I don't know where to start with this. As I'm sitting here looking back on everything I just read I'm starting to think I didn't enjoy this book as much as I thought I did. I love the author, I swear, I do. The Venatrix Chronicles is one of the greatest series’ I've ever read. I'm so confused as to why I downright dislike this.

I absolutely can not stand the way Nelle spoke; her trying too hard to be from the poor side of the tracks, shitty accent. The sheer number of times the word bullspit was used… Or Boggart for that matter, drove me batty and I eventually started blocking out all the “Oi''s and “Ain't"s. I understand where the character came from, I understand that this is probably how they talk in that area, but it didn't come off as genuine. It came off as trying too hard, and really fake to me and it was ruining my perception of the character. On the subject of Nelle, I hate that we hardly went into her family's back story, I feel like the book was long enough that we should have been able to get a little more background on it all. I want to know more. More of what happened to her mom, maybe more of her training as a thief? Maybe even more into what makes her such a skilled thief. Maybe even a little more background on her relationship with Sam. Because I hardly felt  that betrayal. It just ended up being another sentence on the page. 
AND the way that she calls Soren “Sir” rubs me the wrong way too! Its doesnt come off cute or romantic, it comes off like she's way younger than him, and maybe employed by him. I know it's a slow burn, but I also know eventually they're going to be a couple, and that thought is giving me the yucks right now.

I found Soren to have pretty close to zero character, again, maybe that's how he's supposed to come off, but he bored me. He felt more made of stone than he did “beast”. 

The idea of the Thorn Maiden is amazing, nightmares in the waking world is a story I can get behind big time. That's probably what I'm holding onto in this story, is what could be, and hopefully what is coming. 
Maybe the writing style isn't for me? Maybe these characters are just not for me. I'm not sure what’s happening, but this book just isn't bringing me all that much joy. 

I am a sucker for little one page comics! 

This book was absolutely adorable and entirely relatable. I devoured it and laughed the entire time, then, I immediately read it again. So. Stinking. Cute.

This book was pretty okay. Maybe I was expecting a little bit more, I'm not sure, but while I did enjoy it, I wasn't totally overjoyed with it. 
I loved the idea behind the book, we all love a good vigilante killer, especially one that defends young girls being targeted. but it fell flat for me throughout most of the story. I found the characters to be somewhat cliche and typical for a college campus setting. Naive, shy and quiet girl befriends nerdy guy and loud, beautiful and confident roommate. Been there, done that, a thousand and one times. 
I enjoyed Scarletts parts more than Carly's for that reason and because I love a strong female protagonist/anti hero, and that's more so what I got with Scarlett. That being said, I was disappointed that we didn't dive deeper into her psyche. We did kind of scratch the surface a few times talking about urges and craving the thrill, but we didn't go much deeper than that, and I felt as though I needed more depth to her character in order to really connect with her.
Other than Drew, and possibly Mina, (it's hard to say because we got so little of her character) every single other person that showed up in this book had zero redeeming qualities and I very strongly disliked (bordering hate) all of them and that made it hard for me to want to keep picking up this book. I just didn't look forward to it.
It was pretty easy to guess the “twist” both at the one third mark, and at the end of the story and I was disappointed not to be surprised by either reveal, even if I did appreciate them. 

It was a good book, not great but overall, I did enjoy it. 

I don't understand how this woman can write one of my most favorite series ever (insert Venatrix love here) and then turn around and write one of my least favorite.  

This entire series started pretty okay, and I was excited to see where it went. Book 2 let me down, and I picked up book 3 looking for redemption and was let down in the most dramatic way. 

There's zero growth in Vor and Faraines relationship. They aren't even together for most of this book. He loves her, then he pushes her away. Then he loves her. Then he tries to send her back home. And its book 2 all over again. And I'm frustrated and annoyed. Then he takes off to go fightt a war that's not his. 
There's ZERO conclusion with that part of the story. He just. Wipes his hands clean Fariane's family and we walk away. And yeah. I get it. We're setting up for a spin off series. But seriously, you drop a bomb like and then just walk away from that entire storyline? That absolutely does not sit right with me. 

And then we have an insanely long, repetitive, boring “training” montage of Faraine just… Turning into stone over and over again. 

This book was frustrating in the worst way, I was either extremely bored, or confused. Or both. I felt nothing for any of the characters and was relieved to turn the last page and be done with it all. Technically… Because, of course, there's that spin off series of that entirely incomplete half of the book. 

This book is very cliche. It's pretty much the same rich family thriller I've read a million times. Found journal and all. I'm bored with it, the story line and where it was going was pretty obvious. I guessed 90% of the story line a third of the way through the book and it made the rest of it feel like it was dragging on and on. 

I found the characters to be very underdeveloped and shallow, and I didn't care for any of them, or fear for any of them. I also wasn't afraid of any of them because the story was roll your eyes unrealistic and I couldn't take it seriously. 

The twists and turns in the story weren't enough for me, and it wasn't suspenseful enough to really keep me interested, let alone sitting on the edge of my seat.

What even is this book? Rockstar romance? Forbidden step brother romance? Monster romance? It is all over the place. And this dude gives me the creeps HARDCORE. The blechs. 
The characters are super shallow… there is pretty close to zero personality with any of them, so there was absolutely no saving grace. 

This book? Not for me. 

This was such a fun twist on a beauty and the beast retelling. I love Bryony, she's so down to earth and practical. Beast is sarcastic and full of wit, and maybe not entirely the typical Beast we are used to seeing. Together, their banter and the way they interacted with each other was adorable and made me so happy.
Both MCs are funny and full of wit and it was an absolute pleasure to watch their feelings from friendship, to something deeper. 
Not to mention the amazing house. Am I allowed to swoon over a house? 

This book was pretty much exactly the kind of atmospheric type of book I've come to expect from Kingfisher and I loved it. 

The end though… the end brought it down a point for me, I can't lie, I wasn't crazy about it. 

Series: The Shepherd King 
Book 1: One Dark Window ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Book 2: Two Twisted Crowns ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm sitting in the same place I was when I finished the first book. There are things about it that I loved, but I spent a lot of time bored and finding my mind drifting off to other places. I want to live inside the book I'm reading. Not drift off back to… reality 🫥

Things l loved: 

Elm and Ione. I connected with their romance way more than I did with Ravyn and Elspeth. I loved watching her come back to herself after being in the clutches of the Maiden card for so long. 

The story of the Shepherd King. I needectbis. I loved his history. I loved his story, and he was one of the only characters that I truly did connect with amd care about. He's probably the reason this is a 3 star book instead of 2. 

The magic system. I love the cards, I just feel like I needed more people using the cards. 

The last quarter (maybe less) of the book had a great pace and I was really into it. Things actually started happening and I couldn't stop reading. 

Things I didn't love: 

Most of the characters. I didn't connect with any of them. I didn't even feel a connection between any of them. The relationships felt pretty superficial. I either hated the character or didn't care much about them at all. There was really no in-between. 

The “twist”. It wasn't a twist. The entire story was pretty predictable from the get go. I didn't get that oh my gosh moment I was waiting for, and I was pretty let down because of it. 

The book was slow. So slow. And I was bored through a lot of it, and overall just have a feeling of blah about the whole experience.

Series: The Shepherd King 
Book 1: One Dark Window ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I like the idea of the cards. Individual cards that can grant the user magic powers - but at a cost. I started off completely invested, and while I found Elspeth a little (lot) bland and boring, I thought things would pick up once we encountered the highwaymen. But it really didn't. Her relationship with Ravyn is also quite bland and boring with zero chemistry and the best thing about this book is obviously the nightmare in her head, but I just don't get enough of him. I need more of the magic system and more of the cards! 

The pace is very slow and I wouldn't say I was bored with it, but I'm definitely not excited about it. If it wasn't for the last 10-15% of the book I'm not sure if I would have moved on to the second one, but it had a strong ending, and I'm looking forward to see how the story ends. 

This one was crazy. So much going on with all the “freaks” and the lions and Madam Lulu, who I hate to love, but I can't help it. 
Count Olaf is himself for the entire story and not in some tricky disguise. It seems like we're taking a turn in the series of unfortunate events!

As always, my daughter absolutely loved this book and is dying for more after that cliffhanger. (that was almost literal… almost) 

This is a series you can always rely on to be exactly what you expect it to be.