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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
DNF'd at 25%
Normally I would try to get to at least halfway through before DNFing a book, but I already didn't like this and then I read some reviews pointing out the problematic aspects of this book. I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to talk about it so look at these reviews if you're curious (one two three four five six)
Aside from the problematic aspects, this book is also just so dull. Even when exciting things are happening, Kiersten White's style of writing is so unengaging and makes everything so incredibly uninteresting.
The characters were equally uninteresting but in a different way. Lada and Radu were complete stereotypes, with Lada being the classic Strong Female Character who is violent, angry and hates women, and Radu (despite being one of the POV characters) is a Token Gay Character who is nonviolent, manipulative and pining after a straight boy.
It's fine if you like it but there is literally no chance of me ever picking this up again.
Normally I would try to get to at least halfway through before DNFing a book, but I already didn't like this and then I read some reviews pointing out the problematic aspects of this book. I'm nowhere near knowledgeable enough to talk about it so look at these reviews if you're curious (one two three four five six)
Aside from the problematic aspects, this book is also just so dull. Even when exciting things are happening, Kiersten White's style of writing is so unengaging and makes everything so incredibly uninteresting.
The characters were equally uninteresting but in a different way. Lada and Radu were complete stereotypes, with Lada being the classic Strong Female Character who is violent, angry and hates women, and Radu (despite being one of the POV characters) is a Token Gay Character who is nonviolent, manipulative and pining after a straight boy.
It's fine if you like it but there is literally no chance of me ever picking this up again.
1) Off Base ★★★★½
2) At Attention ★★★★★
content warnings: (mentions of) loss of a loved one, serious injuries, medical procedures, homophobia
representation: main m/m relationship, main gay characters, side gay characters, side latina character
I didn't like this book as much as the first two, but that doesn't mean it wasn't still way better than it has any right to be.
I'll mention my negatives first, because this time I do have some. They're nothing major, but they're the reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others. First, just in general I'm not a big fan of friends-to-lovers, so that was already something this book had to battle (to be fair, this is probably one of my favourite cases of friends-to-lovers). Also, and I can't really explain why, but the drama and angst in this book was just not as fun as the other two in some places. I'm aware that these are completely my own personal things though and not at all the books fault.
Those are literally all of my negatives. The rest was great.
Maddox and Ben are such good characters to follow and it was really fun seeing all the characters from previous books show up, but I need to be real with you: Camilla stole literally every scene she appeared in. Honestly, this woman might have become one of my new favourite book characters. She was really motherly and warm when she needed to be, but she was also a sassy bitch when she needed to be, and I straight-up was ready to sell my soul to her by her third scene.
I don't think I even need to mention this anymore, but the sex was amazing as per usual, though I don't think anything will ever be as incredible as the mirror sex of the last book. The voyeuristic scenes in this though were still very good, and probably take their place in second as the best sex scenes in the series.
This was not as good as the first two, but still really damn good and I'm hyped to read the next book.
2) At Attention ★★★★★
content warnings: (mentions of) loss of a loved one, serious injuries, medical procedures, homophobia
representation: main m/m relationship, main gay characters, side gay characters, side latina character
I didn't like this book as much as the first two, but that doesn't mean it wasn't still way better than it has any right to be.
I'll mention my negatives first, because this time I do have some. They're nothing major, but they're the reason why I didn't enjoy this book as much as the others. First, just in general I'm not a big fan of friends-to-lovers, so that was already something this book had to battle (to be fair, this is probably one of my favourite cases of friends-to-lovers). Also, and I can't really explain why, but the drama and angst in this book was just not as fun as the other two in some places. I'm aware that these are completely my own personal things though and not at all the books fault.
Those are literally all of my negatives. The rest was great.
Maddox and Ben are such good characters to follow and it was really fun seeing all the characters from previous books show up, but I need to be real with you: Camilla stole literally every scene she appeared in. Honestly, this woman might have become one of my new favourite book characters. She was really motherly and warm when she needed to be, but she was also a sassy bitch when she needed to be, and I straight-up was ready to sell my soul to her by her third scene.
I don't think I even need to mention this anymore, but the sex was amazing as per usual, though I don't think anything will ever be as incredible as the mirror sex of the last book. The voyeuristic scenes in this though were still very good, and probably take their place in second as the best sex scenes in the series.
This was not as good as the first two, but still really damn good and I'm hyped to read the next book.
DNF'd @ 52%
content warnings: mentions of rape, abduction and murder, main plot resolves around a group of girls going missing
I watched the Foxtel mini-series based on this book and loved it, so I decided to read the book it's based on because it's a literary classic and it was only $12. Turns out, I shouldn't have bothered. This book is as dull as watching paint dry.
The plot is about a group if girls going missing in the Australian outback for Christ's sake, and yet Joan Lindsay writes it in the most uninteresting way possible.
The only redeeming thing about this book is how queer it was: on multiple occasions the girls admire each other, Mike and Albert are so attracted to each other it physically hurts, and the words 'gay' and 'queer' are used way to often for it to be an accident.
God bless Foxtel for taking the barest premise of this book and changing literally every other thing, plus making it more explicitly gay.
content warnings: mentions of rape, abduction and murder, main plot resolves around a group of girls going missing
I watched the Foxtel mini-series based on this book and loved it, so I decided to read the book it's based on because it's a literary classic and it was only $12. Turns out, I shouldn't have bothered. This book is as dull as watching paint dry.
The plot is about a group if girls going missing in the Australian outback for Christ's sake, and yet Joan Lindsay writes it in the most uninteresting way possible.
The only redeeming thing about this book is how queer it was: on multiple occasions the girls admire each other, Mike and Albert are so attracted to each other it physically hurts, and the words 'gay' and 'queer' are used way to often for it to be an accident.
God bless Foxtel for taking the barest premise of this book and changing literally every other thing, plus making it more explicitly gay.
*3.5
content warnings: medical procedures, murder, gore, mentions of suicide
representation: main m/m relationship, gay main character, black side character
The reviews on this book are mixed, to say the least, and I completely understand why.
Quite frankly, the start of this book is absolute garbage. It's as if the six chapters weren't even seen by an editor and were the first draft, that's how bad they were. I'm pretty sure that's because the start is full of really clunky exposition and uninteresting backstory, which meant that the book picked up pretty quickly. The writing didn't improve dramatically or anything, but it was still perfectly fine.
The plot was also perfectly fine. It was incredibly melodramatic, but it worked for this book, which is literally just a satire of YA tropes and cliches, and the characters even acknowledge that they're being melodramatic.
There was an epilogue, and while it was adorable it was also so unnecessary. It's a classic "one year later" epilogue, but so much has apparently happened in that one year that now I want a whole frigging novella set in that year (seriously, most of the main relationships stuff has apparently happened in that year)
They were really surface-level, but I still enjoyed the characters. They had little depth to them but they were all likable and served the plot so I can't complaint too much. Though, I don't really understand what the point of making Caden's fake parents so prominent in the start was because they practically disappear for the second half of the book, and there parts were never that interesting in the first place.
I really enjoyed the romance. It was cute and dramatic, which was exactly what I wanted from this book. Though, I think this book could have really benefited from being dual-perspective so we could have been inside Dylan's head. Partially because Caden could be a pretty bland protagonist at times, but mostly because we don't understand why he does half of the stuff he does and it would have added a lot more depth to his character if we had been inside his head.
Even if (as far as we know) none of the characters actually identify as it, I really appreciated the mentions of bisexuality in this book. In particular, there's a part where two characters are discussing the sexuality of another character (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers), one character says "he told me he isn't gay and that he likes girls", and the other character immediately replies with "he might be bi. he could totally like girls and you, so don't dismiss that as a possibility." YES, THANK YOU!! That's literally what I think Every! Single! Time! two characters who are talking about sexuality just completely forget that there's anything other than gay or straight. Thank you, Cale Dietrich, thank you.
On the whole, this book was pretty good, and I'm not kidding about wanting that novella of the one year. I want the fluffiest, angstiest start of a relationship in human history, and worse comes to worse I'll just write it myself.
content warnings: medical procedures, murder, gore, mentions of suicide
representation: main m/m relationship, gay main character, black side character
The reviews on this book are mixed, to say the least, and I completely understand why.
Quite frankly, the start of this book is absolute garbage. It's as if the six chapters weren't even seen by an editor and were the first draft, that's how bad they were. I'm pretty sure that's because the start is full of really clunky exposition and uninteresting backstory, which meant that the book picked up pretty quickly. The writing didn't improve dramatically or anything, but it was still perfectly fine.
The plot was also perfectly fine. It was incredibly melodramatic, but it worked for this book, which is literally just a satire of YA tropes and cliches, and the characters even acknowledge that they're being melodramatic.
There was an epilogue, and while it was adorable it was also so unnecessary. It's a classic "one year later" epilogue, but so much has apparently happened in that one year that now I want a whole frigging novella set in that year (seriously, most of the main relationships stuff has apparently happened in that year)
They were really surface-level, but I still enjoyed the characters. They had little depth to them but they were all likable and served the plot so I can't complaint too much. Though, I don't really understand what the point of making Caden's fake parents so prominent in the start was because they practically disappear for the second half of the book, and there parts were never that interesting in the first place.
I really enjoyed the romance. It was cute and dramatic, which was exactly what I wanted from this book. Though, I think this book could have really benefited from being dual-perspective so we could have been inside Dylan's head. Partially because Caden could be a pretty bland protagonist at times, but mostly because we don't understand why he does half of the stuff he does and it would have added a lot more depth to his character if we had been inside his head.
Even if (as far as we know) none of the characters actually identify as it, I really appreciated the mentions of bisexuality in this book. In particular, there's a part where two characters are discussing the sexuality of another character (trying to be vague to avoid spoilers), one character says "he told me he isn't gay and that he likes girls", and the other character immediately replies with "he might be bi. he could totally like girls and you, so don't dismiss that as a possibility." YES, THANK YOU!! That's literally what I think Every! Single! Time! two characters who are talking about sexuality just completely forget that there's anything other than gay or straight. Thank you, Cale Dietrich, thank you.
On the whole, this book was pretty good, and I'm not kidding about wanting that novella of the one year. I want the fluffiest, angstiest start of a relationship in human history, and worse comes to worse I'll just write it myself.
content warnings: homophobia, violence, appendicitis
representation: main m/m relationship, gay main characters, side f/f relationship, side gay characters
Guys, I'm just as stunned with this rating as you are. This book had no right to be as great as it was. I went into it thinking it would be an okay smutty read, not becoming prepared to sell my soul to Annabeth Albert just so I can read all her work.
Also, quick side note, this is my 60th book of the year which means I just completed my reading challenge! This book being the one that made me reach my goal is so on brand for me and I think we should all just appreciate that for a moment.
Moving on.
This book has the perfect type of angst sprinkled throughout. It's not depressing angst, instead it's soap opera-esque angst, where it's so gut wrenching but so entertaining at the same time. The entire plot is angsty and it is glorious.
I surprisingly ended up really falling in love with the characters, and now I'm excited to both continue with the series and read the other series (I literally just put on hold at my library the Ryan x Josiah book, if you want context for how far deep I am). Pike especially became one of my new faves, but literally everyone I was meant to like had me wanting an entire book about them (except for Harper, still kinda iffy on him).
THE ROMANCE. Oh my god, it was one of the best I've read all year. I was expecting sexual tension to end in a quick (probably drunken) fuck around halfway through the book, followed by Zack denying he was gay the whole way and Pike being whiny over it. Instead I got a healthy, loving relationship with forehead kisses, I love yous, Pike being supportive, Zack opening up, the whole shebang. And the sexual tension was incredible, these two characters had so much chemistry.
Now, the moment you've all been waiting for: how were the sexytimes? I can confirm, they were incredible. Yet another thing that makes me excited for future Annabeth Albert books (I'm 100% setting my expectations too high but I really don't care).
Also, just a small detail I really loved: when they're discussing Zack's sexuality, asexuality is mentioned, and both bisexuality and pansexuality are brought up multiple times. Even though Zack is gay, it was nice to see the acknowledgement of more than 'gay, straight, and flexible', which is what so many other books do.
This book was a complete surprise that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants a good smutty romance.
representation: main m/m relationship, gay main characters, side f/f relationship, side gay characters
Guys, I'm just as stunned with this rating as you are. This book had no right to be as great as it was. I went into it thinking it would be an okay smutty read, not becoming prepared to sell my soul to Annabeth Albert just so I can read all her work.
Also, quick side note, this is my 60th book of the year which means I just completed my reading challenge! This book being the one that made me reach my goal is so on brand for me and I think we should all just appreciate that for a moment.
Moving on.
This book has the perfect type of angst sprinkled throughout. It's not depressing angst, instead it's soap opera-esque angst, where it's so gut wrenching but so entertaining at the same time. The entire plot is angsty and it is glorious.
I surprisingly ended up really falling in love with the characters, and now I'm excited to both continue with the series and read the other series (I literally just put on hold at my library the Ryan x Josiah book, if you want context for how far deep I am). Pike especially became one of my new faves, but literally everyone I was meant to like had me wanting an entire book about them (except for Harper, still kinda iffy on him).
THE ROMANCE. Oh my god, it was one of the best I've read all year. I was expecting sexual tension to end in a quick (probably drunken) fuck around halfway through the book, followed by Zack denying he was gay the whole way and Pike being whiny over it. Instead I got a healthy, loving relationship with forehead kisses, I love yous, Pike being supportive, Zack opening up, the whole shebang. And the sexual tension was incredible, these two characters had so much chemistry.
Now, the moment you've all been waiting for: how were the sexytimes? I can confirm, they were incredible. Yet another thing that makes me excited for future Annabeth Albert books (I'm 100% setting my expectations too high but I really don't care).
Also, just a small detail I really loved: when they're discussing Zack's sexuality, asexuality is mentioned, and both bisexuality and pansexuality are brought up multiple times. Even though Zack is gay, it was nice to see the acknowledgement of more than 'gay, straight, and flexible', which is what so many other books do.
This book was a complete surprise that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants a good smutty romance.
content warnings: death, murder, loss of a parent, violence, abduction
representation: main f/f relationship, side wlw character
This was a hard book to rate. The first 150 pages are so boring I considered DNFing the book, but after that it got much more... exciting?? (that might not be the right word to describe it but let's go with it)
A common criticism I see is that the worldbuilding is bad but honestly, it's not terrible. I mean, it's not super fantastic or anything but in comparison to other fantasy YA favourites (Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black's books immediately spring to mind) it's perfectly fine, especially as a first book in a series/duology/trilogy/whatever.
Another criticism I see is that the characters aren't well developed and are cliched. Again, in comparison to a lot of YA fantasy, it's right on par with perfectly average characters. As a matter of fact, I think the characters in this were a breath of fresh air: no Strong Female Characters™ and no dickheads who had a rough childhood, tropes which still plague YA.
I'll admit, the plot was just okay at first, but then it picked up and the book was able to balance that with the romance really nicely.
Now, what we've all been waiting for, the romance. Oh my good lord, it was so good!! I've seen people complaining that the characters should have realised they liked each other and gotten together earlier because there's no homophobia in this world, apparently forgetting that Denna is betrothed to Mare's brother. Of course they can't get together! And that gives us a sweet slow-burn relationship that will literally make you scream when they finally get together.
I'm extremely excited to read the spin-off and sequel, especially as those will likely be much better because they won't be bogged down with establishing the world.
representation: main f/f relationship, side wlw character
This was a hard book to rate. The first 150 pages are so boring I considered DNFing the book, but after that it got much more... exciting?? (that might not be the right word to describe it but let's go with it)
A common criticism I see is that the worldbuilding is bad but honestly, it's not terrible. I mean, it's not super fantastic or anything but in comparison to other fantasy YA favourites (Sarah J. Maas and Holly Black's books immediately spring to mind) it's perfectly fine, especially as a first book in a series/duology/trilogy/whatever.
Another criticism I see is that the characters aren't well developed and are cliched. Again, in comparison to a lot of YA fantasy, it's right on par with perfectly average characters. As a matter of fact, I think the characters in this were a breath of fresh air: no Strong Female Characters™ and no dickheads who had a rough childhood, tropes which still plague YA.
I'll admit, the plot was just okay at first, but then it picked up and the book was able to balance that with the romance really nicely.
Now, what we've all been waiting for, the romance. Oh my good lord, it was so good!! I've seen people complaining that the characters should have realised they liked each other and gotten together earlier because there's no homophobia in this world, apparently forgetting that Denna is betrothed to Mare's brother. Of course they can't get together! And that gives us a sweet slow-burn relationship that will literally make you scream when they finally get together.
I'm extremely excited to read the spin-off and sequel, especially as those will likely be much better because they won't be bogged down with establishing the world.
content warnings: suicide, death, loss of loved ones, animal abuse, sexual assault, gore, stalking, mutilation
representation: side gay character, side indian-american character
Before I even start talking about my thoughts, if you have never read this book then I need you to listen up: whatever you were told this book is about, forget it because it's probably misleading. I've been wanting to read this book ever since it came out and it was always described to me as magical realism where the main character was born with wings. While, yes, it is magical realism and the main character does indeed have bird wings, that's definitely not what it's about.
This is a multi-generational story told in the first-person perspective of Ava Lavender as she first tells the reader about her grandmother, Emilienne's, life, and then her mother, Viviane's, life before finally telling us her story. It's about love and loss, and the ways these three different women and those around them experience it.
The characters in this book, despite many not being likable, all somehow are interesting and endearing, and don't quite feel real but it works for the story as nothing quite feels real.
The biggest praise I've ever heard for this book is its writing, and with good reason. Leslye Walton's prose is gorgeous. The way she strings certain words together to form the perfect sentence, and her descriptions of emotions and inner thoughts are so heartbreakingly beautiful.
Unfortunately, there was just something missing with the plot. I didn't find it boring, persay, something just didn't click with me which honestly made me feel like DNFing it a few times. I've heard that the ending is controversial and that people either love it or hate it. Personally, I liked what it added to the story thematically and emotionally, even if it did tear my heart out in the process.
Yeah, I don't really know what else to say. I think my lack of enjoyment all boils down to it being sold to me the wrong way and something just not working for me.
representation: side gay character, side indian-american character
Before I even start talking about my thoughts, if you have never read this book then I need you to listen up: whatever you were told this book is about, forget it because it's probably misleading. I've been wanting to read this book ever since it came out and it was always described to me as magical realism where the main character was born with wings. While, yes, it is magical realism and the main character does indeed have bird wings, that's definitely not what it's about.
This is a multi-generational story told in the first-person perspective of Ava Lavender as she first tells the reader about her grandmother, Emilienne's, life, and then her mother, Viviane's, life before finally telling us her story. It's about love and loss, and the ways these three different women and those around them experience it.
The characters in this book, despite many not being likable, all somehow are interesting and endearing, and don't quite feel real but it works for the story as nothing quite feels real.
The biggest praise I've ever heard for this book is its writing, and with good reason. Leslye Walton's prose is gorgeous. The way she strings certain words together to form the perfect sentence, and her descriptions of emotions and inner thoughts are so heartbreakingly beautiful.
Unfortunately, there was just something missing with the plot. I didn't find it boring, persay, something just didn't click with me which honestly made me feel like DNFing it a few times. I've heard that the ending is controversial and that people either love it or hate it. Personally, I liked what it added to the story thematically and emotionally, even if it did tear my heart out in the process.
Yeah, I don't really know what else to say. I think my lack of enjoyment all boils down to it being sold to me the wrong way and something just not working for me.
content warnings: child abuse, violence, death, gore, abduction, drugging, animal cruelty, parental loss, slavery, torture
representation: bi protagonists, poc side characters, mlm side characters
The best way I can describe my feelings on this book is that this is what Throne of Glass should have been. It definitely had its faults, but this is easily one of the best fantasy books I've read in a while, and safe to say I'm really excited for where the series is going to go.
The plot takes a while to get going but when it does it's thrilling and emotional. I was worried going into the book at whether or not the two storylines would be able to flow well, and I'm happy to say that they did. They're both so different, and yet they seem to fit together perfectly. I think if I had to choose a favourite storyline I would have to pick Rielle's, but I genuinely fell in love with both of them.
I have one big positive and one big negative with Claire Legrand's writing. Positive: she's fantastic at writing fight scenes, something which a lot of writers (myself included) struggle with. Negative: her writing of sex scenes is a bit awkward and makes them uncomfortable to read.
I, in some way, loved each character. Rielle and Eliana were both such different protagonists and it was a lot of fun to read from both of their perspectives. The side characters are all incredibly fleshed out and it feels as if you know all of them. Though, one downfall of this book for me was the romantic relationships, which is strange because I loved all the characters individually but when it came to romance (in particular Rielle's romance) I found myself not really caring about the relationship.
Overall, a really great high fantasy novel that makes me feel excited to read more of Claire Legrand's work and find out where the rest of the series is going to go.
representation: bi protagonists, poc side characters, mlm side characters
The best way I can describe my feelings on this book is that this is what Throne of Glass should have been. It definitely had its faults, but this is easily one of the best fantasy books I've read in a while, and safe to say I'm really excited for where the series is going to go.
The plot takes a while to get going but when it does it's thrilling and emotional. I was worried going into the book at whether or not the two storylines would be able to flow well, and I'm happy to say that they did. They're both so different, and yet they seem to fit together perfectly. I think if I had to choose a favourite storyline I would have to pick Rielle's, but I genuinely fell in love with both of them.
I have one big positive and one big negative with Claire Legrand's writing. Positive: she's fantastic at writing fight scenes, something which a lot of writers (myself included) struggle with. Negative: her writing of sex scenes is a bit awkward and makes them uncomfortable to read.
I, in some way, loved each character. Rielle and Eliana were both such different protagonists and it was a lot of fun to read from both of their perspectives. The side characters are all incredibly fleshed out and it feels as if you know all of them. Though, one downfall of this book for me was the romantic relationships, which is strange because I loved all the characters individually but when it came to romance (in particular Rielle's romance) I found myself not really caring about the relationship.
Overall, a really great high fantasy novel that makes me feel excited to read more of Claire Legrand's work and find out where the rest of the series is going to go.
1) The Invasion ★★★★
2) The Visitor ★★★★★
3) The Encounter ★★★★★
4) The Message ★★★★★
5) The Predator ★★★★★
6) The Capture ★★★★★
content warnings: ptsd, violence, gore
representation: main characters with ptsd, latino side character, african-american side character
I know she's becoming borderline sociopathic, but I would still die for Rachel in a heartbeat
2) The Visitor ★★★★★
3) The Encounter ★★★★★
4) The Message ★★★★★
5) The Predator ★★★★★
6) The Capture ★★★★★
content warnings: ptsd, violence, gore
representation: main characters with ptsd, latino side character, african-american side character
I know she's becoming borderline sociopathic, but I would still die for Rachel in a heartbeat
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My rating kept changing while reading these six issues, mostly due to the plot. I really like Kate Kane as a character and the art was a style I really enjoy, but the plot was really lacking so I was going to go with a 2. Then I read issue #5, which I loved and thought was beautiful, which brought it up to a 3. But then I read issue #6, which I really didn't enjoy, so this is the rating I'm going to settle on.
I would recommend this for fans of Batwoman/Kate Kane, but not really anyone else.
I would recommend this for fans of Batwoman/Kate Kane, but not really anyone else.