Kalynn Bayron has become one of my favorites. I love the idea of vampires in a spooky middle grade. This had the perfect kind of horror/amount of horror for that grade level, an inclusion of queer characters that felt genuine, and still left room for dynamics of friendship/family relationships that were both touching and relatable. This was a great start to a series!

Well... It was a book

I'm just disappointed. Everyone speaks so highly of this book and don't get me wrong, there are parts that were sharp and powerful and moving and some beautiful prose. However, every single character is insufferable, mildly irritating, and frustrating. Every single one. There's soooo much cheating. Cheating is a trigger of mine in books and I was definitely put off. Also, while there were parts I liked, ultimately, it felt like nothing actually happened.

I had to keep reminding myself this was a fictional book. It truly felt like someone's story, like their true, honest story of turmoil and war and survival but it's coming from someone who's a political prisoner. There's just so much raw emotion and ferocity, it was deeply moving and deeply unsettling. This is a book that will root itself inside your mind and soul and you'll be thinking about it all the time. I genuinely admire the main character.

I thought this was great! I love multigenerational stories, especially when there's a lot of history and emotions to unpack. I was excited to learn about Tibet and it's history, but a downfall in this was that. There was a lot of telling and not really showing and it got lost. Despite that, I liked the characters and their storylines, I just would've loved more detail about certain things.

"here, men are nothing. Here, the river has teeth."

Erica Waters knows how to write a perfect atmospheric folk horror tale. The monsters, the witches, the magic, the mystery...it was all perfectly connected and creepy. The actual plot was fairly sad and harrowing, making an emotional impact on me. I fell in love with most of the characters and that ending? Chills. Absolute chills.

It was just okay. It was a quick, fluffy read with some drama and cooking. The romance was a bit light and lacked a lot of chemistry. I didn't buy into Charity or Will's love story, it didn't really work. There wasn't much steaminess (which I'm perfectly okay with!) and there just wasn't a whole to keep my attention tbh. Wasn't bad but I wouldn't read it again.

This had so much potential but it just wasn't all that fun or even interesting. The pace was so sluggish, you didn't really know much about the characters so it was hard to even feel attached or have a visceral reaction to certain things. The plot was giving a mysterious, noir, 1930s mystery vibe but it was soooo boring. The authors writing is beautiful and that's what saved it tbh and the only reason I'm giving it 3 stars.

This blew me away and I knew I would like it but I didn't think I'd love it this much! It was dark, high stakes, dystopian, and the fact that basically almost all of the characters were refusing to believe Petra made it so real. Earth going to shit and then power hungry politicians trying to take command is definitely something I see happening for real... oop. The storytelling was fantastic, the atmosphere was on point, and I loved Petra.