Set in Revolutionary Paris? Check A diverse cast of characters? Check check Queerness? Triple Check Awesome Supernatural Vibes? Cheeeeeck
I loved this ragtag band, the Battalion of Death, we had the leader, the ‘muscles’/support, the brains, and the ‘diplomat’ with the connections and then they’re suddenly faced with having a person who they and the world had no idea could even exist. Olympe. She brings us the magic.
Kat Dunn absolutely succeeded in immersing me/the reader in the setting. I hated pausing this book because it took me out of Paris and brought me back to my very tiny living room.
The action scenes are brilliant, there’s this element of Frankenstein meets Les Mis with the revolution, magic, and experiments going on and there’s political plots ontop of political plots. All of which makes me a very happy lady.
Camille and Ade were such an adorable couple, but, this book was not without its drama, there were love triangles, squares, secret fiances, some family issues to put it mildly, and so much more.
Now, because there was so much going all the time, this made this a very fast read despite the page count or chapter count. I loved that, and I ended up reading this in a couple of sittings in a day.
The ending definitely made me want to read book 2 ASAP, and you can bet I’ll be waiting for it. Seriously, the ending promises more adventures and more of the characters perhaps doing their own things, which I’m super excited for.
But now…
For what I didn’t like!
I felt as if I never really got to know the characters, I knew Camille and Ade were in love, and they had a relationship, I knew Ade had some serious parent issues and Camille is used to being the leader and getting her way.
I couldn’t tell you more about how they felt as individuals.
There’s not a lot to go on for their thoughts and feelings, for the motivation they might have. And though their loyalty is inspiring, I would say we don’t see any reason for them to be so loyal to Camille given her behaviour and actions in the book.
Guil was my favourite, and yet, he had such a minor role in the book, and I really disliked the romance angle that was sprung upon him. Spoiler: [I am always a person sincerely against having everyone crush on one character]
The romance actually almost killed some of my enjoyment of the book, just because it was almost chaotic for me, and I shipped Camille and Ade so anything else was unacceptable to me lol.
Still, great pacing, great action sequences, and fun cast that I hope to get know more of.
Overall I gave this 3.5 Cups of Coffee, I really could not get behind the lack of character development and the romance chaos, but, I adored everything else and can’t wait for the second book as I’ve said. Thanks to Cymera Festival for this ARC! I got this in exchange for submitting my review of Priory which I wouldn’t have read without going to Cymera 2019!...more
It’s a story of loves, old and new, romantic and parental, and all added with a dash of mystery.
The length was perfect and I think that if it went on any longer that it would have been unfeasible for the unique plot.
Though there were elements I enjoyed, it was a bit of a disjointed story, perhaps the result of having so many threads in the plot.
At times I thought there was a lot of unnecessary threads and that hurt the plot more than helped it and overall I don’t know that this was a book for me, but I am supremely happy to have read it and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to those that I think would enjoy it! It’s a fun easy read, and a bit different than what I normally read.
Thank you to Anne and the Author for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion!...more
Going to reread it with the spawn to see how she likes it, rating may change.
I really enjoyed this coming of age story, mostly because it can be so relatable to its target audience. Things can change so rapidly and while we all comment on how resilient children are, sometimes we forget that it can be harder on them than assumed.
Though Ben is very relatable, I think I had a hard time swallowing the pill that is his parents, more specifically, his mother. [To be fair, this is because she's the main parent in the novel more than anything else!] She had no development at all as a character and so her horrible qualities just stayed put. In a sense, it's good because the reader can get a sense of how the child and parent are not always on the same page, and that's okay, but, if there's never resolution, that feels like quite a tear in the bond.
I would say this is a good read, and important so children know it's okay to be depressed/quiet/upset in the face of change, that you don't always need to smile and be happy. Not to mention Ben finds his way, making a friend and learning a game that helps him feel more at home with his situation.
3.5 cups of coffee from me, thank you so much to Harper360 for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review....more
This is a first but like 3.75/5?? [I would say it's really more of a four, but, it took me halfway through before it became a four]
The first half of the book has slow pacing and the world-building is a bit vague, which is fine, but it really picks up about 49%, I couldn't put it down after that!
This is plot-driven versus character-driven, which is fine for me, but sometimes that can be an issue for someone. Our MC is intricate and you can tell there is so much to her personality but it doesn't surface in this book just yet, we're cracking barriers though and making headway.
This was set up more like a stepping stone to the story, which is why I say it took up to the 49% mark for me to really hit its stride. We're getting a glimpse into the world and I'm so excited to see more of it.
The romance is done nicely and the characters are all intriguing though Leo was definitely my favorite! I did have such a hard time liking the Lynx unit, so, I don't know how I'll feel about any of them later on, but I am curious to see what happens next!
Fun read, great pacing the second half and lovely flowing writing style!
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion
I'll have a full review up next week, I was going to put it today, publication day, but there's a great blog tour going on so I'll be reading their reviews lol...more
This was a funny and endearing read, really unexpected in the best ways. The magical time travel and the raw grief were done harmoniously and it made for this sort of book that could make you laugh and want to cry but while still remaining light-hearted enough to be a fun read. Great work from Webb, I'll enjoy looking for another book by him!
Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion...more
This was my first Hollingdrake novel and it did not disappoint! I’m a huge fan of the DCI Yorke series, and luckily for me this one is similar in the eerie content and fast pace!
You also do not need to have read the previous books to start this series on say, number nine, as I did. Still, I think I see myself reading the other eight in the future.
This was the perfect length, the pacing not drawn out or rushed and the Hollingdrake knows how to draw out suspense without overdoing it and making you lose interest.
This was creepy and yet plausible, not too gory but also right there with say the darker episodes of CSI, so, perfection for a fan of crime and thrillers such as myself.
The motivation for the killer was unique and was probably my favorite part about the book, I also loved how they planned everything, gave me goosebumps and kept me reading late into the night. [While also wanting me to keep the light on and not have my limbs sticking out from the covers at all, haha.]
So, if you love thrillers, I highly recommend this and if you’re a Hollingdrake fan, you’ll want to jump into this ninth book in the series!
Thank you to Caroline and the Author for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion....more
This is an amazing urban fantasy where Morrow has used creatures and beings of mythos while creatively making them her own. The magical beings are used to not replace or metaphor the social injustices, but, to highlight them even more.
Sirens are always black girls, but not all black girls are sirens, they are profiled, and they are not seen as victims. It starts with the death of Rhoda Taylor, a black woman who was killed by her boyfriend, but then rumours swirl, was she a siren? Suddenly her death seems...acceptable, her boyfriend is even seen as the victim and sirens are under even more scrutiny.
Morrow seriously blew this out of the water, the girls are sisters in every way that matters, their families try to protect them with the fear that only parents who face the brutal realities of losing their children due to simply who they are [whether color of skin or for being a siren or magical being].
I would highly recommend this book to any urban fantasy fan who is ready to have a more creative look at sirens. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review....more
This had a classic whimsical feel to it, staying true to the heart of King Arthur's tale in that sense, and with a lovely world presented to us by TucThis had a classic whimsical feel to it, staying true to the heart of King Arthur's tale in that sense, and with a lovely world presented to us by Tucholke.
There was a major issue though.
Pacing.
I found myself absolutely dragging my heels at the thought of the plot barely moving in the pages I read. Admittedly it picks up, but for me that didn't happen until 70% in and it felt like a 'too little too late' situation at that point.
I would recommend this to fans of King Arthur and those who enjoy retellings as long as they don't mind the slow pacing.
3/5 cups of coffee from me, thank you so much to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC to read in exchange for my honest review....more
There was an absolutely BRILLIANT cast of characters, love, betrayal, family, magic, tech and science, politics, and adventures abound, and that’s not listing everything.
This tale is told from Tar’s POV and I adored her, seriously, I would kill to protect her if necessary lol.
I don’t think I wrote many notes because it was just a distraction from the story.
The found family, the magic, the lore, it was all so well done. Seriously, if you love worldbuilding, you’ll adore Raybearer.
Overall, this book has been one of my faves of 2020/ever, and I give it 5/5 huge cups of coffee. Thank you so much to HotKeysYA for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. Remember this book hits the shelves on August 18th!...more
This was, unfortunately, quite a confusing novel when it came to worldbuilding. There's no explanation of countries, the world, or the layout of 2.5/5
This was, unfortunately, quite a confusing novel when it came to worldbuilding. There's no explanation of countries, the world, or the layout of anything, and it took me over ten percent into it, to figure out the name of the world was Fiction only to then realize I misunderstood the use of Fiction as a world and that it was a country, opposite of one of Lyonne but there was also a Manhattan and talks of Genghis Khan and Christianity. Then there were cars and even sedans but there were phonographs.
Nothing was clear, not the powers, the government, the secret orders and in the end I gave up on understanding the world and tried to focus on the story.
I did like the MC, Arden, quite a lot and I did like Riven. So at least I was able to ignore other things to delve into their story. It was a decent love story, and the characters were definitely intriguing. Overall I would read another book if this is a series, but, I really had a hard time getting over the worldbuilding.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion....more
I’m always looking for books fiction and nonfiction that focus on the women we seem to have neglected to focus on throughout history. Anne Hathaway is certainly one woman, she’s quite absent in history really, no one knows much of her, but O’Farrell tackles her story in this novel.
This is also though the story of Anne/Agnes and Shakespeare, and their children, and the loss of Hamnet, their only son.
In real life, we don’t really know Hamnet’s cause of death but the black plague is an excellent guess given the time period.
I loved the lush descriptions of the countryside of Stratford and even the home they live in. It’s such a picturesque read and that was a really enjoyable part for me.
Though there is so much to love, the best way for me to enjoy this book was to not connect it to Shakespeare. Agnes was much too mystical in that it took on a supernatural tone that I didn’t think fit her as a historical woman, she was enough on her own without feelings of illnesses and people.
I also found it hard to believe that this was a marriage between Shakespeare and Hathaway, and Shakespeare was a bit too loving and doting. [I feel that historically he was just not a good husband lol]
So, when I tried to think of it as a story of a marriage that suffered a loss of a child, and the story of a woman ahead of her time, I enjoyed it more.
The second half of the book is very disjointed and in fact, there’s technically only one ‘chapter’/section for it, so that was a bit at odds with the first half, but, again, still enjoyable!
Three and a half cups of coffee from me, thank you so much to Anne and TinderPress for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion as part of this tour. ...more
I read the first two pages and wrote down in my notes 'Already emotional.' This pretty much set the tone for this novel.
Frank has gone silent, for SIX months, and his wife Maggie cannot figure out why. She's tried to be understanding, it doesn't seem as if he doesn't love her anymore or anything of that sort, he just...refuses to speak.
But, can Frank keep quiet when he finds Maggie, overdosed on sleeping pills?
He breaks his silence, but, now the real question is, is it too late?
It truly is emotionally charged from start to finish, and the book is divided into two sections. Her silence, in her coma, and his silence. In both sections, though it's about two people trying to tell each other everything they've meant to, not wanting anything left unsaid that should have been.
The silence seems to revolve around their lives as parents because as parents and caretakers will know, having someone to look after consumes your life in many ways. They have a daughter after giving up, and this is her story as much as it is theirs.
Greaves has a way of going directly for the heart of the matter while still using beautiful prose to do so. You fall in love with Frank and Maggie, and I became their personal cheerleader, loving so much of their relationship and feeling so much of their pain.
Four cups of coffee from me, thank you to Abbie Greaves and Century for a copy of this during the Cornerstone showcase, and thank you to Anne for letting me join the tour in exchange for my honest review!...more
Content/Trigger Warnings: Loss of a loved one [in a nonviolent matter], murder and mistreatment of people, specifically Aboriginals, and sexual assault and PTSD from it.
The sisters were breathed to life within the first couple of pages. I easily fell in love with both, they're differences and care for each other reminded me of my own closeness with my sister.
It's really engrossing from the start, I love the time period of the 1890s, but more than that I enjoyed the focus on women's votes from the start and how radical their father was.
The real 'story' though picks up when Sarah goes to Australia, and when Harriet later follows after the loss of their father.
Booth perfectly captures the Australian outback's wildness and beauty, giving a voice not just to those immigrating but, more importantly, to the Aboriginals as well.
There's a hard look at what the reality was between races and the hard life of those on a station in the outback, cut off from the city's laws and ways.
A wonderful story, not of romance but of love, in all aspects.
Four out of five huge cups of coffee from me. Thank you so much to Anne Cater and RedDoor Press for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion as part of the blog tour....more
I love the idea of this book, haha it is taking RomCom to the next level! Don't bother paying for a wedding date or bribing them, just make them!
My favorite part of this novel wasn't the 'romance' it was Kelly character growth.
Our MC has a lot to learn how to cope with, her family being a major point, well, her mother specifically.
I felt there wasn't really a good resolution/solution of Kelly's relationship with her mom which actually felt a bit toxic on the part of the Mom. I also felt like Kelly and Ethan's relationship conclusion was a bit abrupt, but, I did LOVE the ending. It was open-ended and true to life in a lot of ways which made this cynic happy.
Three out of five cups of coffee from me! Thank you so much to HarperCollins for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion for the blog tour!...more
A destructive tragedy has shaped a whole generation of a family, siblings and cousins unable to truly separate from the past they try to ignore.
Though this is called 'Waiting for Lindsay' this book is not about her or the mystery of her disappearance. Instead, it is about the effect her disappearance had on her family, mainly her siblings and cousins who are left to deal with the consequences.
Everyone has their own way of dealing with things and these four are proof of that, the brothers are very different from each other as are the cousins, and I liked that they were so different yet all so close in their own ways.
The language is stark and no-frills but Forsyth still manages beautiful descriptions of Scotland and gives you a dark and intimate look at family and tragedy.
There was this sense of something being incomplete which is why I did not give it full four cups and instead gave it three and a half.
Thanks so much to Sandstone Press for a copy of this in exchange for my honest opinion....more
Yorulmaz has a wonderful and distinctive writing voice and solidly blends fact and fiction. He breathes life into words left by those marked by time and I love the use of the historical accounts that brings us this story. It’s not often that we see books of Crete’s history, so this was a breath of fresh air.
This is definitely worth a read if you’re a fan of history or the story of a person’s journey.
It’s not a long read but it is impactful and enlightening. Informational and with heart.
Thanks so much to Anne and NeemTreePress for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review as part of the blog tour!...more
I loved the blend of folklore and historical fiction set in Victorian times, it gave a really nice contrast and depth to the story. Though it was enjoyable to read and had just enough hint of foreboding to keep you intrigued, the formatting was quite difficult to keep up with. There were times I had to go and reread sections because they switched POV in the middle of the paragraph.
I felt maybe the parts with Queen Victorian and Consort Albert were, in the end, unnecessary, yes they were fun to read but didn't really enhance much.
I did enjoy the narration style and as I said, it was certainly an enjoyable read with a blend of folklore and Victorian presence.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and the Publisher for an eARC of this in exchange for my honest opinion, I look forward to reading more by Sally Magnusson....more
This was darker and a much more emotional read than The Fever King, and though it was a rollercoaster on my feelings, it was worth reading every 4.5/5
This was darker and a much more emotional read than The Fever King, and though it was a rollercoaster on my feelings, it was worth reading every single page.
Noam has lost some of his innocent shine, but, he's still an idealist and ideologist at heart and we see his struggle to keep his values as he does what he feels needs to be done in regards to Lehrer.
Dara, who has suffered so much continues to be an amazing survivor who perseveres through everything handed to him, and now Noam and he, unfortunately, have much more in common.
At the heart of this, is a story of survivors and the cost that children pay for the choices adults make while struggling to grow up and make a world they want.
I loved this book, even more so than The Fever King.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review....more
I went into this thinking it looked like a fun lighthearted read, instead it was full of love, heartache and completely captured my heart.
After the population was depleted from the tragic losses of WWII, Britain opened its arms to those who claimed it to be ‘the motherland’ at the time, many men leaving their homes in the Caribbean leaving to try their fortune in England. England, after all, needed the manpower to fill the jobs that were left open.
Thinking they were being offered a new home, the men were cautiously hopeful, they were needed.
Unfortunately, England wasn’t as welcoming as it should have been.
This is the story of not just one man, but the community around him and the country he and others are trying to make their home, and what happens when tragedy strikes.
The writing style is full of life and the pacing makes it to where you never want to put it down.
It was a vividly written world built on history and harsh truths we sometimes like to cover up but at the end of the day, there was love and hope.
Fantastic read, four and a half cups of coffee and I now want to keep my eye on Louise Hare. Thank you to HQ for a copy of this in exchange for my honest review as part of the blog tour....more
Davis doesn’t skimp on the action in this book, starting right where we left off. And for those of you who read book one, you know that ending to book one was cruel to us readers, so yay for picking up where we left off!
It took a couple of chapters, and I mean like two chapters, for me to get back into the swing. Davis has a very fluid writing style and it is something I really appreciate in a sprawling fantasy world like the one she has built.
Finding out more about the lore and dragons themselves was a real treat to read about.
In this book we get to see the world under the mist, see more of the King born of fire from prophecy and watch Lyana’s strength really shine through, yet again, in this book. She’s far from home, no idea that Rafe is closer than she’s imagined, and still worried for Rafe and Cassi. [CASSI. YOU.]
The pacing got a bit sluggish in the middle, but, the chapters are short enough that it really doesn’t drag as much as it could have and I appreciated that. The build-up took a while but the payoff was worth it by the end as once again we see everything come to a head as it did in the last book but on an even larger scale this time.
SERIOUSLY WHAT SORT OF ENDING WAS THAT?! WHAT SORT OF ENDING?!
I NEED ANSWERS I TELL YOU! ANSWERS!!!
GIMME BOOK 3!!!!
That is all.
4/5 Cups of coffee from this impatient and caffeinated reader. Thanks so much to Kaityln Davis for an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion....more
Haley Renee
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