abusive pairing. 

I will say that I was confused by the whole subplot of the man trying to worship Persephone and get the real story. He is trading his life for it but I don't see a real purpose for it, like the story is very obviously misconstrued and misunderstood by the people but it's not like he's spreading this to everyone. He died really just so he'd know the truth. To each their own I guess. 

I like the idea of the balance between Persephone and Hades, that they were facing such innate loneliness that nothing but their cohesive powers could fill. The family dynamics of the gods are weird and people really just ignore all the incest and stuff but like I'm always down for a story about fate. I wish we had seen more about the depth of Persephone's powers though, everyone kept saying how strong and monstrous she was but other than the line on Menthe there wasn't much happening there. 

Overall though it was a fun and fast read. I liked it and would recommend it to anyone who likes Greek mythology or romance.

Book Review: Prince of Never (Black Blood Fae #1)

 

Prince of Never

Juno Heart

2/5

Lara lives a pretty normal and kind of bleak life. She works as a waitress to support her singing lessons. She lives with her aunt and her cousin, her mom died when she was a teenager and she never knew her dad. One night when walking home, she is forcefully transported to another dimension with all the magic that her mother used to create in her video games. 

All in all, a fairly straight forward plot. Lara realizes that her voice is magic, that her song can compel people especially Prince Ever. She meets Ever as soon as she enters this alternate dimension and he's immediately very rude to her. He's the typical brooding royal who thinks himself above fraternizing with a human and also knows himself to be cursed. As the book goes on, they both discover things about the curse and the worlds they live in and become less horrible to each other. 

I just really did not like the ending. It was so rushed, all of the conflicts that had been built through the novel felt like instantly solved. Then another conflict was rushed in to give content for the next book. I also feel like I wasn't really satisfied by the explanation of her mother's role in the whole conflict or with her parentage in general. I have no idea why she had magic, there was no explanation for that. There were just a lot of things that weren't satisfied by the conclusion. 

I don't think I'll continue on in the series because I wasn't really impressed by the direction that its going. This book wasn't boring enough to DNF but it really just didn't have the kind of detail that I was looking for.

Book Review: A Deal with the Elf King (Married to Magic)

A Deal with the Elf King

Elise Kova

4/5

I really read this book on the day it came out even though I read the description and immediately thought that it sounded like a thousand books I've read before. It had its moments though and despite the fact that it was similar to other books, it was a super enjoyable read. It's marketed as a mix of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and Persephone. 

Luella grew up thinking that she would be a healer, she went to school for it and didn't exhibit any signs of the magic which would mark her as the Human Queen. But when time begins to run out for that person to be identified, she finds out that she had been lied to and her destiny completely shifted. That was a little sketch cause it felt like it should have created more resonating trust issues or something but kind of just went away. Regardless, she accepts her difficult position with grace and doesn't let herself get put down by the angry man who is now her husband or his belligerent court. 

I think that this has the obvious and direct undertones of Beauty and the Beast and Hades and all, but it had some super endearing qualities. I really appreciated that she didn't go down the he's a thousand years old and has had 15 brides type thing. Kova kind of made him a dork, he was just as awkward as she was about a lot of stuff. I don't think that you could really live the life that he had lived and not be super socially awkward despite the strengths of his power. It was refreshing in that respect, that he wasn't super overconfident and mean all the time. 

The ending felt like it was out of a pamphlet about Stockholm Syndrome and kind of felt forced to me. I respect it, but it was a lot. Overall though it was a very fun and quick read and I would definitely recommend it to fans of her other books or of cute fluffy fantasy-romances.

Book Review: With My Whole Heart Forever

 

With My Whole Heart Forever

Wendi Sotis

3/5

Instead of meeting Mr. Darcy first, Elizabeth meets a recently traumatized Georgiana. Mr. Bingley never let Netherfield so the two had to meet under different circumstances. That was fun, but the whole conflict part of the story kind of dragged. I love these retellings because of how clever they are when manipulating the idea of pride and prejudice, the biggest and most obvious roadblocks in Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship. There weren't any central misunderstandings here, there was a villain and a resolution. 

Not to say that books without key villains aren't important. I like it when there's someone who is easy to hate because it makes the other characters easy to love. But for this story it was piled on a little too thick and too often. There were like three schemes by Wickham that were described extensively and just kept going and going. It was a weird angle to take when none of his plans actually came to fruition. 

Not bad, an interesting and more original take, but without the drama and misunderstandings I'm looking for. Mr. Darcy isn't as great if he doesn't start off a jerk who realizes the errors of his ways and works to better himself. I know it's cliche to keep looking for that but that's the joy of Jane Austen.

 

Book Review: When Duty Calls

 

When Duty Calls

Belen Paccagnella

3/5

I'm back on Kindle Unlimited AKA back on these Pride and Prejudice rewrites. This is a FMS, when Elizabeth is trying to escape from her angry mother after rejecting Mr. Collins' proposal, she runs into Mr. Darcy. They're caught in one of those unfortunately misconstrued positions that makes marriage the only option to save Elizabeth's reputation. 

The thing that annoyed me here was that though they were both making major sacrifices, Elizabeth is the one who complained the whole time. I feel like Darcy's character and his pride were generally lost as he tried to appease Elizabeth. She got so angry and so rude, understandable in her circumstances but still felt like it was dealt with in an uncharacteristic manner. 

I did like the way the events of the book reflected the events of the original without being direct. I love these rewrites because they're like the theory of parallel universes, if one thing had gone a little bit differently how would the rest of the world changed? I think it must be so difficult to hold to the original characterization but this one did a fairly decent job. 

Not the best variation that I've read, but it was pretty good considering its length. It had its ups and downs but I don't regret reading it. 

Book Review: The Jewels of Halstead Manor (Ladies of Devon #1)

 

The Jewels of Halstead Manor

Kasey Stockton

3/5

Giulia has recently lost her father and the life that she knew. When presented the opportunity to meet the uncle that she had never met before, she jumps on it as a chance to gain a measure of family back. Her arrival isn't what she anticipated when she saves a man from bleeding out on the road and receives her uncle's scorn when she finds out he never wanted to meet her. She negotiates a way to remain in the house until she can find alternative employment. 

I liked the book, I though it was an interesting mystery and that the characters were genuine. I didn't like how often I was told about how amazing or terrible the characters were rather than witnessing the actions for myself. Giulia traveled the world her entire life but she seems to have retained none of the intrigue that she could have gained from such an interesting life. She also insinuates that she worked a lot as a child and as her father's assistant yet she doesn't really display this work ethic throughout the book. Same with Nick's philandering, they keep saying he was worse three years ago but we don't really see evidence of this and we don't get a great explanation on it. 

The romance was decent but I'm kind of sketched out by them being cousins. Like, they explained that they were ten times removed or something and what else can you expect from the nobility in the 1800s. I don't really understand how genealogy works and I understand that everyone is related to some extent but having the same last name and presenting themselves initially as cousins freaked me out. 

It was pretty good overall, just a little forgettable. If you have Kindle Unlimited and want a decent Historical Romance then this one fits the bill. It's not anything extraordinary though.