booktribe's Reviews (603)

This was one of my top two most anticipated books of 2024 and I have mixed feelings…

Gothic horror is my favorite sub-genre, so I will always be excited for a gothic book! And this book definitely gave the gothic vibes! It was very atmospheric and reminded me of Crimson Peak in some ways. It was slow paced and eery. And while reading I really loved the mystery and intrigue. I couldn’t wait to find out what was going on with this family that our main character had married into! 

However, I have now finished the book and I still have no idea what was going on. I was left with countless questions after finishing. There were so many mysteries that were a part of this story, but what was the point when none of the mysteries were solved?? I really thought I was going to love this book & the revelation of what was going on in the story, but the story ended with nothing but confusion… It was also lacking a little in scene description, I couldn’t always picture what was happening. 

The whole book felt like one big fever dream, which was super intriguing at first, but since I never got any clarity to the story, I just couldn’t love this like I wanted to. I enjoyed the ride, but the conclusion wasn’t worth it. I do think the story could make a better movie though, if the story is fleshed out more. I’m giving it 3 stars based on the potential of what it could’ve been.

Thank you Amistad and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

This one just isn’t for me. I felt no emotion in the writing. I was very confused by some of the shifter-related-wording. I couldn’t picture what was being described. Maybe shifter romance just isn’t for me though.

THIS is what I read romance for! The cute dates, funny banter, & adorable moments! I really needed a soft, fun romance and A. E. Valdez gave me that!

But, I do feel like the novel could’ve been shorter.  I was absolutely loving this, but after the characters got back from the cabin at about 70% in the story, I lost interest. There was so much emphasis put on setting up the story for the next book in the series that the story in this book started to drag. A good five chapters could’ve been taken out and the pacing would’ve been better. Also, in this book I didn’t like either of the characters that the next book in the series follows, so I’m not sure if I’ll read it. I’m looking forward to the 3rd book though, so I might have to read the 2nd one anyway so that I won’t be lost. We’ll see!

Although the pacing at the end of this book wasn’t it for me, I look forward to reading more soft & fun romance from A. E. Valdez!

Literary horror is really becoming my thing and I love that for me. The real horror in life is human emotion.

It hurts my feelings so bad that I can’t finish this book, but I just can’t continue. I’m really interested in these characters & I want to know how their story ends, but the pacing of this book is just sooo slow! I’m almost halfway done and barely anything has happened.  The scenes are 30+ pages long because every single thing that’s happening in the scene is described, every single word that could be said is on page, like I don’t need to read ALL of this. I don’t need to see the dust settle on the table and hear the character tell her friend that she has to pee. This really could’ve used more editing. Everything that has happened in the first half of this book could’ve happened in the first 20%. Maybe I’ll just ask a friend how it ends because even though I love these characters, I can’t continue.

For this book to be less then 100 pages it was taking too long to get started…