chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)

 3.5 stars
A Demon’s Guide to Wooing a Witch is the second book in the Glimmer Falls series. Technically, it can be read as a standalone, but I don’t recommend it.
My feelings on this book are complicated. I really enjoyed the first book in this series, but I didn’t find this one to be as compelling. Both of our main characters felt a bit bland; the plot was fun, but dragged at times. I think my main issue is that I was unconvinced by the relationship between Astaroth and Calladia. I mean, he literally just tried to kill your best friend yesterday, but sure, forgive him because he bonked his head. Maybe I could’ve gotten behind it if their chemistry was next level, but I barely felt any sparks at all.
I had a good time, most of the time, and it answered some of my questions that I had left over from the first book, but I found myself underwhelmed overall.
I can’t decide whether or not I will be continuing the series. 

Baby’s first OmegaVerse!
So this was… an experience
I can genuinely say I’ve never read anything like this. I’ve kind of always known Omegaverse wouldn’t be for me, and even as tame as this was, this book definitely cemented that fact in my mind—however, it is Ali Hazelwood and everything Ali Hazelwood writes I will surely become obsessed with. 
I am so in love with her writing and her characters, and I was curious to see how that would translate into world building. The world in this book is sort of our world, in the sense that cities had the names of cities and they had modern technology and some pop culture references, and yet it was wholly distinct in that the geopolitical atmosphere revolved around interspecies relations, countries didn’t seem to exist the way they do in our world, and of course, Vampyres and Werewolves exist. The worldbuilding was a little muddied in terms of real world vs fictional aspects and the why and how of what was the same or different, however I really enjoyed the politics of the world and how Ali explored the science of Weres and Vampyres.
I also absolutely adored Misery—although it took me ages to get over her name because why would you do that—as a character and narrator. She was voicy, relatable, and far too easy to love. She had so much depth and drive and I felt completely sucked into her head the entire time I was reading. Characters who come off as frosty and closed off but are actually the world’s biggest softies are my personal cryptonite—and seeing her interact with Ana? I was obsessed and read their scenes with a huge smile on my face.
I enjoyed Lowe as a hero, though he didn’t feel quite as strong as the heroes in Love, Theoretically or Check & Mate. Though he was far from a cardboard cut out, I still felt he could have used a little more depth to his character outside of Alpha.

The spice in this book is definitely way beyond anything in any of Ali Hazelwood’s previous books. Not only does it venture into the realm of knotting, but there were a lot more scenes than there have been in any of her prior work. The omegaverse aspects didn’t work for me, but I definitely think that’s a personal preference thing. I have no understanding of the trope (genre?), but I do think this is a pretty mild iteration of it. There are some discussions and semi-vague descriptions of knotting, but nothing more than that. I definitely won’t be picking up any OmegaVerse books in the future—with the exception of anything Ali writes. She will always be the exception.
This book ended in such a way that makes me think that there will be further installments in this world (Ali also confirmed she has another paranormal romance coming in 2025 at her recent Seattle event) and I’m actually really looking forward to it. I really enjoyed this world and these characters and would LOVE to see more of them in the future!
I truly just adore everything this woman writes and I was grinning like a fool and laughing out loud throughout the entire book.

Riley Rhodes is a cursebreaker investigating a cursed Scottish castle. Clark Edgeware is a disgraced archaelogist who can’t allow a “scam artist” cursebreaker to get in his way. Enemies to lovers, forced proximity, Scottish castle setting. I was so excited for this one!
Unfortunately, I was incredibly underwhelmed. The “enemies” were just two people who had no actual reason to hate each other. I actually kept forgetting that this was set in Scotland because there was nothing about the setting, story, or characters that felt distinct from a typical American setting. There was no culture or atmosphere. The writing was also very surface level. The narration was clunky and often left me feeling disconnected. The characters were interesting, but they lacked emotional depth and their relationship never convinced me beyond the physical. It was a horrific case of insta-lust that never developed past that point.
The cursebreaker aspects were interesting, but those too felt underdeveloped. There was no real world building around it. No how or why, no details beyond the absolute bare minimum. It didn’t make sense if I thought about it for more than two seconds.
I just needed more depth to the characters and their relationship, and I wish the writing were a bit stronger.

 It’s been two weeks since I read this book, but I keep putting off writing this review because I don’t want to admit it but… this book was so disappointing.
Vengeance of the Pirate Queen is a standalone spin-off of the Daughter of the Pirate King Duology. It follows Sorinda, the assassin of Alosa, the newly minted pirate king when she is sent to explore new waters on a rescue mission to save lost pirates.
DotPK is one of my roman empire series. I’ve read it three times. I think about it often. I love it—and I loved Sorinda in that series. Not to mention the fact that the love interest in this book is Kearan, who was my all time favorite side character in the original series! I had such high expectations for this book, and it fell flat on every count.
Every aspect of this book felt underdeveloped to me. I enjoyed learning Sorinda’s back story, but her personality felt underdeveloped. She lacked a depth that made her feel like a real person. I enjoyed Kearan more and he felt more rounded, but the two of them together lacked chemistry. They had some fun lines of banter, but there was no romantic spark. They read to me like friends, and I wasn’t convinced that there was or could be anything more to them.
Similarly, the plot felt haphazard. It was unique, but it was rushed, and a few plot points were brought up once and then abandoned and never mentioned again.
An invincible man who can control the dead? There is so much potential there! Unfortunately, the execution was not where it needed to be. We get only the most preliminary depiction of the magic—leaving me unsatisfied and with far too many questions—and the book focuses more on the King of the Undersea himself. Levenseller makes an attempt at displaying a villain who is a villain because he is a corrupt, selfish, and manipulative man who wants to control everyone—especially Sorinda, a woman. Again, there is potential here. But the depiction ends up too on the nose and too shallow. If you’re going to write a character study of a manipulative man who became corrupted due to an obsession with power and control, you need to commit to that, and you need to explore it deeply. There was no resonance in this depiction, because we are told more than shown his manipulations. We are constantly told, point blank, He is a manipulator who wants control and power and submission from me. It’s so unsubtle that it’s just annoying. The true insidiousness of these kind of men is their ability to hide in plain sight and to manipulate—but his actions were just outright obvious manipulations, and Sorinda is well aware of that fact at every turn (which she should be, because it’s obvious) that it all rings hollow.
And that’s not to mention the fact that, at the end, his entire manipulitous nature is assigned to the magical object itself, thus causing any real exploration that was attempted to be essentially null and void either way. If you’re trying to make a statement on corrupt men in our world and society (and the way this read very much felt like someone trying to Make A Statement) you cannot then blame that thing on a magical object that corrupts its user. That negates the whole point. And that aspect of the magic didn’t even make sense in the context of the object itself or the world as a whole.
However, there were redeeming qualities. The book was fast paced and easy to read, and I truly loved some of the side characters, both new and returning. Especially Kearan. He has my whole heart and I loved seeing more of him and getting to know his character more deeply. Similarly, I thought the premise was unique, if not executed especially well.
I will continue to read more of Tricia Levenseller’s work, but unfortunately this one has left me disappointed. 

 If Finding Gene Kelly made Torie Jean an instant favorite author, then Dukes and Dekes cemented that status. I did not think it was possible for me to love this more than her debut, and yet Dukes and Dekes outshone FGK in every possible way.

Told in dual-POV, Dukes and Dekes follows Aulie, who runs a Jane Austen reenactment faire, and Jack, a notorious hockey player. It’s friends to lovers, brothers best friend, he falls first—and oh my gosh Jack is so completely head over heels for Aulie I am completely obsessed with it. Also, there’s a troublemaking goat named Gio who I am completely in love with.

While this is a romance that is sugary sweet and will make you giddy with love, it also delves into harder, emotional topics. Both Aulie and Jack are dealing with grief over the loss(es) of their loved ones (all prior to the start of the book). You can really feel the care and emotion that Torie poured into these portrayals. Jack and Aulie grieve and process their grief in very different ways, but both portrayals are equally and authentically explored.

My favorite part of the book (surprising no one) was the chronic illness/disability representation. Like in Finding Gene Kelly, the FMC of this book has endometriosis. Unlike in FGK, Aulie does not start off the book with a diagnosis. The experience of going through the process of getting a diagnosis, going from undiagnosed to diagnosed is so singular and isolating, and yet it is an aspect of chronic illness that I think is underrepresented in media. I cannot express how powerfully Aulie’s story resonated with me. I don’t have endo, but so many facets of Aulie’s experiences are universal to being a woman (or anyone perceived as such) trying to find answers for chronic pain and chronic illness. When I reached the point of the story where Aulie is finally, finally taken seriously in her pain I quite literally started sobbing. I actually had to set the book down because I couldn’t see the pages. I was wrecked by how seen I felt in that moment and how impactful and healing it was to read. I think a solid 1/3 of that chapter is highlighted in my ARC, and I can’t wait until the book is out so I can start sharing quotes. Torie, through Aulie, so perfectly portrays all of the emotions that you go through in that situation—the relief, the fear, the doubt, the confusion, the anger, and so many more that I couldn’t put a name to if I tried. I found myself so overwhelmingly angry at every doctor who had dismissed Aulie—and every doctor who dismissed me—and every doctor who has dismissed any patient—while simultaneously overcome with how completely seen I felt by Aulie in that moment, and many preceding and after. Chronic illness and chronic pain is often so lonely, but reading books like this one lend a lot of comfort in showing you that you are not alone.

This scene was, of course, not the only place where Aulie’s chronic illness is portrayed. It’s there from the very first chapter to the very last. It touches every aspect of the story and every aspect of Aulie’s character. It’s woven in masterfully and every mention of it, from a single sentence to multiple pages, resonates in a way that is so raw and genuine. This is the kind of representation that you can only get from #ownvoices authors. That said, Torie Jean’s ability to portray the realities of chronic illness is beyond even that. She is one of the—if not the—best authors out there at doing so. And I think that’s because she’s such a skilled and talented writer as a whole. The level of detail in the writing of this book made me feel as if I was right there in every moment with Jack and Aulie. I was falling in love right alongside them. I felt so connected to them as characters and everything they were going through, emotionally, but I also felt as if I was physically there. I could vividly picture their small town in New Hampshire and the faire and Gio the goat. I was transported, and it’s rare for a book to do that to me as completely as Dukes and Dekes did.

I cannot wait until everyone can read this book, because I know it will be a new favorite for so many (as it is for me). I also know that this book and this representation has the potential to change people’s lives. And I can’t wait to see that happen.

Spice level: 1.5/5
CW (as provided by author in the book): heavy discussions of grief and mourning as a central theme; family member whose death was a result of battling cancer; accurate endometriosis rep including chronic pain, on page vomiting, blacking out, on page narcotics use post surgery), medical gaslighting (including a rough pelvic exam); incorrect internal dialogue as a direct result of ableism and gaslighting; emergency surgery; sexual content including two open door sex scenes 

When I first started this book I was… not impressed. The first quarter of the book felt incredibly cringey and cliched. It felt like something I would have read on Episode in middle school. The characters felt flat and unrealistic, the narration was not working for me. But slowly, as the book wore on, Momo started to gain some depth to her character and feel more like a real person and less like a caricature. I enjoyed watching as she and PG got to know each other and fall for each other. The last 1/3 of the book was strong, sweet, and fun to read. By the end, I enjoyed the book—which surprised me. I’m glad I pushed through and finished it, and I do recommend it over all.

Ali Hazelwood has me wanting to play chess?
And I HATE chess.

Every time I pick up one of Ali Hazelwood’s books I am taken aback by what an incredible writer she is. People make fun of her books so often, talk down on them for their tropes and cliches, but it is undeniable—on a craft standpoint? She has talent and skill in heaps. The narration and prose, the plot beats and pacing, the characters and development. All of it is so much stronger than the majority of the books that are out there.
AND her books are so much fun. I’m kicking my feet with giddiness the entire freaking time I read her books, and Check & Mate was no exception.
I absolutely adored Mal. She’s a sympathetic, imperfect character with a strong voice who is easy to root for and even easier to love. Nolan, similarly, is a well developed love interest that I couldn’t help myself but to fall for right alongside Mal. Historically, I’ve found the weakest link of Ali Hazelwood’s books to be the characterization and depth of her love interests, but Love, Theoretically and now Check & Mate have really proved that to no longer be the case!
This book is an absolute ride that had me giddy, giggling, and having so much fun while still having deeper moments and discussions that resonated with me.
I look forward to Ali Hazelwood’s upcoming releases, but I hope she returns to this slightly younger audience at some point. However, I do think that this book would be better classified as New Adult as opposed to Young Adult. Mallory is 18, but she is out of high school, and Nolan is 20. These character ages, and some of the themes discussed, were definitely more NA than YA. This book has multi-age range appeal, and while there is no content that is inappropriate for upper YA audiences (there is steam and discussions of sex, but nothing spicy or especially “explicit” is shown on page and any sex scenes are fade to black), I believe that it better fits the conventions of NA, as the characters are out of high school and are exploring life after high school.