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3.5/4 stars. Still deciding.
Definitely an enjoyable and emotional fueled read!
Full review to come.
Definitely an enjoyable and emotional fueled read!
Full review to come.
NOT FOR ME.
Ugh. I loved the first book by Fordham I read, this one though…going to have to say, hard pass.
The premise is interesting. I liked the exploration of dentists at the time and how a lady in attendance assisted them in the day to day. I honestly wish there was more of this than where the story went. Gilbert and Hazel were mostly cute. I felt like poor Gilbert kept throwing his heart out there and even though Hazel wasn’t as terrible as she used to be, that she STILL dragged him along a bit too long.
What bothered me the most was the pacing. In 100 pages we already had our couple confirmed, no angst, just them. With 200+ more pages I wondered where in the world this was headed. Turns out, everyone decided to become detectives to clear Hazel’s name. A noble cause for sure, but I don’t know, I just didn’t like this turn. It took too long and I didn’t need the long dramatic story from it. Not to mention that the story also focused way too heavily on Hazel’s friend, Ina. Lots of confirmations about HER relationship, and HER struggles and what INA would do next. The story was about Hazel and Gilbert?!?!
Before I burst with more things that didn’t work, I’m going to stop here. I know this is just one review so if the synopsis intrigues you, check it out! It could be way more for you than it was for me.
Overall audience notes:
- Historical fiction romance
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, wrongful imprisonment, drug smuggling, parental abandonment
Thank you to the publisher for an eARC.
NOT BAD.
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Just not great either.
I love the cast of characters. There were many, with unique personalities and I love how they were portrayed. It’s a great group of friends that end up working together to end Merit’s curse. The villains were plenty wicked (though it became too convenient in the end) and some morally gray ones are also a fun addition.
What I didn’t love was the lack of romance. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling…shouldn’t there be more? By the time Tevin is confessing his love I realized I’m not emotionally invested in this. It was a big let down for me because I definitely had higher hopes. Over the course of a long book I thought more page time could’ve been spent developing their relationship rather than my other problem, the amount of POV’s.
Usually I love multiple points-of-view. In this case, I thought it should have stuck to the main two. It would have helped a deeper connection with the main characters. We’d flit off to some side story that could have been handled (and honestly, would have been more surprising) coming from one of the main characters [Merit or Tevin]. I didn’t need to hear about everyone else to get the whole picture.
I liked the set-up for the story and how this retelling was managed. It really did feel distinctly B&tB reminiscent. I could see many parallels that helped [& occasionally hindered] the plot. There’s some good humorous moments and some soft ones too. I wish I had felt more emotionally invested to fully enjoy this tale.
Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Retelling
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical altercations, animal attacks, poisonings
NOT BAD.
BLOG || INSTAGRAM
Just not great either.
I love the cast of characters. There were many, with unique personalities and I love how they were portrayed. It’s a great group of friends that end up working together to end Merit’s curse. The villains were plenty wicked (though it became too convenient in the end) and some morally gray ones are also a fun addition.
What I didn’t love was the lack of romance. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling…shouldn’t there be more? By the time Tevin is confessing his love I realized I’m not emotionally invested in this. It was a big let down for me because I definitely had higher hopes. Over the course of a long book I thought more page time could’ve been spent developing their relationship rather than my other problem, the amount of POV’s.
Usually I love multiple points-of-view. In this case, I thought it should have stuck to the main two. It would have helped a deeper connection with the main characters. We’d flit off to some side story that could have been handled (and honestly, would have been more surprising) coming from one of the main characters [Merit or Tevin]. I didn’t need to hear about everyone else to get the whole picture.
I liked the set-up for the story and how this retelling was managed. It really did feel distinctly B&tB reminiscent. I could see many parallels that helped [& occasionally hindered] the plot. There’s some good humorous moments and some soft ones too. I wish I had felt more emotionally invested to fully enjoy this tale.
Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Retelling
- Language: very little
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical altercations, animal attacks, poisonings
A CLIFF-FUELED CLIFFHANGER.
I’m still reeling over how things went down when this book ended. Makes you want to pick up the next ASAP [which I will be doing myself sooooooon]. I love how fast I can listen to these books on audio and how wrapped up in the story I find myself. This second series (following the Lightening Thief) has been more enjoyable for me. I think I like that the cast is a little bit older and many connections have been established that I’m now hooked onto their lives.
I love that Annabeth got to really have a huge plot line! I’ve always adored her snarky and brave character and this was no exception. Well, except for if you have a major fear of spiders, watch out. I shivered one too many times with those creepy crawlers running up and down walls.
Yet again, having a full point-of-view cast is perfect for the story telling style. I like the mix-up and getting different angles of the larger plot by following different characters. There’s not really one I love over another (well besides Percabeth of course), but in general, everyone plays the best roll they can.
Lots of action, some cute and sweet young love moments, and feeling like the walls are closing in on our heroes. Can’t wait to see what happens (and who survives!!) next.
Overall audience notes:
- Middle-grade/Young adult fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Violence: physical altercations, magical weaponry
- Trigger/Content Warning: arachnophobia
SATISFYING CONCLUSION.
I finished another series! Which feels like a big accomplishment since it takes me forever to swing around and finished and already completed series, so yay!
Anyways, I really enjoyed this last book. It was filled with plenty of being chased by dinosaur action and more political intrigue as Stormchaser and Lincoln had even more to contend with.
I wish that there was something more added to this. It did begin to feel repetitive over the course of the entire series because it had the same model, run from dinosaurs — survive — move on…repeat. When that was taken out there was a bit more substance over how to settle in a new and foreign area.
The relationship between Reban and Stormchaser was one of my favorites. I love the quiet and fierce side of Reban who watched Storm at all costs and that there was some movement in their overall reconciliation. Lincoln and Storm were super cute too and I would have loved even more romance from them!! Give me all the character story.
As the ending rolled in, I felt that what needed to happen did. I wasn’t shocked by anything (because someone had to die and I figured that out early on), and the world had to keep turning. It ended at an acceptable place to give hope to the new future that awaits them among the dinosaurs.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Dystopia
- Language: none
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: intense dinosaur attacks/mauling, loss of loved ones, severe medical injuries
This was adorable! Such a good, light-hearted novella. The pacing was great for a short story (100ish pages) and in that amount of time I still felt connected to the characters and the story.
Love the super sweet HEA and look forward to more from this author!
Love the super sweet HEA and look forward to more from this author!
A GOOD READ.
My rating may not convey it, but I did enjoy this book! It’s a good book (and great for a young audience, that I do plan to keep in mind for the future), it just wasn’t allllll for me. I was missing that last click to where I felt involved in the characters lives and the story I was reading.
I liked the way the story was introduced and getting to meet all of the characters. They’re charming and full to the brim with love for each other. It’s a sweet book filled with many silly things (the titles and descriptions for animals and such had me snorting). Alongside the silly was a much deeper context. Loss plays a big role as well as stepping into shoes you didn’t know you needed to fill.
While I might have been missing that last piece, I would definitely still recommend it to those looking for a more feel-good young audience fantasy. The new covers are gorgeous and the audio narration was well done too.
Overall audience notes:
- MG Fantasy
- Language: none
- Romance: none
- Violence: physical altercations
- Trigger/Content Warnings: slavery, threats of torture, kidnapping
THIS WAS EVERYTHING.
I couldn’t put this down from chapter one. All of a sudden I had a deep need to know what happened next and so I began a journey of ALL the dang emotions through the lives of Lucy and Graham.
“If you need to fall, fall into me.”
I mean, COME ON. Look at those words. Did you swoon? Because I swooned so many times throughout this book!! One of my new favorite grump and sunshine trope reads. I loved these characters with my whole being. I found myself almost in tears by the end waiting for a happy ending. I love that Lucy was optimistic and truly cared from her soul about her loved ones. That Graham was hardened by abandonment, but was also able to work on himself. The chemistry was undeniable. It was a slowwww burn and incredibly romantic with all of the lead up.
An incredibly sweet story that has a lot of heavy and deep content matter (I’ll put that in the warnings below). I adored the banter and soft smiles. The cute way they just hung out together. How they undeniably stood by each other’s side when things got hard instead of running away. I was wrapped up in this opposites attract love story and I beg of you to read it!!
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses to one brief open door scene
- Trigger/Content Warnings: a mother smoked while pregnant (off screen), emergency delivery, preemie baby in NICU, cheating, loss of parent(s), domestic abuse, alcoholism, child abuse, parental/spousal abandonment
GREAT CHARACTER JOURNEY.
A random selection because I was feeling a contemporary and this was available! And what do you know, I really enjoyed it. I flew through it quickly (one of my favorite aspects of contemporaries) and thought it was overall a charming book.
Karina goes on such a journey. Having anxiety as well, I felt seen by a lot of the portrayals of her anxiety. The counting and breathing, anxiety attacks and more. All things I know intimately that I connected with to Karina.
I absolutely adored the bad boy Ace. Oh my goodness, he was so stinkin’ cute. I loved his demeanor and when he whipped out a fake dating trope I was ecstatic. it played out well and the super cute scenes of them studying together, going on dates and meeting family had me grinning from ear to ear. I love the way he supported Karina and also respected her boundaries and time frame.
There’s not some wildly dramatic issue between them in the end. It’s more of a focus on Karina and owning who she wants to be and what life choices she has the right to make on her own. I cringed many times listening to the beratement from her parents and it broke my heart in two listening to her struggle to come to terms with pleasing them, and becoming a shadow of who she is. Luckily, this book ends on a sweet HEA.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: emotional/verbal/psychological parental abuse, anxiety attacks, depictions of general anxiety