Jelena
Finally got around to reading a sequel to one of my favorite reads of last year - Queen of Blood. I picked it up to fulfill an ‘Elemental magic' prompt in this year's r/fantasy bingo. I'm determined to finish one card and at least start another one, wish me luck.
I picked this book up without reading the synopsis so the first portion of the book felt very jarring and a bit sudden. It felt like a rehashing of the same plot from the first book but with different characters. And the best part of the first book for me was the plot and the pace, so when I basically had to read it all over again I was a bit let down. I didn't really expect to see new characters but they grew on me as the book went on.
Although the climax and the reveal were very surprising. I also loved that we saw some characters from the previous book. And the whole plot thread with the healer's mother is the most interesting and I can't wait to see where it leads in the next book.
I can't really say that the new protagonist as much as I loved Daleina. It was all a bit too much mama bear. It felt like her whole personality was her kids. But she provided a really great contrast for how young all of the previous queens really were and what burden was placed upon such young women.
All in all, I really enjoyed it. I'm excited to read the series finale. And if you liked the first book I would still recommend you continue with the series. The pace is still on par with the first book, and if you don't mind a very protective mother as your main character, I'm sure you will enjoy this sequel.
It wasn't the best romance I've read but it wasn't bad either. It definitely took a bit too much time to get to the wedding portion of the book since it's so heavily advertised as such. The writing also could have been more polished. There were too many internal thoughts that we really didn't need to know about.
Overall I would mostly recommend it for slow-burn lovers and if you like the he-falls-first trope.
I really like this one. The first 20-30% were a bit rough for me since it was set up for the world and characters' motivations. Since this book is a standalone that is very understandable. But once the real plot kicked in, I could not put it down. If you are a plot-driven reader this one is for you.
I also didn't particularly like the way it ended, but considering that there is now a sequel I understand that the author was trying to keep that door open for something down the line.
I can't wait to read more books in this world.
This book is just a complete step down compared to the first book.
I absolutely hate the Jinx character, and the fact that she got even more page time definitely didn't help my enjoyment. I was even procrastinating reading it at the start because I didn't want to read her chapters. And even Quan and Kayl didn't really get great development by the end of the book.
Plot had a really bad case of middle book syndrome. There was a lot of meandering. I felt like Quen's and Kayl's relationship suffered the most for it. The first book was focused so much more on those two. And even the plot point with her best friend at the end really rubbed me the wrong way. I just didn't find it believable. And most of the ending to be completely honest. I just think that the book completely broke my suspension of disbelief and the small fault I had with it kept pailing on and I just was able to take any of it seriously.
Also, I found the Gods communicating through the heads of the main characters less and less believable as the book when on. Throughout the whole book, I was questioning why a certain God was able to hear this thought but not some other one.
And at last, the writing. This is where most of my issues lie. It was just so juvenile at times while trying to deeply convey some very dark themes. All the swearing was so random, and the amount of time that Jinx said ‘cunt' was just baffling. I don't remember that I minded swearing in the first book or if there was any, but the fact that I noticed in this one says something.
I really wish I liked it more. The first book in the series was a 5 star read for me. But this one was just such a disappointment that I don't know if I wanna continue with the series. I will probably wait to read some reviews for it before I decide.
If I wasn't reading it for the r/fantasy bingo I would have DNFed this book halfway through. I just wanted more from it. This book is solely focused on a theme of grief and I personally struggle if there isn't at least one of the plot or character as a main focus.
If that is something you are into, check it out.
I quite liked the plot in this one, but the characters weren't gripping me as much to give it a higher rating. Plus some of my misleading expectations about what the mystery is gonna be about led me to be confused about where the story was actually going in the first half of the book. But I really like how it all came together, even if it was a bit too neat in the end.
I'm a sucker for a second-chance romance, what can I say. Objectively, this might just come under the five-star mark, but I really connected to this book. I was so invested in Ama's wedding business and seeing what she gonna come up with for the designs. Considering its dual timeline, I didn't think this was gonna be for me, but I could not pass up a second chance trope so I still picked it up. I loved how the romance developed. The author showed really well how their lives intertwined and how they became inseparable. Also, the ending really hit for me. And for the end, let me just say there is some spice in this book.
Unfortunately, the hype was just too big for me it seems. I think deep down I knew that it couldn't be as good as everyone was making it seem so I put off reading it. I finally picked it up to fulfill my r/fantasy bingo prompt.
The first 25% were really good. I really related to Murderbot's social anxiety. But that is it. The only part of the book that I cared for. The rest of the book in plot, characters, world-building I could not care less about. I'm really sad that it didn't work for me.
I might still try the 2nd book in the series to be sure and it wasn't just my mood, plus they are really short so it won't take much of my reading time.
I did not expect to like this at all. I'm really hit and miss with lyrical writing styles so I avoid any full-length novels with it but I pick up some novellas from time to time. All I knew about the book was that it was lyrical horror, that was and. But this book is so much more.
I'm not really the most eloquent person to breakdown all of the themes and discussions in the text, so I'll leave you to read some other reviews for that. But what I can point out is just how much I cared about these characters. I was tearing up by the end of it and that never happens to me since it's really hard to make me care that much about the characters in such a small amount of time, especially in a fantasy genre since there has to be some page time used for setting up the world and/or magic system. Also, if you are intimidated by the more lyrical writing style, don't be. I found that it wasn't hard to follow the story at all. I wish I highlighted some passages and quotes that resonated with me, so I'll definitely try to re-read by the end of the year to actually do that.
There was also a short story at the end of the book that is actually the origin of this novella, and it seems to have been published in the Dark Magazine before. I think that also enhance my reading experience since it gave context for the beginning and stuff mentioned throughout the novella, so I definitely recommend you read it.
I'll absolutely be checking out more stuff from this author in the future.
I picked up a Darcy Coates book on a lot of recommendations from some booktubers I watch because it was pitched as cozy horror. I've wanted to try horror for the longest time but as someone that can't watch horror movies, this sounded like it would be a great starting point.
After finishing the book I looked at some of the reviews of the booktuber mentioned and most of them gave it 3 stars, which tells me that this book is probably great for some newcomers to this genre and her style, but not really original for her avid readers.
I really enjoyed every aspect of this book. After the first few chapters, I thought this was gonna be some atmospheric(gothic) read with a lot of setup for the second half of the book, but noo... once the action started it just went like a snowball down the hill. It definitely went a bit out there in the end but it was so unique and unlike anything I've read, and it worked for me. I really enjoyed this one and can't wait to read more from this author.
This book has a very slice-of-life feel. The relationships are developing very slowly, over multiple books. It's kinda just following Everly in a short period of her life but with a mystery woven in. Very entertaining and quick read. Her aunts might just be the best part of the series for me though.
The rating is not a reflection of the quality of the book but my personal feelings toward it. In terms of the plot and characters, objectively, the author did an excellent job. I just didn't really find it a very enjoyable read overall.
I really liked the first part of the book when the mystery was unfolding, but as we were finding out more about the past I kept feeling like some details were upon a reader to infer rather than actually showing it to us, and that just didn't work for me unfortunately. I didn't particularly love where the plot went in the last 15-20%. I felt like it went a bit abstract and I had some problems visualizing some scenes depicted in the end so my mind kept wandering off. I actually put my audiobook at a higher speed at that point and just tried to finish it quickly so that might have contributed.
I will definitely check out other books from this author because I really did find the book very well written, it just didn't really work for me in terms of plot.
Really loved this book. Although I found the marketed tropes to miss some key plot bits, I still liked how the story developed.
The whole King and Sullivan sub-plot felt very out of place IMO. It felt like it was just a tease to keep reading the series to find out more. I do see how that history could affect other teased relationships in other upcoming books, but as a plot point in this one - it felt very out of place and random.
I will definitely pick up other books in this series because I like a lot of the side characters and the teased pairs for upcoming books.
It was a pretty entertaining read, but I felt like I just wanted more from it. The horror wasn't as dark as I expected or as the story was giving room for. There were times when I wished the author went a bit further. I also wanted more from the relationships of the crew.
The ending also left more to desire, like if there were any lasting consequences on the characters. Things kinda wrapped up too quickly considering we never found out what really happened.
The whole point of having multiple love interests but not actually developing any of them is starting to bother me. Also, the whole opening of how she refuses to listen to her editor's advice on what to write in her book because she is afraid of doing that in real life in relation to her love life has honestly been the most annoying part and it happened second time in a row.
The mystery was entertaining enough to pull it out for me but I don't know for how long I'm gonna keep reading this series if it doesn't fix those issues with side characters and their relationship.
I don't think I would have finished this book without the audiobook going alongside it. I think I tried reading this book 2 times before this and basically DNFed it at the make point in the book. I still don't know what is the disconnect between me and Pierce's writing. I definitely enjoyed this book more than the first one in the series. The ending was pretty epic not gonna lie. I just can't seem so care enough for these characters for me to give his books higher ratings.
I absolutely loved all of the characters. I didn't agree with their decisions but I loved reading about them. The only reason why this wasn't full 5 stars is because I found the plot and the magic system to be a bit under-explained. Some things just seemed to happen at the end of the book without much questioning from the characters.
While I did enjoy this book very much, I could definitely see all of the criticisms this book was getting all this time. I'm not the type of a reader that picks up on the problematic things in the book, I'm picking it up to enjoy it not to look if the author has enough representation in it. But the way every female was described was so overly sexual that I was unable to block it out. Every one of them had a description of the size of their breasts. Every one. To couple with that the fact that the plot kinda lost some steam at the halfway mark, and my rating kinda plummeted. I was honestly thinking this was gonna be a high 4 or a 5 star for me until the halfway point.
I'll probably still pick up the second book in the series to see if the writing improved because I really did enjoy this world and politics.