“This town was built on revenge, and it’s never made anything better or right.”

Stars (Out of 10): 7/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Bo

Spoiler Free: I haven’t had the best experiences with witchy books as of late, so the main reason for me picking up this book, especially the hardcover, was based on how gorgeous it was.

Overall, it was an okay book. I didn’t connect with Penny until later, as I’m starting to find the whole “Plain Jane” act quite overdone, and the romance itself was developed a bit too quickly (though there is a reason for this explained later.) And while the plot itself was fairly cool, and I liked the interjections of tales from the past (I am always a sucker for that kinda stuff), it was incredibly predictable. So much so that I guessed the main twist in the first 30%.

Why did I rate this book at 7 stars still then?

It was really all because of the ending. Yes I guessed the twist, and I guessed the truth hidden behind the actions of both the main character and other characters, but the way it was actually done was so beautifully written that I couldn’t help forgiving its predictability. No it didn’t shock me or surprise, or completely blew my mind like some other books lately, but the final conflict and its resolution still got to me, and I couldn’t help feeling attached to the characters in the final moments of the book.

Additionally, I also really enjoyed how the story itself was told. For the most part the book was really nicely written, especially the portions set in the past that reveal the story of the sisters. It combined well with the voice of the narrator, even if they were a bit whiny at points.

Overall, I did end up enjoying the novel, even if it was hard to make myself read it at points since I knew where it was going to go.

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

I guessed that there was much more to our dear Penny Talbot when she woke up with the taste of seawater in her mouth. Obviously, the first place my mind goes to is that she was taken over by a sister. I thought this was way too obvious, so I kept holding out for there to be some other reason that Penny could see the sisters, but when Hazel was never seen anywhere (and the main character never actively thought on where the final sister was), it became quite obvious.

However, the tragic parting of Hazel and Bo at the end was still extremely heartbreaking, and mainly because it contained so many conflicting emotions. Hazel wanted to fight to stay, but both didn’t want to force Bo to see his brother’s murderer everyday and didn’t want to take Penny’s life. The intense hate/love conflict within Bo was also amazing to see, as the image of the girl he loved fought with the image he had in his head of the monster that drowned his brother. All in all, I just thought the ending was the best done part of the novel, and what led me to giving this book the rating I did.

“He talked about the ocean between people. And how the whole point of everything is to find a shore worth swimming to.”

Stars (Out of 10): 9/10 Stars

Favorite Character: I honestly loved everyone for different reasons!

Spoiler Free: Why did I put this off so long!!! I ended up loving just about everything about this book, from the romance to the plot to the narrator’s unique voice! I mainly picked this up so because I wanted to have read the book before I saw the movie, and I’m really glad I did! Super excited for the movie now!

I think it’s actually been quite a while since I last read a contemporary, and this is definitely the perfect book to warm me back up to genre! It was simple in a good way, and was such a nice break from all the intense sci-fi and fantasy I’ve been reading!

In terms of plot, this book definitely wasn’t the most mind-bending one ever, but the mystery of Blue’s identity really added to the overall feel of the novel! Additionally, the ending perfectly wrapped up every loose end, and I loved it for that!

I think the main thing that made me love the book was the narrator’s voice. It felt so unique and honest, and super funny as well. There was something so truthful and interesting about the way Simon saw and thought about the world, and it made you really cheer for him from page 1 where he started being blackmailed.

Overall, I think I’ve found another author to add to my list of contemporary favorites, and I can’t wait to read her next book! (Which I have waiting at home!!)

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers: That ending! Was so cute!

Spoiler

I am also super super happy that the book didn’t just end at Blue’s reveal, and that we got to learn both more about how that relationship would continue (like the fact that Bram was willing to be out/make it official) and that the friendships troubles were also given a solid ending!

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 3/10 Stars

Spoiler Free: Anything that claims to follow/use Greek Mythology always intrigues me. I grew up on Percy Jackson and other Rick Riordan books, so I just have a soft spot for the stuff! Unfortunately, even with that soft spot, I did not enjoy this book at all. I wanted to drop it at 35%, and almost did after hearing from other readers that the story isn’t worth it in the end, but I ended up continuing (I still don’t know why.) In the end, they were right. While the story is the only thing I may have liked about the book, it still wasn’t phenomenal.

First off, this book uses a ton of tropes and stereotypes that I am just over. We’ve got insta-love, which tried to follow a haters to lovers pattern but switched waaay too fast to lovers. It honestly made me cringe at points, especially when the narrator would think of this boy she loved and how she would do anything for them. (Uhhhh… okay.) Additionally, I hate most of the choices surrounding Gabriel. One, he seems to carry some of the general gay stereotypes, but only at certain points. He spends a whole scene gushing over fashion with this other female character, but we don’t see that hobby/trait brought back again, which makes it feel shallow and fake. He is also constantly portrayed as someone to be protected, as weak and small, with our main narrator constantly saving him/feeling sorry for him. I honestly don’t know if the readers get to know Gabriel at all beyond feeling sorry for him and his situation, as that is all our narrator seems to think about him.

These continues on to other character problems. None of our characters feel really fleshed out, and most seem to be based off of one specific trait. We have our standard smart girl who only cares about proving herself and her superiority and our evil dude who just enjoys killing puppies for fun. The narrator’s main rival throughout the story also has barely any depth, even with the parallels the pair constantly have with each other (I was honestly expecting more here, some sort of revelation or something, but no.) Even the narrator’s best friend in the competition, Amy, shows little more than her thieving skills and sad backstory, and their constant tension (caused by tiny little things and always instigated by Amy) stops us from actually getting to know her as well. Even the gods all seem like carbon copies of each other, and this is the saddest part. Instead of developing their personalities from their powers and stories, all seem to be exactly the same. Vain, with huge egos and lust for power.

This brings me to our narrator, Hope (ironic name eh?). She seems to be almost good at everything, and when she does lose, it’s either because she wasn’t trying or her overflowing goodness got in the way of her hurting someone or letting someone else be hurt/left behind. She’s an overdone chosen one, and I feel like she doesn’t really have to learn or do anything in order to solve her problems. She’s just magically better than everyone. I did like the ARC with her mother, on how that’s her one motive, but even that is given up in the end for a more “selfless” narrative (which, to me, kinda removed Hope’s one drive as well.)

I did like that the quests/challenges were all based around other heroic quests, and the planning/idea behind them all was pretty intriguing. However, the action of completing them felt too easy for the most part, and any challenge Hope had with them was trying to ensure all her friends made it through as well. It once again enforced the idea that these challenges weren’t actually difficult at all for Hope.

Overall, I’m pretty disappointed with this story. It had a really nice idea, and the plot was mainly intriguing, but the lack of support from the characters/an uninteresting romance made the entire novel fall short.

“I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.

Stars (Out of 10): 8.5/10 Stars

Favorite Character: At first it was Zelie, but by the end I loved Amari!

Spoiler Free: Ahhh this book lived up to the hype! Fully and completely!

I really really enjoyed my time spent reading this book, and it unfortunately went by way too quickly! (I read this 500+ page book faster than I’ve read from 300 page books… it was just paced so well and constantly held my attention!)

There were things I liked and loved about all of this book I think, from the characters to the plot to the world! For a debut, it was overall super well developed and well written, and I cannot wait for the next few books.

In terms of world, I thought it was super well done. I was never confused by how it worked/the magic system, and I really loved the variety in magic and spells (especially since our MC had a pretty unique power, and we didn’t just see the standard elemental magic.) Additionally, even the small details overall added to the strength of the world and it’s realism. For example, all the animals had slightly altered names, like a lionaire and a gorillon. With this tactic, Adeyemi was both able to add a magical and mystical feel to the world and separate it from our own while still ensuring the readers were able to understand and recognize the animals, and making sure we didn’t have to memorize a million extra words just for animals either.

In terms of plot, I won’t say it was the most imaginative or twisty one ever, but it was definitely action-packed and exciting. It was able to weave build up and action very well, in a way that made neither overbearing and kept the book well balanced. There were never times I ached for the book to speed up or slow down, and the entire course of the plot felt really natural!

Additionally, the characters were all just as amazing. They had their motivations, their traits, their weaknesses, and they stuck with them. One of the worst things a book can do is give a character a desire and then make them wishy-washy on it, or make them change back and forth between different personalities. Adeyemi did not do this at all, and stuck with the characters she created while still giving them chances to learn and grow (some did, some didn’t, and some are still on their way!)

Unfortunately, the only reason this book is not a 5 star read for me is because it just didn’t click with me on the same level as books like Graceling and The Last Namsara did recently, and I think this has to do with the romances. While I loved the main ones, they sometimes felt as if they progressed weirdly or too quickly, and this didn’t always line up with the characters involved in the romances. While I cheered for them, I didn’t absolutely love how they were handled either.

However!! The romance is far from the focus of this book, with the parts that are important being the best parts as well. Definitely pick this book up if you’ve been considering it (or even if you haven’t!)

First off, I would like to thank the author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 5/10 Stars

Spoiler Free: The author actually reached out herself to me in regards to reading this book, and I was quite excited at the prospect of reading another book about the four horsemen after recently reading Laura Thalassa’s interpretation of them. Needless to say, this book differs greatly from that one!

For starters, not only does this book use biblical characters as the powerful entities in this book, but she uses greek ones as well, such as Hades. While at some points it got kinda overbearing, and it was never actually explained how everything works together, that didn’t end up being too much of a problem, and I think I would prefer this no explanation over a poor one that confused things even more.

The plot itself was fairly interesting, the narrator had her soul sold before she was even born by her parents, and has spent most of her life waiting for that debt to be collected. It involves a bunch of other supernatural and spiritual figures, such as the devil, demons, Hades, seraphs, warlocks, and vampires, and is ultra packed in terms of content. Not that much happened in this book besides the beginning of the end of the world though, and I still don’t have much of a clue about the grander scope of the plot as a whole, and where it’s actually going to.

In terms of characters, I was a bit less happy. In the end I don’t know if I actually connected/liked any of them as people, or would choose to befriend any of them, but I did like how most of them stuck to the “truth” of themselves. For example, our narrator can really come off like a bitch sometimes, but I get it, her life has never been her own so she’s kinda constantly pissed at the world. But this core of anger and frustration is what drives her, from the confusing and sometimes inconsistent relationship with her parents to how mean she can get with some people, especially her friends. While I wouldn’t wanna be on the other end of her tongue, I do like her fire.

I think the thing that most got to me was the writing style. There were in general quite a few small mistakes here and there, some typos, but I also get that this is an indie and there isn’t a whole team behind this work, which actually makes the existence of only a few of these mistakes quite impressive. The main issue though was the short sentences that the author favored. There were a lot of moments where one thought or phrase was split up into many short sentences for emphasis, or repeated many times in short sentences for emphasis, and it kinda made nothing actually emphasized. It ended up just making some of the portions pretty choppy, and took me out of parts of the work. Additionally, there were moments where the narrator would latch on to a small detail and go on a small rant about something completely unrelated to the current moment at hand, which also brought me out at points.

Overall, I am still extremely intrigued to see what happens next! This book ends on quite the cliffhanger!

First off, I would like to thank the publisher and author for providing me this ARC to review. Please note that the version I read was an advanced copy, and certain events/language may be changed in the published edition.

Stars (Out of 10): 3/10 Stars

Spoiler Free: This novella was meant to introduce the world and make readers more interested in the series, but I don’t really think this book did that at all. If I were to judge this novella purely on how well it accomplishes that task, it would’ve received 1 star. It barely bothered to explain the world at all, the one we were supposed to be growing interest in, and focused instead on a very oddly paced plot with characters that all read kind of the same.

Unfortunately, I found out pretty early on that I would most likely not be a fan of this novella. This revelation came purely from the writing style at first, as it felt super cut and dry, very simple and uninteresting. Instead of utilizing language to properly make readers feel and understand the world better, everything just felt stated. “Character A did this. Character B reacted like this.” It told more than it showed, which caused a major disconnect between me and the characters.

Additionally, the plot itself was fairly simple to guess, yet wasn’t aware of this. It not so subtly dropped many clues before every twist, so every reader would have actually picked up on it before it was revealed, but somehow our MC, Darian, was entirely clueless to everything going on around him. The pacing of the overall plot was also fairly weird. We had a very quick-moving start, almost as if we were dropped into the middle of a story, and then we get a lull in the middle, followed by a final chapter in Darian’s POV that suddenly dumps a bunch more information on the reader. When combined with the simple writing, it almost felt as if I was reading a very detailed outline of what the book was going to contain, instead of the book itself.

The world itself, as I mentioned above, is also just poorly explained. We learn nothing of the magic system (which is part of why I requested this novella, it sounded interesting), and almost nothing on the tension between the smaller villages and the kingdom, just that magic is the cause of it. It leaves readers in a limbo of who to believe, as we aren’t given a sympathetic outlook on either side. All we know is that the king is burning villages in search of a witch that is probably dead (but how do only the villages know this? Why doesn’t the king?) It’s all really confusing, so I’m trying not to dwell on it.

Lastly, I wasn’t able to get a grasp on almost any of the characters. While I overall did find Sian interesting, and the interplay of motives running through him, this same level of depth did not come through well in the other characters, and instead made them feel incontinuous. For example, with our main hero Darian, we don’t actually get to learn about life back in the village, or anything that makes us sympathetic to the cause Darian’s mother was fighting for. Furthermore, this makes his constant longing for his old life hard to empathize with, since we have no understanding of that life. His inner voice also seems to shift dramatically within the story, from a focus on home/hatred of the evil king, to a focus on love interest only, and then back to a focus on revenge/hatred without regard of said love interest. This imbalance actually comes through in that love interest as well, and I have a hard time gauging what her inner thoughts actually are, even after having read a POV chapter from her.

However, I was still intrigued. Even with everything above, I still want to learn more. Some might say that this want for more stems from the lack of content that the book provided me with in the first place, but I also didn’t expect much coming into this in terms of content (it is only 100 pages!)

“The past doesn't exist. It's just a story we tell ourselves. And stories change each time you tell them.”

Stars (Out of 10): 8.5/10 Stars

Favorite Character: The one and only Jane Sinner

Spoiler Free: Ughhhhhhhh I loved this book so much! It’s honestly everything I wish for from a contemporary!

How To Make A Good Contemporary
1. Have a strong, and sometimes hilarious, narrative voice
2. A good blend of struggle, humor, and love
3. Add a cat

And then this book had to go and add a competition into the mix. It’s like this book is after my heart!

Now, to get a little more serious, I did seriously enjoy and love this book, and the main reason for this definitely had to be Jane. Her voice and her struggles felt so real and brutal and honest all while remaining absolutely hilarious. From her facade of having no care in the world to how hidden she keeps her true emotions reminded me of myself at points, but then Jane always came in with some funny quip to keep me from dwelling too much. Additionally, the way the emotions were written along made me feel them almost as strongly as I image Jane did, which also added to overall “realness” that the book held.

The plot itself was also pretty amazing. I didn’t guess any of the “twists,” as I was too wrapped up in Jane’s competitive strategy to really consider what the others were up to, and I preferred it that way. Additionally, the competitions were just really fun to read through, and getting to hear about everything after it happened (since this book was written in the form of a diary) allowed for Jane to add her afterthoughts to them. The pacing itself was also pretty great, spreading the action and emotions throughout the book in a fairly balanced way.

Unfortunately, the only reason I dropped this book a star was due to its ending. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the ending of the book itself, but I didn’t like how short it was compared to the rest of the book. For reasons I’ll explain a bit better in the spoiler section, it felt a bit rushed and unfinished, and I didn’t feel fully satisfied by the end of it, almost as if it needed a bit more words/pages to provide proper closure for the book. But I still absolutely loved what the ending contained, and what it meant for Jane and her future.

Overall, this book made me laugh a lot, cry a bit, and taught me something about myself along the way, and that’s all I can really ask from a book.

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

In terms of the ending, my main upset was the lack of more reconciliation between Robbie and Jane, since there was definitely a huge divide there. Specifically, the lack of verbal reconciliation between the two. The kiss is the main thing Jane provides for repairing the relationship, rather than using any of her own words. Robbie is the only one who we see speak (notice my distinction, Jane could technically be keeping things from the diary, and therefore from us.) With Jane’s silence/lack of being able to word her inner feelings to the people around her being such a huge part of the novel, this final romantic moment we see feels a bit hollow without Jane making the effort to verbally communicate her feelings to Robbie. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved the kiss and had spent most of the novel anticipating it, but I don’t like the odd feeling it gave the relationship, and that it didn’t feel fully resolved moving into the end of the novel.

“But you know, there’s an upside here. Because when you spend so much time just intensely wanting something, and then you actually get the thing? It’s magic.”

Stars (Out of 10): 9/10 Stars

Favorite Character: Reid

Spoiler Free: Someone could say I’m on a bit of a contemporary binge right now. That someone would be right. I’ve probably more than doubled my contemporaries read so far this year in the past few weeks. And so far I’m loving all of them!

Back in my Simon Vs. review, I said I most likely found another favorite contemporary author. The Upside of Unrequited has just further cemented that point! There is just something about the voice of the characters that I can’t help but love, and the fact that all of Albertalli’s books so far have had happy but meaningful endings is also a huge plus (not that I dislike sad endings, I just love some happiness sometimes!)

In comparison to Simon, this was still quite a different book. We had a female, straight narrator instead, where the insecurity rested in weight rather than sexuality. This led to quite a different tale, with a focus on self-love rather than overall acceptance. However, in both this book and Simon, I absolutely loved the romances + family relationships.

I was less into the plot of this one, as Simon had a whole mystery aspect tied to it that I just loved, but I devoured this book just the same. The narration was just so fantastic that no matter how boring the actual events had been, I still would have probably enjoyed the book thanks to Molly’s narration alone.

I also really loved the characters, and how tied together everything was (which is kinda how it is in real life!) They felt real, from their inner thoughts (for Molly), to their reaction to certain events/changes, to how their relationships developed and changed with one another. The only character I still cannot find myself liking is Cassie, but I’ve explained that more in the spoiler section. Also, can I just say that I audibly gasped when I found out how this book connected to Simon. Vs, I was so surprised! (Even though it was kind of obvious had I been actively looking for it.)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I cannot wait for the release of Leah on the Offbeat now!

Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!

Spoilers:

Spoiler

The only thing I wasn’t the biggest fan of was how the plot with Cassie, the twin sister, was done. The entire book she is pretty much demonized, since we only get to see Molly’s POV on the situation, and it makes the resolution feel kind of weak. Unfortunately, we as readers do not get the entire past full of love and friendship to combine with the current rough spot, so to us, Cassie just seems overly mean in some situations (such as the painting mason jars scene.)

Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars

Favorite Character: I loved the personality of Freya in this retelling!

Spoiler Free: Ever since I was a kid, I loved all sorts of mythology. A lot of this was due to just always growing up with the tales of Greek gods, whether it be in cool elementary school projects (my class hosted its own set of Olympic Games + learned a lot about Ancient Greece) combined with the constant presence of Rick Riordan stories (even now!) When I heard Neil Gaiman was coming out with his own retelling of Norse mythology, I was super interested. I hadn’t read any of his work before (only a short story in a college class a few weeks back), but I knew he was popular. I recently picked up this super pretty version of it in the States, and just now was in the mood for it!

First off, the main thing that surprised me was how much I already knew. I’m by far no expert on any sort of mythology, especially Norse, but I have read Riordan’s series set in it, and was surprised by how much that one series had taught me. Additionally, it was also just interesting to read Gaiman’s note in the beginning, and to learn that so much of this mythology has been lost over time.

Overall, I had a lot of fun reading this. It was really just a collection of stories loosely tied together by the overarching presence of Ragnarok to come, but I still really enjoyed each one. I think almost every single story held my attention, and while there were no characters there to really “bond” or connect with, I still found myself saddened when reading their final chapter, Ragnarok.

I also really enjoyed the way Gaiman told the stories. It was fairly informational, and didn’t focus much on use of emotion or scenery, but I still found myself really liking it. In the end, it was a bit dry, but that’s also just the best way to present these sorts of stories!

In the end, I do not regret picking this book up at all, and really enjoyed the afternoon I spent reading it! It’s honestly exactly what you should expect from a book of myths!