blewballoon's Reviews (763)

I picked up the audiobook just because Moira Quirk narrated it. I didn't realize until after I began (without looking at the synopsis or anything) that it was by the same author as Can't Spell Treason Without Tea, and wow these books are quite different. In that book it felt like things just kind of happened to some fairly bland characters, and the character reactions seemed overblown, but this book is all about the people and the people are complicated. 

The chapters jump all over the place in chronological order for maximum character development impact. Just barely after getting a sense of who the characters are in the present, you dive back to the past to see what external factors shaped their internal structure which leads to the decisions they make that flow directly into their present problems. Everyone is a little bit messy and misguided, but you can see exactly why and hope that they will grow enough to dig themselves out of the holes they've dug. 

So, yeah, I really enjoyed all the character work and I was very impressed by how rounded and consistent it was. That was great, and for me that was the main draw to keep reading even though the magical plot was also pretty cool and suspenseful. 

Present tense isn't my favorite, but I could have pushed past it like I have for plenty of other books where I was interested in the characters and plot. This feels less like a character driven story and more like a satirical writing exercise where the characters aren't meant to be whole people, and that type of thing isn't my jam. What really gave me the DNF feeeling is that this book seems too cynical and mean-spirited in the tone. I get that the main character is going through it, but my ex husband also had an affair and left me during the pandemic and I still can't relate to the main character and her attitude, or at least the tone of the narrator. 

I went into this with low expectations. I actually love cozy fantasy, but I feel like people are getting a bit tired of it and I can understand why, I've read some sloppy cozy fantasy myself and it's easy to get put off by it. I kind of assumed this was going to be one of those cases where the story is too weak and the characters are too flat to squeeze any reaction out of me besides mild frustration. I listened on audiobook and the narrator also had me a bit worried, she can't really do any voices and sounds sort of like she's a young teacher reading a children's book to her class. Somehow, it worked. 

The writing and storytelling are fairly simple, reminiscent of being read a bed time story. The characters are distinct, even the ones that appear briefly, and they have just enough substance to them that I was charmed and invested. The plot is mostly slow paced, slice of life, but there are some heavier moments and brief action sequences. Again, it felt like just enough plot and intrigue to keep my attention. 

I do think things unraveled a little bit towards the end where I was kind of like "alright, I get it" as the author wrapped everything up both with montage-style glimpses at the side characters and being too drawn out with the final scenes of the main cast. I think the last couple chapters could have just used some tighter editing maybe and it would have landed with more impact. 

Overall, I do recommend if you like cozy fantasy and are looking for an easy feel-good read.

So good! Just as much tension and mystery as the first book, and the soft romance is just gorgeous. 

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book! 

Ultimately I liked parts of this but struggled with others. I thought the writing quality was pretty good apart from some bits that felt a bit repetitive and how some fairly important scenes happened off-page. A lot of the treasure hunting and diving scenes kind of breeze by, and the author's note did mention that they took a lot of liberties with the depiction.

I think the thing the book did best was illustrate the chemistry between the two love interests. The physical pull between them was present in all their scenes together and helped make the insta-love aspects feel less cheap. That being said, I don't know how I felt about this romance? I don't think there's really any justification for how Huck

left Stella without a word.

This is the modern era where cellphones exist, there's no excuse. The way the whole tangle of the past and

their mutual friend's involvement

got resolved didn't feel earned or even realistic. 

Despite my criticisms, I didn't think this was bad, and I will definitely check out more by this author.

The main character is too exhausting. I hope and pray she has some character development so she stops treating everyone so badly. Even if you can't trust people, you would at least want to be decently polite to not draw negative attention to yourself? It's very much a tell don't show sort of writing where the main character had some kind of nebulous training that makes her able to perform all kinds of feats off-page like weaseling her way into a school and climbing down a building unnoticed. If this was a dual perspective romance then maybe I could have made my way through it with breaks from her POV, but I do not care at all about this world or these people. 

If you are absolutely desperate for a generic enemies-to-lovers marriage-of-convenience he-falls-first (is that a spoiler if it's obvious from the moment he's on the page?) and have read all of the other ones, then maybe read this one?

All of the books in this series strike a careful balance between the darker subjects and the hopeful lightheartedness of romance, but this one felt maybe a little darker than the others? 

I hadn't quite realized until partway through that each book in the series has involved one of the main characters keeping a big secret from the other. In this case it seems like the secret is actually fairly mild for a change, but everything surrounding it and the other elements of the story and the other struggles of the characters all wrap up into that secret to make it just as suspenseful as the "bigger" ones from the books before.

I appreciated the way the lingering antagonists and of course the looming threat of the pharmaceutical company that preys on vampires were were addressed here, but it doesn't quite feel like an ending. I'm not sure if there is going to be a book 4? If not, this isn't so open ended as to be completely unsatisfying. 

It was delightful to see the main couples from the first two books fold into the plot of this one. There are quite a few other books in this series outside of the main three, and I feel like I should read those because it seems like a lot of the side characters of all the books have their own stories to flesh them out even more. I like this universe and this author, so I'm glad there's more for me to nibble on.

A very worthwhile sequel to The Tainted Cup, which I have only come to like more over time. In this book I had a much easier time following the cast of characters, old and new, and could appreciate the layered world-building as we got to see and understand more of how this universe works. It's such an interesting setting and easily lends itself to some gruesome body horror scenes that add to the tension of the mystery. 

I did manage to solve the mystery this time, which had felt impossible in the last book due to how much of a struggle I had telling the characters apart with the audiobook. The names were more distinct this time, so the audiobook experience was clearer. I also had a much better sense of the stakes and felt the weight on the characters as they dealt with all the twists and turns.

I really enjoyed the character development between Din and Ana. As I have said before, my favorite Sherlock Holmes adaptations are the ones that treat the Watson character respectfully and don't sideline them too much. The dynamic of having Din be Ana's literal eyes (and ears, and hands, and more) during the investigation keeps the audience close to the clues and invested in the more grounded characters. Ana's strange, almost alien behavior at times makes her leaps of logic easier to accept but also easier to follow, since you have all the same information she does. 

Mild spoilers:

I was a little worried that like in Sherlock Holmes stories, once Moriarty's character shows up I actually become way less interested because it only drags the story further away from the audience as it becomes a battle between two super-intelligent entities and the Watson just kind of stands watches from a distance. This book had no such issue and allows Din to contribute greatly to actually solving the mystery even though the foe they are following seems to have a heightened intelligence like Ana's. That being said, I do not think we have actually met this series's version of Moriarty yet.

Books like this are why I prefer reading over basically any other form of entertainment these days. Where else can I find slightly weird creepy wholesome stories and characters like this? This scratches basically all of my itches for what I want to read. I loved all the main characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and the supernatural stuff. I nearly cried a couple times. I am so glad this is a series! Thank you thank you thank you to Vivian Shaw. 

This was cute and fun. I love a

friendly

ghost story, and the romance was light & sweet. I did feel like Nick and Cassie were a little bland, but that was okay.

I appreciated the small exploration of Cassie's feelings on not being able to have children. The way the topic was handled wasn't particularly deep or subtle, but I thought it was respectful. I liked the emphasis on how it was more Cassie's social isolation from her friends who did have children that was affecting her, and I was especially relieved that the subject wasn't handled like in other books I've read with

a miracle pregnancy in the epilogue or something.

The audiobook narrator was good, but I do wish there had been a male narrator for the chapters from Nick's perspective. Just personal preference, though.