lilibetbombshell's Reviews (2.79k)

This was one of those books that started out interesting, then moved into thought-provoking, and then moved into creepy before landing in WTF-ville just before the end. It’s the kind of book that when it ends you think to yourself you should’ve seen that ending coming but somehow it still hit you like an uppercut to the jaw (if the uppercut were psychotic and creepy). 

Vanishing World depicts an alternative Earth where artificial insemination was perfected post WWII and it became widely-available soon after; so widely available, in fact, that married couples having intercourse and having a baby via copulation is considered a form of incest by the time our protagonist (Amane) is born. Amane is a child raised in two worlds: societally she is married to the idea that she will never have intercourse with her husband and will follow the law, but at home she has been raised since birth by a mother who believes everything should be done in the old way, leaving Amane with a constant ache to experience love. 

Amane is untethered from a solid self-identity as a result of the push-pull between society and home as a child, and Murata uses her need for attachment and acceptance to show us what it’s like to grow up in this world that’s changing so fast and leaving human connection behind. From her too-relatable crushes on anime characters when she’s a child to teenage fumblings with first boyfriends to fair weather friends who don’t understand her to a first marriage that ends poorly to lovers who leave her abruptly, Amane is a window into this world detached from compassion and sympathy. 

It’s in the last act of the book that things start to heat up and crack, inside of the fascinating, gleaming Experiment City. I don’t want to spoil a single thing for you after that, just know it starts off creepy and just gets creepier and more psycho from there with a nutso ending. 4⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: OwnVoices/Psychological Fiction/Satire/Sci Fi/Translation

Decisions borne of desperation aren’t always the most rational ones. That’s a sentiment I think all four main characters in this book might agree with. 

White Rose Painted Red was a delightful surprise because the blurb gives very little away in terms of why Aurora Bellerose is wanting a fresh start and just who Atticus, Elijah, and Seven are and what they do. I loved how the Lawson sisters decided to be mysterious and a little coy with their readers, because when realized exactly what these men do? I was absolutely thrilled. I was all of a sudden a thousand times more excited than I was before. 

If you like your men morally grey and driven, then you’re going to really enjoy Seven. If you like your men overprotective and obsessive, you’re going to love Atticus. If you like your men unpredictable and possessive, you’re going to love Elijah. Together they’re volatile, unpredictable, toxic, and wild. It seems to turn out that they’re Aurora’s type of wild, though, and right in a time of her life when she needs to be shocked back to life. 

Is this pitch black romance? No. I’d say it’s directly in the middle of dark romance territory genre with a fast burn and high heat. It’s violent and I’d definitely be mindful of the TW/CWs. There is an adorable and intelligent pupper and nothing happens to her. It’s a lot of fun and watching Aurora evolve as the book unfolds is a great time. 4⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the authors. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: Book Series/Contemporary Romance/Dark Romance/Spice Level 3/Why Choose Romance

I feel like I’ve been waiting for the story of Isaac Goode for this entire series. The story of the youngest Goode brother has been the one I was looking forward to most after the first book in this series because I knew it was going to be hot and heartbreaking. Plus, we’d get to see just how far all of the other Goode Brothers had come in their own journeys (because why name a book The Prodigal Son unless he’s coming home?). 

This truly is the best Goode Brothers book since the first one. Sara Cate just has a way with characters. Her people fit together. They feel like people and not caricatures of people. Isaac and Jensen read like fully realized people whose every piece of dialogue just works on some magical level that a great deal of authors never get to. They’re not just hot together–they’re incendiary. They’re not just in love–they’re in adoration. The pain one feels itches at the other like a disease that must be eradicated and they immediately set out to make it right, even to their own detriment. These two men have been so hurt by life and all they want now is to love, and that’s all I wanted for them. 

In the background of this tremendous love story is the subplot of Isaac’s first major national tour, which is portrayed in loving detail by an author who I’m sure wasn’t bothered at all by probably attending more than one concert for research purposes; as well as a subplot for Jensen’s younger years in conversion therapy. Ghosts from both of their pasts confront them as they fight for a happier future full of love, but you know in Sara’s books love always wins. 5⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Age-Gap Romance/Book Series/Contemporary Romance/Daddy K*nk/Gay Romance/Kink Friendly/LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance/Rock Star Romance/Spice Level 3

1. It was so slow. Slogging. Sleep-inducing. 

2. That one male character is so self-centered and whiny I couldn’t take it anymore. 

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Rhodes Pack house. 

Metaphorically speaking, of course. 

A lot has happened in a very short amount of time since this series started in the first book, Threads of Fate, which isn’t a fact this book lets slip by, but it’s still amazing to realize just how much the Rhodes  Pack has been through in such a short time span, and the events of this series still have yet to come. 

If Threads of Fate was about bringing everyone together, introducing us to the members of the pack, showing us how they fit together, and showing us how Phoenix Rena fits into the picture, and Bonds of Fate was about taking the members of this pack and integrating them into a loving and glowing whole while healing so many of their psychological wounds, then Tides of Fate is about making sure that the pack is complete, sealed, and finally safe even as the world around them begins to change and ask more of them. 

Threads of Fate beared the burden of exposition and character development because it was the first book in the series and Nix was unconscious for the majority of it, while Bonds of Fate was filled to the brim with spice because of the discovery of Nix’s secondary omega gender and pack bonding. Tides of Fate is a dance of character development (including some great development for Nix, Jay, Finn, and Leo), plot development, the introduction of new characters (we get to meet some parentals), fight scenes, worldbuilding, and some really hot spice scenes (can you say heat?). 5⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. I will disclose that I was not merely an ARC reader for this book but also partially a beta reader and helped with some edits, so this may bring bias to my review that other readers might not experience. I’m also friends with the author and that may affect my views. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Book Series/Found Family/Gay Romance/Kindle Unlimited/LGBTQ Romance/Omegaverse/Paranormal Romance/Polyamorous Romance/Romance Series/Spice Level 3

I just need my space horror to have a little more umph. 

I absolutely adored Dead Silence and greatly enjoyed Ghost Station, but Cold Eternity just didn’t do it for me. I’m not the hugest fan of horror that burns slower in the first place, but this one burned very slow, in my opinion, and the payoff at the end just didn’t compensate enough for all of that waiting and anticipating. 

The book also felt a little too long for the plot and so the pacing felt sketchy in places, with some scenes seeming repetitive in a way that didn’t feel like a stylistic choice or one congruent to the way the story was being told. (What I am trying to get across are that there are scenes that are indeed repetitive in nature because that’s part of the plot and the story, but there are also scenes that feel just simply repetitive in the way filler scenes feel repetitive.)

Barnes’ worldbuilding continues to astound, though, with a spooky, hulking ship that feels not unlike an allegorical symbol of Dante’s nine circles, leaving our protagonist, Halley, to ponder the sins of the world alone in a state of limbo. 

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. All reviews rated three stars or under will not appear in my social media. Thank you.

I looked and I know for a fact I’ve never rated every book in another YA book series five stars. There’s always one (or more) that loses a star or two. Not in the case of the Little Thieves series. This series is absolutely perfect, from start to finish. 

The second book, Painted Devils, may have started with Vanja accidentally starting a cult, but Holy Terrors starts on a more low-key note, which just goes to show you should never believe the beginning of a book will set the tone for the rest of the book because this book will turn you inside-out and sideways with an absolutely devilish plot that will keep you guessing (and then becoming delightfully vexed when you are wrong) who the real villain is, frustrating but intriguing court politics, yearning/pining/longing/wanting/ohmygodjustkiss dynamics between Vanja and Emeric, interesting and complicated issues with Vanja’s Pfennigeist powers, and and incredibly complex and long-range game of Find the Queen. 

Vanja has had so many questions, worries, and doubts on her journey (not to mention pain), and the central question that this book seems to want to answer is: Would she do it all over again? 

There is a huge cast of characters in this book, but the plot definitely calls for it. A lot of them are colorful and some of them will endear themselves to you more than others. There is worldbuilding in new locations for the series and new magic to see. Even through all of that, it’s the dynamic between Vanja and Emeric that shines, blazing like fire. 5⭐️

I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Action-Adventure/Book Series/Fantasy/Romantasy/Fantasy Series/YA Book Series/YA Fantasy/YA Romantasy/YA Fiction