*2.5

I unfortunately, didn’t enjoy this one as much as I thought I would. I think the only thing I really liked about this book was the gothic style and tone of the writing (which is what I came for, so at least I received lol). Set in the background of Victorian England, a fake spiritualist in an old, supposedly-haunted manor by the sea is told the only way she can stay out of jail is if she’ll perform a fake séance for the grieving Lord of the manor. A dead lady of the house, secrets & family drama galore, a suspicious house staff, and a desperate Lord. The style of the writing was great; the vibes were all there. But the way the mystery was written made this book a no for me.

The main issue with the writing was the younger way it was written. You could immediately tell from chapter one that this book was marketed for the wrong audience, and should have have been marketed for younger readers instead. A Dreadful Splendor reads glaringly like a YA or even a middle grade mystery novel. And with that said, I don’t think I would have read this if it was marketed for the age range it truly is for: YA. I don’t usually like YA mysteries for their often juvenile themes & characters, lackluster build-up, and obvious twists. Sometimes they’re fun to read to pass the time, but I find they never satisfy me the way I want them to by the end (excluding AGGTM & Truly Devious). By the end of this story, I was beyond tired of the predictable plot, easy mystery, and annoying amount of telling instead of showing. The murderer(s) (no spoilers for y’all) was very easy to guess, and some of the plot twists were even downright funny at times.

It felt really like the author was trying to write a mashup of Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights for the plot—however B.R. Myers execution felt lackluster. A Dreadful Splendor has both nudges and similar ideas to both stories, sort of like B.R. was making her own twist? There were so many plot-points that reminded me exactly of the two stories.

Was this book bad? Ehh not necessarily. The concept was great, but the execution was greatly lacking. I think the first mistake was marketing this book as adult when it’s very obviously not. It was just irritating how juvenile and simple this book felt when it could have been so much more had it been written a little older. Overall, I found this one severely underwhelming.

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My Gothic Book Playlist

*4.5

The Greatest Showman if it had a baby with Phantom of the Opera, and the baby was a crack baby — but sprinkle in some Caraval vibes and you get this masterpiece.

playlist <3

Oh god. Another dystopian future esc novel. And what better way to put it in Sci-fi and call it a ‘sci-fi, dystopian future esc novel’ and it actually be a fantasy novel! Woah! Yeah!

The selection was horrendous. I’m sorry it just was. I DNF’ed on at least page 100 maybe even 90. The book was just awful.

America Singer is so fucking annoying. America is more annoying than Mare Barrow (go read my red queen review) and that’s saying a fucking lot.

America is childish, petty, whiny, boring, and plain god damn boring! I have never read a character that annoys me so fucking much.

And what the fuck are these names? Like seriously?! America, Aspen, Maxon, really?! Who the actual fuck thought of these names?

The world building in this book is god right AWFUL. Their are so many plot holes, not enough descriptions and depth, and it was almost confusing at times. Actually scratch that, IT WAS CONFUSING ALL THE TIME. I was so confused on where everyone lived, and did, and all that bullshit. I tried backtracking at least 3 times before I didn’t give a shit anymore.

And America is such a weak ‘heroine.’ Jesus she’s wining about Aspen ‘breaking’ her heart. The bitch needs to grow up and grow a god damn backbone. If a guy breaks up with you, the world doesn’t fucking end just because a guy broke up with you. All the female main characters drive me INSANE when they do that. It’s almost like the author describes the boyfriend as ‘their whole entire fucking life’ (*cough* *cough* Twilight, *no shade*). It’s annoying.

I couldn’t get through this book and I am sorry. I bought ‘The Elite’ as well, but their is literal no way in HELL that I will ever pick up another Keira Cass (that’s how you spell her last name right?!) book. I’m sorry. I tried really hard, but this was a hard core DNF for me and I will never pick this book up again.

2.5/3 Stars
So I picked this book up at a BAM on vacation for like $6 bucks and decided to give it a try. I’ve always heard mixed reviews about Abbi Glines but decided to give it a shot.

I wasn’t disappointed. The whole plot line and book itself is interesting and the writing draws you into the book. Some of the plot is very cliché, but the twists and turns at the end of the book are nice.

The character development in Val is also something I love to see in the main character, and for her to realize she’s not always making her own choices.

The book is kinda sexual but I guess you can expect that.

Personally I think Abbi Glines is a strong writer, with strong story and plot line ideas but often times make her stories a bit cliché. Obviously their isn’t anything bad about that if you like it, I’m just giving my honest opinion.

But in all honesty if a 2.5 to 3 star book is something your looking for, or a book like this I’d pick it up.

Unfortunately this was another big DNF for me.

Three Dark Crowns is about 3 young sisters who have powers. They try and compete to fight to the death, until one lone remains and that one sister becomes queen.

When I first read the synopsis I thought I was sold. 3 sisters check, wanting to become queen check, AND fighting to the death double check! This book sounds so interesting, but I wasn’t interested from the start.

From the first page I was definitely confused. I can’t even explain it. I was just thoroughly confused. Nothing made sense to me, and the way they were flipping from sister to sister was done in a poor manor.

The world building in this book isn’t anything special nor is it very good. Going back to what I said about being confused, the world building was pretty bad in this book. When something important or of use about worlds was mentioned I really didn’t understand. The author didn’t explain the world enough, and she definitely didn’t give it anything special.

The characters in the books were hard to follow and get into. I felt as though all the sisters was made to be hate able characters. I just didn’t like them one bit. They weren’t fun to read about, and certainly weren’t anything special, let alone mortally interesting.

The story is also to show. I was so damn bored during the page duration I read. Their wasn’t anything that remotely interested me within what I read, and this book actually put me into a big, fat, reading slump.

All of this is hence why I DNF’ed it, and gave this book 1 star.

(2.5 stars)
So this book is gonna be kinda hard to write a review about so fair warning.

So we follow our main character Mia who has a loving family, a good boyfriend, and a funny best friend. She’s really into classical music and wants to be a violinist (is that how you say it?). Anyways she has always felt as if she was somehow different or left out from the rest of her family and friends. And then one day her family gets in a car crash killing her parents and brother. So she kinda has to make this choice should she stay or should she leave?

And that explains the whole novel. So we follow Mia while she’s in a coma. It’s really hard to describe so bear with me. Basically Mia is like a ghost and can see things around her, but people can’t hear her, feel her, or see her. It’s really confusing.

Through the whole book we learn about her life, her family, her boyfriend and best friend, and memories that absolutely no one gives two shits about.

So after describing this book, here is where I have issues.

First off, I think that the whole plot and premise was confusing. One moment we were talking about Mia in the present, and then another moment we were talking about her past and resurfacing memories.

Second I really didn’t care about any of the characters. It want that I hated them or anything, it’s just that they were boring? Unexciting? Predictable? I don’t know. They just weren’t characters I was interested in.

Third Some of the memories from the past were so unnecessary and just dumb. Honestly like I didn’t really need to know about that one night on Halloween, or how her and her grandfather had a day out. I just skimmed through some pages because I was bored.

Finally speaking of bored, this book was boring and unnecessary. I honestly don’t see the point in this book. I know that’s kinda harsh, but I’m just stating the truth.

I gave the book 2.5 stars because I liked close relationships she had with her family and best friend. Otherwise I really didn’t enjoy this book. I can’t even remember anyone’s name except Mia’s.

Oh my god!

Their are no words to express this masterpiece. Yoon did a wonderful job with this exciting, sad, and heart warming debut novel.

I was touched by the whole story, and I love the characters.

Maddy and Olly were absolutely adorable together. I loved them so very much. Now while their relationship was kinda ‘insta lovey,’ I still thought it was very sweet.

I was definitely not expecting the plot twist at the end, and I’m definitely reading Nicola Yoon’s next novel ‘The Sun Is Also A Star.’

Thank you Yoon for writing one of my new favorite YA contemporary novels.