leahrosereads's Reviews (1.04k)

Brooms is the perfect blend of an incredible story, with fantastic characters, and a fascinating plot.  I adored everything about family and found family moments, and really appreciated the horrors of the setting for the BIPOC characters.  

I had a feeling that there'd be a conflict around a specific team being the snitch, and I was absolutely right.  The entitlement of that team was disgusting but unfortunately accurate to the Jim Crow era. I'm glad they failed though!

Loved the art style! It enhanced every aspect of this story, and I loved seeing everyone again after the final race in snippets and moments in time.

NOTE: I will no longer be supporting Freydís Moon, their works (past or future) going forward. That said, I don't know if removing the fact that I've read their work is the right thing to do.

A lot of folks have been more heavily impacted by their deceit than me, and I want to make sure those voices are the ones heard at this time.

If I've recommended this author to you in the past, I'm sorry that you've potentially spent your money, energy, and emotions on a long con lie.

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Saint Sorrow Sinner was a fantastic conclusion to the Gideon Testaments trilogy.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Juniper and Sophia, while seeing more of Colin, Bishop, Tehlor, and Lincoln. They worked well together no matter their pasts, and I liked that maturity.

The horrors Sophia faced were devastating, and while I know this trilogy has come to an end, I hope we see these characters again.

They deserve peace or the world - their choice (or both)

Everything about this book was beautiful, charming, and delightful.  I pretty much had a gentle smile on my face from start to finish.  Loved loved loved Asiri and Dario's connection, all of the characters (human and animal alike (but definitely Felipe and Marco))!

The footnotes! They were informative and hilarious!

Loved learning about Peruvian culture, dirties, and legends.  

Just all around, I have nothing but positive things to say about this! It was everything I enjoy in cozy fantasies and romantasyies!

There were a couple strong stories in the collection but also a few misses.  I DNFd or didn't rate 4 of the 14:

Mac & Millie - soft DNF until I get an answer about a dog

Mochés and Amore A Mochés - read and despised. Not the biggest fan of food horror and forced confinement

Eaten Alive - DNF after mention of animal abuse/death.


Favorite (feels wrong to label them as such) stories:

Blue-Plate Special
Leave
Friday Nights in Damascus

I liked the book but not Tirne.  She felt incredibly juvenile, and I hated being in her head.  If this was in a third person POV where the reader was able to follow everyone or even in a multiple POV between Tirne, Autumn, Sidriel, and maybe someone else, that may have been a better time.  However, I was stuck with Tirne.

While the writing itself was pretty, I feel that Tirne's character development, as well as others far older than her, was incredibly rushed or non-existent.

Toxic romance is toxic, so nothing to say there. I didn't feel like she had any real chemistry with anyone romantically, but the found family and friendship moments were beautiful and the absolute highlight of the book.

I was intrigued by the mythos Avery started to create but there was never enough to really become invested in the plight of what was happening. There were so many plot holes or underdeveloped areas of this novel.  It either needed to be longer or a part of the series.  But this didn't do everything I think the author wanted to do.

Really appreciated the migraine representation being shown on page but not necessarily how Tirne handled it with all the deception elements.

The banter! The healthy communication. The amazing found family support system. It was everything!  

I'm normally not a huge fan of competitive characters/rivals to lovers, but I'm glad I gave it a shot cause this was perfect!  I loved Sage and Noah individually, but when they interacted - it was passionate every time.

So so so freaking amazing!  I need to read everything by Deanna Grey now!  Like immediately!

I was a bit nervous that I'd be giving this book a 3 star rating of some variety.  I've read a lot of reviews and agree with them. Easton may seem a bit unbearable for some readers in this, but then when you realize they're dealing with PTSD, it all makes a lot of sense.

The myth around the moroi was so interesting, and this was the perfect length to get to the bottom of the mystery.

I should smack myself for not trusting T Kingfisher to get this to the finish line.

This was a solid collection with so many amazing stories that hit pretty much every sub-genre of horror.  I had so many 5 star reads but when I averaged it all out, 4.5 is what the anthology turns out to be!

Favorite stories:

Reckless Eyeballing by NK Jemisin ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wandering Devil by Caldwell Turnbull - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Lasirèn by Erin E Adams - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Rider by Tananarive Due - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
Dark Home by Nnedi Okorafor - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Flicker by LD Lewis - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Grief of the Dead: Rion Amilcar Scott - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree by Nicole D. Sconiers - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Hide & Seek by P. Djèli Clark - ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

This memoir takes the reader through so much of the Palestinian struggle that they face every single day at the hands of the Israeli government and the ambivalence of a lot of society. Though written in 2016, every aspect of this memoir is still happening in Palestine and Gaza (and is worse in so many ways).

Really solid horror with a good isolated setting, but because of the length, the author had to make some decisions on what to cut to keep the story the length she wanted.  

I'd have loved more on character development but I'm hoping to see that in book 2!