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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
1) Darkling
content warnings: death, blood magic, violence
representation: main interracial m/m relationship, gay main character of colour, trans side character, side m/m relationship, side interracial f/f relationship, sapphic side character of colour
This is a fantastic follow-up to what is, in my opinion, one of the best witchy books out there. Undertow takes place a few weeks after the first book and follow the perspective of Liam, Ryder's love interest from the first book. It looks at their relationship, the relationship of the Circle, the changes in Liam's magic, and explores more about the Order. Considering how short the book is, that may seem like a lot of plot points it's juggling but it's handled incredibly well.
I loved the way this book realistically tackled its many subjects and plot points. The fact that Liam and Ryder's magic is incompatible and that they're playing with dangerous forces they don't understand; the impact that their 'experiments' with magic has been having on the Circle; the implications of certain things concerning Liam's family.
The romance is just as great as the first book, as are the sex scenes. One big way that this books sets itself apart from its predecessor is in the world building; this book has a lot more of it, and yet it also never feels too info-dumpy. We still don't have all the answers, but we've been told enough to understand more about the world Port Lewis exists within.
I'm really excited for the next book, which is going to follow Donovan. There was a teaser at the end of this book for it and I'm already so in love with his and Tyler's dynamic, as well as finding more out about Donovan's powers.
content warnings: death, blood magic, violence
representation: main interracial m/m relationship, gay main character of colour, trans side character, side m/m relationship, side interracial f/f relationship, sapphic side character of colour
This is a fantastic follow-up to what is, in my opinion, one of the best witchy books out there. Undertow takes place a few weeks after the first book and follow the perspective of Liam, Ryder's love interest from the first book. It looks at their relationship, the relationship of the Circle, the changes in Liam's magic, and explores more about the Order. Considering how short the book is, that may seem like a lot of plot points it's juggling but it's handled incredibly well.
I loved the way this book realistically tackled its many subjects and plot points. The fact that Liam and Ryder's magic is incompatible and that they're playing with dangerous forces they don't understand; the impact that their 'experiments' with magic has been having on the Circle; the implications of certain things concerning Liam's family.
The romance is just as great as the first book, as are the sex scenes. One big way that this books sets itself apart from its predecessor is in the world building; this book has a lot more of it, and yet it also never feels too info-dumpy. We still don't have all the answers, but we've been told enough to understand more about the world Port Lewis exists within.
I'm really excited for the next book, which is going to follow Donovan. There was a teaser at the end of this book for it and I'm already so in love with his and Tyler's dynamic, as well as finding more out about Donovan's powers.
content warnings: online harassment, implications of sexual assault, racism, sexism
representation: black main characters
Every time I start to lose faith in the romance genre, Talia Hibbert delivers a masterpiece and reminds me why it rules.
This is a novella spin-off of Wanna Bet? (which I haven't read so you're fine to read this as a standalone) that follows Nina, a political activist who has been receiving death threats, and James, her brother's best friend who she's staying with until things cool down. They also definitely don't have incredible sexual chemistry and are madly in love with each other.
Nina and James are such wonderful characters, and the fact that they're so well-developed and three-dimensional is particularly impressive considering the short page count. They have such fun banter and seem to have a real friendship as well as their more romantic feelings for each other, something which a lot of authors don't do in their friends-to-lovers romance (one of the main things that tends to turn me away from that trope).
Talia Hibbert really doesn't waste a second with this novella, making the plot as well as the characters and relationships all incredibly compelling while still having time for life changing sex. And boy, I had forgotten how great Hibbert is at writing sex scenes. Great doesn't even describe it; god tier might be more applicable. She can write two characters sitting on a couch together and make it the most erotically charged scene you've read all year... that is, until you read an actual sex scene.
There are still lot's of people who apparently don't read Talia Hibbert? What are you all doing? GET. ON. THAT. If you enjoy romance/erotica even a little, you will not regret picking up one of her books, pinky promise.
representation: black main characters
“Why did he enjoy it so much when Nina went into professional, capable mode? Well, he knew why—because capable women turned him on, and Nina was the queen of capable. But understanding his weaknesses didn’t make them any less inappropriate. He was supposed to be supporting her here, like a friend, not drooling over her.
Maybe she wouldn’t mind both.”
Every time I start to lose faith in the romance genre, Talia Hibbert delivers a masterpiece and reminds me why it rules.
This is a novella spin-off of Wanna Bet? (which I haven't read so you're fine to read this as a standalone) that follows Nina, a political activist who has been receiving death threats, and James, her brother's best friend who she's staying with until things cool down. They also definitely don't have incredible sexual chemistry and are madly in love with each other.
Nina and James are such wonderful characters, and the fact that they're so well-developed and three-dimensional is particularly impressive considering the short page count. They have such fun banter and seem to have a real friendship as well as their more romantic feelings for each other, something which a lot of authors don't do in their friends-to-lovers romance (one of the main things that tends to turn me away from that trope).
Talia Hibbert really doesn't waste a second with this novella, making the plot as well as the characters and relationships all incredibly compelling while still having time for life changing sex. And boy, I had forgotten how great Hibbert is at writing sex scenes. Great doesn't even describe it; god tier might be more applicable. She can write two characters sitting on a couch together and make it the most erotically charged scene you've read all year... that is, until you read an actual sex scene.
There are still lot's of people who apparently don't read Talia Hibbert? What are you all doing? GET. ON. THAT. If you enjoy romance/erotica even a little, you will not regret picking up one of her books, pinky promise.
I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Review also posted to my blog.
1) A Princess in Theory ★★★★
content warnings: deportation
representation: black sapphic protagonists, black f/f relationship
Me picking this book up was a complete accident. I had planned to read the sequel to APIT from the library and then move onto this one, but by chance when I was browsing Dymocks the other day I found this there for a good price so I decided to treat myself and buy it. And thank god I did.
This is a spin-off novella that's part of the Reluctant Royals series and follows Likotsi, the assistant of Thabiso, the love interest in A Princess in Theory. During that book Likotsi had a whirlwind romance with a woman in New York which ended abruptly. Now Likotsi is back in the city and has a chance encounter with Fabiola, bringing up old feelings and causing both women to question whether their relationship should have ended.
Likotsi was definitely a highlight in APIT and I was so excited when I found out she was going to be getting her own story, even if it is just a novella. Not only did I love reading about Likotsi in this but also Fabiola. They're both such interesting, well-written characters that are super endearing, which makes it extremely easy to root for their romance.
I'll admit, their romance is kind of rushed and has a love at first sight thing going on, but I'm one of those people who generally doesn't mind when that happens as long as it feels real. And I think this book nailed it. Even though there's nothing slow-burn about the romance it still works perfectly and feels so naturally developed. While this novella, probably because of its length, isn't full of super sexy scenes there are the occasional steamy moments and they were all absolute perfection.
Aside from the great romance, like with most Alyssa Cole books, this also has some really good social commentary. This novella specifically focuses on deportation and how it relates to Fabiola and her family.
Honestly, if you like romance at all and haven't picked up this series then what the heck are you doing. I wouldn't recommend reading this as a stand-alone but you could definitely get away with just reading A Princess in Theory and then jumping straight into this, and I would definitely suggest doing so.
1) A Princess in Theory ★★★★
content warnings: deportation
representation: black sapphic protagonists, black f/f relationship
“She’d thought that Fab had smashed their connection like a smartphone beneath a car tire, but all their data had been saved on a cloud drive somewhere, it seemed, and was happily downloading and ready to resume where they’d left off.”
Me picking this book up was a complete accident. I had planned to read the sequel to APIT from the library and then move onto this one, but by chance when I was browsing Dymocks the other day I found this there for a good price so I decided to treat myself and buy it. And thank god I did.
This is a spin-off novella that's part of the Reluctant Royals series and follows Likotsi, the assistant of Thabiso, the love interest in A Princess in Theory. During that book Likotsi had a whirlwind romance with a woman in New York which ended abruptly. Now Likotsi is back in the city and has a chance encounter with Fabiola, bringing up old feelings and causing both women to question whether their relationship should have ended.
Likotsi was definitely a highlight in APIT and I was so excited when I found out she was going to be getting her own story, even if it is just a novella. Not only did I love reading about Likotsi in this but also Fabiola. They're both such interesting, well-written characters that are super endearing, which makes it extremely easy to root for their romance.
I'll admit, their romance is kind of rushed and has a love at first sight thing going on, but I'm one of those people who generally doesn't mind when that happens as long as it feels real. And I think this book nailed it. Even though there's nothing slow-burn about the romance it still works perfectly and feels so naturally developed. While this novella, probably because of its length, isn't full of super sexy scenes there are the occasional steamy moments and they were all absolute perfection.
Aside from the great romance, like with most Alyssa Cole books, this also has some really good social commentary. This novella specifically focuses on deportation and how it relates to Fabiola and her family.
Honestly, if you like romance at all and haven't picked up this series then what the heck are you doing. I wouldn't recommend reading this as a stand-alone but you could definitely get away with just reading A Princess in Theory and then jumping straight into this, and I would definitely suggest doing so.
This is easily the best book I've ever been assigned to read for school, but with the others being books like Jane Eyre (one of my least favourite books of all time) and Bridge to Terabithia that's not a big accomplishment.
Easily the best part of this book is the writing, both in terms of F. Scott Fitzgerald's style and his constant use of technique, most obviously metaphors. It's an amazingly crafted book and I can't give it enough praise for that.
The characters are fine and serve their purpose but once I finish my assignment I'm going to immediately forget about them. The blandness of the characters means that the plot is only so interesting as it relies so heavily on you giving a shit about what happens to them, so the fact that I don't meant that the plot was also just fine.
Also, Nick Carraway is hella gay, thank you for coming to my ted talk.
Easily the best part of this book is the writing, both in terms of F. Scott Fitzgerald's style and his constant use of technique, most obviously metaphors. It's an amazingly crafted book and I can't give it enough praise for that.
The characters are fine and serve their purpose but once I finish my assignment I'm going to immediately forget about them. The blandness of the characters means that the plot is only so interesting as it relies so heavily on you giving a shit about what happens to them, so the fact that I don't meant that the plot was also just fine.
Also, Nick Carraway is hella gay, thank you for coming to my ted talk.
This is a book I've had on my radar pretty much since it came out and god am I glad I didn't read it then because I don't think I would have liked it nearly as much as I do now. Truly the only thing stopping this from being a 5 is that I didn't love the framing device, but otherwise this was absolutely fantastic. I will definitely be reading the next book and looking into Tade Thompson's other work.
EDIT 16/06/20: After what's come out about Brooklyn Ray/Taylor B. Barton regarding mistreatment of authors of colour, especially Black authors, I will no longer be reading or recommending their books. (Specifics on what they've done can be found by looking up their former Twitter handle)
content warnings: death, blood magic, violence
representation: main m/m relationship, trans main character, side m/m relationship, side f/f relationship, minor non-binary character
This was so fucking good!! Darkling is a novella about a witch, Ryden, in the spooky town of Port Lewis who has many secrets, including ones about his feelings towards a friend and the true nature of his magic.
I loved all the characters. Even if I didn't like them as people, they were incredibly well-drawn for such a short novella. And the romance, oh my god, the romance. It! Was! So! Damn! Good! It's friends-to-lovers which is a trope I'm normally not a fan of, but in this case the relationship happens so early in the book that it doesn't fall into the usual traps of friends-to-lovers, i.e. so much miscommunication angst that it makes me want to neck myself. Instead this romance was just fucking cute, and the (many) sex scenes were really well-done.
The plot surrounding Ryden's powers and the way it impacts the witch community in their town was really interesting, and I liked that Brooklyn Ray used it as a way to explain the dynamics between different families of witches and explain certain aspects of the magic system.
If you need some more witchy reads (especially heading into October) I would highly recommend this one.
content warnings: death, blood magic, violence
representation: main m/m relationship, trans main character, side m/m relationship, side f/f relationship, minor non-binary character
This was so fucking good!! Darkling is a novella about a witch, Ryden, in the spooky town of Port Lewis who has many secrets, including ones about his feelings towards a friend and the true nature of his magic.
I loved all the characters. Even if I didn't like them as people, they were incredibly well-drawn for such a short novella. And the romance, oh my god, the romance. It! Was! So! Damn! Good! It's friends-to-lovers which is a trope I'm normally not a fan of, but in this case the relationship happens so early in the book that it doesn't fall into the usual traps of friends-to-lovers, i.e. so much miscommunication angst that it makes me want to neck myself. Instead this romance was just fucking cute, and the (many) sex scenes were really well-done.
The plot surrounding Ryden's powers and the way it impacts the witch community in their town was really interesting, and I liked that Brooklyn Ray used it as a way to explain the dynamics between different families of witches and explain certain aspects of the magic system.
If you need some more witchy reads (especially heading into October) I would highly recommend this one.
1) Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda ★★★★★
2) The Upside of Unrequited ★★★★★
3) Leah on the Offbeat ★★★★★
I just love my Creekwood kids so much. I'm really gonna miss 'em :') Also, getting that teeny reference to Starr made me scream even though I knew it was going to happen (I didn't catch the other cameos because I still haven't read a Nic Stone book and have only read one Adam Silvera rip)
2) The Upside of Unrequited ★★★★★
3) Leah on the Offbeat ★★★★★
I just love my Creekwood kids so much. I'm really gonna miss 'em :') Also, getting that teeny reference to Starr made me scream even though I knew it was going to happen (I didn't catch the other cameos because I still haven't read a Nic Stone book and have only read one Adam Silvera rip)
