I'm loving this series so far. It's kind of crazy but really addicting. One of the things I have really enjoyed with this series is the insane twists! It doesn't always happen at the end but just randomly within the book. As always, some things can be predictable, but I find myself really surprised a lot with these books. I'm not sure how I feel about the romance. It was kind of non-existent in this book. There's a lot of conflicting emotions and I'm not sure how I feel about any of the characters connections. I think I'm on one side but then quickly questions myself. haha. The pacing in this book was really fast and there's so much action going on. It's so funny because I'm not a huge sci-fi reader but I've been loving this series! I do love all the characters. I'm looking forward to what happens in the next book with that ending! 

 

I buddy read this with Julie & Dini! I think the secret to all books is a buddy read. haha! It’s been so amazing to bounce off ideas and talk about things we did and didn’t like. I also didn’t realize this was the author of Atlas Six!

This one didn’t start off as a love at first read. Is that a thing? If not, then I’m saying it is. It took me a while to really get into it and actually like the MC love interest. Eventually, we learn a lot more and it definitely changed my opinion on him. I absolutely adored the MC- Bel. Her humor is amazing, and she was such a refreshing MC to read about. She kind of lives in her own world and does her own thing. She’s unapologetically doing her own thing and it’s empowering. The supporting characters were amazing! Dash and Jamie brought so much to this story, and I loved them to death.

The STEM in this is what I loved the most. I think it’s really important that girls can feel like they belong in STEM and it’s definitely a hard world to crack. Not to mention, being a girl of color. This really put a spotlight on the injustices girls face in this world. It’s tough and I like how there’s so many lessons in this. The fact that they had people in their corner to help them shine. On the flip side, there are people who are not (teachers) their side and I’m glad that some of them learned their mistakes.

One of the things I didn’t like at all, was the female competition aspect. I understand that Neelam feels like she’s owed something because she’s been doing it longer. It doesn’t matter how someone gets somewhere; women should always support women. Women have enough of a time competing and fighting men, we don’t need to be doing it to each other. This was a huge downfall to this book because it’s not a message that I will ever get behind.

Overall, I (and my buddy reads) really enjoyed this story. There’s a lot of great messages and it was such a sweet romance. I think it’s important to shine a light on how hard STEM or anything considered a “mans” world is. I loved how we even had teachers realizing their ways, good or bad. I think it’s an important message and this book was really empowering! I loved Bel and she’s such a great role model for girls. I want to be more like Bel. 🙂

Thank you to Holiday House for providing and arc via Netgalley! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

 

I don’t know what is going on but there have been so many angsty forbidden romances lately! Haha! I went into this completely blind and didn’t know what to expect. I was actually surprised to realize this had a romance in it, which I wasn’t expecting, for some odd reason.

This takes place a few years after Brave, the movie. Merida is kind of stuck and stagnant. The whole castle is and that’s the issue that needs to be resolved. She doesn’t know what she wants from life but keeps traveling around. Like most gods, here they come to cause some chaos.

This book is hard for me to review. I wanted to love it but I found myself really trying to push through and not DNF. The plot is so slow and takes forever to go anywhere. We take half the book to hit the first of 3 places. Then the next two places are so fast especially, the last. They spend a couple of pages there when it was chapters for the previous. I wanted to spend the most time there because it was the most fascinating!

My favorite part about this book was the romance. I am not going to say more because I don’t want to give too many things away. It’s just such a slow build and then becomes quite angsty. I think this was the most mature part of this book. The writing felt very, very young. Considering this was supposed to take place in her teens if felt younger. I was really disappointed with Merida’s overall character arch too. I’m also not going to delve into that either for spoiler reasons. I will say, there are some contradictory things to the movie. In the movie, she and her mom finally understood each other. This kind of blurs that and I feel it isn’t true to the original story.

Overall, I did like this but I didn’t love it. Even though the plot was slow it was a decently fast read. I’m glad I stuck with it because I did enjoy the romance but there are a lot of things lacking here. This definitely reads for a much younger audience, so keep that in mind. The last third of the book is very rushed and feels a bit unfinished.

Thank you to Dinsey Press and Netgalley for a copy of this book to review. 

 If you haven't read the first one, then probably don't read this mini review. I don't really have spoilers for book two but for book 1. The first book was a quick read, but this was even more so. This story is so addicting and so well done. The angsty vibes was just top notch because we are back to enemies again. The whole time, I had no idea how Lara was going to fix this and get her happy ending. I think, I was prepared for it to go either way. Aren's loyalty to his people is admirable and unwavering. I think that's what made them seem almost impossible. There are so many amazing supporting characters in this series that I just adored. There's some we get introduced to in this book and I quickly fell in love with them. I cannot wait for the next book. Seriously, these books are amazing, and they are such quick reads too!! 

 I had seen this book everywhere and then I saw Dini rave about it and knew I had to read it. Luckily, Maya saw that I wanted to read it and she did too. We buddy read this, and we both enjoyed it! This book was so angsty and just addicting. I had a very hard time stopping and I could have finished this in one sitting. The story has a lot of moving parts, and you don't quite know what's going to happen next, even if you think you do. The world building is fabulous, and the political intrigue is really good. I loved Lara and Aren from the get-go. They have such a compelling relationship and watching them try to fight their feelings was entertaining, to say the least. If you are looking for a great enemies-to-lovers book, then this is for you. 

 This was just as good as her first book, if not more. I love how brutally honest she is. Just keep in mind that she's really vulgar. If you don't like that then you will not enjoy this one. This one she is talking about her kids, her second pregnancy, and her son's and husband's diagnosis. There's a lot going on, but she has a brilliant way of storytelling. I did do the audio and I didn't on her first book. I might go back and re-read her first with the audio. It's so good and it adds so much more personality to the book. She's been through so much and even though she's in a better place, she still continues to struggle. I'm glad she's found what makes her happy and she can share her life with us. 

 I also listened to this one and I'm not sure if that had a part in this, but I didn't love this one either. I am starting to think that maybe the shorter stories are not Hazelwood's forte. It feels like I can't connect to her characters and the short story doesn't give me enough time to connect or really feel their relationship. Insta-love is a trope that I really don't like. I get being attracted and all that, but this was a little much. I think the fact that it was a short timeframe doesn't help it. It was just too much and made it hard for me to believe. I gave this a bit higher of a rating because I did enjoy it the most out of them. I am a little nervous going into her release coming out soon.