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lisashelves's Reviews (976)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Kingdom of the Cursed is the second book in the Kingdom of the Wicked series, it follows directly after the events of the first book, with Emilia having signed the contract to marry the devil.
“Love and hate are both rooted in passion.”
Kingdom of the Wicked review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I wasn’t blown away by the book. The ending didn’t satisfy me and I just hoped that this book would pick up better than the last one ended.
Just as in the first book, I liked the plot, but in this book, it felt like the plot was a bit all over the place. When something happened, I thought it would be more prominent in the following events, but then it seemed forgotten until way later in the book. The plot also felt quite slow and mostly like it was filler/a set up for the ending.
Emilia was a bit annoying in this book to be honest. I liked her more in the first book. I would’ve liked for her to have grown a bit more. Wrath was very much the same as in the first book, whereas I would’ve liked more development from him as well.
The plot twists were very good and entertaining to read, they were also well executed and I enjoyed reading them!
I liked the ending, but just like the first book it was frustrating and not satisfying to read. The same with the romance, it frustrated my quite a bit that nothing ever seemed to happen between Emilia and Wrath. The suspense kept being build romance wise, but hardly anything happened!
The need to end the book on a cliffhanger, I will never understand. I’ve read multiple books with very good ones which will definitely give me a book hangover, but this one fell on the other end of the spectrum, like the first. A solid ending would’ve been better I believe.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, but once again wasn't blown away by the plot or the characters.
Kingdom of the Cursed is the second book in the Kingdom of the Wicked series, it follows directly after the events of the first book, with Emilia having signed the contract to marry the devil.
“Love and hate are both rooted in passion.”
Kingdom of the Wicked review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
While I enjoyed the first book in the series, I wasn’t blown away by the book. The ending didn’t satisfy me and I just hoped that this book would pick up better than the last one ended.
Just as in the first book, I liked the plot, but in this book, it felt like the plot was a bit all over the place. When something happened, I thought it would be more prominent in the following events, but then it seemed forgotten until way later in the book.
Spoiler
the skulls for example, she got them with a riddle to solve, but then the skulls or the riddle aren’t mentioned for over 75 pages? Why put them at that point if you won’t mention them for so long?Emilia was a bit annoying in this book to be honest. I liked her more in the first book. I would’ve liked for her to have grown a bit more. Wrath was very much the same as in the first book, whereas I would’ve liked more development from him as well.
The plot twists were very good and entertaining to read, they were also well executed and I enjoyed reading them!
Spoiler
I have to say Wrath being the devil was something quite obvious from the very first book to me, so that didn’t come as a surprise to meI liked the ending, but just like the first book it was frustrating and not satisfying to read. The same with the romance, it frustrated my quite a bit that nothing ever seemed to happen between Emilia and Wrath. The suspense kept being build romance wise, but hardly anything happened!
The need to end the book on a cliffhanger, I will never understand. I’ve read multiple books with very good ones which will definitely give me a book hangover, but this one fell on the other end of the spectrum, like the first. A solid ending would’ve been better I believe.
Overall, I did enjoy the book, but once again wasn't blown away by the plot or the characters.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
The Prison Healer is a story about Kiva, a girl who has been at Zalindov, the death prison, for a decade. When the Rebel Queen gets brought in and has to go through the elemental trials to fight for her freedom, Kiva takes her place.
“Never apologize for loving someone. Even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts.”
I have seen so much love for this series and have had the book on my shelf since just before The Gilded Cage came out. Naturally, I also read about the cliffhanger ending and decided to wait reading it until the whole series was complete haha.
I absolutely loved reading this book and truly understand the hype surrounding this story! I loved how unique this book felt. It was written beautifully and in a way that I could easily drown in the words and forget all around me.
I loved the plot in this book. I really liked how the trials weren’t the only plot point in the story. The sickness in the prison and the different focus points made every chapter that much more engaging to read.
While the whole story takes place in a prison, the world feels so much greater and bigger than that, due to the different kind of people at the prison and the little descriptions of the world outside the prison.
I loved Kiva! Seriously, I want her in my life hahaha. I loved how strong she is despite everything that happened to her. Despite all, she remains good and somehow pure of heart. The other characters also stole my heart, but Tipp has gotten a special place!
The plot twists in this book honestly blew me away! They were written so well and I had never seen them coming! I love how they were executed and how they remained secret until they were revealed hahah.
Something I also really loved, which might be a bit of a spoiler? is how Kiva made it through the trials! I loved how realistic it was that she kinda only survived because of the help she got and luck. She didn’t suddenly get powers and did everything by herself. I really liked that Lynette Noni stayed true to Kiva, who is a healer and not some fighter.
Overall, I absolutely loved reading this story! It blew me away with how good it was and I can’t wait to start the sequel The Gilded Cage soon!
The Prison Healer is a story about Kiva, a girl who has been at Zalindov, the death prison, for a decade. When the Rebel Queen gets brought in and has to go through the elemental trials to fight for her freedom, Kiva takes her place.
“Never apologize for loving someone. Even when it hurts. Especially when it hurts.”
I have seen so much love for this series and have had the book on my shelf since just before The Gilded Cage came out. Naturally, I also read about the cliffhanger ending and decided to wait reading it until the whole series was complete haha.
I absolutely loved reading this book and truly understand the hype surrounding this story! I loved how unique this book felt. It was written beautifully and in a way that I could easily drown in the words and forget all around me.
I loved the plot in this book. I really liked how the trials weren’t the only plot point in the story. The sickness in the prison and the different focus points made every chapter that much more engaging to read.
While the whole story takes place in a prison, the world feels so much greater and bigger than that, due to the different kind of people at the prison and the little descriptions of the world outside the prison.
I loved Kiva! Seriously, I want her in my life hahaha. I loved how strong she is despite everything that happened to her. Despite all, she remains good and somehow pure of heart. The other characters also stole my heart, but Tipp has gotten a special place!
Spoiler
my heart sank at the end when Kiva found him dying! I have never been more relieved for a character to be okay!!!The plot twists in this book honestly blew me away! They were written so well and I had never seen them coming! I love how they were executed and how they remained secret until they were revealed hahah.
Something I also really loved, which might be a bit of a spoiler? is how Kiva made it through the trials! I loved how realistic it was that she kinda only survived because of the help she got and luck. She didn’t suddenly get powers and did everything by herself. I really liked that Lynette Noni stayed true to Kiva, who is a healer and not some fighter.
Overall, I absolutely loved reading this story! It blew me away with how good it was and I can’t wait to start the sequel The Gilded Cage soon!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Vespertine is a story about Artemisia, who is training to be a Gray Sister. When her convent is attacked, she gets bound to an ancient spirit, whose help she’ll need if she wished to survive.
“Sometimes, if you want to save other people, you need to remember to save yourself first.”
Vespertine it the first book I’ve read by Margaret Rogerson (not the first book on my shelves whoops). I have always been fascinated by books who have religion (real or made up) so prominent in their story and plot, this book was no exception.
The souls, all the death and everything give this book a bit of a creepy vibe which fits incredibly with the story haha. The whole story is honestly a bit creepy and intense and soo damn good!
The world-building is very solid and strong. It is the whole foundation of the book as the religion is such a big part of all that is happening and why. I love how religion and faith are handled in the story.
Artemisia is truly an interesting character with a very interesting arc. She starts of closed off and cold, others are afraid of her and her attitude isn’t sunshine and rainbows. At the same time, I appreciate how she doesn’t think she is better and how Margaret Rogerson avoided her becoming a cliché. Her arc is really gradual and beautiful to read.
One of the most refreshing things is the focus point on friendship in this book. I love how Artemisia learns she deserved the friendships with the different characters. The banter and blooming friendship between Artemisia and the revenant were my favourite part of this book. It was funny and also added a layer to the book that was a great balance to the seriousness of the situation surrounding Artemisia and the revenant.
I also sort of liked how not everything was as it seemed. The plot twist could be predicted, but it was well executed so still very much enjoyable to read.
I also found out while writing this review, and opening the Goodreads page for this book, that it is the first in a series! I am sooo excited to be able to revisit this amazing world!!
Overall, I immensely enjoyed reading this book! I can’t wait to read more about these amazing characters in the sequel!
Vespertine is a story about Artemisia, who is training to be a Gray Sister. When her convent is attacked, she gets bound to an ancient spirit, whose help she’ll need if she wished to survive.
“Sometimes, if you want to save other people, you need to remember to save yourself first.”
Vespertine it the first book I’ve read by Margaret Rogerson (not the first book on my shelves whoops). I have always been fascinated by books who have religion (real or made up) so prominent in their story and plot, this book was no exception.
The souls, all the death and everything give this book a bit of a creepy vibe which fits incredibly with the story haha. The whole story is honestly a bit creepy and intense and soo damn good!
The world-building is very solid and strong. It is the whole foundation of the book as the religion is such a big part of all that is happening and why. I love how religion and faith are handled in the story.
Artemisia is truly an interesting character with a very interesting arc. She starts of closed off and cold, others are afraid of her and her attitude isn’t sunshine and rainbows. At the same time, I appreciate how she doesn’t think she is better and how Margaret Rogerson avoided her becoming a cliché. Her arc is really gradual and beautiful to read.
One of the most refreshing things is the focus point on friendship in this book. I love how Artemisia learns she deserved the friendships with the different characters. The banter and blooming friendship between Artemisia and the revenant were my favourite part of this book. It was funny and also added a layer to the book that was a great balance to the seriousness of the situation surrounding Artemisia and the revenant.
I also sort of liked how not everything was as it seemed. The plot twist could be predicted, but it was well executed so still very much enjoyable to read.
Spoiler
I do wonder how the story would’ve gone if Leaner truly was the “bad guy” as Artemisia believed for a big part of the storyI also found out while writing this review, and opening the Goodreads page for this book, that it is the first in a series! I am sooo excited to be able to revisit this amazing world!!
Overall, I immensely enjoyed reading this book! I can’t wait to read more about these amazing characters in the sequel!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Book of Night is a story about Charlie Hall, a low-level con artist, whose world is thrown upside down when someone from her past returns.
“Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on.”
This book is one that I’m a bit conflicted about. While I did like what I read, I’m not blown away by it. It had some aspects that I really liked and enjoyed, but also some parts which I struggled to read through.
The world-building and the shadow world/magic were very confusing to me. Honestly, if someone asked me right now, I wouldn’t be able to explain it, despite having read the whole book. Gloamists, quickened shadows and magic, having to feed your shadow pieces of yourself etc. I think it could’ve been written clearer, or maybe it is just me who didn’t understand it haha.
I liked the plot and Charlie being a talented thief and con artist. It made for an interesting character and interesting premise. The book is also clearly an adult book, with different focus points from YA books and Charlie who comes across as an adult due to her mannerism and the way she thinks, I liked that.
The pacing and start were very slow and with the confusing world, I had a hard time continuing the story. The last chapters though were truly amazing. They were exciting and full of plot twists and reveals, which I enjoyed. There were also flash back chapters, which confused me at first, since I hadn’t noticed them being flash backs. They also disrupted the flow of the book for me. It was also really confusing when the flash backs were suddenly from another characters POV.
Charlie is a protagonist, who fell a bit flat to me. A lot of the story revolves around her and what we’re told about her. I would’ve liked to be shown who she was, as in the last part of the book, throughout the whole book instead of being told it repeatedly.
Overall, it was a very slow book with a difficult world to understand, but with an amazingly written ending.
Book of Night is a story about Charlie Hall, a low-level con artist, whose world is thrown upside down when someone from her past returns.
“Never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on.”
This book is one that I’m a bit conflicted about. While I did like what I read, I’m not blown away by it. It had some aspects that I really liked and enjoyed, but also some parts which I struggled to read through.
The world-building and the shadow world/magic were very confusing to me. Honestly, if someone asked me right now, I wouldn’t be able to explain it, despite having read the whole book. Gloamists, quickened shadows and magic, having to feed your shadow pieces of yourself etc. I think it could’ve been written clearer, or maybe it is just me who didn’t understand it haha.
I liked the plot and Charlie being a talented thief and con artist. It made for an interesting character and interesting premise. The book is also clearly an adult book, with different focus points from YA books and Charlie who comes across as an adult due to her mannerism and the way she thinks, I liked that.
The pacing and start were very slow and with the confusing world, I had a hard time continuing the story. The last chapters though were truly amazing. They were exciting and full of plot twists and reveals, which I enjoyed. There were also flash back chapters, which confused me at first, since I hadn’t noticed them being flash backs. They also disrupted the flow of the book for me. It was also really confusing when the flash backs were suddenly from another characters POV.
Charlie is a protagonist, who fell a bit flat to me. A lot of the story revolves around her and what we’re told about her. I would’ve liked to be shown who she was, as in the last part of the book, throughout the whole book instead of being told it repeatedly.
Overall, it was a very slow book with a difficult world to understand, but with an amazingly written ending.
⭐️⭐️ / 2 stars
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via BookOfMatchesMedia in exchange for an honest review!
Fantacy is a story about Arianne, who finds herself transported from her mother’s attic to the world of Fantacy. Here she is believed to be the Fated One, who’ll find the heir to the throne.
“Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the ability to move forward despite that fear.”
The author had said that the book is a bit like Narnia and I couldn’t agree more. With Arianna being transported to another fantasy world, it immediately reminded me of that. I like books with those kinds of events and adventures so I had high hopes, which weren’t met unfortunately.
The book was very fast paced with a lot of events happening that I couldn’t always follow. It definitely gives you that sense of adventure, but it felt like a bit too much. I would’ve liked the events that did happen to have been slowed down and fleshed out a bit more.
While the world itself felt very beautiful, because of the rushed and fast pace, it almost felt like a lot of the world was descripted quickly and after a while it became a bit repetitive since all the characters did was travel. Certain plot points from the synopsis were hardly present as well, Arianna struggling with her identity, Arianna wanting to know about her father , trying to find the heir to the throne .
The same could be said about the information, which was over explained and shared a lot. I think it would’ve been better if we’d been shown the things and information instead of the characters constantly explaining everything. A lot of POV switches happened, were for an alinea suddenly another characters POV was written and thus their emotions and thoughts were written instead of shown through the eyes of another character. A lot of emotions felt and situations were not shown but told, and it made this book feel very much like a children’s book to be honest. Classed as a YA book, with teens reading this, we are smart enough to made those kinds of connections and don’t have to be told everything as if we can’t figure it out ourselves.
On the topic of the book feeling very young, Arianna as a main character truly added to that feeling. I didn’t really like her, she was naïve, immature and very frustrating and really reminded me of a seven-year-old child sometimes. The constant need to boost about what she can do and what she knows is something I associate with that young age, not a girl who’s sixteen. Also, the whiplash she gives me with the switch of emotions she goes through… there is a page around halfway through the story where she goes from frustrated to anger to crying to shame to self-pity in the span of one page…
The other characters were forgettable to me, they didn’t stand out. Keshieena as well, she was the bad guy in the story, but her actions were unbelievable, weird and unnecessary to me. She got angry at the slightest things and suddenly killed the slaves and characters who angered her. It makes for a weird villain, where it isn’t clear why she is like that or why she is the villain aside from her doing horrible things.
Because the Arianna felt more like a young child and Alessar felt forgettable their romance felt really uncomfortable for me to read. Maybe if the characters were a bit different or if the romance was a bit more fleshed out it would’ve come across differently.
Overall, it is a book that had a lot of potential for a beautiful world-building and plot, but the characters and the writing style missed their mark in making it that for me.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book via BookOfMatchesMedia in exchange for an honest review!
Fantacy is a story about Arianne, who finds herself transported from her mother’s attic to the world of Fantacy. Here she is believed to be the Fated One, who’ll find the heir to the throne.
“Bravery is not the absence of fear, but the ability to move forward despite that fear.”
The author had said that the book is a bit like Narnia and I couldn’t agree more. With Arianna being transported to another fantasy world, it immediately reminded me of that. I like books with those kinds of events and adventures so I had high hopes, which weren’t met unfortunately.
The book was very fast paced with a lot of events happening that I couldn’t always follow. It definitely gives you that sense of adventure, but it felt like a bit too much. I would’ve liked the events that did happen to have been slowed down and fleshed out a bit more.
While the world itself felt very beautiful, because of the rushed and fast pace, it almost felt like a lot of the world was descripted quickly and after a while it became a bit repetitive since all the characters did was travel. Certain plot points from the synopsis were hardly present as well, Arianna struggling with her identity
Spoiler
after the first few chapters nothing about that comes backSpoiler
only time that comes back after the beginning is when apologizing to Alessar about somethingSpoiler
after traveling for about 70% of the book, suddenly they start to do something about thatThe same could be said about the information, which was over explained and shared a lot. I think it would’ve been better if we’d been shown the things and information instead of the characters constantly explaining everything. A lot of POV switches happened, were for an alinea suddenly another characters POV was written and thus their emotions and thoughts were written instead of shown through the eyes of another character. A lot of emotions felt and situations were not shown but told, and it made this book feel very much like a children’s book to be honest. Classed as a YA book, with teens reading this, we are smart enough to made those kinds of connections and don’t have to be told everything as if we can’t figure it out ourselves.
On the topic of the book feeling very young, Arianna as a main character truly added to that feeling. I didn’t really like her, she was naïve, immature and very frustrating and really reminded me of a seven-year-old child sometimes. The constant need to boost about what she can do and what she knows is something I associate with that young age, not a girl who’s sixteen. Also, the whiplash she gives me with the switch of emotions she goes through… there is a page around halfway through the story where she goes from frustrated to anger to crying to shame to self-pity in the span of one page…
The other characters were forgettable to me, they didn’t stand out. Keshieena as well, she was the bad guy in the story, but her actions were unbelievable, weird and unnecessary to me. She got angry at the slightest things and suddenly killed the slaves and characters who angered her. It makes for a weird villain, where it isn’t clear why she is like that or why she is the villain aside from her doing horrible things.
Because the Arianna felt more like a young child and Alessar felt forgettable their romance felt really uncomfortable for me to read. Maybe if the characters were a bit different or if the romance was a bit more fleshed out it would’ve come across differently.
Overall, it is a book that had a lot of potential for a beautiful world-building and plot, but the characters and the writing style missed their mark in making it that for me.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
The Blood Traitor is the last book in The Prison Healer series. It follows directly after the events (and major cliffhanger!) of book two.
“Educating people, eliminating their ignorance… I believe that’s the best way to keep chaos in check.”
The Prison Healer review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Gilded Cage review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Blood Traitor is the last book in The Prison Healer series. It follows directly after the events (and major cliffhanger!) of book two.
“Educating people, eliminating their ignorance… I believe that’s the best way to keep chaos in check.”
The Prison Healer review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Gilded Cage review|⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️