𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒉 & 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒘𝒔 - 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎

This was everything I needed! I picked this up expecting an easy and fun read. I got SO much more! A university for monsters, secrets, ancient gods, girl gang, found family, ultimate betrayals. Just 🤌🏻🤌🏻 

𝑴𝒚 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔. 𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔. 𝑴𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉.

I loved the gang. They are everything🥹 They have each other's backs no matter what and I cannot tell you how many times I teared up or laughed from them. Rhi and Nick are also adorable😍 After that absolute BANGER of a cliffhanger, I cannot wait for Venomous! 

“𝑰’𝒅 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰’𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖.”

There isn't a lot I can say without giving away the best parts of this book, but it's one I will forever recommend🖤🖤

It's set up like a Lucy Foley book with all the POV swapping and I just can't🫠

𝑺𝒐, 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔, 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒔, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒔- 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒑𝒊𝒙𝒊𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔?

Infinity. I read all 304 pages of this book in one sitting. If I could erase my mind to read it for the first time again, I would! King of the Unsightly has all the banter, a snarky af FMC (Adeline) that I completely loved and vibed with from the beginning, an animal companion (🐦‍⬛) and SUCH a broody MMC 😍

𝑰𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒖𝒑 𝒎𝒚 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒂 𝒈𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕?

I was completely in the whole "wtf is going on" 😂 I wanted answers just as bad as Addy and I could of strangled a few people with her. I hope in the next book, we get more of a look as the side characters. Especially Rysa and Levisus, I really loved them🖤

𝑨 𝒈𝒐𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒌𝒆 ... 𝑰 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅.

I feel a lot of development coming in the next book because while the world was introduced in a way that was super easy to grasp, not a lot was explained. There were so many different creatures! And the Grigs? I need to know what that's all about! This set the rest of the series up soooo well. Literally anything could happen at this point and I'm DYING waiting a whole year for the next book😭

“𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒕.”

Okay, so Kaschal. Our faery 🧚🏻‍♂️😂 He's broody, sarcastic, and we love him. Addy & him are 🤌🏻 The banter and sarcastic back and forth between them had me howling, even in the life or death situations. They're so good together and the end with them? 🥹🥹🥹 Mr. "I keep my promises" 🤭🖤

𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒍𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑹𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒉𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚.

The ending is a HUGE cliffhanger! My jaw was dropped, unhinged like that Banshee's and I still haven't recovered. It has taken me 2 hours to figure out how to form words for my review. I just can't. My HEART 😭🫠 I need to talk theories because there were little breadcrumbs throughout this whole book and I'm HERE FOR IT👀 I'm rambling at this point, but I need yall to read this. Preorder it, wait until release day, just- it's an obsession at this point, okay?🤷🏻‍♀️❤️‍🔥

It took me a week to get 50 pages in. I'm not sure why, but I just can't get into the world or vibe with the writing style. I really really wanted to love it but I just don't think the style is for me. 

𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒚

This made my brain hurt😅 I loved the story, but had such a hard time wrapping my mind around anything that went on in this book other than the small explanation at the end. Which, don't get me wrong, made sense, but I don't know... I wanted more of an explanation or more reasoning for what the Willow World was. Maybe a hallway? And each door opens into another world/universe, but then there are also different worlds/universes above and below the hallway that that hall can't access? It's insaaaaane!🫠

“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔?” ... “𝑰’𝒎 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔! 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒔!”

I enjoyed the characters. Uncle Earl is the crazy uncle everyone secretly wants lol. He was so kind, loving, and caring to everyone. Simon is the best friend who is always down for your insane, get you in trouble shit😂 And Kara (Carrot) is a great FMC. She takes all the messes up things thrown at her on stride, while internally freaking the hell out. 

𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉.

The main reason this one was a 3.5 instead of 4 for me is the middle. The beginning had me hooked and I was ready to devour it, and did. Until around page 150 when it died down. The middle had a few interesting parts, but was a lot slower paced and I felt like I was dragging reading it. The ending picked up though and I can confidently say that I will never own a piece a taxidermy in my life😭

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒐𝒃𝒋𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔.

𝑮𝒖𝒍𝒇: 𝑨 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘. 𝑨 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒔. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒔 𝒖𝒔 𝒖𝒑.

This was such a wild ride. David is the forgotten kid in his family. All his life he has been overlooked and shunned by everyone except his older brother, James, and father. While staying at the same summer cottage they rent every year, they learn of a new add on the owner built over winter and David soon finds out that it's a portal to some kind of Hell. Trying to guard the family that so easily forgets him, it's his job to unravel the mystery of how to burn the bridge between their world for good. 

𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆. 𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒆 𝒖𝒑.

I was invested in David! I was rooting for him the entire time. I was thoroughly creeped out and on the edge of my seat waiting for enough clues to be revealed to figure out what David had gotten himself into🫠 I loved the journal entries from Everett! They were half a look into what he went through trying to save our world and burn that bridge himself, and half a look into his own personal life and everything that went on with the original owners of the cottage. 

𝑰’𝒎 𝑫𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒅 𝑹𝒂𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒓 ... 𝑰’𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒎, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒚𝒔𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒎𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒔𝒘𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒖𝒑.

The epilogue set up the next book perfectly. I cannot wait to dive into it and finally get some answers! I happen to also be obsessed with the art in this book. It takes the scenes to a whole new level and the bonus novella is just 🤌🏻🤌🏻 

𝑭𝒖𝒄𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖, 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒆? 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑯𝒆’𝒔 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌.

Thank you SO much to the author and RRBookTours for the e-ARC!

I've wanted to start this series for SO long, but didn't know how I'd feel about it. I'm upset I waited as long as I did! I loved everyone and the story. This was a super easy, fast read that I DEVOURED❤️‍🔥 It was just what I needed and I will now be reading one in between other books or when the mood reading hits hard 😂 I can't wait to get to Liz's book! She was my favorite🖤

🪐Favorite Quotes🪐
From now until my spirit departs this plane, there shall be none for me but her.

Does she not realize? Anywhere she goes, I will gladly follow. She is my heart, my resonance, my soul. My mate.

I don’t want to be here if Vektal is not.

This was creepy, horrifying, and absolutely worst nightmare situation. I loved it👏🏻 I was immediately sucked in and devoured every word. It is a YA so the characters were a little immature, but the story was top-freaking-notch. I was not expecting the twist at the end, and now I'm super excited for book 2! My jaw was on the floor. I knew something was sus, but not once did I see that shit coming😭 

I can't really say too much about this book without giving up details or taking away the goosebumps youll get from reading it. Oh, but I wish I could! I wanted to read this after seeing it was "Jumanji but Japanese-inspired folklore" and that hits the nail on the head. A game all these kids played thinking nothing of it, and 4 years later they're sucked back into a horrifying, deadly game of matching cards to try and bring back the best friend they thought was dead. Theres grief, healing, a huge reveal, heart break, and edge of your seat suspense. This was the perfect way to start off my October reads🖤

🎴Favorite Quotes🎴
“Just because you want it to look a certain way—be a certain way—doesn’t mean it will. Not everything comes in a neat package.”

“I’ve got your back, and you’ve got mine. If you can’t trust anything else, you can trust that.”

“Whatever happens tomorrow, promise me we won’t drift apart again.” ... “They’ll have to pry me off with a crowbar.”

This was a cute little read. I enjoyed it enough, even though it was a little everywhere 😅 I feel like too much was going on for this to only be 69 pages. Maybe novellas aren't really my thing?🤷🏻‍♀️ 

This was such a a unique read and I loved it! After Cyra learns her sister's murder was due to a serial killer, she infiltrates a support group full of them in order to find out which one killed her sister. I loved the different perspectives of the serial killers in the group every now and then. It was interesting and added more to the mystery because you really don't know who could have killed her sister. 

I read this in 2 sittings (one if I didn't have responsibilities and things to get done😂). I was completely absorbed in the mystery and on the edge of my seat knowing that multiple killers could be after Cyra as well. I didn't see the end coming at all! I was shocked at who the killer was, but not all that shocked at the second twist. There were little things in the book that made it obvious, but I enjoyed and loved it all the same!

I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who usually enjoys mystery thrillers, but love the twist of seeing it through the killers eyes instead of the victims.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and the author for the eARC!