Julia
My star rating here is ambivalent, not average. This moved at a really nice clip, was very funny, and I liked the romance! The parts I didn't like were that it really was just shy of too gory for me, and even if they're motivated by vigilante justice, I'm still not on board with serial killers. I'll still finish this series, though, so I wasn't excessively bothered.
Okay, I am stating in writing for perpetuity that I need to focus my energy on COMPLETE D series. It's not that I can't stand a cliffhanger, but it's gotta be a GOOD cliffhanger, and my primary beef with Onyx Storm (other than it's hard to maintain same spice intensity when the protagonists are in a committed long-term relationship hah) is I can't tell if there were lots of loose ends that we're going to get AMAZING plot cohesion in the next books, or if there are loose ends because the editing should be tighter.
Liked this better than the first in the series so am now definitely game for the final in the trilogy, with less of a delay! This was again fast-paced, but less gory, which I appreciated, and I can now see the longer arc of character development. This ended on QUITE a cliffhanger, but one I'm not mad about? Felt appropriately propulsive and in keeping with the series? Two books in, I'll also say that the whole premise feels quite original.
Read for collective liberation book club. Beautiful & thought-provoking. I am most struck by Coates' humility. He realized (through feedback) after "The Case for Reparations" how much he still had to learn about Palestine, and then wrote a book as his apology-through-education. I do wish there was a little more in the book about the time between this first feedback and the trip to Palestine he discusses, but you can't have everything!
Wow, THIS is how to end a series. I loved this! Love the characters, and it was interesting reading the Q&A at the end. You really can tell that the arc of the series was planned from the start. Everything felt intentional, she beautifully resisted pleasing the reader in a way that I wouldn't really have wanted to be pleased, and the end felt so SETTLING. Not due to plot, per se, but completion. Loved these characters in all their complexity.
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Gifted from a friend and I think the quote on the front says steampunk fantasy or something like that - mix in themes of imperialism and queer theory and BOOM you've got a fun read.
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. This is a suitably tense middle of a trilogy, as I was cringing to watch the world and central relationship both fracture, but also drawn to keep reading (saved the third for a while to be able to really relish it in 2025!).
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. As a romantasy reader, I really wish for an alternate universe with the adult version of this series, but otherwise no complaints about this propulsive read with a compelling protagonist and carefully visioned world.
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Came highly recommended by one of the most rigorously ethical people I know - you wouldn't expect it by the blurb, but this is a joy to read, equal parts comforting and appropriately challenging.
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. Found this Kleypas in a Goodwill and given that clearly I'm a fan will read the rest of this 3-book series - not my favorite, but a characteristic pleasure to read!
Got really behind on my book list! So dating this dozen or so incorrectly as 12/31/24 and challenging myself to a sentence-long review. I cannot believe I've never catalogued a read of this as this is for sure my 3rd or 4th read, and does Austen just slap so hard every single time - doesn't get better than this!
Contains spoilers
Found this in the library of the old-fashioned hot springs resort I was at for a family reunion (Capon Springs, WV! Can't recommend it enough!). Interesting to read a pretty early precursor to the current rash of romantasy (of which I've read plenty). I liked the world-building, found the plot propulsive, and was an overall fan. I don't love "we connected in past life/past versions of ourselves" trope particularly, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. I'm not rushing to finish the trilogy, but am at least curious about the sequel eventually.
This was okay. Not my favorite Emily Henry (still People We Meet on Vacation by a wide margin). I sort of appreciate her reimagining of the divorce-remarriage plotline, but didn't find the amount of miscommunication particularly believable and/or sympathetic, and (although thinking back on it, includes her other stuff I've read), there's so much drinking! Now I'm sounding like a hater, but I don't regret reading, was entertained, and her best work means I'll keep reading!
LOVED this. Loved it! Cute premise, loved the energy between the two mains, and realized that the thing Emily Henry is best at is writing about longing. I could have used a bit more balance between the neuroses of the main characters (at times Poppy was a bit much!), but that's a minor complaint and overall this was a great summer read.
I think this suffers in comparison to the fantastic first? But this feels like a star rating I might change over time. Good things: Locke & Jean continue to be friend goals, no shortage of witty dialogue as always, and now there's a pirate queen! Plus Jean has a lovely romantic connection! Downsides: a wee bit too much sailing talk for me, a thing that I find happens regularly in the second book of a series with too plotty of a plot, and a sudden sadness (no spoilers) near the end that feels too abruptly handled for the emotions involved. BUT I am in for the long haul with Locke & Jean so for sure will read the 3rd!
Contains spoilers
Well, shoot. I didn't love this for a variety of reasons, and now I'm relieved to know there's not a Faraday #3. But that's not fair, because this was her first novel, and some of my dislikes here are completely absent from the later novels. Where to start...really didn't like the "younger virgin" protagonist, while I generally am pretty good as suspending belief for romance I found the idea that anyone would send these two - who were *clearly* fixated on each other - on a mission together preposterous, and...I'm over plots that feature Middle Eastern terrorists! Plus...not spicy enough, and that there is the nail in the coffin. If you read Abrams as Montgomery, start with the later ones!
LOVED THIS. It's been a while since I've given a 5-star review. One quote on the back of my copy includes the word "swashbuckling," and YES. Yes it is! I read the first few hundred pages in fits and starts, not because I wasn't interested, but because I managed to correctly intuit that once I hit the climax, I'd be tearing through and would be sad if I rushed too much. So much to love here - dialogue that is Princess Bride-y (I'm not sure anything has ever met that bar for me before), and something I was just thinking about: tremendous world-building that somehow never slows down the plot. Already ordered the next one.
Really solid. I do think I need to take a wee break from Hazelwood. Her novels are all GREAT, and very spicy, but there is a tiny bit of sameness across books (maybe it's the STEMinist stuff, which I also love, so take this with a grain of salt) that I just need a pause from. Still, this was no exception to her general excellence, and might be my favorite, sexiest couple. Hazelwood really compassionately portrays neurodivergence (and not from a deficit perspective), and I think this is her kinkiest yet. So I'm sure I'll be back before too long.