kiiitasticbooks's reviews
583 reviews

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

3.0

 

After reading Hello Stranger and having such strange, mixed feelings about it, I wanted to pick up another one of Katherine Center’s books to try out more of this author’s writing style. And with so many people recently reading (and enjoying) The Bodyguard, I thought this book would be the perfect place to start.

Surprisingly, I had a lot of the same problems in The Bodyguard as I did Hello Stranger. According to both of these books, I seem to dislike the way Katherine Center writes the beginnings of books, though the plot will somehow still pull me in and get better the further I get from that rough beginning.

However, much of this book was bland and forgettable. Even though I finished reading this book about a week ago, the only thought that went through my head as I was gathering the words I wanted to say in this review was “I read it.”

The only real comment that stuck with me for this book was my feelings on the ending. The Bodyguard‘s ending is written as though it’s one of those “where are they now?” slideshows some movies have at the end. The book ends with a scene entirely told to readers, rather than placing us in the moment, which only separates us from the characters and events in the book.

Ultimately, I think this book just proved that Katherine Center’s writing is not for me. 

Emma of 83rd Street by Emily Harding, Audrey Bellezza

5.0

 

I would have never guessed that one of my favorite types of books would be Jane Austen retellings, but it seems like I adore every one I read!

I was a little hesitant to go into this one, as I had never heard or interacted with the original story. In fact, looking it up in the middle of my reading of Emma of 83rd Street and finding out the original was a novel of manners (which is a genre I’ve tried before and very quickly realized wasn’t something I’m into) only had me even more hesitant for what I was getting into in this book.

But Emma of 83rd Street was absolutely amazing!

I really enjoyed Emma and Knightley’s dance around each other throughout this book. As childhood friends (with a fair bit of an age gap between them), Emma and Knightley are convinced that there’s no way they would ever end up together. But the more they interact in this book, the more they come to realize that the other… is kind of attractive.

That they might be into their friend.

This book was so difficult to put down, and it has only made me excited to read more Jane Austen retellings in the future!

(Including, maybe, a sequel to Emma of 83rd Street focused on Knightley’s friend Will… 👀) 

Chase Me by Tessa Bailey

3.0

My Mechanical Romance by Alexene Farol Follmuth

4.0

 

One of my favorite things about YA as a genre is seeing characters find out where they belong. Whether that’s a place, a group of friends, or a hobby they want to pursue as a career, I love seeing people fall in love with their future.

I really enjoyed seeing Bel fall in love with robotics and getting her chance to shine throughout this book. Despite the challenges of being a girl in a male-oriented field and having to prove herself to not only the guys in the group, but also the other girl on the team (who was simultaneously fighting to get her own voice heard by the guys), it was easy to tell that engineering was something Bel loved and excelled in, even if she didn’t know it yet.

That being said, I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance in this book, which truly felt like its weakest part. As Bel learns to fall in love with engineering, she is also falling for Teo, the captain of the robotics team. There wasn’t anything necessarily wrong with their romance, but when paired alongside a story of female empowerment and girls in STEM, the romance felt basic and lackluster.

I feel like this book’s best quality is how inspiring its storyline is. I can definitely see this book helping teens put their best work into the things they love and put serious consideration into career paths they might not have considered normally, and so I can’t help but really appreciate this story! 

Defiance by Cheree Alsop

3.0

 

I’ve been trying to go through some of the old books I’ve had on my kindle for a long time, and as someone who is a big fan of books about werewolves, it was no surprise to find this book in the depths of my kindle.

Defiance is the story of Zev, a werewolf who is actively escaping his vampiric masters during the opening of the book. Just as he is about to be caught by the wolves on his tail, he gets hit by a car, and the teenage driver mistakes his wolf form for a large dog. Hoping to help, the teenager brings Zed to his sister, who is training to be a vet… and paints a target on the family’s backs as well.

I found this book interesting, but I think it relied a little too much on coincidences to tell its story. The teen who hits Zev with his car just so happens to have a sister who is training to be a vet, and the sister just so happens to remember training with their dead father when she was younger, learning his supernatural-hunting ways. The family also just so happens to know another family that can use magic, and while the enemies are hunting both Zev and the family down, they just so happen to want to deal with Zev first, rather than picking off the defenseless family while he’s not around.

I will say that I enjoyed seeing the world this author was building throughout the book. It’s not often in modern werewolf fiction that I see werewolves enslaved by vampires, and the pack hierarchy was an interesting spin on more traditional roles. The two human families, one of which has history being trained to fight supernatural creatures and the other which has access to magic, was also an interesting inclusion to this book, and I can’t help but wonder how the rest of this story will go on after this first book.

However, this book just didn’t grab my attention enough to make me want to continue on with the series. I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. It just… exists. 

Anywhere For You by Alexis Noel

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

 

This book surprised me.

When I saw that this book was friends-to-lovers, I had an idea in my head of how it would go. Two friends would slowly realize throughout the course of the book that they really liked the way the other did certain things until suddenly “oh! Is this love? Is that what I’ve been feeling?“

That is not, in fact, how this book went. Instead, I was treated almost immediately upon opening the book to the fact that James is in love with Maci, has been in love with her for a long time, and has no idea how to tell her.

I enjoyed seeing the way this crush played out throughout this book and the way these two eventually get into a relationship. Because James and Maci have a close friend group, seeing the way the side characters stuck their noses into their business brought a lot of humor into the story. It seemed like everyone was rooting for these two to get together, even if they had a bit of difficulty figuring it out.

However, I found that the conflict in this book needed a bit of work. Because the book jumps straight into the plot, I found it difficult to care for these characters and their personal conflicts. Maci needs an internship that pays well enough that she can quit her current job. James wants to move away from his hometown (and his family’s influence). These are both details I know as fact, but there wasn’t enough in this book to let me get to know who the characters were outside of these conflicts and care whether or not they got what they wanted.

It’s very obvious that this author loves these characters and is passionate about telling their story, but that love doesn’t translate through the pages and into the reader. 

Barbarian's Redemption by Ruby Dixon

2.0

 

The idea of a Bek-focused story has intrigued me. To have a character so disliked within the books get a redemption arc? I was very interested in seeing the way this book would go.

However, this book… was questionable at best.

At the end of the previous book, Barbarian’s Choice, we learn Bek is planning on obtaining five more human girls for the tribe. He pays a few of the side characters from the last book to do this and eagerly awaits their return. Originally, I assumed this was showing off how ruthless Bek could be.

This is Bek. He’s not a good person. He bought slaves.

But then the girls come, and Bek… shows absolutely no hints that he understands what he’s done. To him, he’s brought more people to the planet and should be awarded for this effort. Despite the fact that he knows Georgie and the other human girls, knows their story and how they are trapped on this planet, and knows that the girls are upset that they are here but are living every day to the best of their ability because they have no other option.

Bek cannot possibly be this stupid.

Not to mention the way Bek “learns” that what he did was wrong? His mate in this book is Elly, one of the new girls who was a slave for ten years before the events of this story. Because Bek just isn’t comprehending the magnitude of what he has done, the two end up performing this weird roleplay (slaveplay??) of what it was like for Elly for all those years.

I do not know how to properly format my frustrated screaming in a semi-formal book review.

This whole book just felt forced, like Ruby Dixon had this idea but didn’t want to fully think it through. She just splattered some words down on the page and went “there you go! A new book!” and we all have to live with it.

What frustrates me the most with this book, however, was that there were some good moments. I enjoyed the relationship between Elly and Bek because of how well Bek (eventually) understood the things she needed. Here we have a character who feels like she can’t eat, even when she is starving and wants to eat, because she’s afraid of the food being poisoned. Even if the food comes from a trustworthy source, she’s terrified of what may happen if she eats it. And Bek, without being asked, takes a bite of every piece of food to show her that it’s okay! Every single time! He doesn’t think it’s silly or ask why he needs to do it, he just does it because he knows she needs it!

He could have been a good man! This could have been a wholesome book! But the plot of him not understanding what he did wrong was unnecessary! 

10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall

4.0

 

I wasn’t really sure of what to expect when I received an ARC of 10 Things That Never Happened. I’ve heard of this author, Alexis Hall, before, but I’ve never read any of his works. Would I understand his popularity by reading 10 Things That Never Happened? Or was I jumping in with a book that wasn’t beginner-friendly?

(What does it mean for a standalone book to not be beginner-friendly? Sometimes overthinking is silly, but it’s hard to get out of.)

One of the very first things I could note in my reading of 10 Things That Never Happened was it’s particular brand of humor. This book is funny and doesn’t shy away from sprinkling in humor wherever it can, but it is a very dry, ironic sort of humor.

The best example I can give in explaining this sort of humor is to set up the book for you. Our main character, Sam, is looking at the possibility of getting fired from his job… and getting the rest of his team fired too. While arguing with his boss about managing employees and the best way to sell a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Shower Enclosure to an overwhelmed customer, he accidentally slips and brings the entire Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Shower Enclosure down on top of him. When he next wakes, he is in the hospital, and accidentally implies that he has Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Shower Enclosure-induced amnesia, meaning his boss has to take care of him until his memories “come back”.

Throughout the course of this book, we learn a lot about Jonathan, the love interest and Sam’s boss. Since Sam needs to be watched by someone, Jonathan takes Sam to his house, giving our main character a look into his life and struggles. I did enjoy seeing Jonathan have difficulty balancing his job and his family, as well as Sam’s attempts to help Jonathan in any way he could, but I feel like this book was too focused on its love interest. There are a few personal details about Sam near the end of the book that allow us to understand his character a little more, but they were too late to make me feel like there was anything truly there in Sam’s character. The book is about Jonathan and his family, while Sam is merely an afterthought.

That being said, I did enjoy myself with this book. Sam’s Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Shower Enclosure misadventures were interesting, and I can see the reason why people will be excited for this book to get released. 

Love Interest by Clare Gilmore

5.0

 

This book… had a rough opening.

Sometimes books just have awkward or confusing openings. Whether characters are in a strange moment or there’s just a lot of background information to cover before a book can truly open up, I try to give books the best chance they have during the beginning. But with an opening where the writing style felt almost exactly like My Immortal (you know… Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way?), I was really questioning whether or not I could make it through this book.

Thankfully, it was just an awkward start.

Love Interest tells the story of Casey and Alex, two people who interviewed for the same job. Of course, only one could make it in, and Casey isn’t going to let go of the fact that the board chairman’s son got the job in what was obviously a show of nepotism.

But Casey finds it hard to truly hate Alex. Especially when the drama starts and office politics come into play.

I really enjoyed the humor in this book. It may come as no surprise to read that, especially if you’ve read my reviews in the past, but I love a book with funny moments. Love Interest in particular has this memorable moment early on where Alex decides a murder confession is the best first line to say to someone, and this really sets the tone for the rest of the novel.

I also enjoyed seeing these characters’ personal journeys throughout the book. While Casey is learning how to listen to herself and go for what she wants in life, Alex’s side of the story is about struggling to gain the attention of his father… and whether or not he is worthy of love without it.

To be honest, I read the entirety of this book in a single day without stopping. I really wasn’t expecting to, since I was in a little bit of a slump before this, but this book really grabbed me! I really enjoyed my time with Love Interest, and I can’t wait for this book to be released so I can display a finished copy on my shelves! 

The Spells We Cast by Jason June
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.

 

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t do it.

The Spells We Cast has an interesting base idea. Humans descended from magical races (fae, elves, etc) have magic, but not everyone gets to keep their magic. They have to participate in this competition, the Culling, to see whether or not they are good enough magicians to keep their magic and go on to join the Guild in defeating the Depraved, monsters born from negative emotions.

However, beyond the concept, I didn’t like anything this book showed me in the first 100 pages.

To begin with, we have our main character, Nigel. His father failed in the Culling back when he was a teen, and he now resents his son’s magical abilities. Nigel’s entire life has been filled with needing to fight off the Depraved created from his father’s hatred of him, but rather than getting away from his father (or, I don’t know, telling his dad to get over it? Helping to stop the problem in any way?), Nigel and his grandma have just… dealt with this life threatening problem. For years.

Once we get a little further into the book and enter the Culling, we meet a larger cast of characters… and almost every single one hates Nigel for practically no reason! The book introduces us to an entire society full of stuck-up adults who never grew up and want their kids to get into the Guild solely based on nepotism. Not to mention their stuck-up kids who spread rumors about how “terrible” Nigel is. Yes, I get that this is a competition. Every teen out for themselves. They’re not going to be best friends. These teens are still absolutely horrible to Nigel for no reason.

This book just felt a little too hopeless and immature to me, and after 113 pages of severely disliking what I was reading, I thought it was best to just give up on this story.