I did not expect to enjoy this book so much, but I absolutely did. Screw Daniel, he’s trash. Ruth and Evan were just so adorable and I can’t wait to get to the story of her sister Hannah.

The treatment of Michonne in this one. Yikes.

*Trigger Warning*

I just don't think her being raped was necessary.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this free eARC in exchange for an honest review. I wanted so much from this book. I've been anticipating it's release since I first saw the cover earlier this year. I'd never read anything by Kiersten White, though quite a few of her books have been on my list for a long time. I'll be honest and say that this wasn't exactly what I was expecting. The premise was amazing and the mystery was great but "Guinevere" as a character left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I love retellings and I think that Kiersten did a great job with her reinterpretation of the Arthurian myths. She brought a uniqueness that left you wanting more of the characters that everyone already knows and loves. The problem, I think, is that it left you wanting too much. Both Guinevere and Arthur's characters left a lot to be desired in my opinion. I could not connect with them at all and sort of found them exhausting. It took me forever to understand this aversion to water that Guinevere had, which may be my own fault honestly. Positives though: I loved what was done with Tristan/Isolde/Brangien. That side storyline was definitely one of the unique pieces of the book considering that Tristan and Isolde are technically before the Arthur myths. The patchwork knight mystery was GREAT. The reveal and subsequent interactions involving the patchwork knight was definitely my favorite part of the novel, hands down.

Overall, it wasn't until the last 20% of the book that I became really invested in the story and what was going on. That's when all the excitement happens, when you really begin to understand what's at stake and really get a feel for what the author was trying to do. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get to that point.

With that being said, I will be picking up the next installment because once I got sucked in during that last bit, there's no way that I can go on without finding out what happens next.

DNF @ 63%. I really wanted to finish this book, honest I did. I couldn't bring myself to though. I understand that this was supposed to give a voice to women, specifically girls and women from India, who face abuse and misogyny and shed light on these topics while also telling the story of two girls and their friendship, but honestly it's too hard for me to finish. I never expected the read to be easy and I certainly didn't expect things to magically get better for Savitha or Poornima, but this was still a bit much. I ultimately had to stop during Savitha's portion of the story because a particular incident [spoilers start here] after Savita is human trafficked from India to America where a man forces her to use her amputated arm on him for sexual pleasure. If that incident itself wasn't horrifying enough, there's actually a description of what she does to him, how she feels during it, and his pleasure from it. [spoilers end here]. I'll admit that my reaction may have a lot to do with the fact that I was listening to the audiobook during this graphic scene and maybe it would've been different if I were visually reading it instead of doing an auditory reading, but either way, that was the last straw for me.

I understand what Shobha Roa wanted to do with this novel and I applaud her for taking on such a taboo topic that needs to be discussed more, but for my own personal state of mind and person...I can't continue this book. I will say that the prose was great and you could really feel the love that Savita and Poornima have for one another. I was honestly rooting for them both and the narrator gave great emotion to Shobha's words.

Roshani really did what she had to do with no remorse huh? No regard for our feelings, our minds or our reading??? First off, I loved the diversity in this novel and the fact that it was actually mentioned, not just thrown in there for the sake of being there. Second, she created some amazing characters here. I absolutely loved Tristan, Zophia, Enrique and even Hypnos found his way into my heart. The slow burn/stop and go between Severin and Laila was meh for me. They got extremely annoying after awhile and that mess at the end. SMHHHH. I feel like there's major polyamory potential here for a few characters who shall remain nameless and all I'm saying is I NEED IT AND I NEED IT NOW. There were some slow moments in the book, but I think that it was all worth it by the time I got to the end of the journey.

This was an absolute wild ride!! I'm so glad I decided to listen to the audiobook version because Lindsay Crouse was AMAZING. I was literally hollering, cackling, gasping, and just entirely shook for majority of the book. Annie and Paul's relationship had so many levels that I honestly didn't expect. I've never watched the movie and I'm glad because I was able to go into this book with fresh eyes. More in-depth review coming soon on my blog.

I loved this book and enjoyed it a lot more than Cry Wolf. I couldn't get into Cry Wolf as much as I would've liked, but I wanted to still give the rest of the series a try because I love Mercy Thompson so much. I've also been meaning to give audiobooks another try and figured, why not start with this one. I'm so glad that I did. This renewed my personal faith in audiobooks. I've always been jealous of people who can focus when listening to the books and I finally found one that kept my attention. I found myself rooting for Anna and Charles throughout the entire book, both inwardly and aloud. I can't wait to pick up the next one.

You can check out a more in-depth review on my blog on Friday. I'll post the link then!

This book was amazing. I'm not exaggerating and I'm not being extra when I saw that I loved every minute of me listening to this book. The writing was real, raw, relatable, uncomfortable, thought provoking, intense, funny, sad, hurtful, and any other feeling that you could think of. When Xiomara mourned, I mourned. When she was in pain, so was I. When her thoughts and words were jumbles and tumbles of emotion and anger and love and desire and regret, I felt each and every one of those things. I'll be posting a full review on my blog, which I'll link here later, but this was just all around beautiful. I loved the fact that Elizabeth Acevedo narrated this audiobook herself and I think I'll forever associate Xiomara's voice with Elizabeth's. Whether you're poetry/works written in verse or not, I think you'll still love and relate to X's story in one way or another.

How can a book be both cute and fluffy, but also seductive and dirty. HOOOOOOOW?