chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)

3.75 stars

Historical romance meets witchy, pirate fantasy in the third and final installment of India Holton’s unique Dangerous Damsels series.

Like with the rest of the series, I am so conflicted about this book.

So let’s start with the things I like about the book:
* the tropes! Fake marriage! Undercover secret agents! “Don’t touch my wife”!!!!!
* the rep! Both main characters are autistic, and the representation is #ownvoices. In the very beginning, I wasn’t sure about the rep—but by about the 20% mark I felt like the characters were well developed, and I ended up really enjoying the portrayal.
* Alice and Daniel themselves! I’ve loved Bixby in both previous books, so I loved getting to read about him as a main character. Alice, too, stole my heart, and I think she was my favorite FMC of the series—as Bixby was my favorite MMC.

Something I always both like and dislike in these books is the world and magic system. I love how unique it is, it’s certainly interesting, and it’s so very weird, but it doesn’t really make sense. I can’t wrap my mind around it, and I can’t ever fully manage to completely suspend my disbelief. It’s just a little too much for me. There are too many moving objects in the lore.

Things I don’t love:
* the plot. There never felt like there was much of a throughline. Alice and Daniel are supposed to be searching for this weapon that will kill the queen, and yet there felt like there were no stakes there, and that aspect played no real role in the tension and driving force behind the book. Despite the fact that it was mentioned regularly, it never felt important to the story, and I kept forgetting it was a thing that mattered. I didn’t care, but I felt like I should have.
* the pacing. It was kind of slow. There never felt like there was a driving force behind the action and events happening. Everything not directly related to Alice and Bixby’s relationship felt like filler content because there was no tension or stakes to keep me invested in it.
* the blushing virgin trope. Every single book in this series features an overly clueless FMC with an experienced MMC. And every time it feels kind of fetishized. Now, this one was very minor compared to the previous books in the series. But it still made me uncomfortable to read. At least Daniel was just like, averagely experienced compared to the rakish men of the previous series, but still the way that Alice’s inexperience was portrayed didn’t work for me.


All of that said, this is my favorite installment of the series, and if the description catches your interest, I think it’s worth the read.

4.5 stars
I… do not know how to review this book. I feel like I shouldn’t have liked it… but I really, really did!
I am pretty particular on the types of books I enjoy. For a fantasy to work for me, it has to be pretty fast-paced and have a distinct, driven plot. This book was slooooow and I’m not sure there was a super cohesive plot, at least not one that I can distinctly pinpoint. And yet I was so invested in this book. It took me a while to read, compared to how long a book this length usually would, <i>but</i> I was never bored. I always wanted to keep reading.
The romance, similarly, felt like it shouldn’t work, but it did. I felt like there shouldn’t have been enough time and on page interactions between the characters to make their emotions convincing and natural, and yet I was fully convinced. I was so swept up in their banter, swooning right alongside Iris when the vibes between them turned romantic.
I honestly can’t pinpoint what it is that made this book work for me—because based on my usual tastes, it shouldn’t have—but I think it must have been something about the writing. The narration was a little flowery, but in a way I found beautiful to read, not purple. I also think that Rebecca Ross is a master of emotions. The emotions in this book captivated me. I felt everything that Iris and Roman felt, and I think that was the driving force in this book, what kept me engaged. That’s not to say this is an overly emotional book. It’s not traumatizing to the reader; it never felt like events were happening just to evoke emotions in you. This book takes place during a war, so of course hard things happen, the characters undergo trauma and experience heartwrenching things, but it always felt true to the story and the world, and it always felt like it was handled tastefully, not exploited.
This book was just really good. I want to read more by Ross, and I’m kind of heartbroken that I have to wait an entire year to read more about Iris and Roman.

This was…a book. But it was definitely not one for me. It was far too weird. Honestly, it was just cringey to read. I think there are people who will enjoy it, so I don’t want to say too much negative about it, because I don’t think it was objectively bad, I just really don’t think it was for me. For some reason, I kept thinking of Captain Underpants? I don’t know why. I haven’t read Captain Underpants in about a decade and a half, when my brother used to ask me to read them to him, but it felt like it gave the same vibes. I think if you took out the tiny miniscule, excessively unnecessary romance, it could be marketed to children, and that might be better.

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

Bonnie and Clyde meets Six of Crows in this fast paced, political space opera.

This book was a lot of fun, in a tragic sort of way. It was fast paced, explosive, and easy to get into. I often struggle with SciFi, especially space operas. They tend to be too dense and bogged down in the sciency details for me. I didn’t have that issue with this one. So if you’re looking for a denser, science focused SciFi with a lot of galactic history and worldbuilding—this may not be for you. But if you’re looking for a ragtag crew of teenage space criminals pulling off heists and saving their planet from a intergalactic dictatorship, this is definitely worth the read.
The only thing in this book that didn’t work for me was the romances. I never felt any chemistry between either romantic pairing. The relationships themselves were never developed. The friendship and history between Ava and Shane was well done. I could really feel that connection between them, but the the romantic aspects never translated for me. As for Cyrus and Lark… their entire friendship, relationship, connection did not work for me. We start out with Cyrus finding him a spoiled bully, and then we time skip and are just told “actually he’s not that bad. I maybe even have feelings for him?” But we see none of that development. In fact, we barely see any interactions between the two of them at all, and any real development between them is told in a summary of one to two sentences every few chapters. We don’t see any of it on page. It was… not convincing, to say the least.
I actually liked the characters as individuals, and I loved the platonic connections between Ava, Shane, and their crew.
The other pitfall of this book was that I couldn’t stop comparing it to Six of Crows. Yes, because of the heists, but even more so because the archetypes of each character matched up a little too closely with a crow. Shane is Kaz—a morally gray leader from the slums with PTSD, who will do anything to protect his people (especially the girl he loves) and his home (West Rama/The Barrel). Ava is less so, but I think she does fall similarly to Nina with her actress tendencies and using flirtation to be the distraction while still being totally badass. Jareth is Wylan. Cyrus is Matthias. Shane is the only one where it was so overwhelmingly similar that I couldn’t think of anything else, though. He felt like Kaz Brekker in a space opera fanfic. Which is totally fine, except that Leigh Bardug0 is such a master at her craft, that every time I thought of the similarities, this book fell short in its execution, compared to the masterpiece that is SoC. I really wish I hadn’t gotten that stuck in my head, because I think I would’ve enjoyed this book more if I’d been able to let it stand on its own.
Now that’s not to say it’s a bad book. It’s a good book, and I really do recommend it. I enjoyed my time reading it, and I look forward to what Jenna Voris does next. 

<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2.75 stars
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5

<i>Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>

The first 35 pages of this book were strong and promising. I thought I was really going to enjoy this book. Similarly, the last 35 pages of this book were fast paced and engaging, they had me wanting to know what happens next.
Everything in between…
Boring.
It was so slow, no plot. I would’ve DNFed multiple times over if not for the fact that this was an ARC.
This book is very world and politic heavy. There are a lot of complex details in the setting, but the actual worldbuilding never goes past the superficial. Nothing is ever explained, we get no details. I had so many unanswered questions about the geography, lore, political systems of this world—leaving me confused and noticing plot hole after plot hole. This left me unconnected and unconvinced.
The characters were similarly underconstructed. There was nothing unique in any of them, nothing compelling. The romance had no chemistry, no build up. It’s instalove at its finest, and it never goes past that.
Throughout the book, the authors “hint” at the big reveals. But these hints were about as subtle as being hit over the head with a frying pan, and then you have to pretend you don’t know.
Despite that—and I did guess every single reveal anywhere from 100 to 300 pages in advance (and I’m not exaggerating)—when these things actually come to light in the climax, I began to become invested. Finally, things are happening! Suddenly, there was tension! The pacing picked up! I actually wanted to keep reading! Yes, everything that happened was excruciatingly predictable, but the writing was skilled, tension-filled, and engaging. It showed that these authors have the ability to write compelling prose… they just fail to do so for 90% of the book.
I also want to touch on the disability representation in this book because I have thoughts. Darling, the FMC, grew up in the lowlight of the sewers. This caused irreparable damage to her eyes. A film grew over them, and she can’t see in regular light unless she wears fancy sunglasses-like goggles. When I realized this, I was excited to see surprise disability rep! But I learned pretty quickly it’s not great rep.
This book heavily leans into the disability is actually a superpower trope, because Darling’s magic powers turned her eye damage into giving her supernatural vision in the dark. She’s like a cat. Talon, the MMC and Darling’s love interest, constantly makes weird, almost fetishy comments about Darling’s eyes and the film that covers them because of the damage. He calls them mesmerizing and mysterious and just… other similar comments that made me uncomfortable. I don’t think it’s the worst rep, but it’s definitely not good, either. I also have a bad feeling that all of her disability may be cured in book 2. I plan to read far enough to know if that’s the case, but I have no interest in actually reading the sequel.

 Quick Stats
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 3.5/5

This is definitely my favorite of Aiden Thomas’s books so far. It was fun and fast, and the diversity of representation was immaculate. I absolutely loved Teo. He’s such a compelling main character. It’s impossible not to love him and root for him. It was easy to become invested in him and in Niya, Xio, and Aurelio. Aiden Thomas truly exceeds at crafting characters.
The plot of this book was also super interesting. It wasn’t the most unique take on a trial-based plot, but it was still easy to remain engaged. It never lagged or bored me. There were a few places where the pacing was a little bit too fast. I felt like I had whiplash.
The largest downfall of this book was the writing and portrayal of emotions. Sometimes, I felt like the way Teo’s emotional state was described was very… distant. Telling, not showing. It made those instances hard to connect to. It was like, the more intense the emotion should’ve been, the less I was able to connect with the way it was written. I also had an issue with other characters making little sense and lashing out randomly. Like, I understand some of those instances were explained later, but others don’t fit that explanation and were just… jarring and took me out of the story. The most significant instance was Diosa Lumbre’s reaction to Teo’s theory. That was just too much, and it took me out of the story.
The writing itself was mostly good, but sometimes it felt a little too cringey, a little too juvenile. I understand that this is a YA book, so the characters are going to act like teenagers, but Teo is 17, and sometimes his internal monologue and just the narration itself felt much more middle school level than upper high school. I just found it to be a bit lacking.
However, this is definitely the strongest of Aiden Thomas’s books. With Lost in the Never Woods, I found the plot and pacing to be very slow and boring, the characters not compelling enough. With Cemetery Boys, I loved Yadriel and Julien, I loved the world and magic, but the plot itself, the mystery, was very obvious from early on to me, in a way that made the aspects regarding “solving” it rather annoying. I had none of those issues with The Sunbearer Trials. The twist at the end completely shocked me. I knew something was coming, of course, but I did not expect what happened. I will definitely be picking up book 2, and I do highly recommend this one. 

 Quick Stats
Age Rating: 14+
Over All: 5 stars
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5

Special thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
I am absolutely obsessed with this series! Obsessed, you hear me?
I gave the first book in this series 4.5 stars, because it was so much fun, but it felt a little slow at parts—I did not feel like that about this one! From the get go, I was flying through it. This series is the perfect balance of lighthearted teen dramedy and high fantasy magic that makes it so addicting. I fully squealed a few times reading this book because it’s just so fun!
This book is told in multiPOV, which isn’t typically my favorite. I think it’s the main thing that had me struggling slightly to get into book one at first, but I had no such issues in The Future King, because I was already so connected and obsessed with every character. I loved getting to see into all of their heads.
This was a strong sequel to an amazing series. My only complaint is that I have to wait a year for book 3!