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alisonheide's reviews
58 reviews
The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen
3.75
Nothing absolutely remarkable but an enjoyable read. Improved on book one and looking forward to book three. Liked learning about Andy’s past and to see him continue in his development. I think the thing I love the most is hearing about the queer clubs.
Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli
3.0
This is not a book I would typically pick up, but it was a buddy read with a friend.
EDIT: HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET TO MENTION THE MENSTRUAL BLOOD IN THE FIRST ITERATION. THATS JUST FUCKING WEIRD. I am however grateful we were not subjected to a weird diatribe about how feminine energy is special and that’s why only those biologically female can cast. I hope that doesn’t come in subsequent books cause that gets weird and very gender essentialist very fast .
It was by no means the worst book I’ve read this year and had a concept I could get behind, but the execution was lacking. The pacing was its greatest sin. Nothing happened for 75% of this book and the end came almost out of no where. It was like I was perpetually waiting for the introduction to be over, and by the time it was, it was the climax of the book in the last 50 pages. I don’t think the dual POV helped with this as we almost had to see every shared scene twice.
The book also HEAVILY relied on telling instead of showing. Other than the set-up we were given no scenes of the crimson moth rescuing someone or being perused by Gideon. This made the “enemies to lovers” fall extremely flat to me because where were the enemies? It was also hard to believe that Rune was this badass vigilante when we saw her do no evil fighting. This lack of character development not only stunted Rune and Gideon separately but as a couple.
Gideon was in my opinion one of the better developed characters off the back of his brother Alex. I love a good complicated sibling dynamic and they were able to deliver some of that. There was not a lot of time for processing of Alex’s death at the end but I would love to see a large grief/anger deep dive in the second book contrasting Gideons love for his now dead brother but also his betrayal. I’m not sure of that is too much to ask for but the balance of sibling love and loyalty with morality is one of the better explored themes in the book.
Alex was also enjoyable for the same reasons as Gideon. Gideons motivations were a little bit better catalogued in the book. I really wanted to hear more about Alex’s view of the witch regime and then subsequent subjugation outside of “oh I’m in love with Rune.” There is another interesting moral/ethical conversation there which I feel could have been explored more.
Like I alluded to above the romance fell flat to me and I am really not a two brother love triangle person. Especially when both are trying to self sacrifice for the other. I am truely more interested in seeing Gideon and Rune work out their trauma as friends teaching each other lessons from their experiences then the romance. But alas I was given a romance book to read.
And well I called from the beginning that both regimes were evil. I believe the overall conclusion from the series will be oh it’s not the magic that makes people evil but the power and wealth. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. You can definetly see the set up with this with the discussions of how there are still a good bit of impoverished people in the city.
I probably will not continue this series when the next book comes out.
EDIT: HOW THE HELL DID I FORGET TO MENTION THE MENSTRUAL BLOOD IN THE FIRST ITERATION. THATS JUST FUCKING WEIRD. I am however grateful we were not subjected to a weird diatribe about how feminine energy is special and that’s why only those biologically female can cast. I hope that doesn’t come in subsequent books cause that gets weird and very gender essentialist very fast .
It was by no means the worst book I’ve read this year and had a concept I could get behind, but the execution was lacking. The pacing was its greatest sin. Nothing happened for 75% of this book and the end came almost out of no where. It was like I was perpetually waiting for the introduction to be over, and by the time it was, it was the climax of the book in the last 50 pages. I don’t think the dual POV helped with this as we almost had to see every shared scene twice.
The book also HEAVILY relied on telling instead of showing. Other than the set-up we were given no scenes of the crimson moth rescuing someone or being perused by Gideon. This made the “enemies to lovers” fall extremely flat to me because where were the enemies? It was also hard to believe that Rune was this badass vigilante when we saw her do no evil fighting. This lack of character development not only stunted Rune and Gideon separately but as a couple.
Gideon was in my opinion one of the better developed characters off the back of his brother Alex. I love a good complicated sibling dynamic and they were able to deliver some of that. There was not a lot of time for processing of Alex’s death at the end but I would love to see a large grief/anger deep dive in the second book contrasting Gideons love for his now dead brother but also his betrayal. I’m not sure of that is too much to ask for but the balance of sibling love and loyalty with morality is one of the better explored themes in the book.
Alex was also enjoyable for the same reasons as Gideon. Gideons motivations were a little bit better catalogued in the book. I really wanted to hear more about Alex’s view of the witch regime and then subsequent subjugation outside of “oh I’m in love with Rune.” There is another interesting moral/ethical conversation there which I feel could have been explored more.
Like I alluded to above the romance fell flat to me and I am really not a two brother love triangle person. Especially when both are trying to self sacrifice for the other. I am truely more interested in seeing Gideon and Rune work out their trauma as friends teaching each other lessons from their experiences then the romance. But alas I was given a romance book to read.
And well I called from the beginning that both regimes were evil. I believe the overall conclusion from the series will be oh it’s not the magic that makes people evil but the power and wealth. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. You can definetly see the set up with this with the discussions of how there are still a good bit of impoverished people in the city.
I probably will not continue this series when the next book comes out.
The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver
3.5
I find it very hard to assign a star rating to a book like this because it is almost to real to just condense down into a rating. 3.5 is a default for me for a book I enjoyed but wasnt my favorite or really grabbed me. I did cry at the end. Marcus’s note did me in.
This book was extremely heartbreaking and you could feel the guilt, sadness, and grief radiating off of every page and interaction. I thought I’d be able to breeze through a 6hr audiobook in a day but I found myself taking over a weak because I could not emotionally stand to listen for too long at a time.
Liam’s friends were absolute asshats and good on them for dropping them. However, they were all so young and I find it hard to judge them or Liam for there maybe not so great handling of the friend break up. I look back on the shit I did in hs when my emotional maturity was that of like a 2 yr old and understand. I smack myself now over my inability to deal with any of my friends emotions or problems. The frontal lobe really does develop while you age.
The people that don’t get a pass however are Liam’s parents. Specifically their mom. I know we are seeing Liam’s internalized thoughts about his relationship with them which makes it a tad bit unreliable, but for all intents and purposes they failed Liam horribly. Long before Ethan even died. I find it hard to have sympathy for them honestly, because as we learn throughout the book they kinda failed Ethan too. Taking away the computer was cruel, especially since it was fueled mostly by his mother’s hurt feelings. I hated Liam’s mother and I don’t think Ethan’s death was enough justification for her actions as they started long before. She had MAJOR control issues and behaved like a selfish teenage brat to her own grieving child.
Marcus as a character intrigued me the most and I would have loved some content from his perspective. I know this was not Marcus’s book but the glimpses we saw of his grief made me extremely interested to know what his story would have ended up being. Marcus truly had no one and seemed to deal with the grief long after moving to New York. It broke my heart that Marcus could have been embraced in his grief by the Cooper’s but instead had to sit with it alone. To not only have a secret relationship but then have to deal with a secret grief. Devastating.
It felt odd to me that it seemed that Marcus never had a conversation with Ethan’s parents after his death. Even just as a best friend this is something that I honestly would have expected. Now of course Marcus could have been purposely avoiding it, but the lack of reaction from the parents after they saw that it was Marcus Liam was with flagged as something weird. Now this could have course connected back to the self centeredness of Ethan’s parents in their grief.
I felt like there was more that could have been explored there even just with Liam learning how his brother’s queerness fit in to the box he was in in Liam’s mind. Liam talked a lot about how he didn’t have a lot of people to talk to about gay stuff with and I personally mourned for the connection Liam and Ethan could have had. It would have helped to connect Liam’s gender and sexuality thoughts to his grief in a more well rounded way. I enjoyed the sibling perspective but the limited point of view left so much unknown. The way Marcus and Liam’s “friendship” ended while sad was very realistic. It reminds me of a lot of old friends who I haven’t talked to in years but are still frequently in my thoughts. It gets to a point where they are almost a character to you and you can’t reach out. I see a lot of other reviews jagging on either Liam or Marcus for their treatment of each other but it was honestly extremely appropriate in both cases. Other than Liam using the poem. That was asinine on their part. I was screaming at my audiobook, and then doubling down on it when it was revealed was awful. I understood a lot of Liam’s more unsavory actions and felt like they were justified but this was indefensible to me personally. Even under the guise of “just friends.”
Overall, everyone in this book needed a good slap over the head. Liam and Marcus included. Being a messy character after grief makes sense and you’re not gonna make the best decisions but it doesn’t absolve you of your sins completely.
Liam and Marcus had the most justifiable reactions overall but the parents should be locked up. If there are no Cooper parents haters left in the world then I’m dead.
This book was extremely heartbreaking and you could feel the guilt, sadness, and grief radiating off of every page and interaction. I thought I’d be able to breeze through a 6hr audiobook in a day but I found myself taking over a weak because I could not emotionally stand to listen for too long at a time.
Liam’s friends were absolute asshats and good on them for dropping them. However, they were all so young and I find it hard to judge them or Liam for there maybe not so great handling of the friend break up. I look back on the shit I did in hs when my emotional maturity was that of like a 2 yr old and understand. I smack myself now over my inability to deal with any of my friends emotions or problems. The frontal lobe really does develop while you age.
The people that don’t get a pass however are Liam’s parents. Specifically their mom. I know we are seeing Liam’s internalized thoughts about his relationship with them which makes it a tad bit unreliable, but for all intents and purposes they failed Liam horribly. Long before Ethan even died. I find it hard to have sympathy for them honestly, because as we learn throughout the book they kinda failed Ethan too. Taking away the computer was cruel, especially since it was fueled mostly by his mother’s hurt feelings. I hated Liam’s mother and I don’t think Ethan’s death was enough justification for her actions as they started long before. She had MAJOR control issues and behaved like a selfish teenage brat to her own grieving child.
Marcus as a character intrigued me the most and I would have loved some content from his perspective. I know this was not Marcus’s book but the glimpses we saw of his grief made me extremely interested to know what his story would have ended up being. Marcus truly had no one and seemed to deal with the grief long after moving to New York. It broke my heart that Marcus could have been embraced in his grief by the Cooper’s but instead had to sit with it alone. To not only have a secret relationship but then have to deal with a secret grief. Devastating.
It felt odd to me that it seemed that Marcus never had a conversation with Ethan’s parents after his death. Even just as a best friend this is something that I honestly would have expected. Now of course Marcus could have been purposely avoiding it, but the lack of reaction from the parents after they saw that it was Marcus Liam was with flagged as something weird. Now this could have course connected back to the self centeredness of Ethan’s parents in their grief.
I felt like there was more that could have been explored there even just with Liam learning how his brother’s queerness fit in to the box he was in in Liam’s mind. Liam talked a lot about how he didn’t have a lot of people to talk to about gay stuff with and I personally mourned for the connection Liam and Ethan could have had. It would have helped to connect Liam’s gender and sexuality thoughts to his grief in a more well rounded way. I enjoyed the sibling perspective but the limited point of view left so much unknown. The way Marcus and Liam’s “friendship” ended while sad was very realistic. It reminds me of a lot of old friends who I haven’t talked to in years but are still frequently in my thoughts. It gets to a point where they are almost a character to you and you can’t reach out. I see a lot of other reviews jagging on either Liam or Marcus for their treatment of each other but it was honestly extremely appropriate in both cases. Other than Liam using the poem. That was asinine on their part. I was screaming at my audiobook, and then doubling down on it when it was revealed was awful. I understood a lot of Liam’s more unsavory actions and felt like they were justified but this was indefensible to me personally. Even under the guise of “just friends.”
Overall, everyone in this book needed a good slap over the head. Liam and Marcus included. Being a messy character after grief makes sense and you’re not gonna make the best decisions but it doesn’t absolve you of your sins completely.
Liam and Marcus had the most justifiable reactions overall but the parents should be locked up. If there are no Cooper parents haters left in the world then I’m dead.
Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix by Anna-Marie McLemore
3.0
Ehh
The concept was great. The execution left much to be desired. I did appreciate Nicks relationship with his family. I assume the characters were de-aged to make the book fit more into the YA genre, but it really messed with the timeline of the characters. Some original book concepts were weaved in nicely but others were noticeably absent. I believe this would have worked a lot better if it wasn’t trying to show horn itself into the YA genre with teenage characters that act 5-10 yrs older than they actually are.
The concept was great. The execution left much to be desired. I did appreciate Nicks relationship with his family. I assume the characters were de-aged to make the book fit more into the YA genre, but it really messed with the timeline of the characters. Some original book concepts were weaved in nicely but others were noticeably absent. I believe this would have worked a lot better if it wasn’t trying to show horn itself into the YA genre with teenage characters that act 5-10 yrs older than they actually are.
The Prospects by KT Hoffman
4.25
This a book I will be thinking about for a long time. I know I am in too deep when I am dreading checking the time left on an audiobook and willing for it to last longer.
I need sometime to process my feelings as both main characters stories drummed up a lot, but this story meant so much to me and was beautifully in a way that was idealized but still somewhat realistic to modern sports culture. You can tell the author is a die hard baseball fan. There is nothing worse than reading a badly researched sports book.
It has its flaws that knocked off some points (notably some lacking background and development with Luis), but the book overall is a lovely read especially for sports fans who feel that their sport will never fully love them back.
I need sometime to process my feelings as both main characters stories drummed up a lot, but this story meant so much to me and was beautifully in a way that was idealized but still somewhat realistic to modern sports culture. You can tell the author is a die hard baseball fan. There is nothing worse than reading a badly researched sports book.
It has its flaws that knocked off some points (notably some lacking background and development with Luis), but the book overall is a lovely read especially for sports fans who feel that their sport will never fully love them back.
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
4.25
Was this book only 15% historically realistic? Yeah.
Was it an absolute delight? HELL YEAH
(Personally, I think the outrage of them being step-sisters at the end is overblown. While obviously not ideal, it is a semi-realistic sham for their relationship at the time. I’d be more uncomfortable with it if their parents were unaware and treated and referred to them as sisters. Since their parents are in on it and did marry at least a little bit as a cover for their girls, it reads more as two separate couples cohabitating than one big happy family.)
I’m very excited for Book 2 and am exciting to see our scheming couple again.
Was it an absolute delight? HELL YEAH
(Personally, I think the outrage of them being step-sisters at the end is overblown. While obviously not ideal, it is a semi-realistic sham for their relationship at the time. I’d be more uncomfortable with it if their parents were unaware and treated and referred to them as sisters. Since their parents are in on it and did marry at least a little bit as a cover for their girls, it reads more as two separate couples cohabitating than one big happy family.)
I’m very excited for Book 2 and am exciting to see our scheming couple again.
The Borrow a Boyfriend Club by Page Powars
3.75
This book was such a cute, enjoyable read. I had a great time with it. Its flaws are typical for YA books but sometime you just want to enjoy some trans and queer joy. The ending did seem a bit unfinished. Asher’s development in particular could have used more fleshing out. An epilogue would have worked perfectly but I digress.
And They Lived . . . by Steven Salvatore
2.75
I wanted to like this book. I loved the discussions of gender identity and body dismorphia/disordered eating. They were extremely genuine and realistic. However, the writing style almost made me give up at least a dozen times. I
had to stop multiple times to text friends different snippets of some of the worst dialogue and cringey inner thoughts I have ever heard in my life. There is a very fine line authors walk when including modern slang in books, because it becomes outdated and cringey very quickly due to the online media cycle. This book is only 2 years old and is already extremely out of touch and reminds me of millennials trying to be “with the times.” On top of that, college kids also didn’t talk like that in general back in the olden days of 2022 (and I would know, I was one).
I wish I could remember this book for its frank exploration of identity and self-acceptance, but I will sadly just remember it for making me roll my eyes and make stank faces at my phone.
ALSO AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, JUST SAY BITCH
had to stop multiple times to text friends different snippets of some of the worst dialogue and cringey inner thoughts I have ever heard in my life. There is a very fine line authors walk when including modern slang in books, because it becomes outdated and cringey very quickly due to the online media cycle. This book is only 2 years old and is already extremely out of touch and reminds me of millennials trying to be “with the times.” On top of that, college kids also didn’t talk like that in general back in the olden days of 2022 (and I would know, I was one).
I wish I could remember this book for its frank exploration of identity and self-acceptance, but I will sadly just remember it for making me roll my eyes and make stank faces at my phone.
ALSO AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, JUST SAY BITCH