emilyburdick's Reviews (389)

I really hate this series and these characters lol 

Ooof! This book had me sweaty…in a good way. The spicy scenes were A+, and definitely had me blushing hard. I quite enjoyed the plot of Neon Gods, too. it was refreshing since the first Katee Robert book I read was literally all spice and no true plot. She did well with the balance of spice/plot in this book and I look forward to reading more from her! There was such strong consent representation in this book which was absolute *chefs kiss*, we need more of that in smutty books. Also Persephone owned the fuck out of her sexuality and desires and had both me and Hades doing double takes. I did struggle with the modernized versions of Greek Gods, mostly them having so much technology threw me off but that’s 100% a me issue and not an author issue. I was so confused every time they mentioned having cell phones 😂 All in all, really loved this and eager to read Electric Idol in the next month or so.

Have had this on my shelf for a long time (my mom probably read these to me as a child). I can’t wait to share these with my future children, they’re sweet stories with great messages.

I don’t know if I’m finally growing out of YA contemporary or what, but I almost HATED this book. It made me cringe so much with the try-hard lingo and social media references. I liked the plot point of the two main characters were chatting anonymously over the app Jack made and they got to know each other for who they really are and not who they pretend to be in school. That’s about all I liked. I don’t know how Jack and the whole school for that matter, had no clue that it was Pepper’s family who owned the (as described by the author herself) MASSIVE fast-food chain that was BOOMING and simultaneously harassing and stealing recipes from his family deli. It became even more unrealistic when they revealed that Jack’s dad and Pepper’s mom dated way back when. if Jack’s dad got wind of someone stealing their recipes, why would that not be the first person he thought of? Especially when she was involved in helping bring the deli up when it was first opened? 

Another plot point that annoyed me was the animosity between Pepper’s sister and mom that subsequently seeped into Pepper and her mom’s relationship. It was completely unnecessary and added nothing to the story. Her sister didn’t even need to exist quite frankly. Pepper’s mom could have been just as nuts and overbearing without us reading about how strained her relationship was with the eldest daughter. 

The one saving grace here for me was the nice, slow burn, realistic high school romance. Pepper and Jack (or Pepper-Jack *vomits*) were both awkward and nervous as hell. Just like most high school kids are around the person they like-like. They both help each other out and support each other in a really nice way that leads to them connecting both on the app, and in person.

Did I only really prioritize reading this for the Adam Driver-esque love interest? Absolutely. Overall, I really enjoyed the second half of this book, but the first half was definitely slow going for me. I saw this book portrayed as high-ish spice a lot and if you’re reading it for that, don’t let yourself be disappointed. There’s only 1-2 scenes and they are good, BUT you should read this more for the cutesy slow-burn instead. 

Things I liked: 
🧪I loved the banter between Olive and Adam. She is such a sunshine character while he is on like “do not disturb” mode 95% of the time. It’s giving sexy, big brained, well-educated debate energy.
🧪Loved the representation of women in STEM and their active involvement in trying to bring more women into the fields. This was Anh’s only redeeming quality for me. 
🧪We love a protective boyfriend scene 🥵 Also, what spice there was, was quite well written and had me in my feelings (minus the entire breast in his mouth bit lol). 
🧪The big reveal at the end regarding Adams feelings for Olive and the length for which he had been pining? Say fucking less. 


Things I didn’t like: 

🧪The reason for the fake dating was honestly dumb and trivial. I’m sorry your grown adult friend doesn’t believe that you’re okay with her dating a guy you went out with what, three times (MAYBE), but that’s not really your problem at that point. 
🧪Best friend in question, Anh, was so immature! She is so unprofessional and intrusive the entire book it made my blood boil. 
🧪Some of the situations where Olive and Adam were forced to interact also felt unprofessional to me. I guess maybe I’m picturing a really uptight doctoral college program but in what world do professors run around shirtless with their peers and students at a program sponsored picnic? Just seemed weird to me but maybe I’m being too picky. 
🧪I love Adam (again probably extra biased because he’s portrayed to look like A.D.) but sometimes he gives pick me energy like “I’m not like most guys” energy. God forbid you like chocolate, man.

Respectfully…what the fuck are y’all doing comparing this to ACOTAR? The absolute disrespect Sarah J Maas has endured…

I read a few books from JLA’s Lux series in 2016, and I ate them up and left absolutely no crumbs. But even then, even my newly into reading, 18 year old brain knew that was subpar writing and corny as hell. I was hoping beyond hope that now, at 24 years old, JLA’s newest series that has come out like a decade after Lux, would be better and the writing much improved. How wrong (and disappointed) I was. I’m just going to break this down into lists of likes and dislikes and move on because I have been dreading writing this review for two weeks now. 

What I liked: 
⚔️Poppy’s redemption comes in the fact that she is not a damsel in distress like many heroines are. She defends herself very well and doesn’t immediately look to the man in charge of protecting her when shit goes down. She just pulls her dagger and goes. 
⚔️What smut there was was decent. Hawke gives me the yuck a bit but, their sexy talk and doing it during times and places that they shouldn’t was hot. 
⚔️I liked Vikter’s character and his taking on a role as a parental figure for Poppy. He had a hand in making sure she was self-sufficient and able and I wish he would have lasted longer in this story. 
⚔️A lot of people are bagging on this book for being predictable, and although I did predict some of the plot twists, I was questioning myself on if they were really going to happen or not. I would think something was going to twist, and then something else would happen that made me think otherwise. So, some of it was predictable, but some stuff did trip me up and I liked that. 


What I didn’t like:
⚔️There were so many plot points, character traits and just general parallels to several other fantasy series I’ve read. I KNOW things are going to overlap and tropes are re-used constantly but it was so hard, for instance, not to think of The Darkling when they started talking about “the dark one”.  It was literally the same character, using the same seductive tactics to trick the MC into working with him. So many things felt borderline plagiarized. 
⚔️This book was info-dump central at the beginning, but almost none of the right info. The world-building and rules were all clumped into the first few chapters, meanwhile I had no idea what was going on with the characters and why I should care about the rules and world at that point. 
⚔️The only POC character with a name, Tawny, had no influence on the plot whatsoever besides being the bestie to the “badass” white, princessy character. Really she felt like an afterthought. What I did see of her I liked and I wish there was more (and generally more representation).
⚔️Poppy (because how the fuck do you spell her actual name), is so dense, and does not act in the slightest like the sheltered, innocent, forced to be non-verbal around most people, girl she’s described as in the beginning. She has a mouth on her and continuously makes dumb decisions, WHILE ACKNOWLEDGING that they are dumb and reckless.

This is one of those books you should most definitely NOT judge by it’s cover (or name). I promise it is probably not at all what you are expecting. It’s not not a villain origin story, but it’s also not just a villain origin story. It’s a beautiful story about loss, friendship and the things we will do for love. If you’re looking for a fast paced, magic packed story about a rising evil sea witch, this may not be for you.

What I liked: 

🐚Ending was super action packed, had me on the edge of my seat 

🐚Rich with danish history, which, although made it slow in some parts, I found fascinating to learn about

🐚The flashbacks to the incident that appear between chapters about the present day that led up to the big reveal

🐚The epilogue has me hooked and I’m eager to read Sea Witch Rising

What I didn’t like:

🐚This book has a super slow start, I’m talking like almost the entire first half. It took real commitment from me to keep pushing through

🐚I felt like for a book rooted in magic, there could have been more of it! It almost seemed silly for the characters to ever worry about being outed as witches because they hardly ever performed magic

🐚The characters came off pretty one dimensional until the end, we had very basic traits like: the playboy prince, the prince committed to his crown, and the poor peasant girl hated by the town. 

I’ve had this book for many many years (received as a gift when I was young) but I never read it. I decided to give it a whirl and I am not disappointed. I learned so much about Claude Monet’s in a cute, easy to understand way told by the sweetest little narrator. Art is one of my favorite things and I love learning about famous artists and how they evolved and lived their lives. This was a quick, fun and educational read! Perfect for children and adults alike. 

Once again, Leigh Bardugo exceeded my expectations. I am obsessed with these characters and I love every single one of them; they really might be my favorite cast from any series I’ve ever read. I did feel that after the initial shock of the Six of Crows ending got resolved, this hit some lulling points that had me wondering if it was going to live up to it’s predecessor. I would say the final three parts were the best to me in the book. I would love for this duo to have a third book because I do still feel like I have some questions, however, the ending was well rounded enough to satisfy me. My one major gripe is that in Six of Crows, it felt like for the most part, most things went right for the Crows up until the end. Then in Crooked Kingdom it was like literally nothing could go right until the last quarter. 

This book definitely sold me on King of Scars (and the fact that I love Nikolai anyways). I’m not a novella fan, but if we aren’t going to get that mysteriously announced 5 years ago third book, I would LOVE a series of shorts for the Crows. I really want to beef up this review a bit but sometimes I just love a series so damn much I can’t form the words. Basically, if you’re debating this duo, stop. Just read it. You won’t be sorry. 

No mourners, no funerals.

To preface, it's been a MINUTE since I read anything twilight. This was an interesting short, but not really something I needed to know. I think it portrayed how ignorant the newborns were really made to be and I did enjoy seeing Bree and Diego work out the truth for themselves. the fate of these characters. Honestly, this story just made me want to know what happened to Fred! How's he doing, is he still alive, is he veg, did he find a coven of his own? So many questions!