lilibetbombshell's Reviews (2.79k)

So Happy Together

Olivia Worley

DID NOT FINISH

Forced from the start. Totally had a try-hard feeling. I just couldn’t. There are far too many excellent books in the same vein out there. 

Space pirates. I’m not a big fan of pirates when they’re historical and on Earth in the water, but space pirates? I friggin’ love me some space pirates. 

Space pirates in a space opera with a sapphic romance: That’s a recipe that almost always works for me. The Two Lies of Faven Sythe was good soup. 

From the engaging and intriguing beginning chapters all the way through to the cinematic scenes that make up the kaleidoscopic climax of this story, Megan O’Keefe has written a completely enrapturing story that I gladly let swallow me whole and carry me away. 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/LGBTQ Sci-Fi/LGBTQ Fiction/Sapphic Romance/Sci-Fi/Space Opera/Standalone Novel


This book was absolutely brilliant. I’m just sitting here, bobbing in its wake, floating on that sublime feeling I only get from reading transcendent literary fiction. 

Books like The Unmapping are why I continue to request books by authors I’ve never heard of and that sound a little crazy. It’s books like these that remind me why I truly love reading: I opened it to see if today was the day I’d read it and was immediately sucked in. I read voraciously throughout the day. I skipped lunch. 

Of course this book had to be set in New York. It’s one of the most-photographed cities in the world, with one of the largest populations, has some of the most recognizable landmarks on a global scale, and already has some of the most impressive disaster coordination and response measures in place. What better place to set a novel that plays a screwed-up game of Perfection! with its characters? You’d need a large city that would challenge the reader in the best ways. That’s New York. 

In the beginning chapters of this book I said something about how the writing felt like Erin Morgenstern was writing a speculative eco thriller (which would undoubtedly be cool by me), but as I got further and further into the book, this feeling gave way to a more distilled feeling of this book belonging to Robbins alone, with brisk pacing, insightful narrative voices, entertaining dialogue, absolutely delightful worldbuilding, fantastic characters, and we can’t forget the plot (which is a dream for someone like me, who wanted to be a crisis manager at one point and has a degree in urban planning). 

It’s diverse, fun, thought-provoking, well-written, and I bet you’ll see it on my best-of list at the end of the year. 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/Literary Fiction/Speculative Fiction

Being in prison gives a person time to think, they say. Clara Graysword has had quite enough of prison though, and once the headmaster of Arcana Academy has decided to release her (for a price, of course), she’s determined to never go back. She’s also determined to get some answers to questions she’s had to hold onto for the year or so she’s been imprisoned: Where is her sister? Is her misfit family alive and well? Who betrayed her?

As you can imagine, our FMC starts this series with a handful of questions, and as the plot grows and the story builds, the questions pile on. Tentative friendships are made and then solidified even as enemies grow in number. In the middle of the mix is the axis on which this whole book (and the series, as a whole) spins: the slow-burn, unlikely-allies, love-to-hate and hate-to-love dynamic between Clara and Kaelis. Some may be tempted to call them enemies-to-lovers, but I strongly disagree. The chemistry between these two is sharp and spicy and the tension burns so nicely. The two of them together are like a guilty pleasure. 

This is a fun, engaging book with a large supporting cast that I feel will be well-utilized in the next book. I like the magic system and how the tarot cards are wielded in the action scenes. The pacing is really great and the plotting is solid. It ends on one heck of a cliffhanger, so watch out for the drop! 4⭐️



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: Academy Setting/Adult Fantasy/Book Series/Fantasy/Romantasy/Spice Level 1


Stop and do not go any further if you haven’t read Remy’s Fated in the Stars trilogy, because you can’t even start Darkness Echoes without reading that series. What happens in this duology is entirely informed by that trilogy and you will be lost from page one (and spoiled for the trilogy, to boot). 

So, now for those who have read and finished the Fated in the Stars trilogy.

Darkness Echoes picks up about three or so months after the events of Tides of Fate. Life has settled down for the Rhodes Pack…for the most part. One pack member has been kind of absent and a bit secretive, two other pack members have been kind of competitive and a little combative, another pack member has been sad, and another pack member is…disgruntled with everyone. 

After the events at the end of Tides of Fate, it was evident that Gideon’s dad, Patrick Carnell, was up to a whole lot of no good–but what kind of no good? What exactly is he after, or who? 

I’ll tell you one thing: Remy had to listen to me whine about how icky Carnell is several times while I was editing this book. I don’t even know how many times I complained about his sheer ickiness. He’s a creep. Blech. He’s as slippery and slimy as the oil he probably uses to suntan with. SO GROSS. 

The Rhodes Pack leaves Nashville for Florida when it becomes clear that whatever dark deeds Carnell is getting up to is being done in or near Jay and Nix’s hometown of Clearwater. This decision sets off a rapid-fire series of events that keeps this whole pack running and dodging one danger after another, all while trying to keep each other safe and their bonds shining bright with love and care. There are a lot of new discoveries and explosive events before this half of the duology winds down to a rather natural break in the story (thank you, Remy). 

If the Fated in the Stars trilogy was about connection, love, and family, then Echoes of Eternity is about what happens after, when your love is tested in the harshest of ways. 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/Duology/Gay Romance/Kindle Unlimited/Kink Friendly/LGBTQ Romance/MM Romance/Omegaverse/Paranormal Romance/Polyamorous Romance/Spice Level 3