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readsforlove's reviews
825 reviews
The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
4 people are waiting on Libby and I am no longer in the mood for this :( I plan to pick it up again eventually!
All The Hidden Paths by Foz Meadows
2.5
Part of what I loved about book 1 is how mature the MCs were, and how they talked about stuff. I hate miscommunication as a trope (barring a few examples) and I knew it was going to be in this book, so I was trying to give it a chance but ... LORD. These boys. There's so much they don't resolve, even at the end, and I get more frustrated the more I think about it. They both care so deeply for each other, and yes they're each hurt deeply and dealing with that in their own ways, but I really wish they had some sit down convos to work stuff out, especially before they got to the city. Instead, they just barely talk about any of it. (like, Cae triggering Val especially. They fight about it but don't ever talk about it to resolve it? Ugh.)
Not only was that driving me up a wall, but the whole mystery plot of things was annoying to me. I thought I had a good suspect, but who it ended up being was just ... weird and unbelievable in my opinion. I thought the whole thing could have been done much better. (And made different from book 1 cause it felt very similar.)
Also, this book was a lot spicier than the first one which was not my cup of tea, but I have a very low tolerance for spice, so take that with a grain of salt. (I also just ... did not get what the fuck was going on with Azrien and Naza. At all. Azrien really did not need a POV.)
Anyway, yeah, I don't regret having read this book, but it just was very underwhelming and miserable to get through and I wish it had been better.
Not only was that driving me up a wall, but the whole mystery plot of things was annoying to me. I thought I had a good suspect, but who it ended up being was just ... weird and unbelievable in my opinion. I thought the whole thing could have been done much better. (And made different from book 1 cause it felt very similar.)
Also, this book was a lot spicier than the first one which was not my cup of tea, but I have a very low tolerance for spice, so take that with a grain of salt. (I also just ... did not get what the fuck was going on with Azrien and Naza. At all. Azrien really did not need a POV.)
Anyway, yeah, I don't regret having read this book, but it just was very underwhelming and miserable to get through and I wish it had been better.
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
4.5
My first question is why are more people not talking about this amazing book? I found it on Audible recs of all places after searching for a similar book to A Taste of Gold and Iron and was quickly swept away. Velasin and Caethari are ... wow. Like. This book is the arranged marriage trope, and while being an asexual makes this concept feel truly straight from a horror novel, the tenderness with which it happened in this book was just so so good. I'm having trouble finding words. They were each so tender and sweet and kind to each other, and there was no unnecessary drama, which I'd honestly been expecting. While things were by no means easy between them, they each went into the situation with grace, care, and honesty, despite there being ample opportunity to create drama. But they were both so refreshingly mature and sweet about everything, it makes me want to dive right back in for a reread from cover to cover.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Instead, I'm diving right into book 2, and I predict I will have the worst book hangover ever when I'm through.
Please do be sure to check content warnings before going into this novel though!! Very heavy topics are addressed and depicted on page, and while it's done with care, it's still important to go into the novel consciously.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Infidelity and Vomit