alysbookclub's reviews
229 reviews

To Snap a Silver Stem by Sarah A. Parker

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love love loved it. Reminds me of Plated Prisoner series, where we get to see such a sheltered naive girl grow to be a stronger woman (I mean she's still a mess but we're - hopefully - getting there?). Kai's storyline was so good I didn't even get annoyed when we flipped to it. Hate Cainon but I feel like that's the point.

Only took the .5 off because I feel like, although we were working up to Orlaith convincing herself to hate Rhordyn, her actions at the end of the book didn't ring completely true for me. We'll see how book 3 goes!

To Bleed a Crystal Bloom by Sarah A. Parker

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really love Sarah Parker's world building - to the point where even if I don't love the romantic storyline (I'm torn on this one, which is probably the point) I just can't put the book down. She's just such a good writer!

Content Warnings

Apprentice to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I really enjoyed going back to this world! I love Evie and the Villain, and all of the supporting characters are so entertaining. Super interested to see how this story concludes in the next book.

Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid

Go to review page

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Themes:
🖤 Dystopian
🖤 Sapphic Romance
🖤 Assassin & Target
🖤 Big Brother-style Corporation
🖤 Knife to the throat
🖤 Biohacking
🖤 Hunger Games-style Gauntlet
🖤 Surviving to Thriving
🖤 Lush Mutated Wilderness

Inesa lives with her brother in a half-sunken town where they make ends meet by running a taxidermy shop. Unbeknownst to Inesa, their cruel and indolent mother has accrued an enormous debt, meaning that Melinoë, an assassin (or 'Angel', as dubbed by Caerus, the company to whom Inesa's mother is indebted) who is the product of neural reconditioning and physiological alteration, is sent after Inesa after Inesa's mother offers her as a sacrifice. Despite Mel's reputation for cold brutality and deadly beauty, she is haunted by painful flashbacks. After her last Gauntlet, where she broke down on live stream, she desperately needs redemption.

!! Very light spoilers below !!

As Mel chases Inesa and her brother Luka across the apocalyptic wilderness filled with animal (and human) mutations, we see each young woman evolve. I found Mel's internal growth the most interesting as she has so far to come from. The connection between Inesa and her brother was so heart wrenching and intimately beautiful. Mel and Inesa's romance is so sweet and innocent - and because of that, also heart wrenching.

As usual, Ava Reid does a gorgeous job of creating this contrastingly lush wasteland and placing us right in her dystopian world. The world she built was extremely seamless and I loved living in it.

I truly loved the first scene in the novel, which really sets the tone of this world and the novel. It was hard to read at times, but handled very well and again, just so beautifully written.

This book did end with semi-unfinished storylines and suggestions of further plotlines, so though nothing has been announced, I'm assuming/hoping there will be a sequel.

Content Warnings

The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

Go to review page

challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Beautifully written. Loved the underlying story of class-divides and family dynamics. So so good.

Content Warnings

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde

Go to review page

adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Overall decent romantasy. I found it hard to know Graves, and the plot lagged at some points. Writing was pretty good. I feel like the reveals at the end were kind of lost throughout the book with so much else going on and so many types of monsters. It kind of felt like 3 different fantasy worlds mashed together with the vampires/werewolves, Irish mythology, and Fae. I did like Keirse Gen and Ethan.

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This sequel is so good and holds up to the first book in my opinion. The love story is so sweet at its core and I really adore the MCs. The political plot was good, though I found it slightly less enticing than the first book. Overall a very solid romantasy duology!

Content Warnings