morganthebee's reviews
452 reviews

Reaching Eddie is a steamy modern-day sapphic retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. If you don't know that story and how many weird, unbelievable, crazy twists and turns it has this story may not make much sense, but it's actually a bit less kooky than the classic. Reaching Eddie has great characters, stays (for the most part) true to the original, where it diverges makes sense in a modern setting, and is really well written. Oh, and the steamy bits are...quite steamy. I think that if I didn't know the story of Jane Eyre and all of this crazy was thrown together in one book I might have given it a lower rating, but I do, so I'm giving it a solid 4.75, rounded to 5 on other sites.

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Sapling's Rising is the conclusion of the Biokin Chronicles, and for the most part it wraps things up in a really interesting conclusion. There was one thing that wasn't resolved that should have been very early in the book (like, in the first chapter early), but I can't say more without spoiling something.

In this novella our intrepid duo make their way to an EVO space station, where they'll make friends and enemies as they continue to help each other on their quests. There is a really interesting twist in Sapling's Rising that I did not see coming but made sense within the story, which is always a treat. The writing has continued to improve as the story progressed and this installment is no different, with smoother dialogue and more emotional growth and development for Addison and Mila, which leads to a really great conclusion of our heroines' adventure. 

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Another installment, another planet in Sapling's Depths, this time with mysterious deaths and intrigue! We also get new side characters here, what with being on a new world, including someone from Mila's past. This gives more insight into her character than we've had before and helps to round her out, which is great. Addison also gets some growth here, becoming a bit more worldly, and both young women start to realize the depth of their feelings for each other as well.

Sapling's Depths does end on more of a cliffhanger than the first two, which I thought was a bit unnecessary, and I don't think I enjoyed this part of the story quite as much as the other two, although I'd put it ahead of both in the quality of the writing itself. Still a great YA sci-fi, and worth the read if you've already read the first two (if you haven't go read them first, then come back to this).

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Sapling's Aurora picks up where the previous book left off, with our heroines Addison and Mila crash landing on a planet on the further reaches of the story's universe. Here they'll grow closer, make some friends/allies, solve a bit of a mystery, and figure out how to get their ship, Scout, back up and running to get off planet and get on with their adventure.

Spencer Rose's writing has definitely improved and gotten a bit cleaner, and the dialogue is better in the second novella in the Biokin Chronicles tetralogy. It's still a quick read, but it's basically it's own stand alone story, and I really enjoyed that we were progressing through the story without being left on a big cliffhanger, although the adventure is far from over. I've already finished the series (I read it all in two days), but when I got to the end of Sapling's Aurora I was definitely looking forward to more.

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

Sapling's Orbit is the first novella in the Biokin Chronicles tetralogy, and it's a fun, quick read with an interesting premise. It kicks us off on a nice YA sci-fi adventure, introducing the main characters in the series, Addison and Mila, and establishing the universe they'll be traversing over the next three installments. 

I really enjoyed the concept and characters: Addison is a naive biokin, or person who has an affinity for and ability to connect with plants, and Mila is a somewhat jaded pilot who grew up too quickly, and reluctantly agrees to take Addison into space on the first leg of her pilgrimage, which all biokin embark on when reaching the age of 16. I did find the dialogue to be a bit stilted at times and felt like there was a bit of inconsistency in the writing, but for a debut book it was fairly well thought out and it was imaginative. Overall a solid story.

I received a free ARC from the author, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.

I’ll be honest: if I was basing my review of You’re the Problem, It’s You on just the first third of the book this would have been a 3 star read for me, and maybe even lower. I found James to be frustrating and unlikable in the earlier part of the story, and I didn’t find myself sympathetic to him in the least. Fortunately the story picked up in enjoyment for me after that and I quite liked the second half of the book, enough to bring it up to a 4 star read overall.

I loved reading about Bobby again, and the return of Gwen and Beth, along with Lord and Lady Havenfort, Albie and Meredith, among others. As insufferable as I found James in the early part of the book, once he finally starts to open up the story vastly improved, and I found myself cheering James and Bobby on. I did feel like the resolution was a bit abrupt, but it wasn’t too out of place or off the wall, and the story flowed well. Overall this was a nice follow up to Don’t Want You Like a Best Friend, and a worthwhile read once I got further into it.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley, but my review is unbiased and left voluntarily.