Not what I expected and not my cup of tea. 

DNF @ 20%

I’ve tried to get into this book twice now within 2 weeks and it’s just nothing like I expected. I watched The Rite (2011) expecting the book to be at least somewhat similar but it’s not from what I gathered.

This is a nonfiction account of the history of exorcisms and does not follow one exorcism start to finish like the movie. It’s also very heavily based in religion. Not super surprising there, but it’s easier to consume religious content when it’s in the form of fiction for me. When it’s non-fiction historical accounts like this, I found myself bored and disinterested. Ultimately, this isn’t what I was looking for and because of that I couldn’t get into it. My expectations were too deeply rooted in the movie.

Of Flesh and Blood follows the story of a forensic psychiatrist investigating the crimes of a Louisiana serial killer who is infamous for brutally murdering and consuming eight victims. The Cajun Cannibal takes his own life as he nears his arrest. 

Fast forward 10 years, amidst a growth of copycat killers, the forensic psychiatrist Dr. Blackburn discovers that he is related to the Cajun Cannibal. 

I was really hoping that this would be at least a 4 star read for me because I was extremely excited about this one after reading the blurb. Unfortunately, I had problems with the pacing and how this book was set up. I found the layout a bit confusing, specifically in the first half of the book with the character introductions and perspective jumps.

I did love the concept though. I graduated with a degree in psychology and briefly considered forensic psychology so when I read that the main character was a forensic psychiatrist, it really drew me in. I also enjoyed the character’s descent into madness driven by this case and the investigation into the supernatural.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc in return for my honest review.

The first half of this started off stronger for me than the second half. I started to lose some steam on this around the midpoint. It was interesting and very strange to read. I liked the concept early on but again, at about midpoint, it just became a bit overwhelming for me and I didn’t appreciate the concept as much. I appreciated how this book referenced the struggles/violence of women and motherhood. This wasn’t too long of a book but it felt long to me when I was reading it. I think the overload of her transformation ultimately wasn’t for me. I’m still glad that I read this, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. If it was a bit more toned down, I think I would’ve appreciated this more.

Reese is a senior in high school studying astronomy. She wants to cut ties with her abusive boyfriend Michael, but right before she does, he suddenly gets into a terrible accident. We see Michael struggle with his new life as a vampire as well as his breakup with Reese.

This story not only shows Michael’s life as a monster in the literal sense but also his monstrous acts against someone he claims to love. This story is by no means a light read. It deals with very real life struggles that many people, specifically women, go through. Michael is such a well-done yet hated character. This story shows the struggle of life for women stuck in an abusive relationship and how difficult it can be for them to get out. I think this book did a fantastic job balancing the reality of life with the fictional.

This book is a quick read, but can be emotionally taxing. Even so, I think this book offers up a unique perspective of domestic abuse and can help others gain insight and sympathy for the victims. The dedication in this book was perfect.

Please read the trigger warnings before diving into this book. There are several triggering scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my thoughts.

I will preface this by saying, please if you love this series and love this book, do not take personal offense by this review. This is just my opinion and my takeaways from my experience. If you loved this book, consider me happy for you and don’t let me sway or offend you!

I don’t believe I have any spoilers within this review, but please take caution anyways if you did not complete the book.

That being said, I’m unfortunately pretty disappointed with Onyx Storm. Not only did I find it relatively boring, but I wasn’t drawn in by the characters either. Something about this book just felt, lacking to me. Book 1, I absolutely adored the dragons, reading about them, and their personalities. Book 3, didn’t satisfy the same way.

This all just started to feel incredibly repetitive to me as well. Specifically the characters. I honestly got tired of reading about Violet and Xaden questioning their love to each other, reiterating their love for each other, and why are they constantly withholding sex from each other? I think each book so far has contained some version of this and I find it worn-out. Their relationship is so dramatic yet I don’t feel as though it’s well developed at all. It was too juvenile for my personal liking. I’m sure if you look through my highlights and notes on this book, you’ll see examples. The lightning show while they have sex every time just had me rolling my eyes.

This book was over 500 pages and I feel like most of it was unnecessary. I didn’t walk away from this book feeling like my life was changed or that a lot was accomplished within these 500 pages. I don’t think the plot made a lot of significant progress.

I won’t spoil the ending so don’t worry. But when I got to the end, I felt completely disconnected with the cliff-hanger. Maybe it’s because of the lack of connection that I felt to Book 3 but I was completely unphased by the ending. I’m thinking this might be the last book I read of this series. I just found out that there’s supposed to be 2 more books but this series has lost its steam. I guess I’ll see how I feel later, but I currently don’t feel compelled enough about this story or these characters anymore to continue reading to see how it turns out for them all.

I’ll admit some fault here as I feel like I did forget some of the side characters which affected my connection to them. But I also didn’t enjoy Iron Flame enough to warrant a reread before diving into Onyx Storm.

The dragons were still the best part, but I felt underwhelmed with them in this book as well. I really hoped that I would like this more than I did.

Theodora and her fiancé Connor, leave to join his family on their winter retreat. As she arrives, she starts receiving messages warning her to stay away from Connor and his family yet she does not heed the warning. After arriving, she realizes that this place feels familiar to her but she can’t understand why. She soon starts to realize that there is more to Connor’s family than she originally thought and she becomes determined to find out their secrets after she discovers a photo of herself as a child on the premises. 

A Killing Cold is a quick read and an interesting one at that. The suspense and mystery kept me intrigued from start to finish. While I enjoyed this book, I also felt that a variation (or a few variations) of this story have been done before. It wasn’t the most unique book I’ve read. The characters left a bit to be desired and I had trouble discerning between all of them at times. This led to me needing to double-back a few times to be sure that I was understanding correctly. I think this book was still worth reading and was an enjoyable story.

I received the audiobook and thought the narration was very well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audiobook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Cole and Lisa were fostering a baby when the mother comes to their front door and bleeds to death. Before she dies, her last words are warning Cole and Lisa to take the baby because “he’s coming for her.” Cole, Lisa, and the baby then go into hiding. Thirteen years later, after settling down, Cole is framed for a murder and they have to all go on the run again. They are both evading the FBI and running for their lives from the real murderer.

This book was action-packed and fast-paced from the start. I loved the story here and really enjoyed the characters. This is a very close-knit family that deeply cares for one another. I didn’t find myself bored at all while listening to this. The ending was satisfying and this book was well worth the read. There were maybe a few plot holes, but I didn’t mind.

The narrator, James Anderson Foster, was fantastic as well and helped keep the story engaging.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this audiobook.

I was pretty excited for this book but it didn’t live up to my expectations. The plot wasn’t bad, but this dragged on for me. The beginning started off strong but I started to really struggle towards the middle to the end of this book. It wasn’t too long of a read, but it took me longer than my usual reading speed to finish this one. I didn’t find myself reaching for it as much. I also really struggled with the multiple POVs and felt a little bit confused at times. 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.