Is this really a stand alone? Because I’m so thrilled after the ending! Also, can the whole ax thing was freaking awesome, and there was some awesomely brutal scenes. There was family love, friendship, and romance mixed in. And I really want viking hair as of now!!

Review on my blog https://literarydust.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/review-sky-in-the-deep/

The first thing I thought when I read the summary for this book was that terrible movie In Time with Justin Timberlake. Come to find out it was a lot like that but a fantasy version.

I found there was some creative aspects, but more than anything there was a whole lot of nonsense and soap opera feels. Is it possible soap opera fantasy can be a thing? Because that's what this is! It was also a mixture of several other fantasies I have read.

My main pet peeve was this girl was so in love with this guy, Roan, yet she hadn't seen him in ten years since the age of seven???? How can you even remember most of that? How can you even claim love at age seven?? I can understand if the last time she saw him was like around age thirteen, but come on!!! Also, Roan felt underdeveloped as did his brother Liam. It was always Jules remembering she hated Liam when she was seven, so he must be evil, right?

It was pretty predictable, but I will say the author wrote well. I just really wasn't a big fan of Jules and her thoughts. Plus, most of the story made no sense. I normally love stuff that doesn't make sense so not sure what the heck happened here. I'll most likely still check out the next book at the library just to see how it ends....

I wanted to love this book, but in the end it was just all right. I felt the setting was amazing, and I did like the characters. There were parts where I was like “Yes!” then parts that moved soooo slow. The book felt too long, and I feel like with maybe a 100 pages less would have helped. Honestly, I wasn’t a big fan of the magic system here, and I generally find magic to be the best part. Also, it did have some unique qualities but also felt like stuff from other fantasy books I have read. I did love the author’s writing, though!

Wow, I seriously loved the writing in this one. It's also written in third person present tense which worked really well. There are several POV's in this, and I actually enjoyed them all, which is hard for me sometimes. Too many people can equal too annoying, but they each had their own distinctive voices.

I really felt for Cody AKA Cayda for how she had to live because of her father and what her sister's had to do for money. Penn was an interesting character, and I loved him! The crown prince had me grinning with his ridiculousness, but he was great!

The book had me at death god—plus dragon type stuff that was seriously awesome. Cayda was a great female character that even though she couldn't be who she truly wanted to be in the beginning, she was still strong.

Overall, this was the perfect length and a lovely ride that I didn't want to exit.

ARC received via publisher!

Review on my blog https://literarydust.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/review-a-wild-and-unremarkable-thing/

I’m glad I went back to this one. Although the MC made me mad a couple of times, I liked her. Plus she collects bugs! The illusion concept was cool and so were the descriptions of them. I did guess who the killer way early on, but that didn’t distract me from enjoying the rest.

I don’t know! I just didn’t find anything new here ... which is fine, because even books with cliches I can love. But I didn’t FEEL anything for these characters or the story in itself. The writing is great, but I guess I was expecting more from that cover! This is another book I have read recently that just feels too long and seems to drag. If it had been a little shorter, some of the unnecessary descriptions could have been cut. I think if you haven’t read a ton of fantasy books, you will probably love this book, but I have just read soooo many lately.

First, I absolutely loathe this cover and needed to be so much cuter! Anyway, this is the third Jenn Bennett book I have read, and it was super adorable. However, I do like The Anatomical Shape of A Heart and Starry Eyes more. 

I actually liked both of the characters but again, not as much as in Jenn's other books. There was also some weird drama like with the drug addict friend. Also, sometimes I wanted to shake Bailey and just yell, "Open up to him!" Plus, the talk about movies could have been way better because I am a pretty big film buff myself.

And why Bailey didn't tell Alex she was moving to the West Coast, I didn't understand. I get it she's an "evader", but still! However, the romance between Porter and Bailey was spot on. Fighting to lovers is the best kind! There needed to be more conversations between Mink and Alex shown as well!

Bennett always gives her characters distinct and awesome personalities that show great characterization. This was a fun read that kept me addicted to the pages! And I seriously can't wait to read her next book!!

Did someone say King Midas? The world here was amazing! Not to mention, I am a big fan of the whole king turning everything he touches to gold story, so that being an influence here, drew me in! There was excellent character development throughout the story and each character had their own quirks.

Wil was great and had her flaws. I'm usually not a big fan of the girl lying to a love interest about things, but here it was definitely understood why she needed to do it. The romance is normally my favorite thing, but it wasn't here, even though Loom is an interesting enough character. But I actually loved the other characters more—Gerdie, Owen, and Zay. There was a part early on in the story that gutted me, and I was surprised I could feel that way so early on, but I did!

Wil's power is incredibly interesting, she touches anything living and it morphs into emerald's, etc. She wants to find a way to rid herself of what she believes to be a curse, so the journey is about discovery. The book does end on a cliffhanger, but not a horrible one (thank goodness). So, when book two comes out, I'll be right on it!

Review on my blog https://literarydust.wordpress.com/2018/02/05/review-the-glass-spare/

Loved the cover of this one, loved that this book wasn't like 500 pages, and loved how intrigued I was by the story!

I'm not a big fan of drinking in general, but I’m sure we all know someone who has or had the struggles with alcoholism. I could understand why Peyton would drink so much just based off of the things she could see. Heck, I'm pretty sure anyone that could see ghosty things would go down some spiral of crazy. I sure as crap would.

Even with me practically screaming at Peyton NOT to drink, I felt for her and really liked her! Then there was Jake ... my precious little honeybun of sweetness mixed with hotness! I need more of him! Overall an addicting short read that I could not put down! Plus like I said—can see ghosts! I think I’d like to quote The Sixth Sense now ... I See Dead People!

Review on blog https://literarydust.wordpress.com/2018/02/06/review-the-leak-of-madness/

What I really liked about this book was the writing. I felt the author worded things in a way that were very appealing, sort of like strawberries dipped in chocolate. But the story itself, I couldn’t get drawn into, and that was more like strawberries dipped in hot sauce. However, some people may like like that, and I think a lot of people will like this book, but I need to go and find my chocolate.