annakoski's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Alright Ive gone through the entire book. Total rating is 2.85 stars but rounded up to 3. Some of the stories were great, others were not. Some really dragged the score down but I would recommend the book to someone just for a few notable novellas.Β
The Reviews:
Book 1: Astaroth: The Great Duke of Hell
Kathryn Ann Kingsley
πππππ
This was very basic story. Insta lust, insta love without any real added reasoning for why like soulmates, mates, that sort of thing. So that knocked off a moon.Β
The premise was decent and enjoyable but could have been done better. I get that the stories are short and that means not a lot of time for plot but there was a lot that could have been done with it that wasn't and left the story feeling a little flat. Which knocked off another moon.Β
It was enjoyable, dont get me wrong but not a story I would be compelled to read again. But a decently solid 3/5.
Book 2: The Basilisk of Star Manor
Kathryn Moon
πππππ
This was a decent read. There was insta lust but there was also a chance for the characters to grow into it through meetings, which I appreciated. However the ending felt overly rushed, which is the reason for a dropped moon.
Book 3: Anthia
Rory Miles
πππππ
I could not finish this one. At all.Β
The MC female says she has been 'resisting' her sexy bodyguard since she hired him. We are told she's cold and doesnt deal with men. That she keeps things professional. Repeatedly. I cannot stress that this point is hammered home.Β
Except the first time the MC male actually pushes her she folds like a wet paper bag. She gives in almost immediately and Im sorry. I cant handle that. Dont tell me a character is one thing and then have her immediately do the opposite right after. This also happens within the first two chapters. So we literally never see her actually resist this guy in any meaningful capacity to reinforce what we are told about her as a person.
Half a moon for decent enough writing style.Β
Book 4: Untamed Alphas
Loxley Savage
πππππ
When I picked up this one I knew it was going to be bad from the first chapter. There was going to be a lot of wattpad werewolf tropes. And I was not wrong.Β
Parents died, she's treated poorly by those in charge, treated as an outcast because she's special (The author says its because she's a rare omega but there 3 others in the pack and none of the other Omegas are treated like she is. She also says they hate her because the Alpha responds to her but apparently all Alphas respond to all omegas. So Im confused as to why shes not treated well. Even as an outsider to the pack, one of the other omegas is an outsider too, hes not treated poorly. So the reasoning isnt there), shes also different. This is hammered home again and again and again. She's different, not like the others, very different, they dislike her cause shes different. Also, she's got a weird hair colour. Silver. All natural of course, and 'abnormally light' eyes, just to hammer home how different she is from everyone else.
The A/B/O aspect just... sometimes its done right but she literally says that with her heat coming on she has to continually wipe at herself with a towel cause of all her slick and all I can think of is... jesus fucking christ. You are gunna ruin your clothes and get dehydrated. Drink some fucking water.Β
The whole novella was just... im surprised I was able to read all of it.Β
A sliver of a moon for the fact the author wrote it down and I know how hard writing books, even novellas, can be.
Book 5: Her Alien Merman
Aleera Anaya Ceres
πππππ
First off, I appreciated the language glossary at the front, however the fact that it contained phrases did irk me as when I came across one in the book I had to go alllll the way back to the beginning to understand what was said. Which was very, VERY irritating as a reader. Which caused a lost moon
Outside of that it was a cute little novella. Insta love and lust but it was explained through a soulmate bond.Β
Book 6: His Curvy Goddess
Loni Rae
πππππ
There was immediately drama. And not the fun drama.Β
Female MC had her heart broken on her birthday because she wanted to catch the male MCs attention, he asked who let her dress like that with her 'ass and tits out', and that was the entire interaction. I dont know about you guys but yah as a teen that shit can hurt from a guy you like but after getting dress coded and being told I was indecent for having a larger chest, I got over it real quick. Most teens do.
But this interaction is how he broke her heart. Literally. Thats it. Thats all. He didnt even really do anything that I wouldnt expect the standard guy to do. Comments like that are a dime a dozen. So the fact that was the reason for her broken heart had me rolling my eyes hard. So a moon removed for that.Β
Then the male MC refers to her as a curvy goddess more than he actually uses her name. Its a problem. There are more descriptors than that, caveman. Use them. Half moon removed for that.
Four chapters in and two conversations down, she thinks she cant live without the male MC which had me gritting my teeth because that happened waaaaaaaaaaay too fast. Like she went from being, 'hes an asshole' to 'i cant live without him' in the span of about 4 paragraphs. And then chapter 5 she immediately is ready to sleep with him. Then in chapter 6 she declares her love for him. Which might seem like a bit of time but its literally less than a few hours. So another moon and a half moon off for that.
The 'magic wand' reference was atrocious. A full moon off for that.
Someone might enjoy this novella but I did not.Β
Book 7: Bound by the King
Sara Ivy Hill
πππππ
Not gunna lie. Absolutely loved this one. The plot was interesting and well done, the writing was great, and the insta lust was very much explained. Love this one the most so far from the entire anthology.
Book 8: The Eve of Eleventeen
RuNyx
πππππ
It was decently written but it felt very VERY incomplete but it didn't give me enough of an urge to read the series it was a prequel for. Which drops off 2 moons.
Book 9: Shadows & Light
C. M. Nascosta
πππππ
Not gunna lie, I was looking forward to this on simply because Nascosta wrote it and I was not let down. This was great. The plot was great, the writing was great, the entire thing was great! I like this one a little better than Bound by the King, not a lot but just a sliver.
Book 10: How Not to Date A Demon
Lana Kole
πππππ
This was cute and we all love a himbo! The writing was decent, the plot was decent as well. An enjoyable read.Β
Book 11: Pan and the Nymph
Lyx Robinson
πππππ
Okay so this was a DEFINITELY interesting read. I know all about Pan so this author really did him justice. But holy hell, dont read this book public! I can read smut in public but this had me fanning my face. Learn from my mistake! Dont do it. A moon off for my embarassment and being hit with that much steam.
Book 12: Tied to the Wolves
Chloe Gunter
πππππ
Black. Leather. Suspenders. Im really sorry but that was the funniest thing in the world to me and I actually looked them up and I CACKLED. They look like purse straps. Legitimate purse straps. The funniest fucking thing Ive seen in a LONG time. I'm not taking a moon off for this. Its fucking great.
Will be removing one for the "Nope," she said popping the 'p'. Absolutely one moon off for that atrocity.
Also a moon off because the mates concept was super weird. Like blood relation is a bit understandable for multiple people to one person but these guys, from what I can tell, are all unrelated and are just together to be a Council, yet they all have the same mate? Same with another woman. Its just confusing because it isnt really explained fully.Β
Outside of that it was a decent read.
Book 13: A Giant Love
Flora Quincy
πππππ
This was a different sort of book. Was a little confusing and I completely lost it at the female MC downloading Jack and the Beanstalk fanfiction, enemies to loves, DomJack, SubGiant. I read that and I burst into laughter. That's AMAZING. This was a solid 3/5 but I had to give it an extra moon just for that.
Book 14: Dark SymmetryΒ
Lydia Reeves & Xu-Ji Weston
-/-
Not giving this one a rating because Im not gunna lie, it did not interest me and I barely got through the first chapter. No rating because I didnt really read it.
Book 15: The Omega's Secret
SK Reign
-/-
Not rating this cause I would be unfair. I do not like 18 year old female MCs. At all. Maybe its because Im older but I look at them and Im like.... youre a child. A full blown child. And I cant get into reading it. Make them at least 22-23, I would prefer 25 but when the male MC is like 25-40 and shes 18 Im like, could you fucking not? I dont know if that was the case here but Im just saying. No older guy should be looking at an 18 year old with anything but 'You're waaaay too young for me' going through their head as they walk away.
Book 16: Bewitching my Dragon
Lydia Guleva
πππππ
Gunna be completely honest here, I skimmed it. I got super bored reading it and I skimmed it. So thats only a single moon for this one. Someone else might enjoy it, I did not.
Book 17: Luna's Lullabye
Leann Castellanos
πππππ
Biggest gripe I have is the pacing feels super weird in this book. Like things happen super quickly and then the rest is all disjointed. Added to that the time skips and being told the female MC learned a bunch of stuff but we dont, is irritating. It leaves a bunch of questions unanswered and for those reasons, four moons are knocked out.
Book 18: Warrior Mine
Jinx Layne
πππππ
Eh it was okay. Insta love and lust explained by mating bond. The plot was a bit meh but a decent enough read.
Book 19: The Traveller
Sophie Ash
πππππ
The first thing that irritated me was everyone is in a MC club. They are all fantasy creatures but they all are in a MC club. Which just irritated the hell out of me. Why? Why do they all need to be? Why? So Two moons off for that.Β
Outside of that it was decent enough.Β
Book 20: The Killing Moon
Clarissa Bright
-/-Β
Not gunna lie. This one bored me. I barely made it passed chapter one before dropping it.Β So it does not get a ranking from me because I did not read it.Β
Book 21: Saved by the Lycanthrope
Chloe Parker
-/-
Again, the MC is waaaay too young for my taste. I immediately lost interest when she said she was nineteen. So I did not finish it nor do I intend to keep on reading it.
The Reviews:
Book 1: Astaroth: The Great Duke of Hell
Kathryn Ann Kingsley
πππππ
This was very basic story. Insta lust, insta love without any real added reasoning for why like soulmates, mates, that sort of thing. So that knocked off a moon.Β
The premise was decent and enjoyable but could have been done better. I get that the stories are short and that means not a lot of time for plot but there was a lot that could have been done with it that wasn't and left the story feeling a little flat. Which knocked off another moon.Β
It was enjoyable, dont get me wrong but not a story I would be compelled to read again. But a decently solid 3/5.
Book 2: The Basilisk of Star Manor
Kathryn Moon
πππππ
This was a decent read. There was insta lust but there was also a chance for the characters to grow into it through meetings, which I appreciated. However the ending felt overly rushed, which is the reason for a dropped moon.
Book 3: Anthia
Rory Miles
πππππ
I could not finish this one. At all.Β
The MC female says she has been 'resisting' her sexy bodyguard since she hired him. We are told she's cold and doesnt deal with men. That she keeps things professional. Repeatedly. I cannot stress that this point is hammered home.Β
Except the first time the MC male actually pushes her she folds like a wet paper bag. She gives in almost immediately and Im sorry. I cant handle that. Dont tell me a character is one thing and then have her immediately do the opposite right after. This also happens within the first two chapters. So we literally never see her actually resist this guy in any meaningful capacity to reinforce what we are told about her as a person.
Half a moon for decent enough writing style.Β
Book 4: Untamed Alphas
Loxley Savage
πππππ
When I picked up this one I knew it was going to be bad from the first chapter. There was going to be a lot of wattpad werewolf tropes. And I was not wrong.Β
Parents died, she's treated poorly by those in charge, treated as an outcast because she's special (The author says its because she's a rare omega but there 3 others in the pack and none of the other Omegas are treated like she is. She also says they hate her because the Alpha responds to her but apparently all Alphas respond to all omegas. So Im confused as to why shes not treated well. Even as an outsider to the pack, one of the other omegas is an outsider too, hes not treated poorly. So the reasoning isnt there), shes also different. This is hammered home again and again and again. She's different, not like the others, very different, they dislike her cause shes different. Also, she's got a weird hair colour. Silver. All natural of course, and 'abnormally light' eyes, just to hammer home how different she is from everyone else.
The A/B/O aspect just... sometimes its done right but she literally says that with her heat coming on she has to continually wipe at herself with a towel cause of all her slick and all I can think of is... jesus fucking christ. You are gunna ruin your clothes and get dehydrated. Drink some fucking water.Β
The whole novella was just... im surprised I was able to read all of it.Β
A sliver of a moon for the fact the author wrote it down and I know how hard writing books, even novellas, can be.
Book 5: Her Alien Merman
Aleera Anaya Ceres
πππππ
First off, I appreciated the language glossary at the front, however the fact that it contained phrases did irk me as when I came across one in the book I had to go alllll the way back to the beginning to understand what was said. Which was very, VERY irritating as a reader. Which caused a lost moon
Outside of that it was a cute little novella. Insta love and lust but it was explained through a soulmate bond.Β
Book 6: His Curvy Goddess
Loni Rae
πππππ
There was immediately drama. And not the fun drama.Β
Female MC had her heart broken on her birthday because she wanted to catch the male MCs attention, he asked who let her dress like that with her 'ass and tits out', and that was the entire interaction. I dont know about you guys but yah as a teen that shit can hurt from a guy you like but after getting dress coded and being told I was indecent for having a larger chest, I got over it real quick. Most teens do.
But this interaction is how he broke her heart. Literally. Thats it. Thats all. He didnt even really do anything that I wouldnt expect the standard guy to do. Comments like that are a dime a dozen. So the fact that was the reason for her broken heart had me rolling my eyes hard. So a moon removed for that.Β
Then the male MC refers to her as a curvy goddess more than he actually uses her name. Its a problem. There are more descriptors than that, caveman. Use them. Half moon removed for that.
Four chapters in and two conversations down, she thinks she cant live without the male MC which had me gritting my teeth because that happened waaaaaaaaaaay too fast. Like she went from being, 'hes an asshole' to 'i cant live without him' in the span of about 4 paragraphs. And then chapter 5 she immediately is ready to sleep with him. Then in chapter 6 she declares her love for him. Which might seem like a bit of time but its literally less than a few hours. So another moon and a half moon off for that.
The 'magic wand' reference was atrocious. A full moon off for that.
Someone might enjoy this novella but I did not.Β
Book 7: Bound by the King
Sara Ivy Hill
πππππ
Not gunna lie. Absolutely loved this one. The plot was interesting and well done, the writing was great, and the insta lust was very much explained. Love this one the most so far from the entire anthology.
Book 8: The Eve of Eleventeen
RuNyx
πππππ
It was decently written but it felt very VERY incomplete but it didn't give me enough of an urge to read the series it was a prequel for. Which drops off 2 moons.
Book 9: Shadows & Light
C. M. Nascosta
πππππ
Not gunna lie, I was looking forward to this on simply because Nascosta wrote it and I was not let down. This was great. The plot was great, the writing was great, the entire thing was great! I like this one a little better than Bound by the King, not a lot but just a sliver.
Book 10: How Not to Date A Demon
Lana Kole
πππππ
This was cute and we all love a himbo! The writing was decent, the plot was decent as well. An enjoyable read.Β
Book 11: Pan and the Nymph
Lyx Robinson
πππππ
Okay so this was a DEFINITELY interesting read. I know all about Pan so this author really did him justice. But holy hell, dont read this book public! I can read smut in public but this had me fanning my face. Learn from my mistake! Dont do it. A moon off for my embarassment and being hit with that much steam.
Book 12: Tied to the Wolves
Chloe Gunter
πππππ
Black. Leather. Suspenders. Im really sorry but that was the funniest thing in the world to me and I actually looked them up and I CACKLED. They look like purse straps. Legitimate purse straps. The funniest fucking thing Ive seen in a LONG time. I'm not taking a moon off for this. Its fucking great.
Will be removing one for the "Nope," she said popping the 'p'. Absolutely one moon off for that atrocity.
Also a moon off because the mates concept was super weird. Like blood relation is a bit understandable for multiple people to one person but these guys, from what I can tell, are all unrelated and are just together to be a Council, yet they all have the same mate? Same with another woman. Its just confusing because it isnt really explained fully.Β
Outside of that it was a decent read.
Book 13: A Giant Love
Flora Quincy
πππππ
This was a different sort of book. Was a little confusing and I completely lost it at the female MC downloading Jack and the Beanstalk fanfiction, enemies to loves, DomJack, SubGiant. I read that and I burst into laughter. That's AMAZING. This was a solid 3/5 but I had to give it an extra moon just for that.
Book 14: Dark SymmetryΒ
Lydia Reeves & Xu-Ji Weston
-/-
Not giving this one a rating because Im not gunna lie, it did not interest me and I barely got through the first chapter. No rating because I didnt really read it.
Book 15: The Omega's Secret
SK Reign
-/-
Not rating this cause I would be unfair. I do not like 18 year old female MCs. At all. Maybe its because Im older but I look at them and Im like.... youre a child. A full blown child. And I cant get into reading it. Make them at least 22-23, I would prefer 25 but when the male MC is like 25-40 and shes 18 Im like, could you fucking not? I dont know if that was the case here but Im just saying. No older guy should be looking at an 18 year old with anything but 'You're waaaay too young for me' going through their head as they walk away.
Book 16: Bewitching my Dragon
Lydia Guleva
πππππ
Gunna be completely honest here, I skimmed it. I got super bored reading it and I skimmed it. So thats only a single moon for this one. Someone else might enjoy it, I did not.
Book 17: Luna's Lullabye
Leann Castellanos
πππππ
Biggest gripe I have is the pacing feels super weird in this book. Like things happen super quickly and then the rest is all disjointed. Added to that the time skips and being told the female MC learned a bunch of stuff but we dont, is irritating. It leaves a bunch of questions unanswered and for those reasons, four moons are knocked out.
Book 18: Warrior Mine
Jinx Layne
πππππ
Eh it was okay. Insta love and lust explained by mating bond. The plot was a bit meh but a decent enough read.
Book 19: The Traveller
Sophie Ash
πππππ
The first thing that irritated me was everyone is in a MC club. They are all fantasy creatures but they all are in a MC club. Which just irritated the hell out of me. Why? Why do they all need to be? Why? So Two moons off for that.Β
Outside of that it was decent enough.Β
Book 20: The Killing Moon
Clarissa Bright
-/-Β
Not gunna lie. This one bored me. I barely made it passed chapter one before dropping it.Β So it does not get a ranking from me because I did not read it.Β
Book 21: Saved by the Lycanthrope
Chloe Parker
-/-
Again, the MC is waaaay too young for my taste. I immediately lost interest when she said she was nineteen. So I did not finish it nor do I intend to keep on reading it.
bladebailey's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This was a total beast of an anthology, but I enjoyed sitting down to read a story here and there. Found some new authors to go and check out, and there are some great pieces from authors I already loved.Β
genhuggins's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
bookgeek117's review
4.0
I was surprised I liked most of the stories in this collection. Normally there's one or two I like and the rest are meh. For the most part good stories that make me want to check out some new authors.
kaori25's review
adventurous
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
srferr's review
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
wineywitch202's review
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
shotzee's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
If fated mates is your thing, You'll 100%love this.