Janee
DNF @ 26% I was just totally uninterested. It was so dense with world building that it took me forever just to get to the 20% mark and I only got that far because I decided to start skimming. Then when they did focus on the actual plot I found I didn't care. Call me crazy, but if you're supposed to assassinate an IMMORTAL DRAGON GOD I think you need a better plan than just “seduce him and stab him while he's distracted”. Something tells me this IMMORTAL will probably be harder to kill than that.
Loved it! I picked this one up because it's plot summary was so similar to the Garron Park duology by Nordika Night. And I loved that book too. Very spicy at times but so achingly sweet as well. My babies had to fight for their love and I'm happy for them. Can't wait for the next book in the series to come out
DNF @ 15%. This is mostly erotica and I didn't know that when I picked it up. I don't mind spice but this was a whole lot of spice that was written like a wattpad novel. I did not have a good time. I get the fated mates trope but the characters deciding that they are in love and want to be together forever after they've only known each other for 15 minutes max was a bit much for me. So yeah, this book is getting tossed into virtual black hole of my DNF shelf to be consumed there. Bon voyage book.
I cannot express in words how much I love these two men. As individuals and as a couple. Angel: dangerous, sexy, passionate, traumatized but still ready to fight for innocent people, ready to burn it all down to keep Francis safe. Francis: boy next door sweet, righteous, strong willed, willing to burn it all down to save Angel. I'm so upset that I have to wait until March for the final book. I didn't realize the series wasn't completed yet
I really enjoyed this story because I feel like the author took their time to make the characters realistic. I thought this story was going to be like other priest romances where the priest is only religious for two seconds before they turn into some kind of sex god. This book isn't like that at all. Father Francis really struggles with his sexuality, his lust, his past trauma, and feeling that he isn't good enough for his congregation and I loved that realism from him. And Angel's backstory was just as tragic as Francis' and I liked seeing his soft side. They suit each other surprisingly well.
A story about a man who falls in love with another man and ends up in a throuple with him and his demon ghost. Happy for them.
Im a Lily Mayne stan so I will read anything she writes and I liked this book a lot. Ari was getting on my nerves a little in the middle when he wouldn't believe in demons but he came around quickly enough. And why was I kind of rooting for “Him” (the demon) to find a permanent vessel so he and Theo could be together all the time by the end? He loves Theo probably even more than Ari does and I want Him to be able to see Theo all the time!
Considering “neck snapping” was one of the trigger warnings in this book I thought it would be more violent. I could've used more neck snapping to be honest. The plot synopsis I originally read described this as some kind of bloody revenge story, but it ended up being a pretty sweet little love story about a vampire and a demon that basically go on a road trip. I had a good time with it, but I was anticipating more horror. The world building and backstory to how our vampire got into Hell in the first place was also really glossed over.
3.75 stars. Cute story, easy read, I liked the couple. My biggest problem was that there was too much miscommunication and mistrust between the love interests. Yes they're enemies at first, but they are being paranoid of each other's actions well into their “lovers” phase and that didn't make sense to me. At the smallest problem all the trust they built would just get thrown out the window. meanwhile someone off page would have to tell them “hey have you thought it might be X or Y?” And then they solve the problem together. It took me so long to read because all the miscommunication twists were annoying me so it gets a lower star rating for that.
I hate to say it, but Charlie N. Holmberg let me down with this one. I've loved so many of her novels, standalone and series, but The Hanging City left me totally bored. 34% in and I had to just skip to the last 4 chapters or else I would've DNFed. Both this book and Star Mother gave me similar vibes. FL who is likable enough but naive/ annoying at times, paranormal love interest who is more interesting than the FL but we don't get a lot of extra information about him, really cool sounding plot that just ends up falling flat. If you're looking for better Holmberg novels then I would suggest either Whimbrel House Series or the Paper Magician series to start with. This book is aggressively average compared to other Holmberg novels I've read, but if this is your first C.N.H novel then I would say it could be a 3+ star for you.
I don't know what to think about this one. It was confusing as hell.
Edit after thinking on it some more
So the book starts off pretty good because there's a lot of mystery around Augustine's house and body horror. But once we find out what secrets Augustine had been hiding from Jane the book takes a weird turn into magic and the story kind of fizzles out. There are long sections of the book where Jane is basically just torturing herself doing this “research” and she's turning into an awful person all while doing it. And that plot twist with the ghosts that came at the end really threw me for a loop. I still don't understand if the spooky things in the house were real ghosts or were they demons or maybe something else? I'm still confused but I was also skimming chapters towards the end. 3/5 for a strong start, good enough middle, and an okay ending.
Between the two twins I liked reading Rin's story more. But Sila is so interesting because he's so unhinged and remorseless. Bay and Sila are perfect for each other but they are both incredibly toxic in different ways. Sila falling to the category of “if you even think about leaving me I'll physically harm you” and Bay being “if you ever leave me I'll harm myself”. Also, the small plot twist at the very end with Bay's confession made several parts of the earlier book not make sense. If he was planning certain things out the way he claimed during his confession then in his own thoughts earlier in the book he was lying. And why would he need to lie in his own thoughts?! Overall 4/5.
I love Chani Feener's dark books and I will read anything she publishes. Inject these toxic boys right into my veins but be mindful of the trigger warnings. Feener's books will make lots of people uncomfortable. 4.75/ 5 stars because of the spelling errors sprinkled throughout. I've said this for other Feener books I've reviewed but her books tend to need one more pass through with editing. For example, there are a few times where the name “Rin” is written but she really means “Sila” or vice versa. And when your book is about identical twins it's important to keep whose doing what straight.
2 stars. It's a no from me dog. I had to start skimming and skipping chapters just to finish.
After the first 30% I understand why this book has such a low rating. After finishing it I also understand why the ending was so divisive. This book is overly wordy, boring even during “exciting” moments, and after getting through the ending seems to be kind of pointless. We start the book going in a particular direction. Haunted school, girls disappearing, mystery, horror. But at about 80% we take a hard left and everything you thought the book was about gets turned totally on it's head but not in a fun way. When the big reveal about the school comes into play I said to myself “Then what was even the point of everything we've been through so far?”.
Wouldn't recommend. I can't even say this is a good book to read during the Halloween season which is the whole reason I picked it up.
Not going to lie, there were parts of this book that really got on my nerves. Some of the story within a story elements slowed the pace down too much, January was way too naïve and trusting of Mr. Lock and the society even after she learns about what their doing, she basically causes herself to be put in danger MULTIPLE TIMES simply because she can't keep her damn mouth shut about her plans! But even after all that I would still give this 4.75 stars.
I love that it's a book about outcasts and people who prefer fanciful stories to real life. I love that we get a POC cast and race/ class commentary. I love that we get a sweeping love story that literally spans decades plus a bonus mini love story with January and Samuel. I even got a little teary eyed at the ending.