chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)

4.5 stars
This was so freaking good!
The main character Wren was brash and stubborn and a little too prideful, but also easily lovable. She’s the kind of character that, though flawed and sometimes annoying, you can’t help but root for. She desperately needed some character growth, but instead of being written in a way that was too much and too infuriating to read, she was written in a way that made you want to go on that growing experience with her, and throughout the book (and presumably throughout the series), you do get to watch her grow.
The book starts a bit slow. The first 30% or so is all set up before the plot can get going. It’s exposition heavy and does rely on info-dumping perhaps a bit too often. However, even though the main plot hasn’t started yet, there are interesting things happening. There are moments of high tension and fast-paced action, it just still feels a little slow up until the point where Wren goes past the wall. That is the point of no return, where the plot feels like it’s actually starting, and it is a ways in. Before that point I was interested, but I wasn’t invested, and though I did keep reading, it took me a while to do so because I was not especially eager to pick the book back up when I’d set it down. I never felt like DNFing, but nor did I feel especially compelled to keep reading right then and there. That slowness at the beginning (and the fact that it did last for about 1/3 of the book, and over 100 pages) is the only thing keeping this from being a 5 star read, because everything after that? Phenomenal.
As soon as she’s past the wall, the tension and pacing really pick up. She always had a goal, but it was vague and unattainable—now she has a tangible goal and there are steps she can take to reach it. She’s met Julian, the other major player, and the stakes are rising every chapter. By the time I reached the 40% mark, I could not put the book down. It took me almost a week to read the first 35%, but after that, I finished the book in 12 hours.
The worldbuilding was interesting and relatively unique. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was well developed and not contrived. Despite the occasional info-dump, I wanted to learn more about the world, magic system, and mythos.
The book is written in third person and told primarily from Wren’s POV, however there are chapter’s narrated by Prince Leo at regular intervals and perhaps 3-5 chapters from Julian’s POV. I really enjoyed the fresh perspective Leo’s narration gave. His experiences were separate from Wren and Julian’s and seeing his narration felt necessary and like it was adding something to the experience. Julian’s POV did not.
I understand why Julian’s POV was added. Most of his chapters revealed an interesting piece of information that pointed to a reveal and added to the tension. However, unlike the reveals in Leo’s chapter, this information was not strictly necessary to the plot. Yes, it added tension, but I felt like there were ways to do so that felt more cohesive to the narration than randomly and unexpectedly flipping to a third narrator. It was jarring to slip into his narration. I think if there had been more of his narration woven throughout, and if that narration felt like it was more vital to the story, I wouldn’t have had an issue with it, but as it was it just felt like it wasn’t executed to the highest level.
In the end, I really enjoyed that book—and also THAT ENDING?!?!?!?!—and I can’t wait for book 2! In the mean time, I hope to check out Nicki Pau Preto’s debut trilogy, because I found that despite a few things, I really enjoyed her writing.

 Quick Stats
Age Rating: 16+
Spice Level: 1/5
4.5 stars

I had such high hopes for this book—and it was exactly what I wanted it to be.
I’ve been a fan of Ally Carter’s since I picked up the first Gallagher Girl book when I was 13. I’ve read all of her YA, and I was so excited to see what she would do in the adult space.
This book was fun, fast-paced, and action packed.
The Blonde Identity follows a woman with no memory, as she learns that she’s the identical twin sister of a CIA agent who is on the run—and that means she has to be on the run, too. She has no choice but to team up with another spy and find her sister.
The amnesia trope is a huge component to this book. Our FMC spends the entire book unable to remember anything before the first page. Usually, I hate this trope, however something in the execution of this book worked for me. There wasn’t a single instance where it annoyed me—which is a first. Because this happens in a such a fast-moving book, where no one is like “don’t you remember me?”, and it doesn’t fall into any of the repetitiveness that the trope usually elicits.
The only aspect of this book that I wanted more from was the emotional development. There was so much action in this book that there was very little time for the quiet moments of a blossoming relationship. Ally Carter does a good job of having fleeting moments and touches within the action-packed scenes, but I felt like I could have used just a little more reaction time to sit with the characters as those feelings grew. I was invested in, and even connected to their relationship, but I wasn’t fully convinced that they were truly in love with each other by the end of the story. I wanted them together, and I was convinced they had feelings for each other, but the development between I like you and I’m in love with you felt a little rushed. I think Ally Carter is more used to writing romances that develop over the span of several books, and I think the transition to a one book romance arc left her with a romance that was not quite as well done as those in her previous works.
That said, I really enjoyed this book. I think I’m being so nitpicky with the romance simply because I’m comparing it to the superb romances her YA series have. It is a solid romance, and every other aspect of the book was phenomenal. I truly cannot recommend this book more and I desperately want more adult Ally Carter books! 

4.5 stars
18+
2/5 spice

This book was so good. It’s the kind of book that I really don’t know how to review, because as much as I enjoyed it, I don’t have any strong opinions on it.
You, With a View is a perfect balance of sweet, sexy romance and genuine heart and emotion. It reminds me, in that sense, of something Emily Henry would write. I loved the discussions of grief, and watching Noelle come to terms with hers. I cried at multiple points, but I came out of the book feeling warm, comforted. It was an especially impactful read, because my grandma is also My Person. Mine is still around, but has had multiple scares this year, and I’ve really had to face her mortality in a way I never had before. I’m terrified of losing her and this book simultaneously made that fear worse, but also comforted me at the same time. The emotions in this book were visceral, raw and honest and easy to connect to. Noelle was a compelling character to read, though I wish the author had gone a bit more in depth into her previous career decisions.
I loved Theo, especially his interactions with Noelle. The banter in this book was the best. And I especially loved Paul. Every time he was on the page, I juts wanted to smile. He is sunshine in character form, warming your heart.
Jessica Joyce is a powerful new voice in the romance sphere, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.

3.75 stars


I ended up enjoying this book but, man, was it a slow start. There isn’t much of an active driving force in this novel. It relies on the characters to keep you invested and…honestly? The characters were nothing special. Nothing about this book was particularly special or unique, really. Every aspect, from the romantic tropes to the themes explored and the character archetypes have been done many times before, and quite frankly, they’ve been done better. It was a good book, but it was hard to become invested.
By about the 60% mark, I’d grown to care about Eloise, so I finally had some investment. I enjoyed her relationship with Marianne and her friendship with Austin. I wish it had stayed on the friendship level, because I never felt a chemistry between them. The characters and the plot grew on me slowly, and I really loved the Seattle setting, as someone from the Seattle area. I don’t regret reading this, but admittedly, if it hadn’t been an ARC, or if it hadn’t had the fun little interest of taking place where I live, I likely would have DNFed.

4.75 stars

I loved this book so much. Tilly and Oliver’s relationship and interactions are pure neurodivergent joy. I was giddy watching them connect and grow together. 
This is a sweet, tour of europe romance told in dual narration. Tilly has ADHD, and Oliver is autistic. The author is AuDHD (austistic + ADHD), and it is so clear in the way that these disabilities are represented. There is a depth to the representation that can only come from someone who has lived those sorts of experiences. It is a part of every aspect of the book and the characters, and it is woven in seamlessly. I am obsessed with the discussions of sensory sensitivities, differences in communication and understanding and hyperfixations and simply how these characters’ brains work.
The story itself is fast paced and engaging. Tilly and Oliver are the cutest, and I was giggling and kicking my feet watching them interact with each other and figure out their relationships—from whatever the opposite of a meet cute is-to contention-to friends-to lovers.
I actually read this book while on my own European trip, which was a lot of fun, even if I kind of wish I hadn’t (don’t read this book right before/during a european trip if you are either A. Emetophobic or B. A neurodivergent person who will be staying in Rome—if neither of those apply to you, it’s the perfect read to get you in the mood for such a trip!)
It was a very short read, and I did find myself on occasion wishing the book went a bit more in depth into the experiences of being in these different countries. Tourism, the cultures, the sights, but honestly 70% or more of this book just takes place in hotel rooms. However, that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book, because even when the events were happening in hotel rooms, they were interesting, entertaining, and so much fun to read. I cannot express how much I love Mazey Eddings’s writing.
I also loved the discussions of family. Tilly’s not super healthy homelife plays a huge role in the story. Parental expectations have driven a wedge between her and her sister (who she’s traveling with), and she spends much of the book trying to figure out how to convince her mom she doesn’t want to go to college. I loved watching her and Mona learn to communicate and realize that some of their preconceptions weren’t accurate. Watching them bond was incredibly heartwarming.

The only thing that bothered me about this book was a single plot hole—Why was Oliver on a flight from Ohio to London?
Oliver is British. He lives in London. He has a british accent. There is no discussion of what he was doing in the states (let alone Ohio of all places) that put him on a flight from Cincinatti to London, next to Tilly, let alone just getting back into town the morning that his job starts. Plus, when talking to his roommates, they talk about how he had been packing the day before, but the day before, he should have been in Ohio. There is no possible way or reason for him to have been on that plane next to Tilly, and yet he was. And honestly, that bothered me the whole time I was reading the book. All it would have taken was a throwaway sentence of “Oh, I was visiting family” or something. I mean, it still would be weird—because who starts a job within 12 hours of returning home from an international trip—but at least it wouldn’t have been a plot hole.

I’ve been a fan of Jenna Evans Welch since Love & Gelato, so I was so excited to see what she could accomplish outside of that series—especially with a touch of magic added in.
This is a story of first love, sure, but it’s really a story of family, as are the rest of Welch’s books. Told in dual POVs, it addresses foster care and found family, as well as healing in a fractured, distanced family.
I love Jenna Evans Welch’s writing. Her characters have distinct voices. The narration is easy to fall into, while still giving a distinct and unique sense of self and character for both Willow and Mason. She dives into the complexities of families, and it is an emotional, even heartbreaking experience at times, but the book still manages to be a fun, heartwarming, and relatively light read.
I think the book does give a little bit of a glamorized view of the foster care system. It mentions issues in the vaguest of senses, but there’s no exploration of it, leading to a bit of an underdeveloped narrative for Mason and his background. Generally, I think Mason’s development is a bit less than it could be, especially when compared to Willow, but that didn’t stop me from connecting with him and caring about him.
I actually read this right after a reread of Love and Gelato (while I was in Italy!), and it was fun to see how much Welch’s craft has improved. Though I loved Love and Gelato more, personally, this is definitely a stronger book on the technical level. I can’t wait to see what comes next!

 

3.75 stars

I enjoyed this book. I absolutely adored Beckett–and Evelyn, but especially Beckett–in Lovelight Farms, so I was so excited to read their love story. I had a hard time connecting in the beginning, but I think that’s a me thing. I have a really hard time connecting with a romance when the main tether between the characters, and the driving force behind the romance is sexual chemistry and/or tension alone, and for the first chunk of this book, that was the case. I felt like I needed more from the emotions between the two of them, and I didn’t get that until halfway. I also wish we saw more of the duck. For the amount of discussion over him, I really thought he would play some on-page role, and I was disappointed when he was only in one scene.

That said, though I didn’t connect with the characters as a couple, I was connected to them as individuals. I liked watching their personal growth and reading from their perspectives, but since this was a romance, my enjoyment took a dip when I was unable to connect with the actual romance aspects. The end picked up, but then we had the third act miscommunication trope and it was pretty poorly executed. I felt that way about the third act miscommunication trope in Lovelight Farms as well, but that one was resolved within a couple pages and this one just drug on and on.

I did enjoy the ending, after that point, and I enjoyed all the personal growth Evelyn experienced in finding her happy and in her career, and Beckett’s growth in standing up for himself and putting his own needs first.

 

 Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 3/5
Over All: 4.5 stars

Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.

I love Rachel Lynn Solomon so much, and this was no exception. Chandler’s voice and narration drew me in instantly, and it was so easy to feel what she was feeling. This book is fun and sexy from the get go, while also addressing important topics of mental health, burn out, and figuring out what you want to do with your life. It was a perfect balance of lightness and heaviness and heart.
This is definitely the spiciest of RLS’s books—as she has made very clear in every post she has made about this book. I’m someone who tends to prefer a lower spice level, so it was kind of a lot for me. However, my biggest complaint in spicier books is that the characters’ emotional connection tends to take second place to the sexual, leaving me feeling unconnected and unconvinced of said emotional connection. Despite the heavier leaning spicy content in this book the emotional connection between Chandler and Finn was always strong and visceral, just as much as the physical. It never got lost or felt underdeveloped. RLS dove head first into both aspects of their relationship, and she executed the balance between them masterfully.
As someone with food-centered OCD, I loved the portrayal and discussions of Finn’s OCD. It was written in a way that made it clear it was #ownvoices, and that made me feel seen and represented. Chandler’s generalized anxiety disorder was represented in a similarly amazing way. There was so much love in the portrayal of both of their mental illnesses, and I can’t even express how much it means to me.
This book was swoony and fun and nerdy. I loved seeing glimpses into con life and the passion people have for their fandoms. I loved watching the feelings bloom between Chandler and Finn. I loved watching them each grow and come into their own as characters.
This was a really good book, and I’m excited to see what RLS has in store for us next. 

So this is me, officially DNFing this book.
I hate DNFing, and I especially hate giving up on a book that was sent to me by the publisher, but I’m 30% in and I’m still so bored.
As I write this, the book is one day post release and has a 4.04 average rating on goodreads and a 4.14 average on Storygraph. Though I think those numbers will drop in the weeks to come as more reviews filter in, they’re pretty good averages, even for a brand new release. So, if you’re looking forward to this book and think it’s something you’d like, don’t let me dissuade you.
That said, let’s talk about why this book didn’t work for me.
From the start, the writing didn’t grab me. There was a lot going on—a lot of very emotional, intense things happening to Sophie. I mean, her life is basically falling apart. But the narration feels distanced from the actual emotions. I wanted to feel more immersed in what she was experiencing, but I struggled to connect with her at all.
A handful of pages in, we get to the “inciting incident”, I suppose? Sophie decides to go teach at a boarding school. Inciting incidents are supposed to kick off the story, make things happen, but once Sophie gets to the school…nothing  interesting happens for the next 100 pages that I read before giving up. She meets Jonas, her love interest, sure, but they barely interact, and the interactions they do have don’t drive the story or their relationship forward significantly/at all. Also, he’s just an asshole. This is supposed to be a grumpy-sunshine, enemies/rivals/whatever-to lovers type of book, but he doesn’t come off as grumpy-but-lovable. He just comes off as a condescending jerk who annoyed me to read about, for far too long. He was starting to have some redeeming qualities at the 100 page mark, but they weren’t enough to excuse the way he acted the first 100 pages. Not to mention there was no chemistry, no sizzle between Sophie and Jonas at all in the 1/3 of the book that I read. I think the author took the grump part of grumpy-sunshine and took it too far, leaving the reader with a character that has no personality outside of his grumpiness and is just generally unlikeable and uninteresting.
I mentioned that the “inciting incident” comes early on, but that nothing happens after that point. All it kickstarts is that it gets Sophie to the place she needs to be, but the moment that starts the ball rolling for the actual plot and character relationship isn’t until page 115. It did feel like things were starting to happen at that point, but it was just too little too late for me. Everything before that point could have been condensed into under 50 pages, and if it had, maybe I would have stuck with it. But by the time things actually started to happen, I was so bored of and disenchanted with this book and world and characters that I just couldn’t get myself to care.

 Quick Stats
Over All: 3.5 stars
Plot: 4/5
Pacing: 4/5
Characters: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3.5/5

This is a fast paced, magical, and diverse fantasy book featuring an all Black and Brown cast of fae, sirens, witches, and humans.
There was a lot of potential in this book, especially in the plot and the characters, but the execution needed more. As I was reading this book I just kept thinking this needs more development. There was a lot going on, but all of it felt surface level, unexplored.
The general plot of this book, though it had some holes, was engaging and interesting. I wanted to know what was happening, how it would play out. It was not the most unique plot I’ve ever read, but it didn’t feel like every other YA fantasy either. It was typical to the genre without feeling overdone.
The weakest part of the story, and the source of most plot holes or weak points in the plot, was the worldbuilding. From the start it was a lot, yet underdeveloped. It felt like the author took a bunch of different cultures and threw them at a wall, waiting to see what stick. The mythological creatures were celtic based; there was rune magic, which is typically scandinavian/norse; Saoirse’s (and most other people’s) names are gaelic, but her last name is Russian, and the characters wear dashikis—traditional African clothing.
I love books where the worldbuilding and magic system is inspired by multiple cultures, but this one didn’t have anything tying them together. It was a bunch of things awkwardly stitched together instead of skillfully developed into an interwoven tapestry of a world.
Generally, the entire magic system needing development and elaboration. What ties all these creatures and magics into one world? For the most part, the creatures have intrinsic magical abilities, but the witches’ magic don’t follow any of the laws that seem to govern the fae, and even siren, abilities. They use runes to enchant objects, and we don’t get any discussions or reasonings as to why. They don’t fit with the rest of the worldbuilding, and they feel thrown in as a way to get around plot holes.
The writing and narration itself was decent, but it had its struggles. A lot of the dialogue, especially in the earlier chapters, felt awkward and unnatural. The narration was also very light for a book that calls itself a darker fantasy. We do address Saoirse’s bloodlust, but its always a tell instead of a show. It never digs into it. It’s just her saying kill I want to kill over and over. I wish it had gone there and shown us, describe it in detail, and actually get dark, because what we did get was easy to brush aside and made her internal anguish around these impulses hard to connect to.
Similarly, I feel like the book awkwardly brushed over what Rain is, why she’s different, why she needs to be protected. Saoirse is constantly saying she needs to make sure no one finds out what Rain actually is, but doesn’t actually say what she is until the very end of the book. I think the goal of this was to build tension and anticipation, but in actuality, I felt as if it removed tension from the scenario. It got repetitive and tedious to keep having it flaunted in front of me as I read. Not to mention, Saoirse’s main motivation is protecting Rain, but its hard to connect with that motivation when you only have half the information. When we do learn what Rain is, it feels extremely anticlimactic after so much build up.
My final complaint is that both Saoirse and Hayes have to make really stupid decisions—that don’t make sense for their otherwise intelligent characters—in order for the plot to keep moving forward. Hayes literally tells this person he barely knows the secrets of the kingdom that put him and his entire family extremely at risk because she’s pretty and batted her lashes, and trusts her because she promises she won’t tell. What??? And Saoirse thinks, and I quote* “I assumed [my marks] were all assholes. Why else would assassins want them dead?” The state of your character is completely unrelated to whether the black market assassins want you dead. In fact, good people are often assassinated because they get in the way by being good people.
Both of these things didn’t make sense based on how genuinely smart these characters seemed 90% of the time, but geez.
*quote is from ARC and is subject to change in the finished copy.

I did more enjoy this than not, and I thought the pacing was especially strong for a debut novel. I think there’s a decent chance I pick up the sequel, because I want to see more of Saoirse and Hayes, but I wouldn’t guarantee it.