charliauthor's reviews
524 reviews

Terrible

Original, creative and inventive, a 3.5 because i was so engrossed but it tripped a bit at the end. 

Wannabe actress Delilah gets caught up in a murder conspiracy about the stars of a  cult tv show. Along the way she gets caught up with the son of one of the stars of the show building a little teen romance as they try to work out whodunnit. 

What made this book so entertaining was the very real connection to the Internet and the obsessive nature of fandoms. I found myself laughing at some of the insane comments and blog posts inserted into the book, simply because I had seen so many of them online and knew that people could be this outrageous and this ridiculous.

It spoke a lot about social media culture, fandoms, and the price of fame, which is a very important point to make in a climate where teenagers are so exposed to the negatives of social media. I enjoyed the snippets that allowed for Delilah to understand the toxicity of an online presence and how a lot of that was built into the reasoning for the murder. 

It tripped at the end for me simply because it felt wrapped up a little too easily. When the killer eventually does their monologue, explaining why they did it, didn’t make sense that they would confess to a teenager so randomly. 

Other than that, it was fairly enjoyable. 

DNF at 23% because it got very repetitive and i wasnt connecting with either of the two girls. One was moody and antagonistic and one was moody and impulsive and constantly reading that was a drain on my sanity. I wanted to know about the love story at the story but it was taking too long to get there

I was able to fly through this because the writing was very basic but overall, i didnt enjoy it.

The cover, the blurb, the title, everything about this made it seem like it was going to be a fun Romantasy and in my opinion, also made it seem like there was going to be some adult content/smut, of which there is only one scene embedded in otherwise childish text. Constant use of the FMC saying “wait” because there was no way to connect their dialogues so she just makes them effectively re set and talk about something else, reaaally annoyed me. Why have i noticed that so many times!?

Anywho, it starts out funny enough with main character Willow realising that she is in fact dead and in some kind of Inbetween place. There was some promise for me here when its clear that Willow is hiding something about herself/her past that could warrant her being sent here. However this back story was revealed fairly early on and it didnt hold the depth I thought it would. I understood the drips of Mental Health issues it was meant to convey but honestly, it came across quite contrived and Willow increasingly more annoying and i wasn’t that empathetic towards her.

I understood her pain over never being enough for her mother but this didnt hold enough weight for me to be the reason that she was suicidal/irresponsible and a bit of a drip.

Coupled with how impulsive she was, i found myself rolling my eyes constantly. She is everything wrong with new FMCs lately. Shes unnecessarily bold, impulsive, rude/sarcastic and its not the endearing or relatable trait that authors seem to think it is. Why are you questioning the Devil!? Who are you!? Why do you think youre more special than everyone else here to demand anything from him!? On that note, Sathanas. 

Well we find out thats not his real name but what is it!? We never find out. For the King of Asphodel (Hell), he was incredibly weak. He wasnt actually that hot for a start: standard dark hair/tan skin stuff. Hes not particularly powerful or scary and he cries WAY too often. Again, i guess it was meant to make him different and us to feel his plight later but it was just a bit boring. 

Speaking of boring, the “trials”. Willow has to go through 7 temptations in order to escape hell and she gets through them way too easily. Then, for the ACOTAR stans, remember in book 1

and the Tamlin heart thing that came out of nowhere and that was meant to be the reason for all this crap…

yeah so that happens here. Then we’re given some info dump about why and who and what and when and none of it really makes sense or is cohesive enough for it to be <bold> the reason </bold> , ya know 😒. Then theres the stuff with the gates and i was just like, what!?😕😤

This is getting lengthy but needless to say i was super disappointed in this. I wanted it to be everything more than it was. Funnier, sexier, scarier even. It was just very bland and uninventive. 

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for the eArc as always. All thoughts are my own.

I was enjoying this book from the start but when i switched to the audiobook i fell in LOVE with it! The narrator was incredible in bringing these characters to life and i commend them for their talent. 

Tau is a low born in a world where people are divided as Lessers and Nobles and only women have the power to call on dragons to defeat an ongoing enemy. Tau does not wish to fight this enemy for the rest of his days and instead wants to live out his life peacefully with the woman he loves. 
When Tau loses someone close to him, he vows revenge against those who wronged him and sets about climbing his way up a restricted ladder in order to enact his vengeance. 

This book is epic from start to finish. With great action scenes, complex relationships, believable dialogue and a flawed MMC, TRoD is an undertaking by a masterful storyteller. Its very battle heavy for those that dont like that kind of thing but it has a good amount of everything else that i didnt feel like it overpowered it by any means. There is a romance and friendship and found family and enemies and its just so so good that im kicking my feet with excitement!

This story is not re inventing the weel but its ambitious and rich and engaging in all the ways thats required. Loved it!

Maybe i’m a sadist but is it too much for a book that has the FMC go on about how the MMC could break her in half, for him to actually break her in half!? I mean, not one “you can take me” or “it’ll fit” in sight. I feel cheated. Cheated and used and not in the good way 😆🤣 Don’t you dare give me a MMC who is 6”8 Samantha Jane Tilly and not have him tear dat ass up, ya feel me!? 😩🤣 (i have no idea if thats what the authors initials stand for)

Other than that egregious oversight, this was much like the previous book in that it was low on quantity but above average in smut quality. Angelo is a nice guy and Beth is a nice girl but i guess i needed a little more edge? A cheeky kidnap just wasn’t enough 😅 a lot of side characters that were nice enough but i defo like her Alliance and Mountain better than the Cosy stuff. 

Well, the story itself wasnt depressing but the character of Tiwa was. A self righteous, anti social, ego maniac, she just complained the entire time about what i didnt consider anything that deep to complain about. I started this as a book but switched to the audio and i must admit, the narrator didnt help matters with her making Tiwa sound disinterested, droll and basically a bit of a bitch. It wasnt a pleasure to listen to and made me not want to continue.

Textually it was just really repetitive with the words Islamic centre and Eid said about 50 million times in one sentence alone. We know how much the centre means to you, we know you want to save Eid, we know you dont like Said at the moment. Why have you repeated this so many times in every chapter. Very very annoying.

A usually interesting outing from S.J Tilly which I had fun with. Lots of laugh out louds, decent smut throughout and good characters that werent annoying or too overkill.
Where this one slipped a little was that it was a little too easy? There was no forced third act break up which was good but they just kinda liked each other and were together from the start so by the 60% mark, it felt like it was being dragged out when they couldve just spoken to each other and admitted their love since they were doing couple things anyway. A lot of explanation about side characters which i didnt think was needed since i know theyre getting their own book.
So yh, lots of fun just a little dragged out for my tastes

Im not a grammar snob since i understand the trials of self publishing but this book had enough errors to notice that it really started to annoy me. Not only that but the errors made the sentences incomprehensible at times. 

That out the way, the story was just a bit shit and the romance too insta-love to be funny or even believable. What also pissed me off is how many surnames the author put in to, i dunno, make it more Russian. Adding endless -ovs and -ievs does not make your book more authentic babes. 

Overall just weak.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it is an absolute crime that it is so slept on. A traditionally published book that has been out for seven months should not only have a handful of reviews. There has clearly been a lack of attention given to this book and its authors because it has wonderful potential and was engaging throughout.

Damien Ike is the son of the Head of the High Commission of Magic and as such, is destined to become one of the most powerful Mages and head of HCOM as the last 3 generations before him. However where most children come into their magic around 13 years old, Damien is 15 and his powers still haven’t awakened. Because of this he struggles with his life around his immensely magical family, friends and school.

What transpires is Damien discovering his true magical potential and what that means for his future as he finds kinship among rebels who are attempting to bring down the  regime he has been taught to value above all else. 

This book and story is wonderfully crafted and as mentioned, I was invested throughout. The world they inhabit, while a little unclear where this might exist in our real world, works in a way that magic and modern tech are blended as one and magical people do all the jobs regular people do as well has have high positions if they have especially grand powers. Theres a magical school with imposing and sinister teachers, tern antagonist, smart and perky love interest and ominous rebel forces trying to take down “The Man”. This book has all the ingredients for a decorative and genre changing YA novel and more people need to know about this. Where some reveals might have been obvious for an older reader, younger readers would lap this shit up with the “twists and turns”. 

Damien is sweet and his supporting characters all have threads to them that are just waiting to be unravelled that much more. I loved Missy, his little sister who has all the sass and smarts of a 12 year old but also someone a decade older lol shes hilarious. I really liked Ma Penny, the grandmother and even the antagonists, Baron and Mason held weight. Mason was very Malfoy in that regard and should this book ever get a sequel, id be so invested in seeing how his life plays out. 

In short, this book is good. Read it. Tell your friends to read it. Get it for their kids/teens. If you enjoy good worldbuilding, and characters and a solid plot in an unapologetic YA setting that doesnt just mean the people are stupid and naive, then grab this up.