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lisashelves's Reviews (976)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Rhapsodic is a fantasy series about Callie, a siren and a PI. When she was younger, she bargained with the Bargainer to help her clean up the murder of her stepdad and after seven years he’s back to collect.
Rhapsodic is the kind of book that you start and can’t put down until you’ve reached the end. I binge-read this book in one day and I loved every second of it. It’s addicting in the best way.
The world-building wasn’t really anything special to be honest, but still it felt amazing. The way the time passed though made it really good to read. The distinguished difference between past and present were really pleasant to read and the way you get a bit more information every time keeps you want to keep reading on.
I loved Callie! She’s so flippant about everything. She's also very strong and totally owns her powers. I loved her confidence and her overall attitude. Des is just the perfect morally grey character. Where he seems like an arrogant prick in the beginning, with the glimpses in the past you see he cares. It was also really interesting to see him act as Desmond and as The Bargainer. While two different personalities, you still see the same person. I would’ve liked to see a bit more of Temper in this book. She seems so interesting.
The dynamics between Des and Callie are written so good! I also really enjoyed the difference in their dynamics in the past and present. It made so much sense how they progressed when they reunited. Also, their romance was of course expected, but so good to read! Also, the friendship between Temper and Callie is everything! I love how they show their love for each other and their dynamics.
The twists and everything that happens in this story are so good and unique. It wasn’t predictable and kept me on my toes while reading.
Overall, it was an amazing book with steamy romance, morally grey characters, amazing plot and the perfect balance between emotional and sassy!
Rhapsodic is a fantasy series about Callie, a siren and a PI. When she was younger, she bargained with the Bargainer to help her clean up the murder of her stepdad and after seven years he’s back to collect.
Rhapsodic is the kind of book that you start and can’t put down until you’ve reached the end. I binge-read this book in one day and I loved every second of it. It’s addicting in the best way.
The world-building wasn’t really anything special to be honest, but still it felt amazing. The way the time passed though made it really good to read. The distinguished difference between past and present were really pleasant to read and the way you get a bit more information every time keeps you want to keep reading on.
I loved Callie! She’s so flippant about everything. She's also very strong and totally owns her powers. I loved her confidence and her overall attitude. Des is just the perfect morally grey character. Where he seems like an arrogant prick in the beginning, with the glimpses in the past you see he cares. It was also really interesting to see him act as Desmond and as The Bargainer. While two different personalities, you still see the same person. I would’ve liked to see a bit more of Temper in this book. She seems so interesting.
The dynamics between Des and Callie are written so good! I also really enjoyed the difference in their dynamics in the past and present. It made so much sense how they progressed when they reunited. Also, their romance was of course expected, but so good to read! Also, the friendship between Temper and Callie is everything! I love how they show their love for each other and their dynamics.
The twists and everything that happens in this story are so good and unique. It wasn’t predictable and kept me on my toes while reading.
Overall, it was an amazing book with steamy romance, morally grey characters, amazing plot and the perfect balance between emotional and sassy!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
A Stranger Hymn starts directly after the ending of Rhapsodic. Callie’s transformation is something she needs to come to terms with all the while the Thief of Souls is still roaming free.
You can read my review of the first book here:
Rhapsodic review
Even though Rhapsodic was a five-star read, this book I enjoyed even more. Just as the first book, I couldn’t put this down.
This book primarily takes place in the Otherworld, which we got to know in the first book. I loved how the world this series takes place in expanded in this book. We see another court and more of the Night court. Due to the book taking place in the Otherworld, it seems a bit darker. We learn more of the cruel nature of Fae and everything.
Callie is even more sassy that she was in the first and I loved every second of it. Her thoughts are also super amusing to read. I loved how she grew and developed this book. Also, we meet new characters like Malaki, Janus, Mara, the Green Man and we see way more of Temper!
The mystery of the first book, which they thought they mainly solved, wasn’t solved at all. There were still a lot of questions unanswered. I loved how the story progressed with more questions and more mysteries. The second part of the book especially! The ending had me gasping and I loved what this book did with my emotions.
Overall, I’m completely in love with this series and can’t wait to devour the novella and last book! Everything that I loved about the first book became better in this one.
A Stranger Hymn starts directly after the ending of Rhapsodic. Callie’s transformation is something she needs to come to terms with all the while the Thief of Souls is still roaming free.
You can read my review of the first book here:
Rhapsodic review
Even though Rhapsodic was a five-star read, this book I enjoyed even more. Just as the first book, I couldn’t put this down.
This book primarily takes place in the Otherworld, which we got to know in the first book. I loved how the world this series takes place in expanded in this book. We see another court and more of the Night court. Due to the book taking place in the Otherworld, it seems a bit darker. We learn more of the cruel nature of Fae and everything.
Callie is even more sassy that she was in the first and I loved every second of it. Her thoughts are also super amusing to read. I loved how she grew and developed this book. Also, we meet new characters like Malaki, Janus, Mara, the Green Man and we see way more of Temper!
The mystery of the first book, which they thought they mainly solved, wasn’t solved at all. There were still a lot of questions unanswered. I loved how the story progressed with more questions and more mysteries. The second part of the book especially! The ending had me gasping and I loved what this book did with my emotions.
Overall, I’m completely in love with this series and can’t wait to devour the novella and last book! Everything that I loved about the first book became better in this one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
An Emperor of Evening Stars is the novella of The Bargainer series. We see a little into the past of Desmond and learn more about what he went through and his thoughts.
I loved how we went from far in the past to present time and we see a little into the life of Des and everything that shaped him to be the person he is in the books. I loved seeing everything from his eyes. It gives another POV on events we’ve already read about from Callie’s view and we see what happens during events in the past which Des briefly explained in the books.
We meet Larissa, his mother, in the very beginning of this book. I loved the relationship between her and Des and it was heartwarming to see how she looked out for him. This book made me completely fall in love with Des.
I did miss a bit more dept in some moments. I would’ve liked some events, like how he became The Bargainer, to be a bit more drawn out and better shown. Other than that, I loved the book.
Overall, it is a perfect, lighthearted novella which gives so much more dept to Des and more inside information. I would recommend reading this between book 2 and book 3, as I did.
You can read my reviews of book 1 and book 2 here:
Rhapsodic review
A Stranger Hymn review
An Emperor of Evening Stars is the novella of The Bargainer series. We see a little into the past of Desmond and learn more about what he went through and his thoughts.
I loved how we went from far in the past to present time and we see a little into the life of Des and everything that shaped him to be the person he is in the books. I loved seeing everything from his eyes. It gives another POV on events we’ve already read about from Callie’s view and we see what happens during events in the past which Des briefly explained in the books.
We meet Larissa, his mother, in the very beginning of this book. I loved the relationship between her and Des and it was heartwarming to see how she looked out for him. This book made me completely fall in love with Des.
I did miss a bit more dept in some moments. I would’ve liked some events, like how he became The Bargainer, to be a bit more drawn out and better shown. Other than that, I loved the book.
Overall, it is a perfect, lighthearted novella which gives so much more dept to Des and more inside information. I would recommend reading this between book 2 and book 3, as I did.
You can read my reviews of book 1 and book 2 here:
Rhapsodic review
A Stranger Hymn review
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5 stars
Dark Harmony is the last book in The Bargainer series. When Callie and Des finally found The Thief of Souls things took a turn and now Callie is Fae and not immune to his powers anymore. With the sleeping soldiers waking up, they have a war to stop.
This series! I probably won’t stop praising it and recommending it! I loved every book and this book wasn’t an exception. The emotional rollercoaster this series took me on is everything I want from a fantasy series.
You can read my reviews of the other books in the series here:
Rhapsodic review
A Stranger Hymn review
The Emperor of Evening Stars review
Everything about these characters, the bantering, chemistry, humor and love story made it amazing. There is so much dept to them, and you really see them evolve from the very first book. Callie evolved even more in this book. Towards the end of the book when it happened, you know what part I’m talking about, she really grows into herself and her power. She finds herself when she hid rock bottom and owned everything. She became a force to be reckoned with. I also loved how we all got reminded that behind his crown, Des is and will always be The Bargainer.
The plot of this book was awesome. After finally finding out who’s in league with The Thief of Souls and sort of who he is, they still can’t find them and still have a lot of problems on their hands. Not a moment of this book was boring and I just kept on reading, wanting to know what was going to happen.
I hadn’t seen the twists that there were coming and it was the best. I felt my heart beat in my chest from suspense and felt my heart stop at the twists and everything coming to light.
Overall, it was the perfect ending to this epic series and I enjoyed it immensely! This whole series was one wild ride and I loved it.
Dark Harmony is the last book in The Bargainer series. When Callie and Des finally found The Thief of Souls things took a turn and now Callie is Fae and not immune to his powers anymore. With the sleeping soldiers waking up, they have a war to stop.
This series! I probably won’t stop praising it and recommending it! I loved every book and this book wasn’t an exception. The emotional rollercoaster this series took me on is everything I want from a fantasy series.
You can read my reviews of the other books in the series here:
Rhapsodic review
A Stranger Hymn review
The Emperor of Evening Stars review
Everything about these characters, the bantering, chemistry, humor and love story made it amazing. There is so much dept to them, and you really see them evolve from the very first book. Callie evolved even more in this book. Towards the end of the book when it happened, you know what part I’m talking about, she really grows into herself and her power. She finds herself when she hid rock bottom and owned everything. She became a force to be reckoned with. I also loved how we all got reminded that behind his crown, Des is and will always be The Bargainer.
The plot of this book was awesome. After finally finding out who’s in league with The Thief of Souls and sort of who he is, they still can’t find them and still have a lot of problems on their hands. Not a moment of this book was boring and I just kept on reading, wanting to know what was going to happen.
I hadn’t seen the twists that there were coming and it was the best. I felt my heart beat in my chest from suspense and felt my heart stop at the twists and everything coming to light.
Overall, it was the perfect ending to this epic series and I enjoyed it immensely! This whole series was one wild ride and I loved it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 3 stars
Five Little Liars is a thriller book where five teenagers, who follow the same college-level summer psychology class, have the same secret and will do anything to keep it from coming out.
This book is a fast-paced thriller that was a page-turner at the same time. The story is told from multiple POV’s and it sometimes killed the suspense a little bit when a chapter ended and the next had nothing to do with the character of event that happened before.
Most of the story was a bit predictable to me, but not everything luckily. While I kept on reading, some elements still got me surprised.
The five characters we follow, I didn’t really like them. They were trouble-makers and mean and the teacher was just plain evil. Because I didn’t like the characters, it was a bit harder to sometimes keep on reading. I kept rolling my eyes a lot at what the characters did or said. They felt very much like teens and seeing what the book is about, I’d expected them to be a bit more mature. The way the POV keeps changing also causes the characters to feel very plain. Maybe if lesser POV’s where used, the characters would’ve been more developed and more likable.
Overall, it was a story that kept me entertained while reading and a nice break from the fantasy I’d been reading before.
Five Little Liars is a thriller book where five teenagers, who follow the same college-level summer psychology class, have the same secret and will do anything to keep it from coming out.
This book is a fast-paced thriller that was a page-turner at the same time. The story is told from multiple POV’s and it sometimes killed the suspense a little bit when a chapter ended and the next had nothing to do with the character of event that happened before.
Most of the story was a bit predictable to me, but not everything luckily. While I kept on reading, some elements still got me surprised.
Spoiler
I did expect the death teacher to be the mystery to solve instead of already knowing everything that happened and seeing how they try to keep the secret from coming out.The five characters we follow, I didn’t really like them. They were trouble-makers and mean and the teacher was just plain evil. Because I didn’t like the characters, it was a bit harder to sometimes keep on reading. I kept rolling my eyes a lot at what the characters did or said. They felt very much like teens and seeing what the book is about, I’d expected them to be a bit more mature. The way the POV keeps changing also causes the characters to feel very plain. Maybe if lesser POV’s where used, the characters would’ve been more developed and more likable.
Overall, it was a story that kept me entertained while reading and a nice break from the fantasy I’d been reading before.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Sisters of the Snake is a tale about long lost sisters, swapping identities, and finding their own path in life.
This story was a really fun adventure! I really enjoyed the cultural references and it was refreshing to delve into an Indian YA fantasy and learn so much. I liked the plot, and although it was a bit predictable that didn’t make it any less fun to read. The magic system used in the book is also quite interesting, since it is established from the beginning that magic is super rare, I’m curious how the system will grow in the next book.
I loved the idea of two sisters swapping places and reading how they fared in the other sister’s world. The different POV’s were really nice, since you follow two different lines in the whole story which weaves together slowly. Sometimes though, the different POV’s broke the flow of the story line as it suddenly stopped and continued into the other.
Ria and Rani are twins who’s live couldn’t be further apart from each other. It was really interesting to see them walking in each other’s shoes. I would’ve liked for the sisterhood bond to be explored a bit more, but because of the sisters mainly being separated, that didn’t happen. I hope to see it in the sequel though. It also felt like the romances took up a bit too much of the story line and they felt a bit forced.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. It is quite predictable from the beginning who the villain is in the story. The villain just felt very two dimensional and the ending seemed really sudden and a bit rushed. Everything just came together to perfectly. I like happy endings, but this one was a bit hard to believe.
Overall, it was a fun, fast read with great cultural representations. I really enjoyed most of the book and I will be checking out the sequel.
Sisters of the Snake is a tale about long lost sisters, swapping identities, and finding their own path in life.
This story was a really fun adventure! I really enjoyed the cultural references and it was refreshing to delve into an Indian YA fantasy and learn so much. I liked the plot, and although it was a bit predictable that didn’t make it any less fun to read. The magic system used in the book is also quite interesting, since it is established from the beginning that magic is super rare, I’m curious how the system will grow in the next book.
I loved the idea of two sisters swapping places and reading how they fared in the other sister’s world. The different POV’s were really nice, since you follow two different lines in the whole story which weaves together slowly. Sometimes though, the different POV’s broke the flow of the story line as it suddenly stopped and continued into the other.
Ria and Rani are twins who’s live couldn’t be further apart from each other. It was really interesting to see them walking in each other’s shoes. I would’ve liked for the sisterhood bond to be explored a bit more, but because of the sisters mainly being separated, that didn’t happen. I hope to see it in the sequel though. It also felt like the romances took up a bit too much of the story line and they felt a bit forced.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the ending. It is quite predictable from the beginning who the villain is in the story. The villain just felt very two dimensional and the ending seemed really sudden and a bit rushed. Everything just came together to perfectly. I like happy endings, but this one was a bit hard to believe.
Overall, it was a fun, fast read with great cultural representations. I really enjoyed most of the book and I will be checking out the sequel.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 4 stars
Lost in the Never Woods is a Peter Pan retelling, set in modern day America. We meet Wendy Darling, who just turned eighteen and is still plagued with nightmares about her brothers, who went missing five years ago.
Peter Pan has always been one of my favourite stories, so I would definitely check out a retelling of it! At first, I thought it was closer to the original, set in England, the time period and I was pleasantly surprised that wasn’t the case. In hindsight, the setting and world fitted the story way better! I loved how it followed the original Peter Pan narrative and how the story we all know still took place.
The premise is very intriguing and with how it was written, the story really kept me engaged. The beginning really had me going, but the middle part fell a bit flat. The pacing as well slowed down and I lost a bit of the interest I had the first part. Eventually, it picks pack up with an incredible unpredictable ending that I really enjoyed. I liked how you can relate to Wendy, not knowing what happened until the very end.
While it is classed as a fantasy, it’s set in the real world. I found some of the realistic events, such as the police investigation, a bit unbelievable. I also didn’t really like her parents and how they acted. Of course, everyone grieves differently and I can’t relate to how they felt.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance between Wendy and Peter. It felt a bit like an add on and the story would’ve still been amazing without it. Their romance didn’t really add to their relationship. I did really like how the ending played out; it was very emotional.
Overall, it was a heart pounding adventure that I really enjoyed reading! It’s a great story about love and lost, growing up and facing your fears.
Lost in the Never Woods is a Peter Pan retelling, set in modern day America. We meet Wendy Darling, who just turned eighteen and is still plagued with nightmares about her brothers, who went missing five years ago.
Peter Pan has always been one of my favourite stories, so I would definitely check out a retelling of it! At first, I thought it was closer to the original, set in England, the time period and I was pleasantly surprised that wasn’t the case. In hindsight, the setting and world fitted the story way better! I loved how it followed the original Peter Pan narrative and how the story we all know still took place.
The premise is very intriguing and with how it was written, the story really kept me engaged. The beginning really had me going, but the middle part fell a bit flat. The pacing as well slowed down and I lost a bit of the interest I had the first part. Eventually, it picks pack up with an incredible unpredictable ending that I really enjoyed. I liked how you can relate to Wendy, not knowing what happened until the very end.
While it is classed as a fantasy, it’s set in the real world. I found some of the realistic events, such as the police investigation, a bit unbelievable. I also didn’t really like her parents and how they acted. Of course, everyone grieves differently and I can’t relate to how they felt.
I also wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance between Wendy and Peter. It felt a bit like an add on and the story would’ve still been amazing without it. Their romance didn’t really add to their relationship. I did really like how the ending played out; it was very emotional.
Overall, it was a heart pounding adventure that I really enjoyed reading! It’s a great story about love and lost, growing up and facing your fears.
