Lisa Fries

Worn is such an excellent and comprehensive history of cloth, clothing and the people that make them.

It’s an extremely dense book, but the author does a really great job about centering the humans that hold up the clothing industry. It’s not just a total info dump, each aspect of the industry is told through the experience of the people the author has met all over the world while researching for the book.

This personal approach to history, economics and society really makes the book engaging. I listened to this on audio so there’s definitely points I glazed over a bit, but it was interesting enough that I’d love to listen again to really soak up the soak up the details.

I wasn’t fully invested in The Cruel Prince. It felt it took right until the end to interest me, so I wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to continue with The Wicked King. I’m glad I did.

There’s a nice amount of twists and turns in this one. I have a knack for predicting what will happen and I was gladly surprised by a lot of the twists. Both Jude & Cardin have nice development in this one.

While the series hasn’t fully hooked me, it’s been an enjoyable read and looking forward to The Queen of Nothing.

Overall enjoyable read but didn't fully grab me. The world building & magic mechanics is really great. I definitely loved learning about the world and how it operates, but wished for a little more action. The climax felt a little rushed & not as exciting as I had hoped.

EDIT: Feel I need to add that reading this book is well worth it to read the series as a whole. I felt each book got better and really loved the 3rd book.

Completely satisfying end to this Criminal Minds-esque serial killer thriller. Lana is such an epicly amazing character. Her & Jake's end game was absolutely delicious. I couldn't help but smirk with delight at the comeupance that Lana dished to that town.

I gave the earlier books lower ratings, but overall this book & the series as a whole was a solid 4 stars ⭐ Cutting it up into 5 parts definitely kept me binging - it was nice to digest as bite sized chunks - even if I started the next book immediately after finishing one. It really is just one book though.

The romance is a nice little treat, but I'm less in love with Lana/Logan as a couple and much more in love with Lana's story and her arc of revenge. If you like romance it's worth the read. If you like thriller, crime & revenge stories, I highly recommend this.

Obviously, I was a bit hooked by the series prior to this one, cause you don't read 3 books without being a bit hooked - but this book is reallyyyy when I got hooked.

I loved getting deep into the nitty gritty of the details of Lana's past & the town where so much of her trauma stemmed from. We're so close to the end game, and you just know that Lana & Jake have something brutal planned. 😏

The story continues.. another quick fun read. This book again doesn't really stand alone, but very much feels like the middle chunk of a longer book. So rating it on it's own, it's decent; but within the context of the full series, the plot, investigation & murders all move forward in a necessary way.

We finally get to Lana's hometown which feels like the beginning of the end in an exciting way. I continue to love Lana and how badass she is. My only critique is we see Lana get a bit jealous & petty - this may be realistic, but it just seems out of character & beneath someone who's so controlled and focused on the big picture of her revenge.

Once again, jumped immediately into the next book.

Things start to pick up a bit in this book. It gets much more into a Criminal Minds vibe which I liked. It still feels odd to rate this as a standalone book. This book has some level of resolution with Hadley's step-father storyline.

Didn't blow me away, but a pretty quick, fun read. Once again this installment ends on a cliff hanger, which automatically hooked me to starting the next book immediately.

Loved it! This is a book that I went back to reread many of the chapters so I could fully soak it in. I know many complained about the book being too dense & confusing. I will admit at times, I did confused or mixed characters up - like why in the world is Lewellen both a man and the name of the city the man comes from?! But overall, I really just loved all the lore & world building we got. Were there two many names to keep track of at points? yes but I just kind of glide over the less important bits and try not to get stuck.

I really enjoyed learning more about the neighboring Islands, their relations to the gods, Violet's history, her parents possible transgressions and what her powers could unfold.

I LOVED Ridoc in this one. He really had a lot of time in this book to show really endear himself to the reader - his humor, his loyalty 🤌

I loved learning more about Aaric, his dynamics with his brohters & the royal family, his aims, his power. It will be interesting to see what part he plays long term.

Have to give out a shout out to our shadow daddy Xaden Riorson. I'll never not love him and I'm so invested in seeing how he progresses from here on out 👀 Already can't wait for the next book.

Final note: I generally try to post spoiler free reviews but I must say Imogen & Quinn's final scene absolutely gutted me. I was sobbing so hard. Even though we really don't fully get invested as Quinn as a character, RY does an expert level job of getting into Imogen's POV, showing us the heart-wrenching emotions she's feeling in that moment.

Quick, light-hearted read. It's a fun concept - a woman is absolutely in love with her favorite audio erotica artist, and by chance, he ends up joining her family for Christmas.

I tend to like romance that has a bit more depth, but this was enjoyable. Not much conflict to be had, but if you're looking for a cute little Christmas romance story then this is the one.