maxines_obsessions's Reviews (701)

Rebekah and Hugh are on holiday. It's time for these emotional vampires to have some fun aboard a queer Black Sea cruise. With the promise of orgies, relaxation and gorging themselves on the guests, Rebekah thought it would be the perfect adventure, but things start to go wrong when Hugh becomes enamoured with another guest. People are going missing, Hugh is acting weird and Rebekah just may have bitten off more than she can chew.

I had some trouble with this book, and i think it's because i wasn't sure what genre i was reading. I couldn't figure out if it was satire, horror or fantasy. I think it's a bit of all those things. 
It's the type of book that I wish I could discuss and do a deep dive into all the symbolism and meanings behind the choices. 
The cruise was a ship of extravagance and gluttony; the cruise setting was a war-ravaged area which covered in smoke and sirens.
The characters were having romantic sexy rendezvous on the deck, while bodies were being thrown overboard without them noticing.
The concept of emotional vampires and other mystery beings was really cool.

Rebekah and Hugh were horrible people. Selfish and extreme in their thoughts and behaviour. Rebekah is our narrator. She is unreliable, a little unhinged and an absolute force. Her power isn't overtly violent, but she can kill. I didn't like her and she doesn't need me to. I enjoyed her. I enjoyed watching her fight for the person she loves and I especially loved the moment she decided to love herself more.

That ending was satisfying.

I really liked this middle grade, fantasy read. 

I enjoyed reading a story about changelings and world building was super cool. The idea of changelings having different abilities and powers was very intriguing. 
It had a wonderful, brave protagonist. The characters that joined her on her adventure were delightful and I had an absolute ball reading this story. 

I'm buying myself the paperback so my kids can read it as well.

Captured Beauty is beauty and the beast retelling. Our mmc is unhinged and incredibly broken. The fmc was chilled and enjoyed getting to know some the darker parts of herself. This leads to a very twisted relationship.
I enjoyed how dark it went but had a few issues with the flow. There were a few continuity issues, that pulled me out of the story.
It did have many of my favourite things:
Forced proximity, knife play, blood play, touch her and die.

One of my favourite things was the subtle nods to Beauty and the Beast. The teacup in the library, getting a chip in it, top notch inclusion.

It's definitely worth a read if you like your books in the morally black area.

The perfect summer read. 

True North is a super cute and cosy romance. The family relationships, the emotional intelligence of the characters, the descriptions of the food and island. It gave me the warm and fuzzies. 

If there was ever a book that felt like it was written solely for me, this would be it. 

"What God? Tonight, you only scream and cry for me. No God will bear witness to what i make of you."

Leave Me Behind by @k.m.moronova features all of my very favourite things. 

💀Enemies to lovers/still Enemies to obsession
💀Blood play
💀Spit play
💀Pain kink
💀Non-con
💀Massive amounts of bullying

Bradshaw and Nell are two truly broken, twisted psychos. They enjoy the work they do. They enjoy the hunt and killing, and they are both very good at what they do. They are also both suffering with ptsd. 
They are surrounded by secrets and have both accepted they will be dead sooner rather than later. They are just weapons after all. So what happens when two broken weapons start feeling things again? Carnage, blood and lots of dead bodies.

"I want to dominate you. I want to break you into a million pieces and make you answer only to me. I want to keep you as far away from my squad as possible before I ruin what's left of you."

See, isn't he fucking perfect!!! 

One of my favourite things about reading indie authors is the level of detail and love that goes into their books. 
From the cover, to the layout and art throughout, they really go above and beyond and it really turns reading into a fully immersive experience. 
The chapters are labelled with the name of whose POV it is. Having some titled Bones and others Bradshaw even though they are they same person was such a cool detail. It really showed which part of him was running the show. 

Also the author does all her own art.

So this arrived Thursday, I read the entire thing Thursday night and I've just finished another couple of books so I think its time to reread it.