30something_reads's Reviews (820)

 "Along the high banks of the Fogg River, a woman returned to the water, dragging a dead body behind her..."

3.75⭐ Horror/Historical Fantasy with a healthy dose of paranormal female vengeance.

This is my first intro into Nghi Vo's writing and I'm very excited to read more of her works. (The Singing Hills Cycle is on my list for this year!)

While I enjoyed this story- it was beautifully written. I still think this is one where I actually wanted more. This was such an eerie and atmospheric world that Vo created but it felt like we only got to scratch the surface. I would have liked to stay with these characters for a little longer.
 

 "No more Before. No more After. Only Now."

The gasps I gasped as I reached the climax of this story! This is an absolutely PHENOMENAL beginning to this series and I need to gather all of my thoughts because this book tackles SO MUCH and does it so beautifully. 

This was something

 The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior.

Holy Forking Shirtballs, this was perfect?! 30 pages. I cannot believe how perfectly paced this story was. Would I have loved this as a full-length novel? Absolutely! But I appreciate it even more for being able to tell this full story in just 30 pages.

Shivers. Goosebumps. All the feels.

The audio narrator was wonderful - so chilling. Would recommend if you have Audible.

Into Shadow Series:
Book 1: The Garden - not yet read
Book 2: Persephone - not yet read
Book 3: The Six Deaths of the Saint - 4.75⭐
Book 4: What the Dead Know - 3.75⭐
Book 5: Undercover - 4.5⭐
Book 6: The Candles Are Burning - not yet read
Book 7: Out of the Mirror, Darkness - not yet read 

4.5 

Honestly, this was phenomenal and I need 3-4 business days to coherently collect my thoughts. 

Ehh. Concept was excellent... Execution was not.

I'm glad this was as short as it is because I definitely would not have finished this if it were a full length book.

My biggest issue was the dialogue. It was just so forced and awkward. I kept getting pulled out of the story. My running thoughts were "Ew," and "Why did he say it like that?"

My first foray back into non fiction after getting back into reading 😊

I was not anticipating the number of emotions that this book would put me through, but I loved all of them. On the surface, yes, this is a book about coral reef conservation and restoration, but I never felt bogged down by the science and data that was being discussed. 

The author does such a wonderful job of weaving in personal anecdotes about her travels, the people she meets, social commentary, as well as what is happening with her daughter’s diagnosis. It shouldn’t make sense, but everything works so well together.

Despite the obvious amount of bad, we’re still left feeling hopeful about the resilience of the corals as well as the amount of attention the cause has garnered across passionate corporations, organizations, and individuals with the resources to affect change.  

3.75⭐️

Twisted is book 4 in a standalone dark romance series of fractured fairy tale retellings where the villain gets the girl (or sometimes, the villain IS the girl in the case of Wretched.) This book is loosely based off Jasmine and Jafar from Aladdin but set in the modern world.

Yasmin is the young daughter of wealthy businessman, Ali, who runs a world-renowned diamond business. Julian has been his loyal and ambitious right-hand man in all things legal and… less than legal. Yasmin thinks Julian is cold, arrogant, and self-serving. Julian thinks Yasmin is nothing but a spoiled brat that doesn’t deserve to inherit the family business.

When Ali is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, he decides that the last thing he wants is to ensure Yasmin gets married to a man that can take over the family business. He intends to set her up with a stranger- a good business match. But Julian has other, more nefarious, plans.

💎Dual POV
💎Villain MMC… very stabby
💎Arranged Marriage
💎Age-Gap (13 Years)
💎Blackmail
💎Slow-Burn
💎Touch her and die (literally) vibes

This series is just so fun and comforting to me. Overall, I really enjoyed this couple and Julian is an excellent bad guy. My only complaint is the pacing felt a little off. I would have liked more time for Yasmin to figure out hers and Julian’s feelings (when it happened, it seemed so sudden in a story that, otherwise, felt pretty evenly paced.)

TWs:
Graphic Sexual Scenes, Graphic Violence, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence (Not between MC's), Murder, Torture, Death of a character, Terminal illness
Thank you to the author, for providing me this free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Will come back to it. just want to clean up my reading shelf

I just love this Risda series ❤️ This was a sweet fluffy good time with all of the Christmas vibes.