Author: Stacey Jay

Mini Reviews: Of Beast and Beauty and Second Time Around

Posted February 8, 2016 / Book Reviews / 5 Comments

A couple of very random mini reviews for you! Both backlist: one YA retelling and one Adult “chick lit” type. Here’s what I thought of Of Beast and Beauty and Second Time Around.I definitely expected a lot from this book, and I think that wasn’t very fair of me. The biggest fault with this was comparing it too much to Princess of Thorns. The other story I read by Stacey Jay featured non-stop twists and new information and swoooons, even after a very slow beginning. With this one, there were less twists and turns and jaw-dropping moments…and I just expected too much. It started off slow but I kind of thought that might just be Jay’s style? But, it took about 75% of the book for me to really make me eager to keep reading. The ending was solid and interesting, for sure. If I try to be a little more objective, this was REALLY good. Same slow-burn, complex story with great world-building. I totally need more Stacey Jay in my life. I’m not sure if this was a case of the right book at the right time, or if I just really loved this one, but either way- so glad I read it. I needed something with no hype and non-YA, and this delivered in spades. I loved the cozy, college campus vibe (even though they were all 10 years out of college, just living somewhat on the campus) and the theme of second chances. There were four main characters […]

Review: Princess of Thorns

Posted January 22, 2015 / Book Reviews / 11 Comments

There is no salvation without sacrifice, no light without darkness, no triumph that doesn’t carry the seeds of its own destruction bouncing in its pocket. GUYS holy crap! This story is just beyond words. But I am going to try to use some words anyways. The book started out very complicated and confusing. I was fascinated by the world that was being built, but you are definitely thrown right into the middle of the action. It starts with Aurora and her brother Jor as small children with their mother. It explains some of the curses on their lands and on them. Then it flashes forward 10 years and Aurora (disguised as her brother) is suddenly woken up by a guy named Niklaas and we learn everything else from there. I will admit that the first 100 pages or so were slow. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset at the time. Regardless, I kept feeling like I was going to be the black sheep and not end up liking this one. How could a book that moved so slowly for the first 100 pages ever get better? Well. It did. There was gradual world-building, which is nice, but there just wasn’t much action. I was admittedly kind of bored as the two traveled along and didn’t encounter anyone else. Once a few more characters and some action was introduced, I was hooked. I read 2/3 of the book in one night. I absolutely loved the gender-bending aspect of the book, where […]