ettaviereads's Reviews (356)

Bookshops & Bonedust

Travis Baldree

4.0

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Lunaria

Kara Douglas

4.75

adventurous emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was an amazing slow burn fantasy. Amira is the perfect badass FMC and Greylan’s dark, brooding attitude but softness towards Amira is absolutely perfect.

The initial few chapters build the dark backstory for Amira’s desperation to escape her father and the training camp.

This book is a wonderful mix between The Selection and The Red Queen but with its own interesting twists. Overall, most of the main characters are extremely likeable and the plot points kept me reading late into the night.

I will definitely be reading book number 2 which releases later this month!

The House of Whispers

C. Hebert

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

4 ⭐️

4🌶️

This book was a lot: dark, tense, mysterious, all the things you expect from a horror romance and then some. It started off with a dark theme that just kept getting darker. I couldn’t comprehend what was truth and what was fiction by half way and it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

The choice for the narration was excellent, two narrators and the subtle background sounds in certain scenes completely made this story come to life. I felt so connected to the characters and really felt for what Casper went through in every scene.

The synopsis says that it is a dark, twisted retelling of Jack the Ripper mixed with Jekyll and Hyde but I would say that it is an understatement! The twists and turns throughout this book were intense, the intimate scenes, the cat and mouse between Casper and Jackkel, and the relationships Casper has with the other characters kept the plot moving quickly.

There are trigger warnings for this book and I would HIGHLY recommend someone read them if they are planning on picking up this book.

Content Warnings

Dragon Thief

Blake Penn

4.75

adventurous funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The first book in the Skystone Chronicles didn’t disappoint. A traditional style for high fantasy with a super fast plot, hilarious banter, crazy side quests, and awkward young adult infatuations.

There were so many instances in listening to this audiobook that I was either on the edge of my seat worried about the characters or laughing hysterically at the crazy antics the main characters get into.

Asher may not be loved by all but he definitely grows on you as a reader as the plot continues. He is straight up reckless but thankfully his best friend is very calculated and I’m pretty sure without Kai, Asher would not have survived book 1.

The found family and side quests these misfits get put on keep the plot rolling without dragging out the story.

I’m very exited to read or listen to book 2 in the near future because after the revealed identity at the end of the book, I NEED to know more!

Wings of Starless Night

Sadie Sterling

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was the ultimate slow burn, reluctant allies to friends to lovers. Cohrven is such a complex character and Alina is also a deeply complex character.

The politics, the banter, the tragic backstories, the plot twists, this book gave me everything I wanted. The final scene leaves me wanting book 2 right away and hoping for more intensity in Cohrven and Alina’s relationship cuz their chemistry is perfection.

Sterling brings in so much emotion to the work and the characters that it keeps the reader hooked from the first chapter.

I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read this book and I am excited to continue the series once book 2 is released.

Content Warnings

Spells For Forgetting

Adrienne Young

4.5

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

Between Sun & Moon

Jaclyn Kot

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

3/5 🌶️

## Tropes

Morally Black MMC
Stabby Heroine FMC
Shadow Daddy
Touch Her and ☠️
Hidden Identity
Prophecy
Enemies to Lovers
Villain Gets the Girl
Fated Mates
Gods with Vampire Tendencies

## 📖 My Thoughts

I had the pleasure of reading this book before release day and it was a wild ride. Book 2 picks up immediately where book 1 of the series ends and the reader is transported into the challenging world of Clearwater Castle. A number of new characters are introduced and they come with their own interesting ideas.

This book thrusts Sage into a new relationship with a prince who gives all the red flags right from the start all while she is slowly regaining her memories from her previous life.

Von is trapped in the Spirit Realm and unable to help Sage with the trauma she endures throughout this book. However, the choice of Kot to place Von away from Sage was key to her ability to grow as a character and learn more about her past.

The ending left me reeling, in tears and totally heartbroken. I’m already begging for book 3 because I have to know what happens.

Jaclyn Kot drops amazing foreshadowing moments throughout the book but also some fantastic plot twists that the reader won’t see coming.

## ⚠️ Triggers

Adult language and content, Depression, Sexual harassment/assault, Dubious consent, Domestic abuse and violence, Infertility, Sterilization, Involuntary pregnancy, Drugging, Blood and Gore depiction, Death, Grief and Loss, Captivity and Confinement, Suicide
Graphic violence (to include children), Graphic Torture (to include children, known but not detailed)

## 🌶️ Spice

The spice in this book rivals the first and is so much hotter. There are a few scenes that are extremely descriptive and one scene that includes MMF where the Female is completely aware of what is happening but one of the males is shadowed from what the other male is doing. There is some hint to sexual consent being forced through the FMC being “drugged” by one of the male characters, which may be triggering to some people.

## 📝 Special Notes

The way that Jaclyn Kot writes completely immerses the reader into the realm of Edenvale and makes it so difficult to put the book down. Though some of the triggers are intense, Kot portrays them in an eloquent way which adds to the story while creating deep connection to her characters. Kot’s ability to weave foreshadowing through the book and even from scenes in book 1 make this series one that I could read over and over again.

Content Warnings

Scarlet

Marissa Meyer

4.75

adventurous emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Elemental Links

M.A. Leon

2.5

adventurous slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

The Fate of Elysian

Theresa Sherron

5.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

1.5 🌶️

Tropes

Enemies to Lovers
Dystopian City Hierarchy
Who Can You Trust?
Soulmates
Visions and Voices
Love Triangle-ish

📖 My Thoughts

This book exceeded all my expectations. Though the characters were frustrating at times, I spent so much of the novel questioning what would happen next. The concept of the book initially felt like it would be a cross between Divergent and The Hunger Games but I was so wrong! Faye is easy to connect to as a reader and the love interests added a sense so stability to the every changing ideas provide about The City. The final 10% of the book threw so many twists and turns that I did not see coming and it ended in an epic cliffhanger, making me wish the next book was already available.

🌶️ Spice

Sherron chose to include minor spice in this novel that is open door but mostly implied spice. The writing of the spice was mediocre and felt more like a side thought to incur connection between characters than to focus on getting the reader all hot and bothered. There were only a few spicy scenes in the whole book and the first one occurs about half way through.

Content Warnings

More...