atlastheninth's reviews
370 reviews

Did not finish book. Stopped at 15%.

Thanks to Netgalley and the author for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 15%

I’m not the target audience for this book. Now why did I request it? Well, it was in the categories adult and LGBTQIA+ and the blurb sounded a interesting and a bit sarcastic. But I think the blurb is completely serious and it is a straight NA romance. (The author also says so on Insta so not sure what went wrong here) (There are some sapphic SCs). Me reading the blurb and thinking the MC is a man is my fault I suppose, in retrospect I could have seen that.

So again this is definitely not something I normally read and I’ve only read 15%, do keep that in mind for what follows.

The MC definitely has “I’m so special” vibes. As in there is some actual internal monologue similar to “I’m different than everyone else, I didn’t belong anywhere, but now I’m in a place where everyone is different in the same way as me and I should belong. But I’m still so different.” It's annoying.

I also didn’t particularly like any of the other characters.

To the romance: That was the most cliché YA beginning I’ve ever read. She’s the new person and he’s the mysterious, popular pretty boy that is kind of an asshole and every other girl is super into him.

Mild spoiler: I’ve read until the first murder and then the first thing the MC does is faint into the arms of the LI.

I don't want to read that sorry.

The Binding of Bloom Mountain by Siggy Chambers

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Cozy Horror might just be my new favourite genre, I didn't know I needed that. That was such a nice mix of cozy/sweet scenes and really unsettling ones. Also sentient mountain and the cutest mountain lion? Fuck yeah.

But I'm just not really a fan of Insta love.

"The trees knew I was coming. They felt me below the mountain." "More than that, Celeste. They were calling you home."

Content Warnings

Fallen Thorns by Harvey Oliver Baxter

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad medium-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? Yes

4.25

Thanks to the author for an ARC!

There are some mild spoilers in here.

First of all the story: Great.

There’s the main story: Arlo turns into a vampire, makes new friends and a villain that tries to do them harm. Classic, cool story and lovable characters but nothing too special here.

Then there’s the secondary story that is parallel to the first (I don't know how to better describe it): something is after Arlo, trying to take over. And damn that’s cool. Now I won’t go into much detail here because the less you know the better but it is the reason Arlo is an unreliable narrator. Personally I haven’t read anything like it yet and it was so cool. A bit confusing at points but I’m into that.

Maybe also note that this is the first book in a series and there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end.

Now the characters: Pretty much everyone is queer, love that. But most importantly our MC Arlo is aroace, which he partially figures out during the book. I could relate to him so much, it's ridiculous. Knowing you don't want any of that but believing that you should want these things, that you're broken for not feeling any of it. And forcing yourself to do things and thinking you're a bad person for /leading/ others on even though you're not doing anything wrong. And being so incredibly relieved when it finally clicks: there is nothing wrong with you and you're not alone. Yeah, that broke me a bit.

"I'm not like that. I didn't have needs. I'm just me. A little bit broken."

Lastly the writing: The more I think about it, the more impressed I am. About half way through the book I noticed that I was starting to feel a bit disconnected to Arlo and the others but this went hand in hand with the something slowly taking over Arlo. And that something does not care about the other characters. So looking back at it this was really impressive. However while I was reading it I didn't really grasp what was going on there so it felt more like the writing suddenly went a bit downhill. There were some other things that felt weirdly written but looking back were good. I don't really know what to do with that.

Content Warnings

That Time I Got Drunk And Yeeted A Love Potion At A Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

It was good but I liked the first one better.

Last Courtesan of Olympus by Amanda Meuwissen

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

That was some nice smut.

Content Warnings

Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell

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emotional lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

This was so lovely, everything about this made me happy.

Sometimes when reading a book I dread reading on because I know something bad will happen, because the story needs it. But not here. It was so cute and you know that everything will be perfect by the end and I am in love. I’m usually not a contemporary reader, let alone contemporary romance but here I am. I loved every second of it. It was so nice and easy to read, I devoured this book.

Content Warnings

Ravage by Saint Harlowe

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I don't think I should've enjoyed this as much as I did, but oh Jackson's POV hits differently. This is so good.

Content Warnings

Faded Moon by T.L. Morgan

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Thanks to the author for an ARC! All opinions are my own.

That was fine. We follow Saros on his journey to making peace, in whatever way, with the magic he holds and try to get over his ex. He is accompanied by his friend Atheris who may have something to gain from their road trip together as well.

Saros is a grumpy loner who doesn't think he deserves love and Atheris is a funny and loving sunshine and together they make a very fun to read duo. I very much enjoyed reading their road trip through a sentient forest.

There are also a lot of queer characters which is always a plus.

However once they arrive at their destination I found it a bit lacking.

The scene that was lead up to be Atheris /time to shine/ and show her power was not that and rather anti-climactic.

While in theory I didn't mind Saros ending/the ending in general, it did leave me unfulfilled.

I also wish the magic and Saros past would have been explored a bit more.

I think my main problem was that I was told this was a "descent into madness"/villain arc type of story and that was just not the vibes that I got. The characters were way too sweet and lovable for that.

Now I don't know if there is going to be a sequel, because if there was all of the above could fit perfectly into that. But so far it seems to just be a standalone.

Content Warnings

The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

This is a lovely story about the past being the past and while we need to worry about the future we have to live in the present and make the best of it. It is about self-acceptance and choosing your own family.

It was good and I did like the ending, but overall I was a bit underwhelmed.

Content Warnings

Rapture by Saint Harlowe

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dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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atlastheninth's reviews 370 reviews

atlastheninth's reviews
370 reviews