H. Cat

Jalan is an amusing narrator and a refreshing flavor of character. His opening line where he declares himself a coward hooked me immediately. It was the reason why I bought the book in the first place. Unfortunately, he was not enough to carry me through the story.

There are elements to the plot that have so much potential, but they are lost to the fact that this book is about two guys traveling north. Even the reason for their travel felt weak. Snorri is set on their destination, but there is a lack of urgency to him. And Jalan is just being dragged along for the ride.

There were enough little moments to carry me pretty far into the book. I was 10 hours in when I realized that I didn't care about the characters or the plot at all so I quit. I'm sure others will enjoy this book, and Jalan, as a character, deserves to be appreciated. He was different and I would have loved to see him in a book where I could have appreciated him more.

This was an adorably fun read, and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

I have loved every Kyle story I have read (even the one that scared the crap out of me), and this one was no exception. I hope there are more stories for him in the future, and, if so, I will read every one.

4.5

I really liked this story.

I've been delaying a review of this because I haven't been able to sit down and put my thoughts into words properly. Still not sure I'm ready to do that, but we'll see how it goes.

This book was sweet, fluffy, and nicely informative about selective mutism and US citizenship issues. I appreciated reading a book with the latter. It also has some hot, dirty sex (on a table in a cafe even!) which I love. When Heidi Cullinan writes dirty sex, she does it well.

Beyond the steam and information, this book is all fluff. Yes, we have the looming issue of Valentyn needing a green card or he will be kicked out of the country, but it is mainly external issues that are the conflict here, not internal ones. Although both characters have personal things they are dealing with, these demons don't create conflict in their relationship. In fact, the characters have a bit of insta-love going on and LOTS of understanding conversations. Almost all of their conversations about their relationship felt like “I'm afraid my issues will cause problems and you will want to leave me.” “Don't worry, I love you just the way you are.” It's good to have those kind of conversations and many a relationship aims to have calm, rational conversations where they try to understand their partner and work through their issues instead of letting them fester, but we are human. Life can't always be like that.

It wasn't until they started living together that we finally get some of the real life tidbits that come with loving another person, those stupid arguments and conflicting views on life that make a relationship interesting. I was happy to see those moments, even if they were glossed over a bit. Otherwise this book would have been too sweet for me.

It is a lovely story though, and DAMN the sex was hot.

I loved this book from beginning to end. Starting it at midnight was probably not the best of ideas, but it was totally worth it. I couldn't put it down. It was just what I needed. Fluffy, funny, touching, and sweet. A great romance.

Clown murder husbands. Seriously. I love these two more than words can say and now that SHL has aired I actually have faces I can imagine for them. Beautiful faces. (Such beautiful faces.)

These two. This book. OMG words fail me. I love them both so much. I know Priest has a lot of stories that I haven't read yet, but this has quickly become my fav of all time for her writing (and given how much I love Zhen Hun/Guardian that's saying something). I don't know how this could be topped. The flirting, and the teasing, and the bickering, and then there's all this plot, and the PAIN. I just...I needed those extras. All of them. They were like fluffy, healing security blankets.

But the boys are together, forever and always. And in love.

And I am going to end this nonsensical review before it becomes any more nonsensical, but read Tian Ya Ke/Faraway Wanderers. It's so worth it.

I really loved this book. It has solidly settled on my shelf of favorite Priest books. I don't think there was a descriptive one-liner in here that left a distinctive impression on me (like in Mo Du), but overall the story was wonderfully written and well-structured, the characters were painfully human, and the politics at the right level for me to enjoy them without being overwhelmed.

And, of course, the boys get all the <3's. In this case, that means three of them, and Zhou Zishu gets extra hugs.

Can't wait to see where we go from here!

I loved this book from the opening paragraph to the end. I thought it was beautifully written and I gobbled up about 90 pages in my first sitting. I love stories that utilize the mythology of crows (in this case rooks) bringing the dead to the other side and I thought it was used well in this story.

The story does focus very strongly on the main character, somewhat to the detriment of developing characters around him, but in this case it works. The main character is so focused on his own goals and to do lists that he pays no attention to the world around him. In doing so, he misses the whole point of his own story up until the very end. I think this shows a strong characteristic of human nature where many people are narrow-mindedly focused on their own perceptions that they can miss the big picture.

I would definitely recommend this book to others.

I really enjoyed this book, and I totally want to read the next one.

That being said, there is one thing that annoyed me about this novel: the ending.

And here's why: This book is a duology. That's fine. Perhaps the author wanted to end it on a cliffhanger. That's fine too. (Potentially frustrating, but fine.) The thing is, this book didn't end on a cliffhanger, and it doesn't feel like a duology. It just ended, and because of that, it felt like part one of one book."Book 1" of a series/trilogy/duology/etc should be a contained story. If not, it needs to be a cliffhanger that feels like a CLIFF. Give me a turning point, give me a shocking realization, give me SOMETHING that rocks my world or pulls the rug from beneath me. It doesn't have to be so intense that I throw the book across the room and curse the world for book 2 not being out yet, but there should be some sort of urgency or surprise.Although we have learned some things in Garden of the Cursed, we're still essentially in the same place we've been the whole time. Marlow wants to know what happened to her mother (the whole story) and Adrius is still cursed. Even the potential for that to become permanent doesn't feel like a pressing timeline. Instead, although Marlow is in big trouble and the majority of the world is after her, she's currently in a place where she feels somewhat safe. She's discovered things that could potentially help her and make her life easier. We had the total building of "oh shit, what is she going to do now???" and suddenly it's gone.Granted, I have my suspicions, but that's separate from the actual position Marlow and the reader have been put in. We've been couched in at least the illusion of safety and then abandoned until book two.Seriously, I turned the page and saw "acknowledgements" and went "what????".

Very enjoyable and I am definitely getting the second one.

I'm not sure how to rate this book.

At first it threw me off, because it wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I am glad I continued reading because the story I found instead was really interesting. As a lover of Danmei (Guardian in particular) I wanted to see where the plot would go and how the reincarnation and longing across ages would play out.

I also enjoyed playing “who was who in the past?” and was pleasantly surprised to be wrong on certain accounts. The book has some nice twists that I did not see coming.

Overall this was a good story. It was threaded together to reveal only what the author wanted at the time it should be. It utilized the idea of love being a feeling from past lives well, and offered us a love story that spanned ages. There was longing and pain, jealousy and passion. Love is messy, and that is true in this book.

Perhaps that is why it left me with such mixed emotions that I can't say if I liked it or not.

This book was the perfect mix of fluff with a dash of “oh no” intensity. A low stakes Good Omens inspired story. It was exactly what I needed right now.

Loved all the footnotes, the sin counter, and the chocolate.

Can't wait to read more by this author.

4.5 rounded up

I can't remember the last time a book made me cry actual tears. This one did. Twice.

The story is more atmospheric than action, and there was a point where I started to feel like it might be bordering on too much atmosphere and not enough action, but it never tipped fully over the line.

I loved this book. I really did. Especially by the end.

And I can't believe I didn't see that twist coming when it was not at all subtly foreshadowed the whole time. I guess I was too wrapped up in the story to notice, but that's a good thing.

EDIT: I got to the kiss at the meeting and quit.

Page 160 - I was here for the poly and the paranormal, and so far I don't see much of either.

There is a ton of talk of demons and mediums and psychic abilities in this book, but barely any of it is on page. We have a couple grounding exercises and a ton of research. Yes, there's a ghost haunting a house and we get some experience with that, but all the atmosphere that should accompany this kind of a world seems to be missing. For example, the two boys are members of an occult society who supposedly raises demons every week or so and bends them to their will, but any time we've been around that group we get gossip and politicking on who will be the next Big Man in Charge. The main characters are brought together to help David get rid of a demon possession, but so far any strides to do that are off page. Also, besides one awesome blackout with mysterious writing, the symptoms of his possession are mostly off page. I read another review that said he had something more like demon covid than anything that felt like a full on possession and I loved that. Totally accurate.And don't get me started on the thruple. We haven't gotten there yet, but I don't have that much hope if the building romance/intimacy/friendship I've seen so far is any indication. These people were angry or supposedly hated each other in the beginning. I need to see that changing. I need to see the little moments that soften them, that make them change their mind and look at the other person differently. Yes, there are a bunch of surprises with the way David is acting. That's good for getting Moira's POV, but WHY is he acting softer/differently??? What made him suddenly lower his defenses around her? The only thing I can think of is the haunted bedroom moment, but he was acting that way WAY before that happened. All I see are the aftermath of opinions changing and one-off notes of "s/he's been so helpful with the things we've been doing off page."

It feels like everything in here is off page. /sigh

Not exactly what I thought it would be, but still enjoyable. It was sweet and slightly ridiculous (in a good way).

This continues the sweet story from the previous volumes. We get to see how their relationship is progressing and the little moments as they move forward in it. I especially loved the much needed addressing of an unresolved issue. It was something that could have been left alone, but instead the author decided to have the characters work through that moment, and it was lovely.

As always, I enjoy listening to Lily Morton's books, and this one was cute. A little different as the couple were already married for the story, but it made for an interesting change.

This is the volume with my favorite quotes in it. ^_^ Also, ramen. LOL

This book was cute in the beginning, but it gave me a bit of a D&D feel which I'm not always into. I gave it a shot though and I'm glad I continued. It ended up being very enjoyable. I like the main characters and their banter and the adventure was fun.

EDIT: Though I enjoyed this story, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with the series until I heard on of Michael J Sullivan's shorts in audio form. The narrator is FANTASTIC and he is the narrator for the rest of the series. This has swayed me and I plan to continue the series in audio form.