littleredmacks's Reviews (528)

 This love story was beautifully written and broke my heart over and over again because I knew the ending that was coming. I would definitely say that this is more of a cozy read with an emphasis on the love story while weaving in the myth throughout the romance. Don’t go into this expecting something action packed, especially when they finally make it to the Trojan War. 

 

The relationship between Patroclus and Achilles is something that will live rent free in  my head because I adored it so much. The two juxtapose each other so incredibly well. 

 

Now, I only have one grievance about this book. ***SPOILER AHEAD*** I have always seen Hector as someone who is gentle and kind and fair. But this book painted him in a much, much crueler light. During the battle where Patroclus pretends to be Achilles, the helmet falls off and by this point he is far away from the battle on the beach. Hector sees who he is and chases him down, with an entire army and kills him. It just felt incredibly out of character considering in the original he killed Patroclus because he mistook him for Achilles. 

 

Aside from that, I loved this retelling and will definitely be rereading at some point! 

As usual Kimberly Lemming has the ability to thoroughly entertain with this plot line. I will say that I enjoyed the first two much more than this one, but I loved that we got to wrap up some loose strings from book 1. 

 

I will say that there was a lack of urgency to be reunited with her family after having been separated for five years, which was a bit frustrating  while reading the story. 

 

It is a very fun and easy read overall. Cozy fantasy at its core.  

First of all, thank you to Scholastic for an EARC of this book. This is one that I would love to add to my bookshelf. The cover is perfection. Literal perfection.  

 

I listened to this with a dark academia playlist on Spotify that made this even better. 

 

Dark academia is my vibe, add queer and I am all in. It is a YA book which I think dulls some of the darkness to it, though it’s still plenty dark. 

 

It starts with a prologue that takes place in the future and draws you in with some intrigue. Throughout the book I was trying to piece together how we ended up at the prologue and where we would possibly go from there. 

 

The world-building was well done, especially the way this secret society is integrated into the real world. The buildings and history within this novel were truly intriguing. I would have loved a map of the school. 

 

Throughout the story, you’re left questioning who should be trusted, even questioning if you should be trusting the narrator himself. I think this added to the overall feeling of darkness in the novel. 

 

I will say that the biggest downfall for me was the dialogue. Some of it was hard to follow, and at other times it was completely unbelievable, especially  with the amount of all caps that was happening. 

 

Another downfall was the fact that things seemed to simply be happening to the main character, rather than him taking action. I think this made the pacing a bit jumpy sometimes as his primary motivation was to be included, to belong (which at 16, who didn’t have this feeling), which left him being very passive. Also, everything seemed sort of easy for him. I expected much more tension and hoops to jump through while rushing the society. I think higher stakes could have easily remedied this problem, especially because by the time we get the high stakes it’s so late in the book. 

 

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this book, and it was a quick a read. 

Arabian World 

MAGIC 

AMAZING CHARACTERS (seriously the best characters) 

Found Family 

THE BANTER 

Poetic Writing 

 

 

This was a book that I read on audiobook first, which I don’t recommend unless you have an understanding of the world and words before jumping in. (There is a pronunciation guide and glossary!!). I found tandem reading this to be wonderful because the audiobook was really good, but I needed the words and maps in front of me to truly understand what was happening. 

 

The world building in this was phenomenal. I have such detailed images in my head of the buildings, the food, the characters. 

 

The found family that results from this group being thrown together to complete a mission is beautiful. The slow build up to the romance that you know is coming in book two is painfully gorgeous. 

 

I don’t have enough words in the English language for how much I adore this book and its characters. I feel that it is a very underrated book. 

 

I will say the pacing a little on the slow side, but I felt that it really added to the tension. I cannot wait to read A Tempest of Tea which just came out this year. 

Fake Dating 

Defying Destiny 

Friends to Lovers 

Desi Romance 

 

 

This was so cute and I really enjoyed the culture representation throughout this book as well as how Madhuri learns to embrace and accept her culture, even when those around her aren’t so accepting. 

 

I do wish that the main characters had fake dated for longer than a week before Madhuri decided she was in love with Arjun. It felt super rushed, especially considering how long Arjun has been in love with her. It also felt rushed because she accepted she had feelings so quickly. Given the fact that she wanted to prove destiny wrong, I thought there was going to be a lot more denial or reasoning away feelings than what actually happened. 

Unapologetically Queer 

Mexican Inspired Fantasy 

Hunger Games Like Trials 

Gender and Body Dysphoria 

Romantic SUBplot (friends to enemies to lovers) 

 

 

This story was really interesting to read. I enjoyed the Mexican inspired mythology as well as the way the trials are set up. I felt all the tension throughout the trials. The world is also very inclusive of all identities, which I love. It’s a nice juxtaposition from our own world. The world building overall was just *chef’s kiss*. 

 

Characters are well-developed and unique, though there are a lot of them and it takes a second to keep them all straight. (And if you haven’t seen the character cards yet, what are you DOING?). Even the relationships were well developed and believable. 

 

Also, I read this book in February, because for some reason my brain thought the second one came out in April. Very disappointed that it comes out in SEPTEMBER. But it is fine. Everything is fine. That ending doesn’t have me hanging on the edge of my seat eagerly anticipating the sequel. 

Scary Children’s Book 

Ghosts 

Black History 

 

I really enjoyed this book and the Black history we got throughout the book (racial segregation, especially as it relates to pools and swimming). This book is compared to Mary Downing Hahn and I definitely see the resemblance. However, this is a book I would recommend to kiddos who need something a little less scary than some of MDH’s books. It’s one that I could see elementary readers enjoying. 

 

I’ve heard good things about The Forgotten Girl by this author and look forward to giving that one a try in the future. 

Magic Portals 

Pirates 

Steamy Scenes 

Insta Love 

Unpacking Harm 

Great World Building 

Wonky Pacing 

 

Overall, I enjoy a Katee Robert book as a palette cleanser between my more plot heavy books. She never fails to write a book that I enjoy. I went into this one expecting the simple plot and steamy romance I typically get from KR, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

 

This was one I felt I enjoyed more than some of her other books. I didn’t really care for how insta love the romance felt at times, but I do think it was necessary for the plot (which was disappointing). The insta love did make me feel lost at times because it felt like their relationship was constantly changing. I did love both the main characters and felt they were well developed. 

 

However what I really appreciated was how she had the FMC asking hard questions to the MMC and encouraged him to question authority. It was also really great to see him start to unpack the fact that he has been perpetuating harm among these communities for years because he chose to blindly follow authority. 

 

In the sequel, I would really like to see better pacing, but I do look forward to continuing this series. 

Pride and Prejudice Retelling 

 

 

As someone who adores the original Pride and Prejudice to no end, I was really hoping to love this one just as much, especially considering the added diversity and modern setting. However, this fell very flat for me. 

 

Mr. Darcy was a billionaire in this retelling (which makes sense considering the setting switch), but the author kept trying to showcase him as an ethical billionaire, when we know there is no such thing as an ethical billionaire. I would have enjoyed him realizing this over the course of the book and making the necessary changes to not be a billionaire, but that’s not what we got. Mr. Darcy was also overly sexual to the point that it was a little creepy at times. Though it seems to be a theme in romance novels that the male POV is overly sexual and is in a constant state of lust. But I really wanted pining and noticing little things about her throughout their relationship that made him look again. (In short I was looking for more vibes from the original than what I got). 

 

Elizabeth is a millennial radio show host, but that job is mostly irrelevant to the story, despite it being a form of protest. I was so excited to have this activist and billionaire go toe-to-toe with each other. But, our FMC stereotypes Mr. Darcy as a struggling security guard when she meets him, despite their being evidence to the contrary. It felt very out of character so early on. And, much to the contrast of her character arc, she ends up with Mr. Darcy, which b/c this version is an activist, I couldn’t see happening without him giving up billionaire status. It ruined her arc for me. 

 

The conversations also felt extremely forced at times. It felt like the author was trying to stick so closely to the original script of writing that it was awkward for the time period they were in and just ended up feeling forced and falling flat. Especially the Caroline and Liza take a walk scene. 

 

I feel like this had potential with an activist and a billionaire going toe to toe and overcoming differences and challenges to realize how much they love each other and make the necessary changes to be with each other. Overall, because the author worked to make Darcy feel like an ethical billionaire, both character arcs fell flat. 

Haitian & French Revolution 

LGBTQIA Rep 

Powerful Flawed Biracial FMC 

Historical Fiction 

Romantic SUBplot 

 

Before I started reading this book, I knew very little about the French and Haitian Revolutions. However, with everything going on in the world (and me slowly becoming more involved as I learn more), I knew this was a topic I wanted to learn more about. Before diving into this book I did do a fair bit of research to prepare me before going into this book. I prefer to only read a historical fiction book if I know at least some of the history. 

 

Overall I felt like this book handled some of the bigger conversations (like struggling to be heard as a Biracial POC), however, even with my research, this book covered so much in such a little time it left me reeling. I almost wish it had been split into two books so she could have done each revolution more justice, given them each more time. 

 

I do still feel like this book was powerful, well-written, and inspiring despite it covering so much. The characterization and development was well done. I will likely read more by this author.