sarai0410's Reviews (404)

I knew I enjoyed Regency romances (thank you Bridgerton) but I kept putting this one off for some reason - HUGE MISTAKE. I absolutely adored Half a Soul and I will be picking up the next in the trilogy, Ten Thousand Stiches asap. While it could be considered a cozy read as it doesn't have super high stakes, there were elements of the story that highlighted the of darkness of Regency-era England and the cold demeanor of the ton (at least for many in that circle).

Dora was an amazing character - her unintentional humor and wit was so enjoyable and I loved her interactions with Elias, as well as Vanessa and Albert. While the story could have used a little more of a 'slow burn' with Elias, I quite enjoyed how quickly they became attached. Elias' responses to and expectations of Dora were so sweet to witness - I think her 'oddness' is a perfect match for his.

I would have loved to see a little more in the Epilogue but ultimately I thought the way Atwater resolved the mystery of both the sleeping curse and Dora's unique situation were done quite well and showed that not everything needs to be cleaned up 'just right' to be a happy resolution.

 

This was super trippy - a well done psychological horror that had me questioning what was really going on with our main character, Riley.

I found the writing style of Lives of the Monster Dogs to be as entertaining as it was frustrating - I enjoyed the various styles that were explored, interviews, diaries, even an opera, but found the characters themselves (particularly Cleo) to be annoying and flat. The most interesting aspect of the story was the 'historical' bits of the story of the 'Father of Monster Dogs', Augustus Rank - while disturbing, I was more invested in his history than I was of the present day (again, mostly because of Cleo's lack of reaction to literally everything going on around her..).

I was finally starting to be interested in the present day when the story abruptly ended with zero resolution. I don't mind an open-ended conclusion but it should also feel like an ending and not just like I was missing pages. 

I've loved every volume of Dinosaur Sanctuary so far and volume 6 is no different. I really can't get enough of learning more about the dinos - scientifically and their individual personalities. I appreciate how each volume highlights the importance of research and continued funding for research programs and animal (or dinosaur in this case) sanctuaries.

Back to (im)patiently waiting for the next volume! 

Look...I love me a dark romance with a mile long list of trigger warnings (yes - I could probably do with some therapy, no need to remind me) but the grammar and sentence structure, as well as skipping around in a scene so I have no idea what is happening from sentence to sentence, were too distracting to even care about the plot. 

2025 reread + audiobook:
I didn't think it was possible to love this book more than when I first read it but I was completely wrong. Holy hell the audiobook is icing on the metaphorical cake - I was literally cackling while listen to the duet narration and I think Elena Wolfe and Jacob Morgan have spoiled me for all other narrators. Favorite romance? Nah. Favorite BOOK - hands down.

I am so freaking excited for the sequel Caught Up. Queue me foaming at the mouth, waiting for June 10th to arrive.

2024:
Navessa Allen absolutely knocked it out of the park with this 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Characters - brilliant
Plot - exceptional and believable
Humor - top tier and giggle worthy
Smut - 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🥵

I loved this so much. I'd been waiting for this since it was first teased on social media months ago and the wait was absolutely worth it. It's totally worth going into this without knowing much but definitely check the trigger warnings at the start of the book because this is very spicy (in the best ways).

Edit: Allen handled the miscommunication trope so well! Miscommunication is the bane of my existence and biggest pet peeve in a romance story and she KILLED it. 

Looking for old school Wattpad fanfiction vibes? Welp..here you go. 

A wonderful conclusion to a beautiful series. I have very few words for my thoughts on this as much of my thoughts go into spoiler territory, but Fawcett created the perfect blend of cozy and dark, fantastical and historical, FMC-focused and romantic.

While I do wish we had a little more time with Emily and Wendall together, the story has always been about Emily at it's core, so the finale should be no different.

I don't tend to reread often, but the Emily Wilde will be one I revisit in the future ❤️

 

The first thing that drew me into this book was the cover but I found the premise interesting as well. It's an odd book - the plot is thin but still intriguing, the separate POVs across timelines was done well, and the characters were unique. The one thing I felt that was lacking was the references to Wikipedia; I think I was just expecting more of them, but what we got was still fun.

I've seen a couple of comparisons to The Ministry of Time but this was done much much better in my opinion (considering that the writing is actually readable here..). 

As someone that doesn't dabble in the Thriller genre often, I was skeptical about giving this a chance (even knowing that it was such a beloved book). Many reviews I've seen mention how well done the audiobook is, so I figured I would try it for a book club. Holy hell - this was amazing! I could give 5 ⭐ from the audiobook alone. The mix of our FMC's, Lucy, unreliable memories and the podcast element revealing information throughout - truly the best way this story could have been told. While hitting on serious topics, there is plenty of humor and sarcasm throughout the story (Grandma is the best character imo) to break up those serious moments. 

If you read this - highly recommend the audio!