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eggcatsreads's Reviews (480)
This story starts out strong, and doesn’t let up until it’s finished. We follow a few different characters, as each of them are eventually pulled into each other’s orbit from the hypnotizing song of a demon. Never once was I positive about the direction this novel would go, and this book surprised me by making some characters, who had been antagonistic villains for the most part, some of my favorites in this story.
I think this book is best gone into blind, and to just let the story surround you as you delve into the conflict Ruby must face to try to escape her imminent possession. In direct contrast to the Satanic Panic going around this time, it might just wind up being punk rock that will save Ruby’s very soul.
The one thing that kept this story from 4 stars, as opposed to the 3 I gave it, was the ending and the resolution. I kind of felt the story fell flat right near the end, like there wasn’t a clear-cut way to finish this book. Also, my favorite character just is never mentioned for this ending, and I wanted to know what happened to him! Where IS Vutto? He was my favorite, and I wanted more insight into how he dealt with the ending of the story. I loved Beel, I’m glad he got the ending he deserved, but I still wanted to know what happened to Vutto after the climatic events of the story.
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Tor Nightfire for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I think this book is best gone into blind, and to just let the story surround you as you delve into the conflict Ruby must face to try to escape her imminent possession. In direct contrast to the Satanic Panic going around this time, it might just wind up being punk rock that will save Ruby’s very soul.
The one thing that kept this story from 4 stars, as opposed to the 3 I gave it, was the ending and the resolution. I kind of felt the story fell flat right near the end, like there wasn’t a clear-cut way to finish this book. Also, my favorite character just is never mentioned for this ending, and I wanted to know what happened to him! Where IS Vutto? He was my favorite, and I wanted more insight into how he dealt with the ending of the story. I loved Beel, I’m glad he got the ending he deserved, but I still wanted to know what happened to Vutto after the climatic events of the story.
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Tor Nightfire for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A gorgeous and queer retelling that will pull at your heart and make you believe that soulmates exist.
This book is as beautiful as the cover implies, and that is always a hard thing to accomplish - but this book does it with ease. We follow our two main characters - Xian, a prince searching for a cure for his sick mother, and Zhen, the white snake who accidentally stole that very cure 7 years ago. When their paths cross again, there is an instant attraction between them - but can they overcome their differences and betrayals to find love together?
If you were looking for a book with romance, longing, political intrigue, and a connection that might just save everyone they care about, then look no further! This book drew me in from the first page, and once I began reading I wanted to know what would happen next! Just when you think you know where the story is going, I was hit with a plot twist that was so cleverly done it didn’t even occur to me - and yet, in hindsight, it made perfect sense.
Perfect for fans of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, The Girl With No Reflection, and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - The Legend of the White Snake is a beautiful story that will captivate you from the first page.
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is as beautiful as the cover implies, and that is always a hard thing to accomplish - but this book does it with ease. We follow our two main characters - Xian, a prince searching for a cure for his sick mother, and Zhen, the white snake who accidentally stole that very cure 7 years ago. When their paths cross again, there is an instant attraction between them - but can they overcome their differences and betrayals to find love together?
If you were looking for a book with romance, longing, political intrigue, and a connection that might just save everyone they care about, then look no further! This book drew me in from the first page, and once I began reading I wanted to know what would happen next! Just when you think you know where the story is going, I was hit with a plot twist that was so cleverly done it didn’t even occur to me - and yet, in hindsight, it made perfect sense.
Perfect for fans of Daughter of the Moon Goddess, The Girl With No Reflection, and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea - The Legend of the White Snake is a beautiful story that will captivate you from the first page.
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and HarperCollins Children's Books for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A fun, campy horror that emotionally feels like reading a combination of the show iZombie and the book This Delicious Death - except starring vampires instead of zombies. (Obviously).
If you were looking for an entertaining read that can simultaneously tackle real struggles that anyone in the community can relate to (disapproving parents, societal rejection, wanting to be true to oneself), with humor (and blood) throughout the pages, this is it.
We star our main character - Vlad Radu, as he begins to embrace his life as a gay vampire - and all the pitfalls that come with it. Between deciding how (or if) to come out - both to his parents and to the world at large - he’s stuck living your typical “regular” human life of a minimum wage job and having a crush on your neighbor. Or he would be, if somehow he didn’t keep getting caught in more and more ridiculous (and dangerous) situations. Together with his coworker Alison Grady, who quickly becomes his best friend, they have to learn how to survive Vlad’s new life as a vampire who doesn’t want to kill humans for their blood.
One thing I really enjoyed about this novel that I don’t see too often is that while there was a bit of romance present - the biggest strength given to Vlad is from his best friend Alison, and not a romantic partner. There’s nothing wrong with novels that allow the main character to find their potential strength to stand up for themselves due to someone they’re interested in, of course, but it’s very refreshing to have that same narrative apply to platonic relationships as well. Alison throughout this novel is Vlad’s emotional support and the one providing him the strength he needs to follow through with his convictions, and that was a breath of fresh air to read. While the main romantic interest in this novel does help Vlad, it’s Vlad’s relationship with Alison that remains his closest throughout the novel.
The message that platonic relationships can be just as important, if not more important than romantic ones, isn’t one I see too often when reading. I will admit that, up until the climatic resolution, I was half-expecting Vlad’s closeness with Alison to slowly fade away as he becomes closer with his romantic interest - and that never happens. Maybe it’s the aroace in me, but that was one of my favorite aspects of this novel that was just baked into it the entire time.
Overall, this was a fun and entertaining read, and I’m really excited for how the rest of this series goes forward.
If you were looking for an entertaining read that can simultaneously tackle real struggles that anyone in the community can relate to (disapproving parents, societal rejection, wanting to be true to oneself), with humor (and blood) throughout the pages, this is it.
We star our main character - Vlad Radu, as he begins to embrace his life as a gay vampire - and all the pitfalls that come with it. Between deciding how (or if) to come out - both to his parents and to the world at large - he’s stuck living your typical “regular” human life of a minimum wage job and having a crush on your neighbor. Or he would be, if somehow he didn’t keep getting caught in more and more ridiculous (and dangerous) situations. Together with his coworker Alison Grady, who quickly becomes his best friend, they have to learn how to survive Vlad’s new life as a vampire who doesn’t want to kill humans for their blood.
One thing I really enjoyed about this novel that I don’t see too often is that while there was a bit of romance present - the biggest strength given to Vlad is from his best friend Alison, and not a romantic partner. There’s nothing wrong with novels that allow the main character to find their potential strength to stand up for themselves due to someone they’re interested in, of course, but it’s very refreshing to have that same narrative apply to platonic relationships as well. Alison throughout this novel is Vlad’s emotional support and the one providing him the strength he needs to follow through with his convictions, and that was a breath of fresh air to read. While the main romantic interest in this novel does help Vlad, it’s Vlad’s relationship with Alison that remains his closest throughout the novel.
The message that platonic relationships can be just as important, if not more important than romantic ones, isn’t one I see too often when reading. I will admit that, up until the climatic resolution, I was half-expecting Vlad’s closeness with Alison to slowly fade away as he becomes closer with his romantic interest - and that never happens. Maybe it’s the aroace in me, but that was one of my favorite aspects of this novel that was just baked into it the entire time.
Overall, this was a fun and entertaining read, and I’m really excited for how the rest of this series goes forward.
A huge thank you to the author, Netgalley, and Flame Tree Press for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
DNF 23%. I think this could be an interesting book for someone who can ignore some of the more typical pitfalls of sexism and overly-flowery language found in this book, but personally I could not. The concept drew me in with paranormal investigations in space, but unfortunately for me personally it wasn’t enough to get me to force myself to read more than what I already have.
If you like more typical cop dramas, and “ghost investigation” shows like Ghost Adventures, then I’d say to give this book a chance to see if it hooks you. Unfortunately, it did not click with me at all.
Also, be warned that there is suicide and depression mentioned and explicitly shown in this book very early on, and the theme continues as it progresses.
—
The rest of my review will contain spoilers and I’ll be a little meaner. If you want to avoid spoilers, and/or you liked this book I wouldn’t bother continuing to read. I just need to nitpick because never have I made so many little notes in my phone’s kindle.
–
I’m serious. It’s mean.
–
The main character Kendra is self-obsessed to the extreme, with everything happening causing her to go “but woe is me! My family died mysteriously!! No one could ever understand my pain!!!” Normally I’d be more willing to take into account her emotions, but when this is accompanied by people experiencing real trauma - INCLUDING someone dying violently because they slit their own throat - then I lose my patience.
Also the ghost investigator is very annoying, and after I saw a comment saying that him being named “Zak” and having every single mannerism as Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures - I couldn’t unsee it. I’m also supposed to feel like there’s some kind of attraction between them, but neither character is compelling enough to both feel that way, nor for me to see it progress.
He “investigates” by feeling for EMF - but with his hands. By himself. He just goes off of vibes, I guess.
“Zak felt the EMF with his body, and I confirmed with my Mel-meter. It really validates the scientific method.”
It does not.
I mentioned earlier that there was quite a bit of sexism present in this book, and after one specific line I even went “this HAD to have been written by a man,” and lo and behold I was correct. There’s also quite a bit of fatphobia present, which does not in any way need to be present other than to simply make the joke “The cop is racist, a creep, and fat! Him being fat is part of why he’s a bad person.” Over. And Over.
This book starts off with Kendra being awoken to investigate a situation in the infirmary. (She did not need to be present at all during this scene, by the way.)
A character has decided to commit suicide by slitting her own throat (surely there’s easier ways?) because of a scary vision she psychically had. Sure, but then Kendra asks her questions and she seems coherent enough to be able to respond and shake her head with little issues, despite her throat being so cut that the doctor can barely stop it from bleeding out AND her dying soon after.
Kendra responds to being told what this horrible vision is by assuming it couldn’t be worse than what she’s dealing with. Also, Kendra says to the dying woman when asking her questions, “If you plan on living, you can tell me later. But if you’re gonna check out, at least tell me what drove you to this.” Completely normal way to ask someone violently dying by suicide what happened.
And then, when she sees the woman coworker of the woman who quite literally killed herself less than an hour ago, she describes her as:
“Men probably found her attractive but only those who could get by her morose disposition.”
Did I imagine the scene of the bloody suicide where she saw a coworker kill herself? Or?
Also, the next line is “Her chest heaved with an anxiety she kept very much to herself,” which is what prompted me to go “Oh a man definitely wrote this”. Cannot escape the “she breasted boobily down the stairs” cliche, can we? Also, the main woman character describes hearing a woman yell, as “a female,” and not a woman. Yikes.
Kenra then proceeds to examine every emotion this woman has, up to and including finding her suspicious for being so upset. But no worries! There’s a reason she’s so upset!! It’s not that that was traumatic, oh no, it’s because she has depression!! I wish I was joking.
Nitpicking characters aside, here are a few lines that made me go “WTF does this even mean?”
“The glock in Kendra's shoulder holder slid out as if greased.”
“A bathroom with a sink and toilet, a powder room the Realtors would say.”
“His voice sounded soft and soothing like a therapist, perhaps a lover.”
“[ - ] visualized in colors, soft angles, conjectural shapes. That’s why she hated the dark.”
“It looked like a gigantic rough-cut cigar. Or a Cheech-and-Chong-worthy joint.”
DNF 23%. I think this could be an interesting book for someone who can ignore some of the more typical pitfalls of sexism and overly-flowery language found in this book, but personally I could not. The concept drew me in with paranormal investigations in space, but unfortunately for me personally it wasn’t enough to get me to force myself to read more than what I already have.
If you like more typical cop dramas, and “ghost investigation” shows like Ghost Adventures, then I’d say to give this book a chance to see if it hooks you. Unfortunately, it did not click with me at all.
Also, be warned that there is suicide and depression mentioned and explicitly shown in this book very early on, and the theme continues as it progresses.
—
The rest of my review will contain spoilers and I’ll be a little meaner. If you want to avoid spoilers, and/or you liked this book I wouldn’t bother continuing to read. I just need to nitpick because never have I made so many little notes in my phone’s kindle.
–
I’m serious. It’s mean.
–
The main character Kendra is self-obsessed to the extreme, with everything happening causing her to go “but woe is me! My family died mysteriously!! No one could ever understand my pain!!!” Normally I’d be more willing to take into account her emotions, but when this is accompanied by people experiencing real trauma - INCLUDING someone dying violently because they slit their own throat - then I lose my patience.
Also the ghost investigator is very annoying, and after I saw a comment saying that him being named “Zak” and having every single mannerism as Zak Bagans from Ghost Adventures - I couldn’t unsee it. I’m also supposed to feel like there’s some kind of attraction between them, but neither character is compelling enough to both feel that way, nor for me to see it progress.
He “investigates” by feeling for EMF - but with his hands. By himself. He just goes off of vibes, I guess.
“Zak felt the EMF with his body, and I confirmed with my Mel-meter. It really validates the scientific method.”
It does not.
I mentioned earlier that there was quite a bit of sexism present in this book, and after one specific line I even went “this HAD to have been written by a man,” and lo and behold I was correct. There’s also quite a bit of fatphobia present, which does not in any way need to be present other than to simply make the joke “The cop is racist, a creep, and fat! Him being fat is part of why he’s a bad person.” Over. And Over.
This book starts off with Kendra being awoken to investigate a situation in the infirmary. (She did not need to be present at all during this scene, by the way.)
A character has decided to commit suicide by slitting her own throat (surely there’s easier ways?) because of a scary vision she psychically had. Sure, but then Kendra asks her questions and she seems coherent enough to be able to respond and shake her head with little issues, despite her throat being so cut that the doctor can barely stop it from bleeding out AND her dying soon after.
Kendra responds to being told what this horrible vision is by assuming it couldn’t be worse than what she’s dealing with. Also, Kendra says to the dying woman when asking her questions, “If you plan on living, you can tell me later. But if you’re gonna check out, at least tell me what drove you to this.” Completely normal way to ask someone violently dying by suicide what happened.
And then, when she sees the woman coworker of the woman who quite literally killed herself less than an hour ago, she describes her as:
“Men probably found her attractive but only those who could get by her morose disposition.”
Did I imagine the scene of the bloody suicide where she saw a coworker kill herself? Or?
Also, the next line is “Her chest heaved with an anxiety she kept very much to herself,” which is what prompted me to go “Oh a man definitely wrote this”. Cannot escape the “she breasted boobily down the stairs” cliche, can we? Also, the main woman character describes hearing a woman yell, as “a female,” and not a woman. Yikes.
Kenra then proceeds to examine every emotion this woman has, up to and including finding her suspicious for being so upset. But no worries! There’s a reason she’s so upset!! It’s not that that was traumatic, oh no, it’s because she has depression!! I wish I was joking.
Nitpicking characters aside, here are a few lines that made me go “WTF does this even mean?”
“The glock in Kendra's shoulder holder slid out as if greased.”
“A bathroom with a sink and toilet, a powder room the Realtors would say.”
“His voice sounded soft and soothing like a therapist, perhaps a lover.”
“[ - ] visualized in colors, soft angles, conjectural shapes. That’s why she hated the dark.”
“It looked like a gigantic rough-cut cigar. Or a Cheech-and-Chong-worthy joint.”
A huge thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The first book in a new fantasy that had me on the edge of my seat and absolutely having to finish this book to find out what happens next. (AND me needing the sequel, ASAP).
This book reminded me of a perfect mix of:
Hannah Whitten’s - The Foxglove King
MK Lobb’s - Seven Faceless Saints
Rachel Gillig’s - One Dark Window
Kate Dramis’ - The Curse of Saints
Honestly, if you liked any (or all) of these books I would highly encourage you to check out this novel for yourself, because believe me it does NOT disappoint.
This book perfectly blends the fantasy and romance aspects of this novel, and doesn’t let the worldbuilding or plot fade into the background when the romance does happen. (I like romantasy, don’t get me wrong, but it always bothers me when books with fascinating worlds and plots get sidelined for the romance, rather than having them both work together.)
We follow Jinx, a thief, as she tries to solve a riddle that keeps her away from her family, and Apollo, an aristocrat, who is dealing with suffering from an affliction that is punished by his society. Jinx has the power to transform herself into looking like anyone, and using illusions to trick people into seeing things incorrectly - and this power allows her to be a notorious thief well-known for their exploits. However, she is forced to work alongside Apollo when she realizes she can blackmail him into helping her solve the riddle that failure to solve will sever her from her family forever. Doing this, they both learn secrets about the other and learn how to work together, while also learning that they may have more in common than they initially thought. As they work together to solve both of their problems, they begin uncovering a higher corruption in their society and need to solve it - before it destroys them both.
The worldbuilding and magic in this novel was fascinating, as we learn that those who were afflicted with a plague 20 years ago were transformed into people who have magic powers and may be not quite human anymore. This affliction, called being Cursed, makes them the bottom of society where merely existing can be a death sentence - unless they can prevent themselves from being found out. There is also a religious aspect in this novel, where as we learn more and more of it, we can see some of the cracks in the pieces that are missing - and that, when it is discovered - is a huge game changer for how they understand their world. (This highly reminded me of the religion in Seven Faceless Saints.)
The characters in this novel are very lifelike, and it isn’t hard to sympathize with both Jinx and Apollo as they navigate their lives and try to solve their problems. However, as the story progresses you start to see that what both of them assumed were their biggest issues are only scratching the surface of what is really going on - and this book ends on a killer cliffhanger that I cannot wait to see how the next book continues.
I would highly recommend this novel if you like romantasy along with plot, political intrigue, and a religion that may or may not have a secret hidden in plain sight. I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as it did, but once it started it grabbed me to the last page and I couldn’t stop reading until it was finished.
The first book in a new fantasy that had me on the edge of my seat and absolutely having to finish this book to find out what happens next. (AND me needing the sequel, ASAP).
This book reminded me of a perfect mix of:
Hannah Whitten’s - The Foxglove King
MK Lobb’s - Seven Faceless Saints
Rachel Gillig’s - One Dark Window
Kate Dramis’ - The Curse of Saints
Honestly, if you liked any (or all) of these books I would highly encourage you to check out this novel for yourself, because believe me it does NOT disappoint.
This book perfectly blends the fantasy and romance aspects of this novel, and doesn’t let the worldbuilding or plot fade into the background when the romance does happen. (I like romantasy, don’t get me wrong, but it always bothers me when books with fascinating worlds and plots get sidelined for the romance, rather than having them both work together.)
We follow Jinx, a thief, as she tries to solve a riddle that keeps her away from her family, and Apollo, an aristocrat, who is dealing with suffering from an affliction that is punished by his society. Jinx has the power to transform herself into looking like anyone, and using illusions to trick people into seeing things incorrectly - and this power allows her to be a notorious thief well-known for their exploits. However, she is forced to work alongside Apollo when she realizes she can blackmail him into helping her solve the riddle that failure to solve will sever her from her family forever. Doing this, they both learn secrets about the other and learn how to work together, while also learning that they may have more in common than they initially thought. As they work together to solve both of their problems, they begin uncovering a higher corruption in their society and need to solve it - before it destroys them both.
The worldbuilding and magic in this novel was fascinating, as we learn that those who were afflicted with a plague 20 years ago were transformed into people who have magic powers and may be not quite human anymore. This affliction, called being Cursed, makes them the bottom of society where merely existing can be a death sentence - unless they can prevent themselves from being found out. There is also a religious aspect in this novel, where as we learn more and more of it, we can see some of the cracks in the pieces that are missing - and that, when it is discovered - is a huge game changer for how they understand their world. (This highly reminded me of the religion in Seven Faceless Saints.)
The characters in this novel are very lifelike, and it isn’t hard to sympathize with both Jinx and Apollo as they navigate their lives and try to solve their problems. However, as the story progresses you start to see that what both of them assumed were their biggest issues are only scratching the surface of what is really going on - and this book ends on a killer cliffhanger that I cannot wait to see how the next book continues.
I would highly recommend this novel if you like romantasy along with plot, political intrigue, and a religion that may or may not have a secret hidden in plain sight. I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as it did, but once it started it grabbed me to the last page and I couldn’t stop reading until it was finished.
Dictionary of Dinosaurs: An illustrated A to Z of Every Dinosaur Ever Discovered - Discover Over 300 Dinosaurs!
Dieter Braun, Natural history museum
If you have a child interested at all in dinosaurs, this would be a perfect book for them. The art in this book is fantastic, the information is easy to read and understand, there is a great pronunciation guide to help with the names, as well as a little diagram to show you their size in comparison to humans. I loved this, and I know that when I was in the range for this book I would have been all over it.
I would say the target age for this book would not be much younger than 5-6, while not much older than 12-13. For younger children this would be a great book to sit with your child and read to them about whatever dinosaurs they're interested in. For an older child I would advise this as a kind of gift for them to be able to do their own dinosaur research. This would be a great book to go along with any typical "dinosaur" toys, so they can paly with that toy but also look it up and learn more information about the real life animal, as well.
The art of the dinosaurs and the background images in this book is beautiful, and is somehow simultaneously realistic while also simple It really allows you to imagine how they would have looked and lived in real life, while also not being so "realistic" to be boring to look at. This would be a fun book to simply flip through and occasionally stop on a page to read more, rather than simply reading from beginning to end.
I would absolutely purchase this for my child, or a child in my family who loves dinosaurs, as this book would be a great way to nurture that interest. This book is interesting, pretty, and informative enough that I also think it would be a good way to start an interest in dinosaurs for any child.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Wide Eyed Editions for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I would say the target age for this book would not be much younger than 5-6, while not much older than 12-13. For younger children this would be a great book to sit with your child and read to them about whatever dinosaurs they're interested in. For an older child I would advise this as a kind of gift for them to be able to do their own dinosaur research. This would be a great book to go along with any typical "dinosaur" toys, so they can paly with that toy but also look it up and learn more information about the real life animal, as well.
The art of the dinosaurs and the background images in this book is beautiful, and is somehow simultaneously realistic while also simple It really allows you to imagine how they would have looked and lived in real life, while also not being so "realistic" to be boring to look at. This would be a fun book to simply flip through and occasionally stop on a page to read more, rather than simply reading from beginning to end.
I would absolutely purchase this for my child, or a child in my family who loves dinosaurs, as this book would be a great way to nurture that interest. This book is interesting, pretty, and informative enough that I also think it would be a good way to start an interest in dinosaurs for any child.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Wide Eyed Editions for providing me an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Gorgeous and informative, this is a perfect addition to anyone's collection of books on dragons. This is intended for children, but as someone who used to translate the runes in my Dragonology books during recess - I think it's also a nice fit for any adult who still loves that whimsy in life. (And who never quite gave up that child who secretly thought dragons were real).
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for a copy of this book.
Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group for a copy of this book.