ridreads's reviews
96 reviews

Whispers of the Heart by Rae Knight

emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

5.0

If you want to cry, and by cry I mean sob hysterically, then this is the book for you! Every second had me truly feeling something - happiness, sadness, love, worry, hope - I felt it all in the few hundred pages. 

The author did a really great job of taking you on a journey of grief, growth, and acceptance with both of the MCs. After tragically losing her husband of almost 20 years, Liz finds herself moving back to her hometown to live with her sister. Almost immediately upon arriving back in town, Liz runs into her childhood best friend, Brian, with whom she had a falling out with after high school. 

The book follows both Liz and Brian as they find out some things, like true friendship, never change no matter how many years go by. A story of love, loss, and letting go the HEA was the cherry on top of a great story. Honestly, I won’t be surprised if this becomes a movie!! 

Done Waiting by Jennifer Rose, Jennifer Rose

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

I enjoyed the dark “falling for my stalker” trope, plus I think the characters were really interesting. Without giving too much away there were some twists that definitely added some dimension to the story. 

The pet name “baby girl” was used probably a little too frequently for me, but I could mostly skim over that. I enjoyed the HEA and feel like the story was wrapped up really nicely (and left an opening for another book with a side character). 

This book could've easily been a 4-star read for me if the author hadn't made a huge timeline error that was really crucial to the story. Without giving too much away in the form of spoilers there's an event that's referred to in a character's past that would've had to have occurred before the character was born for other events to line up. The author could have made a few adjustments to the story to fix it and the fact that it was overlooked really took me out of the story. 

Timeborne by Sara Samuels

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

3.0

The concept is really interesting and I really enjoyed the love story, hidden identity twist, and the historical fiction components. The writing however was not very good at all, especially at the beginning. Towards the end of the book it seemed the writing improved, or maybe I was just more invested in the story and desensitized to how awkward the dialogue is. 

The world building and the time travel magic was interesting and not something I have read much before. I am interested in finding out what happens next in the story, but I’m not going to be rushing to read the next book. 

The reviews for the next books improve significantly, so I’m a little more hopeful once I get to them. 

Spindle of Fire by Tee Harlowe

adventurous fast-paced

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

5.0

Tower of Tempest by Tee Harlowe

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

I. Am. SCREAMING. 

So good. Amazing. Incredible. Loved every single minute of it. I gave the first 2 books glowing 5 star reviews and this one was even better! The MCs of book 3 of The Stolen Crowns series is completely different,  no morally grey MMC - instead Prince Lochlan is the perfect sunshine cinnamon roll! 

I loved the journey of self discovery that both Lochlan and Poppy went on to find themselves outside of their families before finding themselves together. Their love story truly blossomed out of friendship and I honestly could’ve read 1000 more pages of their adventures. 

Plus, Leoni and Driscoll?!? I could read another 1000 pages of just their banter. Their bickering is getting out of hand and I am LIVING for it. 

Seriously, stop what you’re doing and read this series. 

Mirror of Malice by Tee Harlowe

adventurous emotional hopeful fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

Liliath goes on a journey of self discovery that led her from being a helpless princess to a strong and powerful queen. Along the way, she learns that friends can sometimes look like enemies, love has a funny way of finding you when you least expect it, and trousers are much more practical for missions than gowns. 

Penn Vanderbilt, aka the king of thieves, is all work and no play… that is until he rescues a pretty little lilypad from the clutches of her wicked stepmother. While trying to exact his revenge on those responsible for his life of thievery, he realizes that maybe, just maybe there is more to life than work. 

I read Ship of Shadows before this one and although they don’t require reading in order you do get a lot of backstory for Ship of Shadows in Mirror of Malice, so I highly recommend reading it first! Then continue right along so you’re ready for the next release, Tower of Tempest, which releases at the end of June 2024. 

A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J. Maas

emotional inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

A quick happy story of Solstice for Feyre and Rhysand. I loved reading about them shopping for gifts for each other, the grand gesture gifts they both offered to each other, and seeing Feyre rediscover her love of painting. 

Although the story is rosy and bright for Feyre and Rhysand, it’s not so bright for the rest of our favorite Prythians. For the majority of the book I found myself feeling bad for Azriel and Mor, Elain and Lucien, Cassian and Nesta, and even Tamlin. Feyre and Rhysand might have found their happily ever after, but there’s a long way to go before I can feel completely satisfied with the story. 

Next stop, A Court of Silver Flames! 

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

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? No

5.0

Wow! Throughout this book so much happened and still the last 100 pages were JAM PACKED. Without giving away any spoilers here are my general thoughts and emojis: 

• Feyre really overcame her own insecurities and proved to everyone how deserving of her title she is

• Rhysand really proved how supportive he is of Feyre and of letting her show her full strength while still supporting her when needed

• Cassian! I don’t think I need to say anything else, but can’t wait to read ACOSF 

• Nesta is a b!tch, BUT can anyone really believe her? 

• Elain needs protected at all costs, I mean she’s such a sweet, naive baby 

• Azriel?!? I don’t think I could ever get enough of him 

• Amren better get her own happily ever after at some point because she’s one of my faves 

• Morrigan also better get a happily ever after because she is a true QUEEN 

• Lucien’s family is all garbage! 

• Lucien really had some shortcomings with how supportive he was of Tamlin’s craziness, BUT I still love him and think he really got the short end of the stick in this book 

• Tamlin, well, I still don’t hate him. He definitely did some absolutely crazy bullshirt, BUT I do think he deserves his own happily ever after with how he comes through for everyone at the end

• The other High Lords?? I would love to hear more of their stories! I need short stories or novellas about all of them, especially Day and Winter! 

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

Again, I’m not going to write a super long review because it’s been done over 170k times on Goodreads! 

My key thoughts (and emojis): 

- What the heckin’ heck, Tamlin? PUPPY CRADLE DEATH SYNDROME. Let your girl breathe. 😡 

- Lucien needs to grow a pair 🙄 

- Rhysand redeemed himself. My favorite Rhysand moments were Starfall, Chapter 54, and Chapter 55 🥹

- I liked Feyre a lot better in this one, she’s growing and learning how to trust and believe in herself 💪🏻 

- I still love Nesta 💃🏼

- Mor is bad a$$, I hope she rips her family to shreds 😈 

- Amren is terrifying, but all I can really picture is Edna Mode 🐉 

- The bat boys will forever have my heart 🥹

- The ending ruined my brain and I need a need a break before I move onto ACOWAR 😭

Sharing His Mate by Tanja Longoria

challenging emotional fast-paced

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

3.0

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as I thought I would. I really like Lorely and the strong/bada$$ female hunter vibe of her character. The premise of the book was also very interesting with a wolf’s human mate being bonded to another human through marriage and a binding ceremony. I also really liked Maveric, the things he had to overcome and the sacrifices he was willing to make to respect Lorely were huge and he gave up so much to be with her. 

I really did not like Rex. At the beginning of the book, I could excuse his behavior because it would really suck to have the love of your life mated to someone else. I do think he made some sacrifices for Lorely and gave up his vision of life to make her happy, BUT he did so while completely disrespecting Maveric. Even at the end of the book he still called him names and treated him poorly. Maybe the thought was at the end of the book it was more of a “joke”? I just don’t think that was portrayed very well if that was the intention.