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btwnprintedpgs's Reviews (1.3k)
I don't think I have ever been so disappointed by a book. I have DNF'd books before, not because they were like this one, but because I knew I just wasn't in the right frame of mind to enjoy them. One day, I'll get back to a lot of those books and I know they'll be good.
This one though... Oh man. She Regrets Nothing made me regret requesting it on NetGalley. When I read the synopsis, I was getting a lot of Gossip Girl vibes, and yet I don't think anyone in Gossip Girl was as entitled, selfish, and hypocritical as Laila. And that's saying something, because the GG Upper East Side was fierce.
Laila is the perfect example of how wealth, or even aspiring to inherit wealth, can corrupt one's character. While we begin the book sympathizing with Laila's situation, that sympathy quickly dissipates as we see how she begins to treat people once she sees money.
There is gold digger and then there is Laila. She hopes to take New York by storm, and ride on the coattail of her rich and famous cousins. She gets into the good clubs, meets billionaires, and betrays basically everyone who is ever nice to her. Her cousins - Liberty, Nora, and Leo - take Laila under their wing. Nora and Leo let Laila live with them for free, Liberty gives Laila a job, and yet Laila remains the most ungrateful ingrate on earth. She continues to claw for more.
However, this is where the hypocrisy comes in - she faults the men that she meets for doing the exact same thing she is - trying to rise above their station and all that, and she looks down upon them from a high seat that no one ever gave her, and no one really thinks she deserves. Now this plot line goes on for about 80% of the book, and all I could do was sit there utterly exasperated by her. I stick by the rule of not quoting ARCs, but I'm fairly sure at least some of the quotes I have saved up are in the final version, and none of them make her look like a good person at all.
Then there's the family scandal - no only is that plot line a stub as short as the TTC's Sheppard line, but it's not even acknowledged by the older people in the book until about 95% through the book. I was waiting for this huge revelation and I got nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Which leads me to the regret. I spent weeks trying to get through this book because I knew that I wasn't turned off from it because of my mood, but because of Laila and her terrible character. In the end, I only liked Liberty and Reece, but at the same time, they were barely developed as characters and that drove me bonkers.
As a whole, I was left unimpressed by this book, not just for the terrible MC, but for the lack of plot, the poor execution, and the feeling of what-the-hell I was left with when I turned the last page. Definitely not a satisfying read for me.
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 2/5
World Building: 4/5
Pacing: 1/5
Overall: 1/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.65/5
eARC obtained via Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
This one though... Oh man. She Regrets Nothing made me regret requesting it on NetGalley. When I read the synopsis, I was getting a lot of Gossip Girl vibes, and yet I don't think anyone in Gossip Girl was as entitled, selfish, and hypocritical as Laila. And that's saying something, because the GG Upper East Side was fierce.
Laila is the perfect example of how wealth, or even aspiring to inherit wealth, can corrupt one's character. While we begin the book sympathizing with Laila's situation, that sympathy quickly dissipates as we see how she begins to treat people once she sees money.
There is gold digger and then there is Laila. She hopes to take New York by storm, and ride on the coattail of her rich and famous cousins. She gets into the good clubs, meets billionaires, and betrays basically everyone who is ever nice to her. Her cousins - Liberty, Nora, and Leo - take Laila under their wing. Nora and Leo let Laila live with them for free, Liberty gives Laila a job, and yet Laila remains the most ungrateful ingrate on earth. She continues to claw for more.
However, this is where the hypocrisy comes in - she faults the men that she meets for doing the exact same thing she is - trying to rise above their station and all that, and she looks down upon them from a high seat that no one ever gave her, and no one really thinks she deserves. Now this plot line goes on for about 80% of the book, and all I could do was sit there utterly exasperated by her. I stick by the rule of not quoting ARCs, but I'm fairly sure at least some of the quotes I have saved up are in the final version, and none of them make her look like a good person at all.
Then there's the family scandal - no only is that plot line a stub as short as the TTC's Sheppard line, but it's not even acknowledged by the older people in the book until about 95% through the book. I was waiting for this huge revelation and I got nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Which leads me to the regret. I spent weeks trying to get through this book because I knew that I wasn't turned off from it because of my mood, but because of Laila and her terrible character. In the end, I only liked Liberty and Reece, but at the same time, they were barely developed as characters and that drove me bonkers.
As a whole, I was left unimpressed by this book, not just for the terrible MC, but for the lack of plot, the poor execution, and the feeling of what-the-hell I was left with when I turned the last page. Definitely not a satisfying read for me.
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 2/5
World Building: 4/5
Pacing: 1/5
Overall: 1/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.65/5
eARC obtained via Atria Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
What the what did I just what? I don't think any of you can comprehend how disappointed I was by this book. This isn't simply second book syndrome, it's more like why-did-you-force-this-into-a-series-cause-it-is-such-an-absolute-let-down, with a side of what-did-I-just-read kind of syndrome.
I loved The Diabolic. I felt like the first book wrapped up a little too easily in some areas, but the character development was good, the plot was interesting, and the story as a whole was like crack - I was addicted. I burned through The Diabolic twice with ease, and that shows that it's not S.J. Kincaid, her writing, or her ability to write a good story.
The Empress though. Oof. The. Empress.
The best word to describe The Empress is political warfare. There's scheming, false promises, betrayals, murder, and a lot of stupid decisions. Which, if you think about it, is interesting. In the first book, everyone is so calculating and careful, with the characters managing to overcome the biggest plot twists. However, in this one, we see how vulnerable people become when they fall in love. We see how this can lead to misplaced trust, broken hearts, and revenge plots.
I just made this book sound super interesting. I'm going to axe that right now and tell you that if you're not interested in politics, this will be an impossible book for you to get through. Yes, it's sci-fi, there's some science and physics that are explained, some space travel, but there's also internal dialogue that goes on for days, four months that just disappear from existence, and a lot of regular dialogue that just puts you right to sleep.
Now let's talk about characters. Of the things Nemesis waffles over, being as human as possible isn't really one of them. Despite what the synopsis says, she doesn't really dwell on her choices for very long. She know who she wants dead and who she doesn't and that's that. Unfortunately, the insecurity of how to navigate through the system, as well as the license-to-kill attitude that she had in the last book really isn't present in this one. That bothered me. She was almost a whole new person/character, and some of the things she didn't just wasn't consistent with what I thought she would do.
And Tyrus. Holy crumb cakes. I don't know whether I want to hug him, slap him, or kill him. Tyrus' character went in a direction I kind of didn't expect from him, but I also saw it coming part way through this book. I can't say I liked it.
Honestly, the most consistent character was Senator Pasus. Which depresses me a little.
This book had so much potential, but I honestly did not get what I wanted out of this book. The most infuriating thing is that the whole book bored me to death, in that it was slow moving, very political, dialogue heavy, and the characters made me want to rip my hair out, yet I want to read the next book. Know why? Cause the last chapter was everything, and I hate that it took the entire book for that last chapter to happen.
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Pacing: 2/5
Overall: 2/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.88
eARC obtained via Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
I loved The Diabolic. I felt like the first book wrapped up a little too easily in some areas, but the character development was good, the plot was interesting, and the story as a whole was like crack - I was addicted. I burned through The Diabolic twice with ease, and that shows that it's not S.J. Kincaid, her writing, or her ability to write a good story.
The Empress though. Oof. The. Empress.
The best word to describe The Empress is political warfare. There's scheming, false promises, betrayals, murder, and a lot of stupid decisions. Which, if you think about it, is interesting. In the first book, everyone is so calculating and careful, with the characters managing to overcome the biggest plot twists. However, in this one, we see how vulnerable people become when they fall in love. We see how this can lead to misplaced trust, broken hearts, and revenge plots.
I just made this book sound super interesting. I'm going to axe that right now and tell you that if you're not interested in politics, this will be an impossible book for you to get through. Yes, it's sci-fi, there's some science and physics that are explained, some space travel, but there's also internal dialogue that goes on for days, four months that just disappear from existence, and a lot of regular dialogue that just puts you right to sleep.
Now let's talk about characters. Of the things Nemesis waffles over, being as human as possible isn't really one of them. Despite what the synopsis says, she doesn't really dwell on her choices for very long. She know who she wants dead and who she doesn't and that's that. Unfortunately, the insecurity of how to navigate through the system, as well as the license-to-kill attitude that she had in the last book really isn't present in this one. That bothered me. She was almost a whole new person/character, and some of the things she didn't just wasn't consistent with what I thought she would do.
And Tyrus. Holy crumb cakes. I don't know whether I want to hug him, slap him, or kill him. Tyrus' character went in a direction I kind of didn't expect from him, but I also saw it coming part way through this book. I can't say I liked it.
Honestly, the most consistent character was Senator Pasus. Which depresses me a little.
This book had so much potential, but I honestly did not get what I wanted out of this book. The most infuriating thing is that the whole book bored me to death, in that it was slow moving, very political, dialogue heavy, and the characters made me want to rip my hair out, yet I want to read the next book. Know why? Cause the last chapter was everything, and I hate that it took the entire book for that last chapter to happen.
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 1/5
Writing: 4/5
World Building: 4/5
Pacing: 2/5
Overall: 2/5
GoodReads Rating: 3.88
eARC obtained via Simon and Schuster Canada via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
-review by Between Printed Pages
