All I kept shouting while reading this was WHERE AM I?

Besides that glaring issue the story did get better as the pages went on.

Review to come.
I have a lot of thoughts 😆.

VERY CHARACTER DRIVEN

This is the first Dessen novel I've read in awhile and it did not disappoint. What's funny is I wouldn't consider it a romance (like her usual books). There's definitely a bit there, but there's so much MORE to this story than that. A lot about learning where you come from and reconnecting with the past.

Full review to come! 😊💙

THIS SERIES WILL ONLY GET BETTER.

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The author hosted an Instagram read-a-long on her page and I took advantage of reading it during the last month. She posted questions each week and responded to so many of us. It made me really have a lot of appreciation for her as a fan.

Dark Shores is filled with allllll things Roman. A lot of the way the governments are set-up, the world-building and more were drawn from this ancient civilization. It was AWESOME. I am fascinated by all things Roman and loved how this played out. There were wicked senators, ship sailing, gods fighting each other, conquering and a dash of romance.

I am obsessed with Marcus. He was my favorite POV and I wish the book was focused more on him. I love him + his soldiers. They were some of my favorite side characters. I found them funny, endearing and thought they all needed a hug. And I wouldn’t mind giving them said hug.

Teriana was fine, she’s one of my reasons for lowering to four stars. I found her a bit annoying/whiny at times and wasn’t as interested in her chapters. There was lots of talk but she never pulled out any tricks, so I’m curious where that goes during book two. I did enjoy Marcus and Teriana together though. I like the relationship and am waiting for all heck to break loose when things start to spiral.

This had great world-building and I found that it was a lot more creative of a book plot overall than I have read in a hot minute. I couldn’t easily guess what was happening next and that’s always a good sign of a great fantasy. My only other issue with it was that it was a little slow at times. I found myself wanting to scan ahead to dive into the next scene.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Language: shoot used quite a bit
- Romance: kiss, a fade to black love scene
- Violence: ship wreck, torture, hangings, murder involving dismemberment

WHAT A BOOK.

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WOW. This is the one of the best historical fictions about World War 2 that I have ever read. This was utterly amazing. Made me want to cry, throw things, and feel all sorts of emotions. I barely recognized how long the book actually was, it kept me interested and involved the entire time.

We had Catherine, an older woman in NY who falls in love with a man that has a life back in Paris. She spends her wars years hoping that Paul is okay and raising money and items for all those she can. I loved her personality and hope she held onto, until she didn’t. UGH. I hoped for a more complete ending for her, but I also understood. This wasn’t a book for happy endings, but enduring til the end.

Kaisa destroyed me from one end of this book to the other. She was the subject of horrid trials at Ravensbruck. Her story line caused me to struggle the most. I hadn’t heard much history from the women’s concentration camp and I loved the focus this author put on it. I learned so much and yet again had to cope with how awful humanity can be. Watching Kaisa encounter trial after trial brought out so many emotions.

I can hardly talk about Herta, but I’m also glad she was in the book. It was an interesting perspective to have someone who was pro-German during the time period. She made me so angry, but having this unique take compared to the two others balanced the entire story.

These three characters (that were based off of people actually involved in the war) was outstanding and well thought out. I couldn’t put this book down.

Note: this book does not hold back on describing what happened. Please read at your own caution.

Overall audience notes:
- Historical fiction about WW2
- Language: very little
- Romance: some kisses, an almost fade-to-black scene
- Violence: whips, guns, death by animal mauling, starvation
- Trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, mention of self harm, self-harming (by cutting), attempted suicide, child abuse, PTSD, surgical experimentation, loss of loved ones

A very solid 4 stars.

DRAGONS Y’ALL.

If that word doesn’t drag you in, the fact that Chima is an amazing author should convince you. I love her writing and her books. This series is setting up to be added to my favorites.

This book is filled with so much evil. I mean whoa, within the first few chapters I already felt like sobbing. I mean HOW, JUST…how. But this, in a weird way, is one of the better things about Flamecaster. I hate the antagonists. I mean, with a passion. I love that I feel that deeply because it goes to show just how enchanting the writing is.

The only real big reason I went with 4 stars is the insta-love. It’s not terrible, I wasn’t overly frustrated with it, only perplexed. There could have been a lot more build-up to it. A scene where magic is used to “see” each other (as vague as I can be without spoiling) tries to make-up for the attraction. I’m still boarding the ship, but I imagine I’ll get there.

My favorite was the handful of minor twists that tie in from the previous series. I kept thinking to myself, how did I miss that? The book is a little slow, but all of these enlightening moments will definitely be involved in further installments. The dynamic conglomeration of different cultures and people throughout this world is amazing.

All of these characters are strong and realistic. They’re young, they make mistakes, and have a lot of feelings. You’re on their side from the get-go. I love, once again, how strong and independent the female leads are. I’m excited to see how these heroines grow and adapt.

Shout out to my tagline, there’s dragons you guys!! An actual dragon, who could even speak some. Oh I hope we see it even more! There’s a big story-line here that is waiting to burst.

“Oh, I see. This situation isn’t bad enough, so you’re going to try and make it worse.”

This quote is a direct picture of how this book went. A lot of diving into sketchy situations without thinking them through. Plenty of action and political maneuverings. I am so excited to read Shadowcaster.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Important to read Seven Realms series first
- Violence: physical, swords, knives, poison, attempted suicide
- Romance: some kisses, an intense make-out
- Language: some

Dark Matter was better.
This was repetitive.
It was really trippy though!

Review to come. 👻

3.5 stars

THOMAS CRESSWELL IS MY NEW FAVORITE.

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Okay, this was new. I haven’t read a book quite like this with the take on someone trying to catch a historical serial killer. WHAT FUN RIGHT? Mostly.

My biggest issue, that curbed my rating significantly was how easy it was to know who the murderer was. I truly picked them out from the moment they walked onto the page. Since he ended up because Jack, I was downtrodden and it made it hard for me to keep picking up the book.

BUT, I was enjoying the heeeeeck about of Thomas. He is my new favorite and I loved every single moment of his shameless flirting with Audrey Rose. SO STINKIN’ CUTE. I clearly couldn’t get enough of him, and their relationship alone is why I will read book two at some point.

Audrey Rose was a great character herself too. Even in the time period she was a strong, independent woman who was going to make sure every man in her way would give her the time of day. Though she was too blinded to see the answer to her troubles, I loved her dialogue and interactions in general.

The plot itself was fine, but like I previously stated when you immediately know who the killer it, it takes away from everything else. I love historical fictions though. And am really curious where this goes from here. The ending was nicely put together with an opening for the next book.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult historical fiction + mystery
- Language: none
- Romance: a few kisses
- Violence: a lot, detailed murders, mentions of cannibalism, detailed violence by knives

MY MIND CAN’T COMPREHEND.

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Y’ALL. I finished this book and my jaw was still dropped. I have a hard time fathoming how people can be this self-involved in making money to never apologize. Never fully realize that they were messing with people’s lives. And absolutely refusing to accept help and take the opportunities to turn around their company.

It was fascinating reading about account after account of people becoming disillusioned with Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos. There was no way anything they were doing was right. While I thought the technology sounded unique and promising, everything after that was torture to read. Honestly (and especially because I read enough fantasy and sci-fi) this device sounded something straight out of a sci-fi book. An awesome futuristic idea but nothing that is possible at this time.

Holmes and Balwani were malicious, destructive and incredibly hard to deal with. I felt so bad for all of these employess who wanted to make an honest living (okay, most of them, some of them clearly didn’t mind being involved). It was oddly fascinating watching Holmes work her magic on everyone around her. Garnering money, adding people to her board, and convincing everyone around her she, and Theranos, was the real deal.

I loved the way the book was put together and thought that Carreyrou (the original Wall Street Journal reporter when this story broke) kept to the facts. He worked hard to make sure he had the facts correct and that he wanted to proceed to help those who had used the faulty technology. The only portions I had a hard time reading were about the actual chemical breakdown of the machines. Since I personally don’t have a chemical background it was hard for me to understand the exact pieces of this, but I do like that this is included because it helps explain everything they were trying to do and how they were actually doing it.

Overall audience notes:
- Non-fiction about business
- Language: a little strong language
- Trigger warnings: details on how someone committed suicide

3.5 stars

HAD ITS MOMENTS.

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I’m still happy with this series overall and want to read the next book, this was a pretty typical second book. I felt the first half could have been added to the first book and the second half added to the beginning of the third.

The first half was dedicated to an escape plot line that dragged on way too long. I personally don’t enjoy drawn out escapes. Get in, get the item/person, get out. That’s how I see it. When our person was finally rescued I knew we were getting into the good stuff.

"Somewhere between our hunts and our kills and our kisses, he left his mark on my bones."

The second half had a looooot of Kiaran. YES. I love this couple. He is the perfect brooding fae male that I love reading about in books. Mix him with Aielana’s stubborn self and they were a couple I was totally behind. I loved all of the tender and tough moments between them. I am finishing this series for them.

We find out SO MUCH about Kiaran and his sister, Aithinne. It’s in a bit of an info-dump maneuver, but it was still fantastic to get all of their history. I felt like I understood them on a much deeper level and it made the plot make more sense as well. I got all of the details I needed to actually care what happens.

Overall audience notes:
- Young adult fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses, very little detailed fade to black scene
- Violence: magic, physical, knives, torture
- Trigger warnings: self-harm via pressing nails into skin until bleeding