Source: Hoopla

Review: Cruel Beauty

Posted October 13, 2016 / Book Reviews / 8 Comments

Initial Excitement I was really intrigued by this book when it was first released, but I hesitated on reading it for a while. Cristina and I chose Crimson Bound by the same author for one Book Buddies month but I ended up DNFing it (so we chose another book). That made me nervous for this story. However, it was randomly picked by my book club using our new book selection method and I was ready for the push to read it finally. I was cautiously optimistic because I know a lot of people loved this one compared to Crimson Bound or really any others by Hodge. Summary in a Second Nyx has been set to marry the Gentle Lord, Ignifex, since she was a baby. Her father made a selfish deal with him and Nyx’s plan is to kill him to set her people free. (It’s kind of a long, complicated story, so I’ll let you investigate that on your own.) It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling so there are definitely similar elements woven through – the castle, being kind of a prisoner, the non-human man thingy keeping you hostage, etc. Storytelling & Setting I have to say, I’ve never read a story quite like this one. The world was so vast and explored piece by piece. The writing was gorgeous and somehow way more interesting than Crimson Bound‘s prose. The plot itself was unveiled slowly as Nyx uncovered new secrets and opened hidden doors throughout the castle. She found herself falling for a […]

Rebel Belle Trilogy

Posted August 3, 2016 / Book Reviews / 6 Comments

When REBEL BELLE was selected for the Make Me Read It Readathon, I was a little nervous. I planned to binge Hawkins’ HEX HALL series previously and was stuck after book one. I just never had the burning desire to pick up the second book. However, something about this particular series kept me reading. I started the first book via audio and then finished it up with my physical copy. I immediately went on to the audiobooks for the next two stories. There won’t be spoilers from the current book in the current review, but there will be spoilers for the PREVIOUS book(s) – so don’t read beyond book one below if you haven’t read the series!! The biggest thing I can say about this book and its plot is that it’s super unique. It doesn’t feel similar to other paranormal romances I’ve read before. First of all, I’d never even heard of a Paladin before. Second, the southern setting really enhanced the story quite a bit. It took me a VERY long time to get used to the setting though, to be honest, because it seriously felt like historical fiction. Anytime she referenced Marvel or something else that happens in “present day,” I was thrown a little. Like, oh wait, this isn’t taking place in the early 1900s or something. It just felt old-school because of the southern vibes, cotillion, and all of her manners/lady-like behaviors. Not something I’m used to reading outside of historical fiction! Expanding a little […]

Mini Reviews: All the Summer Girls and The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend

Posted July 11, 2016 / Book Reviews / 3 Comments

I have a tendency to add adult fiction to my TBR alllll the time… and then never read it. I was randomly in the mood for some recently and a couple of them happened to be nice beachy reads. I spotted the first one on Hoopla and remembered being interested in it a few months ago. Then, I was browsing my Kindle for another read and remembered the eARC I’ve been putting off for no reason. It’s not nearly as summery or anything, but it is about a vacation (“holiday”) in general… so that counts.I saw mixed reviews for this one, but it seemed like a lot of my friends enjoyed it more than the random reviewers. I was quickly intrigued by the story but thought it was kind of heavy-handed at times. There wasn’t a lot going on and the secrets the characters were hiding seemed obvious to me. Kate felt like the main character even though it switched perspectives. She just got dumped and found out she was pregnant, so she uses her Bachelorette weekend to head to the Jersey Shore with her friends. Vanessa now is a stay-at-home mom who is getting feelings for an old boyfriend, despite being married. Dani is a free spirit kinda gal who kept moving west after losing 12 jobs in 7 years post-college. Needless to say, they’re all quite different. It was fun to see the friends get back into a rhythm after time apart, even though you knew tensions were […]

The Selection Series – Part One

Posted June 29, 2016 / Book Reviews / 10 Comments

I randomly decided to binge this series when I saw the audio on Hoopla back in early May. I had just finished with my reread for A Series of Unfortunate Events via audio and decided to go with another long-ish series in the same format. I’ll be splitting this review situation up into a few different posts because there are 3 main books, 2 companion-y books, and some novella bind-ups. I’ll just split everything into two posts and share my thoughts as I binge along. You know how I do. I could tell right away why people loved this book and why people hated it. It’s super addicting and easy to read, but there are so many little things that could grate on someone’s nerves. America Singer, for one, is a decently annoying main character. I appreciated that she had a personality but the millionth time she talked about her prettiness level (others thinking/telling her she’s pretty, her thinking she isn’t, and sometimes thinking she is)… I wanted to punch her. Towards the end of the book she had really started to bug me. The love triangle is also pretty irritating. I don’t have an issue with them in general because love triangles can happen – especially at a young age – but this one didn’t work for me personally. I do like the idea that it’s the hometown/long term boyfriend versus the new, different guy. It has that Peeta vs. Gale vibe. (#TeamGale) That element works for me because I can […]

Reviews: Blue Lily, Lily Blue and The Raven King

Posted May 6, 2016 / Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Despite the fact that this book ended up with the same rating as the first two, it’s definitely my favorite of the bunch. This is absolutely a series that gets better and more interesting with each installment. I spent most of the first two books confused and then completely enamored because of the ending. This book was actually opposite: I loved the entire thing, but was confused towards the end instead. I loved reading the Recaptains for the other books as I read, but this one didn’t exist when I read it 🙁 Regardless, I went surfing around Tumblr to get myself ~IN~ this fandom, now that spoilers aren’t an issue. It was a lot of fun and definitely helped clear up some questions! I don’t exactly know what to say about this series – or this book in particular – that hasn’t already been said by SO many trusted friends and reviewers. Some highlights? Blue + Gansey FEEEELZZZ Ronan + Adam (even though I don’t really like Adam) Piper – what an interesting, weird character Persephone 🙁 Some questions being answered or at least kind of explored THE ENDING CLIFFHANGER WHAT EVENNNNnnnnnNNn I am overwhelmed. I felt overwhelmed through every single page of this final book. I don’t even know if there are other words to describe how I felt. I cannot think of a time in recent memory where I’ve been so emotionally involved in every single character – their feelings, actions, futures.. everything. I just felt things so […]

Review: After I Do

Posted March 3, 2016 / Book Reviews / 13 Comments

I’ve now read 2/3 of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s published works and she’s easily a favorite author. 5 stars for both books. Not only are they favorites, but they both taught me so much. Her books just have a way of impacting you unlike any others. I don’t know how she does it, but she takes regular people going through pretty average things (like falling out of love and making decisions) and just makes their stories so incredibly engaging and enthralling. For once, the hype about a book didn’t ruin anything for me. I’m not entirely sure how to describe how much I loved this book and all of the characters, so I’m going to break some stuff down. The realest relationship I loved Lauren and Ryan’s relationship from the very beginning. The book shows how they met and how their relationship developed before getting to the point where they choose to separate. It was a nice segue, showing some different increments over time: when they met, a few years into the relationship, and all the way to months before the book starts. It was truly necessary to see why these people should be together and the kind of relationship they’re fighting to fix. On top of the flashbacks, I just loved them and shipped them like crazy. At the same time, it was so obvious how they started to fall apart. There were so many lessons about keeping a relationship going during each and every moment. The little things can seriously add up. Family feels […]

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 […]