booktribe's Reviews (603)

DNF at 37%. There was a lot going on this novel, but I still managed to be bored because nothing was happening. Also I did not like the main character at all. I can tell she was written to be snarky, but she just came off as rude for no reason. Her personality was supposed to be cute, but it wasn’t😬

This romance was so cute! It was a really quick read. It was funny at times and heartwarming at others. And I really liked the characters. You gotta love a man that will sit and watch Love and Hip Hop with you🥰😂 I do wish that Leighanna’s character had been a little more developed though, she didn’t really have much personality outside of the romance to me. But I feel like Janero’s character was more developed and I really enjoyed him. 

I wish the enemies part of the enemies to lovers trope in this book had went on a little longer because I have no idea why they got on each other’s nerves so much! If we had explored that more, this book could’ve been perfect to me.

I really enjoyed this and I will be picking up more of A. Marie Johnson’s books! Also, I’d be very interested in sequels to this👀 Maybe if Mia, Leighanna’s best friend, and Kani, Janero’s best friend, each get their own books🤞🏽

     I really enjoyed this book! I almost missed out on this it during the All Black Book Affair because the synopsis was so vague,  but I’m glad I took a chance on it! The synopsis is vague for a reason. The book starts out feeling like more of a teen contemporary with little mysterious hints of fantasy here and there, but about halfway through the book we begin to dive deep into the fantasy and what’s really going on in the story. And when we find out the core of what’s going on, it does not disappoint. The writing flowed well and the story kept me interested throughout the whole book. I sped through it!

     My only complaint about the book is that I wish I liked the male main character, Casper more. I just couldn’t connect with him, he annoyed me a lot. 

     This is a great book for a young adult audience, and I enjoyed it as an adult as well! I will be picking up the sequel! 

     Seeds of Sacrifice is the first book in an Indian inspired fantasy series with royals, court politics, gods, and monsters. 

     This book had some great things about it! It was pretty fast paced with engaging action scenes and a good amount of twists and turns. I always enjoy grimdark fantasy novels with plenty of war scenes and this had that. There was also a good amount of intensity and urgency in the story. I never got bored. The book had a great atmosphere, and I also loved that there was sapphic representation!

     Though this book had some great elements, it also had some things that could use improvement. Mainly, I found the story to be confusing. It skipped around a lot and I sometimes found myself asking “how did we get here?”. Secondly, I wish that the characters had been more likable. I just felt indifferent to almost everyone. Also, there was a lot of fatphobia in this novel. And though I do understand why it was necessary for a certain character’s development, I still found it uncomfortable.

     Overall, even though this book was confusing, I still found it enjoyable due to the fast paced grimdark atmosphere. I may read the sequel because I feel like since this is the author’s debut, it can only get better from here! Definitely give this book a try if you’re looking for a quick fantasy read! 

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this arc. All opinions are my own.

TW: fatphobia, graphic death, animal death, spiders, and snakes

     Howard Browning, an aging actor who played slasher movie villain The Reaper in the 80’s, is tired of his new life of signing autographs for the very few fans that still show up to events to see him. But when the studio announces a reboot of the franchise, Howard is disappointed to hear that he has been replaced by Trevor Mane, a former child star fresh out of rehab who’s looking for a fresh start. Howard tries to accept this as a way for him to let go of his past life, however, The Reaper has gotten into his head. He needs more blood, and he will make Howard do anything to get it.

     This book started off very strong for me. I found the writing to be very engrossing from the start. My favorite part about it were the script scenes, in which we get a snippet of the killings from the infamous slasher franchise that the book is about. I was always excited when I got to one of those scenes! I also really enjoyed Howard and The Reaper as characters. They were equally interesting and I needed to know what was next for them throughout the book.

     But, speaking of characters, I couldn’t stand Trevor. This book is dual pov and although, after reading the whole book, I do see why we needed Trevor’s point of view, while reading it felt very superfluous and boring. He wasn’t an interesting character, he didn’t add much to the story, he was just there. He should not have had an equal amount of chapters with Howard. I feel like I could’ve skipped almost every chapter from Trevor’s point of view, and missed nothing until the end. I would’ve enjoyed the book much more without so much of him in it. Also, I thought the story dragged a little bit from about 50% to 80% in. I feel like the book could’ve been a little shorter. I almost didn’t finish the book at 73%, but I’m glad that I stuck with it because the ending was great and very satisfying! The ending was what I was expecting for most of the book, more action!

     Although I had some complaints, I still enjoyed this book! If you’re looking for a full out slasher novel, like I was going in, this isn’t that, but it was a great homage to slasher films of the 80’s and it was such an interesting concept.

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

TW: addiction, drug use, animal death, suicide attempt, use of the r word, miscarriage and child abuse mentioned

It was a good book, just not for me! The male love interest seemed like the type of dude that’ll say whatever a woman wants to hear. I don’t respond to charming men, I don’t trust them. But that’s my personal preference. Also, the smut level was higher than my particular liking, but again, personal preference. It was well written though and I liked every character except the male love interest. 

Deep in Providence is beautiful, it’s emotional, it’s creepy, it has lovable characters making potentially bad decisions, lots of magic, a witchy aunty, spirits roaming around creepily, BIPOC cast, lgbtq rep, and did I mention lots of magic?

What else could you possibly want?

Why aren’t more people talking about this???

The writing is absolutely gorgeous. I will read literally anything Riss M. Neilson writes from now on. The characters were so well developed and I wanted the best for all of them. It was way more emotional than I expected it to be, but in a great way. And it was shockingly creepy at times, which was a wonderful surprise. I only had one very small complaint and that was that the passage of time wasn’t clear in the novel. The novel felt like it happened over several months, but I think it really only happened within a few weeks. But that didn’t dampen my enjoyment at all. 

Please everyone go read this! Pls🥺

I was incredibly bored. I was even more bored with this than I was with Final Girls. My least favorite Sager.