chloefrizzle's Reviews (993)

At 6% in, I almost gave up on this book. There was nothing to hook me in it, and hitting a many-page irrelevant history lecture was enough to jar me loose.

At 8% in, I had fallen in love with this book. I was obsessed with this book. I adored our two POV characters. I was intrigued by the plot.

At 50% in, my attachment grew. This book broke my heart. This book lived in my heart rent free.

At 70% in, I realized that we had a majestic romance brewing. I fangirled over it.

At 85% in, I realized that the romance wasn't going to be given the drama and love that it deserved.

And at 95%, the book spent way too long setting up a spinoff book's plot and left me feeling lukewarm about it all.

So I have some mixed feelings about this one. I highly recommend it.

Booktone = Jade Green (Emotional, character/atmosphere focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw

Incredibly fun. I'm rooting for this new deadly family.

Booktone = Byzantium Purple (Emotional, character/plot focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw

Interesting but not engaging. Factually has a romance at the center of it, but has none of the feelings of that romance.
Probably not a good entry point to the series.

Booktone = Xanthous Orange (intellectual, plot/atmosphere focus). https://youtube.com/watch?v=AD4WKlAB0Jw

This series is advertised as dark/noir, and that it most definitely is.

In a typical heroic series, you might start out with a damaged guy, and then see them heal and become more heroic throughout the books. In this series, it's going the opposite direction.
The protagonist, Eric, is drifting more and more into the damaged anti-hero zone. Things end in disaster more than with a happily ever after.

In this book, Eric has to reconnect with some old friends and enemies in Los Vegas. Various deaths and disasters ensue.

If you like noir and urban fantasy, I would recommend this series.
It doesn't have the tightest plots or character development, but it's entertaining the whole way through. The book maintains a fast pace and enough mysteries to keep you guessing.

A video review including this book will premiere on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at https://www.youtube.com/ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

I'm intrigued by the tonal mix here of evil backstabbing and happy twists.

I think we can all agree that this book has the best cover of the series, right? Because it's ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS. See a time lapse of it being made, and sketches, here: https://www.dandossantos.com/the-making-of-soul-taken

This is the 13th book in the Mercy Thompson series, full of vampire politics and halloween slasher monsters.

I was hooked on this book all the way though. I could barely put it down. The pacing was precise and typical of Mercy Thompson books. This books have a literary magic about them that makes me excited even for the exposition and slow moments.

I think that this is a series that is better binged than read in small installments. This book showcases that. We get some progression to the ongoing mysteries (such as with Wulfe and Sherwood's backstories, as previously teased). However, not all of that payoff gets the emotional reaction that it deserves after being built up for so long. I'm sure we'll get more payoff in future books, but the problem is those books don't exist yet.

Hence why it's funner to binge the whole series instead, because the books can support each other. These books are seriously fun and entertaining. The books have a lot of heart and I wholly recommend them. I will love them even more when the whole series is finished, and I can reread and binge all of them together.

My video review: https://youtu.be/EuGR5TJkgkI

Thanks to Netgalley and Ace for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

This book opens with an author's note, saying that the Events Of This Book have been planned since the beginning of the series. When I first read that note, I felt the declaration was a little overdramatic.

However, when I actually read the Events Of This Book, it turned out that it was just the right amount of dramatic. The plot twist(s) are well done, surprising, and pack an emotional punch.

This is book 16 of the October Daye series, which follows a Hero navigating the human world and the fairy knowes and everything in between.

I have now read book 3 and this book (#16). And they are linked in a supremely satisfying way. There are plot threads introduced in book 3 that are payed off here, and thematic patterns that continue and deepen. I assume that the rest of the books in the series feel as connected as these two, and conclude that fans of the series will be incredibly happy with this new entry and what it does for this world.

Now, after the "end" of this book -- after everything has been wrapped up -- we get another plot twist (or two?). I feel like this cliffhanger ending robbed the book of the nice closure that it had built, and soured my experience a little.

A video review including this book will premiere on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and DAW books for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.

I love the Damian Wayne + Dick Grayson dynamic duo. I only wish we got more character moments.

You don't need the word "Final" in the title to let you know that this is the finale to the series, the epic plot with game changing ending will clue you in there. I imagine that fans of the series will be happy with this ending and the conclusion it provides.

I went into this book without reading any of the previous books. (Whoops.) Surprisingly, it's really not a bad place to start the series. Jane (our Protagonist) does a lot of reminiscing on the Simple Good Old Days, and contrasting that to where she is now. It's gotten me excited to go back and read the series from the beginning.

All of that reminiscing also gives this book a somewhat melancholic tone. Jane is at a point where she has a lot of responsibilities and duties to take care of, and she's not exactly enjoying that. There are some character moments where she's learning to accept her new lot in life, but I wouldn't exactly call those triumphant moments. She certainly has a character arc, and it's one of maturing into her responsibilities.

The plot is okay, but sometimes drags. The story doesn't always seem to know exactly what it's doing, or why it's going somewhere.

A video review including this book will premiere on my Youtube channel in the coming weeks, at https://www.youtube.com/c/ChloeFrizzle

Thanks to Netgalley and Ace for a copy of this book to review. All opinions are my own.