sup3r_xn0va_maya's reviews
387 reviews

💬:N/A

📖Genres: shoujo, romance, humor, manga, graphic novels, comics

📚Page Count: 186

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 

My Love Story!!, Volume 11 by Kazune Kawahara was a delight to read and it reminded me of the same kind of allure that the first few volumes of "My Love Story" has. In this volume, Takeo's, Sunakawa's, and Yamato's schools are having field trips to the same area. Takeo is having thoughts about

taking his relationship with Yamato to the next step

therefore he's trying to stay close to her but also keep his distance. In the next part of this manga, Yamato has secret that she plans on revealing to Takeo. What could the secret possibly be? In the last part of this manga, Sunakawa makes a new attractive friend, will Takeo get jealous? 

This manga was so funny and pleasant to read. After having read volume 9 and not really liking it all that much, I wasn't excited to read volume 11 (especially because volume 9 was my lowest rated book of the series and volume 10 was my second lowest rated book in this series.) I'm so happy that I didn't give up on this manga because this volume was great.

This addition to My Love Story was exactly what the series needed, in my opinion. I'm excited to continue on with the series again after feeling slightly uninterested after having read the two volumes that came before this one. I'm giving this 5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this manga for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 27min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 - 4.25/5 
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One Foot in the Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the second book in her Night Huntress series, One Foot in the Grave. Cat Crawfield hasn't seen Bones in about four or five years, but after she's targeted for assignation, Bones might be the only one who can help her. After having worked as

Special Agent Crawfield

for the last four (or five) years she definitely has acquired some new (and old) enemies. Will Bones be able to save Cat from the impending danger? Will they be able to rekindle their lost relationship?

I really enjoyed this addition to the Night Huntress graphic audio series, it was so entertaining. There was so much going on and the music, sounds, and voice actors really came together to help tell an exciting story. 

The spicy scenes were okay in this. They weren't the best but they weren't terrible I'm giving the spicy scenes three chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

This was really exciting and all the elements came together to make a really nice dramatized adaption of One Foot in the Grave. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars instead.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: "The breath slammed out of her lungs. Flames shot through her body, from her breast to her deepest core. The strange roaring was back in her head. Need was on her. Not some gentle emotion, not a pleasant feeling, but a raging tidal wave of hunger, of craving."

Feehan, Christine. The Awakening: The Novella That Introduced the Leopard People (Leopard series Book 1) (p. 51). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, shapeshifters

📚Page Count: 121

🎧Audiobook Length: 3h 38min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 
----

The Awakening by Christine Feehan is a novella and it's the first story in her series "Leopard People". Maggie inherits a house in the jungle and if I read this correctly, she just "wakes up" or "awakens" in the jungle (I'm unsure of how she actually got there.) Maggie is on the cusps of a physical and mental evolution, and she meets a man named Brandt who's supposed to help, he also says he's her mate. 

It was really evident that this was a novella with the rushed pacing. The two main characters talk for what seems like a day and after that, it seems like Maggie already trusts him. At one point Maggie mentions that she used to be asexual (or at least she thought she was asexual) but now she's having sexual cravings for Brandt and she can't explain why. Before evening knowing if she was interested Brandt kind of flashes her while he sits in the nude in her house or bungalow, he claims that she's his mate so I guess he thinks this is acceptable. 

The spicy scenes were alright, it was hard to get into them because the male protagonist was so pushy with his sexual advances, the part where he surprises and flashes her with his nude body really bothered me, he didn't even know if she was truly interested at that point. I'm giving the spicy scenes two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall this story was a bit strange and baffling. I wish the pacing was a little smoother, and it would have been nice if we saw the characters interact with each other outside of their sexual cravings. I will read the next book in the series and give this series another chance, as of now I'm giving THIS novella 2.5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, romantasy, dragons, adult

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 09h 22min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5 
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Fourth Wing Dramatized Part 2 is the second half of the dramatized version of the novel "Fourth Wing" written by Rebecca Yarros, and part 2 continues where part 1 left off. The dramatized version really helps to add a little something to the characters, even though they're mostly still one dimensional (they happen to be more compelling with each character having their own voice actor, which made certain scenes more emotional.) 

There are still some issues that persist throughout the series and that's because the novel had these same issues and the dramatized version is just sticking to a script, so to speak. Violet and Zayden's relationship is still mostly built upon lust. Violet is a Mary Sue who went from having people try to kill her because she was the "weakest link" to now being called "the strongest rider in her generation". All the characters are one dimensional. Claiming that the romance is enemies to lovers is confusing because I don't really see a "good attempt" at that trope in this book. Towards the end of the novel and the dramatized version Zayden even says

that he was into her from the moment he set eyes on her. I maintain the pervious claim I made in my review for part 1, and that is that Zayden never planned on killing or even harming Violent. Even from the beginning.

There are issues that the dramatized version fixed, and I was surprised to notice that. Violent actually trains with

her dragons in the dramatized version, as opposed to the novel where we didn't see any dragon training or bonding at all.

We also get scenes of Violet training with various squad mates and

even Zayden

so she can get physically stronger. ALMOST none of the strange phrases the author threw in the novel (they still snuck in "holy fvcking hot" once.)

Part 2 of the dramatized version of Fourth Wing has at least 3 spicy scenes in it, they were entertaining though my main complaint about the first novel still stands (I'm a 33 year old woman and I don't care too much for reading about spicy scenes with people 10 years my junior.) I'm giving it 2 chilies 2🌶️ out of five chilies. 

Overall, both parts of the dramatized version come together to tell a story that's not as flat as the novel, though the characters are all still one dimensional and the main "romantic" relationship in the series is based off of pure lust. Both additions of the dramatized version do the original story more than just justice, they come together to tell an actually exciting story. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, romantasy, dragons, adult

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 52min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5 
----

Fourth Wing Dramatized Part 1 is the first half of the dramatized version of the novel "Fourth Wing" written by Rebecca Yarros. The dramatized adaption was created by the company "Graphic Audio". This adaptation is really good and worth listening to even if you've read the original novel before. Violet Sorrengail wanted to grow up to be a scribe like her father, but since her father passed away and he isn't there anymore, Violet is forced (by her mother, The General) to join the dragon rider's quadrant instead. She is small and a bit frail, but she is also quick and cunning. Violet will do everything to survive, and she will pray that she can bond with a dragon in the end. 

This was so much more entertaining than the original novel. Listening to the dramatized version of Fourth Wing really felt like a gamble to me at first because, I didn't like the original novel. I rated it very low on the star scale that I use. Well, the gamble paid off because this adaptation was so interesting and exciting. 

This adaptation would ALMOST get the max stars from me, but it won't for various reason (and these reasons have mostly to do with the author's writing, so Graphic Audio literally did the best they could with what they had.) The main character is a Mary Sue and that means she's just really boring and it makes the story that much more predictable. The author doesn't really understand how to flesh out the enemies to lovers trope, the love interest does everything in his power to HELP the main character and not once does he try to hard her. The characters are all no longer one dimensional, but most of the characters still are. In order to expose the reader to exposition, the author writes in that the main character spouts off facts about the world's history and political information when she gets nervous or anxious, and that is a lazy way to get across the political and historical background of the world that was created. In the novel, we don't see Violet train with her dragons not once, that's remedied in this dramatized adaption and I was so happy that it was added in. In the original novel, there was a lot of strange verbiage, but that wasn't an issue in the dramatized version and I'm so thankful. 

Part 1 of the dramatized version of Fourth Wing doesn't have any spicy scenes in it. I'm giving it zero chilies 0🌶️ out of five chilies. (I'm keeping my chili rating in here because I think part 2 is going to have a spicy scene. I'll rate that on part 2's review.)

Overall, the dramatized version of Fourth Wing was really good. Fourth Wing the novel is; a story that is too long, one that had a Mary Sue main character, and one dimensional characters, with dragons and dragon riders as characters, but there was no dragon training in sight. The novel had a slew of problems and the dramatized version fixes a lot of the novel's issues, it was honestly so exciting to listen to. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars instead.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

💬: "Zaira wove her fingers into his. “It’ll happen. This is your destiny, Aden.” Her kiss was fire and love and primal possessiveness. “Your parents dreamed too small when they wanted you to become the leader of the squad."

Singh, Nalini. Shards of Hope (Psy-Changeling Book 14) (p. 481). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: paranormal romance, romance, urban fantasy, adult

📚Page Count: 484

🎧Audiobook Length: 15h 41min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 

----

Shards of Hope is the 14th book in the Psy/Changeling series by Nalini Singh. Two Psy Arrow soldiers, Aden and Zaira are the main characters of this book. I love the way this starts out, it was so exciting and chilling, and because this started off so powerfully and with action I was definitely invested for the duration of the book (I also went into this without knowing the synopsis because I didn't read the book's synopsis! So, if you want to go in without knowing the synopsis too, skip the rest of this paragraph.) Both Zaira and Aden

wake up in a dark cell, with no memory of how they got there. Neither of them are able to use their psychic abilities and they both know that if they don't fight to get out, it'll cost them their lives.

The story goes on from there.    

This book really reminded me why I kept reading The Psy/Changeling series after I read the first book in the series, Slave to Sensation. When I first read Slave to Sensation, the story gave me literal chills. This is the third book in the series to give me the chills! When I get the chills while reading, it either  means that I'm scared or that I'm really excited and happy with what I'm reading. I don't want to spoil anything other than the synopsis so I'll just talk about the spicy scenes and I'll mention that so many elements from previous Psy/Changeling novels have finally come together to paint a picture that I know Singh has been planning since that first book, Slave to Sensation.  

I enjoyed the spicy scenes. I think Aden and Zaira are so cute together. I'm happy the first scene basically cut to black because

I'm not a fan of scenes where the heroine is a virgin and then she has to go through all that pain and the bleeding. Ugh.

I did like the spicy scenes that game afterward though. I'm giving it three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

The 14th book in the Psy/Changeling series was exciting and it kept my attention for the duration of  it's 15 hour + audiobook. It was exciting, surprising, emotional, and just damn good. I'm giving this book 4 stars out of 5. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  5/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [Hoopla Digital]

💬: "There is only one way to fight, and that’s dirty. Clean, gentlemanly fighting will get you nowhere but dead, and fast. Take every cheap shot, every low blow, absolutely kick someone when they’re down, and then maybe you’ll be the one who walks away.”

Frost, Jeaniene. The Other Half of the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel (pp. 47-48). NYLA. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 398

🎧Audiobook Length: 13h 14min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 4.5/5 
----

The Other Half of the Grave written by Jeaniene Frost, is an alternate perspective book based on the first book in her Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave. The Other Half of the Grave was entertaining and just as exciting if not more exciting than it's original predecessor. In this book, Cat and Bones meet for the first time but everything is from Bones' perspective, and even though he makes some interesting decisions, I still like him as a character.  I appreciate Cat and Bones' relationship that much more. 

There are still outdated scenes in this book, but that's because the original was outdated and had poorly aged scenes. I think the outdated scenes were handled much better than they were in the original story. For example, there were less triggering details about these particular scenes this time around. That might be because it's from Bones' perspective, it might be because the author realized her mistake from the past and maybe she understood that rewriting these scenes was a way to make up for the outdated scenes from the past. I'm unsure, either way they're done better around this time. 

The spicy scenes were enjoyable and the audiobook narrator made them even more interesting than they normally would be. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.75 out of five chilies

This was an entertaining story and I enjoyed it a bit more than reading the original from Cat's point of view. There was still an okay amount of triggering content in this story but most of that stuff was glossed over in this version. I'm giving this 4.50 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5  Stars

I used an audiobook credit to buy this audiobook. I was not able to locate the audiobook on hoopla, libbyapp, or everand. (as of 3/4/2024)

💬: "He didn’t budge. “Plenty of room, Kitten. I’ll stay here.” “Don’t call me Kitten.” My voice was sharper than romance dictated, but I was seriously aggravated. The sooner he was truly dead, the better."

Frost, Jeaniene. Happily Never After (Night Huntress) (p. 83). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 97

🎧Audiobook Length: 02h 47min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5 
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Happily Never After is book 1.5 in the Night Huntress series, it's about a human named Isabella and one of Bones' friends, a vampire named Chase. Isabella somehow was promised to be engaged to a wanna be mob boss, one that she is repulsed by and one that wants to kill her brother. Well, Chance is going to try to make sure this wedding doesn't happen, even if he has to "die" several times to ensure it.

This was okay, it was somewhat interesting so it kept my attention for the short duration of the audiobook (which was about 3 hours long.) I was disappointed to find out that this novella wasn't about Bones but just one of his former acquaintances. 

There was one spicy scene and it was okay, I think it could have been more exciting so I'm going to give this scene 2.75🌶️ chilies out of 5 chilies🌶️.

Overall, this novella wasn't as good as the first novella in the series, "Reckoning" the story about Bones. I even Happily Never After has spicy in it and Reckoning doesn't, I still think Reckoning was a more exciting story. I'm going to give this 3 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬:N/A

📖Genres: shoujo, romance, humor, manga, graphic novels, comics

📚Page Count: 192

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 

My Love Story!!, Volume 10 by Kazune Kawahara has some of the same charm that the pervious volumes had but I find the plots having to do with adults having crushes on teens makes the story fall flat and I end up feeling uncomfortable. The rest of the manga was cute and I enjoyed it.

The first part of this manga starts up where the last volume left off. The story continues with Takeo's girlfriend, Yamato, working at her summer job at a bakery. The main baker at her job has a crush on Yamato (and he also happens to be a grown man) and he begins to call Yamato by her first name, he's also been referring to her as his "muse". The baker has asked Yamato to help him in a baking competition. The second part of this manga is about a cop themed café that Yamato and her friends are hosting at their all girl's school. Takeo and his friend join to help Yamato and her friends at this cop café. The last part of the manga has to do with Takeo and Yamato potentially taking their relationship to the next step. 

Overall, this addition to My Love Story was just okay. I think previous volumes have a bit more charm than the ones including adults having crushes on and trying to date teens. I'm giving this 3.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I read this manga for free on [Libbyapp.com]

💬: "It was past nine when Bones came back. His coat was lined with several knives, both steel and silver. No telling whether Delphine and Louis might have vampiric help with them, so best to have all bases covered."

Frost, Jeaniene. Reckoning: From Unbound (Night Huntress) (p. 34). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 59

🎧Audiobook Length: 01h 50min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5 
----

Reckoning is book 0.5 in the Night Huntress series, it's about Bones before he meets Cat. I wasn't sure what to expect with this novella, but the audiobook kept me interested throughout. Bones is in New Orleans and he ends up doing some work for real world historical figure Marie Laveau the herbalist, midwife, and Voodoo practitioner. There are tourist that are getting eaten by a couple of ghouls and Laveau wants the issue and the ghouls taken care of. 

There's a lot of gore scenes and decapitation going on in this novella. It was action packed. I don't think it's necessary to read this novella before continuing with the series, it's just an interesting sided story about why Bones is no longer allowed in New Orleans. 

There were no spicy scenes in this novella, I will not be giving a spice rating. N/A 🌶️.

Overall, this novella was action packed and it revealed a bit of information about Bones' past. It was exciting and a little gross. I'm giving this novella 3.5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 - 3.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]