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hobbit_tomes's reviews
172 reviews
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
emotional
funny
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao
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
4.75
✨ARC Review✨
Thank you for my digital ARC! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Summary:
Mira is a PhD student who just got out of a relationship with her cheating ex-boyfriend, and is looking for a new place to live. When said ex corners her outside the club, she is rescued by Isabel, a tall, stunning butch who offers her the spare room in her apartment. Mira tells herself she’s ready to be single for a while, but she keeps catching herself staring at Isabel and getting flustered, which doesn’t make sense since she isn’t into women… right?
Isabel is a union electrician dealing with grief and the end of her 6 year relationship. Since her breakup, the apartment feels like a heavy reminder of how she failed as a partner, and so she distracts herself with work and doesn’t let her pain show. When Mira moves in to the spare room, she’s disarmed and feels herself wanting to be vulnerable.
Fearing getting close to Mira, she attempts to distance herself. But when Mira needs help with her union election, Isabel decides to lend her experience and the two start spending a lot of late nights together. Soon they’re having dinner together every night, teasing each other, and Isabel is putting up shelves for Mira’s books. But Mira isn’t ready to dive back into another serious relationship. Not after living with her ex. And Isabel isn’t ready to bare the deepest parts of herself, for fear of Mira leaving her just like everyone else.
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Review:
I really enjoyed reading this and I think this may be one of my new favorite sapphic romances. I was in awe of Mira throughout the story. Seeing her evolve from someone who was so afraid to take up space in the world, to someone who knows her worth and asks for what she deserves was really inspiring. You can see her grow more confident in herself throughout the story, and this is seen in how she becomes more direct with what she wants from Isabel, and in taking on more responsibility regarding the union election. By the end, I felt so much pride at how far she had come.
I also liked the complex family dynamics and relationships we get to see via Isabel. Isabel outwardly gives off so much confidence and bravery and goes about as if nothing gets to her, but it’s all a mask for the grief and pain she feels that she doesn’t let anyone see. She has this desire to be useful, to be needed, to fix everyone else, and while good intentioned, in doing so, she doesn’t let herself be vulnerable, and ends up keeps those she cares about most at arms length. It was a joy to see her let her walls down and finally talk through everything she has been feeling, and recognize that the people in her life don’t need her to ‘fix’ or ‘‘take care of’ everything, they need her to talk to them and trust that they’ll be there for her.
And the romance was so sweet. I appreciated how Isabel took every opportunity to make sure Mira was comfortable and that she wasn’t expecting anything from Mira that she wasn’t ready or willing to give. And I loved seeing Mira have her bi-awakening. This story is full of heartwarming domestic moments like cooking for each other, putting up book shelves together, and taking care of each other. Their love language is most definitely acts of service. I also really loved the incorporation of Mira working with her class to form a union for the grad students into the story. We get to learn about how affected the students are from lack of health care, to how international students not getting help from the university with their visas, to students being unable or barely able to afford housing. I also like that Isabel, as a union electrician, was able to give Mira advice with her union election and how to talk to people to gather support since she’s gone through this before. It made the story feel very grounded and real, and discussed the importance of community and organizing in bringing about change. Overall a fantastic read and I recommend adding this to your list!
Check this out if you’re looking for a book with:
🛠️PhD Student/Union Electrician
🩷Chinese and Indian FMCs
🏙️Roommates to Lovers
💜Bi-Awakening
💪🏼Union Organizing
🏳️⚧️Trans Rep
❤️🩹Complex Family Dynamics
🍛Food as love language
CW/TW: Abusive Relationship (past), Cheating (mentioned), Classism, Death of Sibling, Grief, Injury, Sexual Content (Open Door), Transmisogyny (mentioned)
Thank you for my digital ARC! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Summary:
Mira is a PhD student who just got out of a relationship with her cheating ex-boyfriend, and is looking for a new place to live. When said ex corners her outside the club, she is rescued by Isabel, a tall, stunning butch who offers her the spare room in her apartment. Mira tells herself she’s ready to be single for a while, but she keeps catching herself staring at Isabel and getting flustered, which doesn’t make sense since she isn’t into women… right?
Isabel is a union electrician dealing with grief and the end of her 6 year relationship. Since her breakup, the apartment feels like a heavy reminder of how she failed as a partner, and so she distracts herself with work and doesn’t let her pain show. When Mira moves in to the spare room, she’s disarmed and feels herself wanting to be vulnerable.
Fearing getting close to Mira, she attempts to distance herself. But when Mira needs help with her union election, Isabel decides to lend her experience and the two start spending a lot of late nights together. Soon they’re having dinner together every night, teasing each other, and Isabel is putting up shelves for Mira’s books. But Mira isn’t ready to dive back into another serious relationship. Not after living with her ex. And Isabel isn’t ready to bare the deepest parts of herself, for fear of Mira leaving her just like everyone else.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Review:
I really enjoyed reading this and I think this may be one of my new favorite sapphic romances. I was in awe of Mira throughout the story. Seeing her evolve from someone who was so afraid to take up space in the world, to someone who knows her worth and asks for what she deserves was really inspiring. You can see her grow more confident in herself throughout the story, and this is seen in how she becomes more direct with what she wants from Isabel, and in taking on more responsibility regarding the union election. By the end, I felt so much pride at how far she had come.
I also liked the complex family dynamics and relationships we get to see via Isabel. Isabel outwardly gives off so much confidence and bravery and goes about as if nothing gets to her, but it’s all a mask for the grief and pain she feels that she doesn’t let anyone see. She has this desire to be useful, to be needed, to fix everyone else, and while good intentioned, in doing so, she doesn’t let herself be vulnerable, and ends up keeps those she cares about most at arms length. It was a joy to see her let her walls down and finally talk through everything she has been feeling, and recognize that the people in her life don’t need her to ‘fix’ or ‘‘take care of’ everything, they need her to talk to them and trust that they’ll be there for her.
And the romance was so sweet. I appreciated how Isabel took every opportunity to make sure Mira was comfortable and that she wasn’t expecting anything from Mira that she wasn’t ready or willing to give. And I loved seeing Mira have her bi-awakening. This story is full of heartwarming domestic moments like cooking for each other, putting up book shelves together, and taking care of each other. Their love language is most definitely acts of service. I also really loved the incorporation of Mira working with her class to form a union for the grad students into the story. We get to learn about how affected the students are from lack of health care, to how international students not getting help from the university with their visas, to students being unable or barely able to afford housing. I also like that Isabel, as a union electrician, was able to give Mira advice with her union election and how to talk to people to gather support since she’s gone through this before. It made the story feel very grounded and real, and discussed the importance of community and organizing in bringing about change. Overall a fantastic read and I recommend adding this to your list!
Check this out if you’re looking for a book with:
🛠️PhD Student/Union Electrician
🩷Chinese and Indian FMCs
🏙️Roommates to Lovers
💜Bi-Awakening
💪🏼Union Organizing
🏳️⚧️Trans Rep
❤️🩹Complex Family Dynamics
🍛Food as love language
CW/TW: Abusive Relationship (past), Cheating (mentioned), Classism, Death of Sibling, Grief, Injury, Sexual Content (Open Door), Transmisogyny (mentioned)
Yours, For Good by Leonor Soliz
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
✨ARC Review✨
Thank you for my digital ARC! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Summary:
Nora has been offered a spot in a prestigious mentorship program that will provide her all the tools necessary to successfully start her business, the only requirement is that she must write monthly progress emails to the unknown billionaire benefactor who is sponsoring her through the program. Thinking her benefactor will never read them, she uses the emails as though she’s writing to a close friend with updates about her life.
Javier is a philanthropist whose life goal is to use his wealth to support and uplift young entrepreneurs wishing to start their own business, but who are barred from the network and resources of the upper class. In response, he created a sponsorship program to connect people with an elite incubator program that will give his sponsee access to the best business mentors, networking events and investors to help them with startup development and funding for their fledgling businesses. The only problem, no one knows Javier is the creator of the sponsorship program, and if the incubator finds out, it could jeopardize his program’s future. What happens when Nora and Javier meet and become good friends, and she doesn’t know she’s been writing to him this whole time?”
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Review:
I really enjoyed Nora’s character. She is incredibly confident in her ideas, from the beginning, and doesn’t let anything get in the way of achieving her dreams. She is incredibly reluctant to let people get close enough to let her walls come down (rightfully so), but overtime she begins to appreciate the benefits that come with having people in your life you can be vulnerable with.
I also really appreciated how emotionally intelligent Javier is. He always knew exactly how to respond or act that would put Nora at ease or make her feel comfortable, and he also knew when to step back and give space so as to not overwhelm her. He not only told her that she could trust him and expected her to implicitly believe him, he let his actions speak for him and showed her that he was someone she could rely on. I think his groveling was written really well. He made sure to give her space to come to a decision about their relationship. He didn’t center himself or his feelings, but recognized he made a mistake and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.
I personally have always been really interested in epistolary stories because I think it’s a really interesting way of storytelling and having characters interact. It allows them to be more open and honest with each other and really gives us insight into how the characters organize their thoughts and feelings. I was also so happy to see the rest of the friend group return from the previous books. They are such a sweet found family and they welcomed Nora with open arms. I think that this was a great end to the series and I can’t wait to read more of Leonor Soliz’s work!”
Check this out if you’re looking for a book with:
🩷Latine rep
🩵Queer Plus-Size FMC
🩷Billionaire romance
🩵Daddy Long Legs retelling
🩷Found Family
🩵Hidden Identity
🩷Groveling
CW/TW: Classism, Death of Parent (mentioned), Grief, Sexual Content (Open Door)
Thank you for my digital ARC! All opinions are my own and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Summary:
Nora has been offered a spot in a prestigious mentorship program that will provide her all the tools necessary to successfully start her business, the only requirement is that she must write monthly progress emails to the unknown billionaire benefactor who is sponsoring her through the program. Thinking her benefactor will never read them, she uses the emails as though she’s writing to a close friend with updates about her life.
Javier is a philanthropist whose life goal is to use his wealth to support and uplift young entrepreneurs wishing to start their own business, but who are barred from the network and resources of the upper class. In response, he created a sponsorship program to connect people with an elite incubator program that will give his sponsee access to the best business mentors, networking events and investors to help them with startup development and funding for their fledgling businesses. The only problem, no one knows Javier is the creator of the sponsorship program, and if the incubator finds out, it could jeopardize his program’s future. What happens when Nora and Javier meet and become good friends, and she doesn’t know she’s been writing to him this whole time?”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Review:
I really enjoyed Nora’s character. She is incredibly confident in her ideas, from the beginning, and doesn’t let anything get in the way of achieving her dreams. She is incredibly reluctant to let people get close enough to let her walls come down (rightfully so), but overtime she begins to appreciate the benefits that come with having people in your life you can be vulnerable with.
I also really appreciated how emotionally intelligent Javier is. He always knew exactly how to respond or act that would put Nora at ease or make her feel comfortable, and he also knew when to step back and give space so as to not overwhelm her. He not only told her that she could trust him and expected her to implicitly believe him, he let his actions speak for him and showed her that he was someone she could rely on. I think his groveling was written really well. He made sure to give her space to come to a decision about their relationship. He didn’t center himself or his feelings, but recognized he made a mistake and wanted nothing more than for her to be happy.
I personally have always been really interested in epistolary stories because I think it’s a really interesting way of storytelling and having characters interact. It allows them to be more open and honest with each other and really gives us insight into how the characters organize their thoughts and feelings. I was also so happy to see the rest of the friend group return from the previous books. They are such a sweet found family and they welcomed Nora with open arms. I think that this was a great end to the series and I can’t wait to read more of Leonor Soliz’s work!”
Check this out if you’re looking for a book with:
🩷Latine rep
🩵Queer Plus-Size FMC
🩷Billionaire romance
🩵Daddy Long Legs retelling
🩷Found Family
🩵Hidden Identity
🩷Groveling
CW/TW: Classism, Death of Parent (mentioned), Grief, Sexual Content (Open Door)
Sordidez by E.G. Condé
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Sleeping with the Frenemy by Natalie Caña
emotional
inspiring
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Basil and Oregano by Melissa Capriglione
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Yours for Now by Leonor Soliz
emotional
lighthearted
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Owned by Siren Crow, G.L. Tomas
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Owned is a dual pov dark fantasy romance following Paige, a human who has been kidnapped by the new fae king Aranzeiros, to be his bride and improve human/fae relations.
I feel like this book had a lot of potential but fell flat. In the beginning we learn that the former king has been murdered, leading into lots of exposition about the accords between fae and humans, how fae have helped the human realm, the difficulty of the fae being outnumbered on the council, and the rise of violence against those with fae ancestry. The brothers decide that taking human wives will allow them to have a better chance of their ideas being accepted going forward as their wives will then be part of the council and they won’t be outnumbered.
However, once our two main characters meet, the story just becomes kind of boring. The mystery of who killed the king is not addressed again until the last 15% of the book and we hardly get any scenes of Paige actually partaking in the politics of the realms. She attends one council meeting when the brothers decide it’s time and that’s it. The story even sets up that there will be a royal tour to show off Paige as queen and the brothers are educating her on the fae realm, but we only get once scene of her interacting with the fae nobility on this tour. The majority of this book just kind of felt like nothing was happening. I liked the relationship between the two main characters, until a little past the halfway point, where it felt like they were rehashing the same argument over and over. The politics in this story are really interesting, but I think the pacing needs to be improved, and Paige, as queen, should’ve been more involved.
I do want to read the second book to see if the quality improves and partially because I do want to see where the overarching story goes.
CW/TW: Abandonment, Child Abuse (mentioned), Death of a Parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual Content (open door)
I feel like this book had a lot of potential but fell flat. In the beginning we learn that the former king has been murdered, leading into lots of exposition about the accords between fae and humans, how fae have helped the human realm, the difficulty of the fae being outnumbered on the council, and the rise of violence against those with fae ancestry. The brothers decide that taking human wives will allow them to have a better chance of their ideas being accepted going forward as their wives will then be part of the council and they won’t be outnumbered.
However, once our two main characters meet, the story just becomes kind of boring. The mystery of who killed the king is not addressed again until the last 15% of the book and we hardly get any scenes of Paige actually partaking in the politics of the realms. She attends one council meeting when the brothers decide it’s time and that’s it. The story even sets up that there will be a royal tour to show off Paige as queen and the brothers are educating her on the fae realm, but we only get once scene of her interacting with the fae nobility on this tour. The majority of this book just kind of felt like nothing was happening. I liked the relationship between the two main characters, until a little past the halfway point, where it felt like they were rehashing the same argument over and over. The politics in this story are really interesting, but I think the pacing needs to be improved, and Paige, as queen, should’ve been more involved.
I do want to read the second book to see if the quality improves and partially because I do want to see where the overarching story goes.
CW/TW: Abandonment, Child Abuse (mentioned), Death of a Parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual Content (open door)
Faceoff by Mari Loyal
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75