emmreadsbooks's Reviews (1.28k)

This book series is such a guilty pleasure for me. Is it the best thing I've ever read? No.

Will I read everything that ever comes out in this series? Absolutely.

This book specifically was extra fun because of the escape room style plot. The puzzles themselves were diabolical and when you add in a murder subplot, it becomes so much more intriguing. If you're a fan of slashers, this is the series for you!

This book was so good. It's definitely a slow burn, but the wait is worth it. I listened to the audiobook and the sense of unease in Sydney as her neighbors begin to disappear one by one.... Priceless. This book is extremely relevant in these modern times of gentrification and thinly veiled racism.

And THE TWIST!!! Some people are commenting that it's completely unbelievable, but... It could totally happen. Props to you, Alyssa Cole.

This a beautiful novel, steeped in culture and magic. I loved the characters, the history, the setting, basically everything! The only thing keeping this from a 5 star review for me was the predictability of the plot. That being said, I still enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the sequel.

A standalone sci-fi novel? Count me in. While the 800+ page count is intimidating, it was worth the week that I spent reading it.

We follow Kira, a xenobiologist who makes first contact. That's the blurb that the book gives you, but... there's so much more. There are mechs, symbiotes, complicated moral dilemmas, AIs, and so many more things that make this a near perfect book! I don't want to say too much, but this is one of the best and most accessible sci-fi novels that I've read in awhile.

It's highly unlikely that a Rick Riordan book will ever NOT get a 5 star rating from me. I loved this book and thought it was the perfect ending for the series. And given that this series technically stretches over 15 books, that's a feat.

I loved the premise of this book and all of the twists and turns. However the pacing was difficult for me. I felt as though the last half of the book was so rapidly paced that I couldn't keep up. But I'm still definitely a Riley Sager fan, and the books just keep getting better and better.

YES YES YES!! A sequel that doesn't fall flat!

We're immediately thrust back into the drama that the cliffhanger from the previous book left us with and it just slowly builds throughout the book. We again follow Dara, Nahri, and Ali through their points of view and it was phenomenal. Plus there's a time skip of 5 years, which normally I'd hate... but it was handled well here and suited the plot of the book. I don't want to spoil anything, but I can't wait to see how she finishes this series off in Empire of Gold.

I just want to start by saying that there were so many things that I loved about this book! A sci-fi book with people of color and LGBT+ representation?? Heck yes!! A sassy ragtag team on the run? Count me in!

Unfortunately there were so many problems with the pacing of the book and I thought improvements could be made to the plot. Apart from the beginning turn of the screw, everything else was predictable. And the characters became cliche over time and never seemed to make any interesting choices. I'm sad because I really wanted to like this book, but it fell short for me.

The irony of me finishing this book on 10/18....

I loved Jennifer's "The Naturals" series and this book gave me all the same feels. Fast-paced, intellectual, lots of banter, I loved it! This also gave me comparable vibes to Truly Devious, another one of my faves. If you're a fan of YA mysteries, I think that you would absolutely love this book.

This is a beautiful book about art, ideas, loss, freedom, and love. I am a Schwablin for life, but I feel like this book has such a different tone from her other books without losing her gift for prose and adventure. This truly felt like a book about humanity, rather than what the blurb says about "a Faustian bargain with the devil". That's really only the start of the beauty of this book.

Also most people less heartless than I *will* cry while reading this. Even I got a little misty-eyed towards the end... and that says something.