author_tri_drexler's reviews
120 reviews

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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? Yes

4.5

This book had me at stubborn redhead. I am a sucker for a redhead MC, only a couple I’ve read have disappointed me but Cassie did not! We meet her as a high school student where she is terrorized every day for her “weirdness.” Two years ago, she was rescued from a river, her memory wiped clean. She had no idea who she was, her name, or where she came from. But every time someone touches her, searing pain shoots through her body. A kind-hearted woman from the town took her in, gave her a name, Cassandra, and insisted she calls her Gram.

The loyalty and devotion Cassie has to Gram and Gram to Cassie is beautiful. These two strangers have bonded so strongly, that it was easy to forget that they hadn’t known each other for very long. Cassie has obvious trust issues because of her “curse,” so I was glad she had an ally, someone to show her love and kindness. When someone touches Cassie, she not only feels pain, but sees the cruelest memories of the people who touch her.

Cassie could have easily broken, but she is stubborn and resilient. She continues going to school, knowing that every bully will attempt to touch her. She uses what she discovers to punish their hidden crimes. But she keeps this all hidden away, bottled up inside her until someone else walks into her life. Someone who will not leave Cassie after discovering her existence.

What I really enjoyed in this book was the slow build-up to the action-packed ending. We walk alone with Cassie, blind to what she is, filled with so many unanswered questions. When Gabriel and his family enter her life, we get more questions. I felt the frustration with Cassie, hoping to find out who she is only to be let down. But it's definitely worth the wait when she finally discovers what she is and who she could be.

The only thing that annoyed me a bit was the kind of love triangle that formed. But that’s probably because I was Team Gabriel before someone else even got into the picture. He is swoon-worthy, sweet, full of mystery, everything you want in a man, he’s got it.

This is seriously one exciting first book in a series I most certainly will devour!

Content Warnings

In-Between by MJ James

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

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

3.5

I really liked this story. It could have easily been a 2-part series or even a trilogy if the author stretched out parts of the plot. But I like that this is an epic standalone. In-Between is a unique urban fantasy about a single mom with autism. Alicia is raising her son, Kenny, all on her own when she begins to receive various complaints from her son’s school about his strange behavior. From random disappearing acts to making a garden grow in an instant.

These behaviors turn out to be magical powers he inherited from his unknown father, an elven king. The king is a cruel man who attacked Alicia while she was at a club with her college roommates. She never understood why no one helped her and why there were no witnesses when there were people all around her as she was dragged out to an alleyway. Now she must trust the king’s righthand man to help her son.

The plot was well structured and flowed nicely. Even though I like this book as a standalone, I do wish we got to know more about the characters. I was very much interested in Alicia and wanted to know more about her struggles living in a society that doesn’t understand the way she thinks. How she conquered autism and was able to raise a son she didn’t plan on having and how she did it alone. I also felt like the conclusion happened a little too quickly. Even still, I was not disappointed.

Exiled No More by T.L. Price

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adventurous fast-paced

3.0

“...hope was stronger than foolishness, and love was stronger than hope. And nothing was stronger than a fool in love.”

We meet Nhari as a young woman who has survived her teenage years in a dangerous prison holding the worst and most dangerous humans from the “civilized” world. We know that Nhari killed her father when she was fifteen and didn’t receive a fair trial. Her evil stepmother wasted no time throwing Nhari to the wolves in a land she believed would kill her stepdaughter. How wrong she was. Nhari holds a secret talent, a hidden ability that allowed her to survive years in the Realm of the Exiled. And now she’s returning to find more elements like her and take back her life. But first, she has to survive, again.

Exiled No More is book one from TL Price’s Exiled Elementals series. I’m currently reading book two because I couldn’t wait to continue reading this intriguing story. I love the world-building of an Earth that has been transformed. Global warming and climate change have made most of the planet uninhabitable. There were times I wasn’t sure if the Realm of the Exiled was actually on earth though it’s referenced as a place that used to be the Middle East. I think there might be something there in the vagueness of how some characters describe it though…

I’m giving this 3-stars because I thoroughly enjoyed this story and want to know how it plays out. However, the constant POV changes and shifting to inner monologues from different characters within the same scene make it difficult to get through at times. The dialogue falls flat for me, and I haven’t quite connected to any of the characters. But I still am dying to find out how the story plays out and where these elemental beings come from. TL Price definitely has an amazing imagination and fascinating lore to tell.

Queentide by Donna Fisher

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informative sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

“What if you aren’t broken; what if you are breaking free?”

This is a must-read in a time where rights are being taken away from anyone who isn’t a straight white male. Before I get started, let me just say that yes, I am a feminist. That doesn’t mean I hate men. I am married to a straight white male and though he aggravates me at times, I love him with all my heart and can’t imagine life without him. My straight white male of a husband is also a feminist. We believe in equality for all and will pass on this belief to our children.

Queentide is a story about a “what if?” world that is all too real. After pandemics and recessions, Australia has fallen back into a world where only rich white men have rights. Women can be fired by male bosses for the smallest of reasons and justice against domestic abuse is non-existent. But a group of women have been growing in the shadows, strategizing ways on how to take down the patriarchy.

What I loved most about this book is it showed all sides of activism and radicalism. There are diverse characters from cruel men to saint-like women and vile women to honorable men. I also loved how the author portrayed feminism, in all of its masks. And I loved the characters who stuck to their morals no matter how ugly and scary the world around them became. We need more Kathleens in the world!

With complex characters, real-life terror, and a plot full of twists and turns, this was one hell of a rollercoaster. Thank you, Donna, for sending me a copy of this incredibly inspiring and gripping story.

Content Warnings