rnilky's reviews
14 reviews

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

3.0

3 stars because I love the wolf boy.
In all seriousness, this book is fine? I’ll be honest and say that it didn’t do a *great* job introducing the main overarching plot line(1). I find that this happens a lot in other books though so I’ll kinda let it slide. I’m sure other people have mentioned Hawk’s not so awesome statements about Calli’s past situation, I didn’t at first grasp what he was specifically getting at (what can I say, I’m kinda dense) but after I did find out.. yea that’s pretty gross of him. Of the four male leads, I only really like Kotah (I listened to the audiobook idk how to spell their names very sorry). Kotah is Native American and is at one point described as exotic and that rubbed me the wrong way. I’m kinda rambling as most of my complaints are rather minor but the book just left me feeling kind of meh.

(1) I wanted to specify what I meant by the plot thing, so here it is. Basically, the five leads have been bonded together in order to restore a doorway to the original fae realm. That is supposed to be their main goal. Hardly a single situation that occurs in the first book gets them any closer to achieving that goal. Instead they focus on Calli’s revenge subplot and have a little party? Idk man

Content Warnings

Hunter by Mercedes Lackey

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adventurous tense medium-paced

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

3.25

This book was interesting to say the least. I think the thing I disliked the most was these massive exposition dumps. There’s a lot of them at the beginning and a few near the end. this just makes certain aspects a little.. weird for lack of better terms. Rather than “showing” the explanations or even just a simple description, it feels like these really long winded statements and it made me feel like the narrator thought I was stupid lol. The magic system is interesting enough, and while there’s kinda a lack of plot throughout most of it, things stayed entertaining enough I suppose. I liked most of the characters, but the main lead Joyeaux is kinda meh.

Content Warnings

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know how I feel about this book. I’ve been trying to read it off and on for the past year or so, my determination stemming from its popularity. I have since heard that many people find the first book lacking when compared to the rest of the series so I kept that in mind while I read this one.
I found the beginning and most of the middle part of the book to be rather boring and I had to slog my way through it. I did however enjoy most of the ending. There were a few things that kept me from liking it fully, which is due to me spoiling things for myself. I’ll detail my complaints in a spoiler though.

I’m gonna be honest, I had heard about feyre and rhysand getting together later on but by the time I had started reading I forgot their names and assumed tamlin was end game. It was not long however that i relearned about feyre and rhysand. Before continuing, you should keep in mind that I haven’t read the rest of the series so my mindset comes from that. Knowing that feyre and tamlin will eventually part and also knowing that it’s because he ends up kinda being and ass makes the first book feel so pointless. I don’t know what exactly he does that like causes their split, but as of right now it feels like character assassination. I’m sure this wouldn’t have been so bad if I hadn’t spoiled myself and went through this plot line naturally but damn idk it’s annoying to think that feyre literally died for this man and then he is just supposed to treat her like shit.

Ultimately I found this to be a rather meh experience all together. It was a book and that’s the most I can say about it.

Dirty Wolf: A Curvy Girl and Wolf Shifter Romance by Aidy Award

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I’m not someone who reads erotica because I find it sexy or whatever, rather I try to look for ones that are funny or interesting. And in a way this one was both. I loved the female lead and her friends, the way they interacted with one another felt really authentic and some of their jokes made me laugh. I found the male lead to be kinda bland but he had a few characteristics that I liked. The plot was sorta interesting I suppose, there’s a lot that doesn’t get explained but I’m sure it appears in the next two books. If I recall correctly there were only two actual sex scenes, with a few other sensual scenes, but I think they were done pretty good. I listened to the audiobook at work (audible) and I liked the female narrator, something about her tone was endearing to me :)

How I rate books:
⭐️ - I hated this book
⭐️⭐️ - I didn’t find anything enjoyable while reading, but I didn’t hate it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - an average book, could see why some might like it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I liked this book, am likely to recommend it to friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - the perfect book for me

Witch & Wizard by Gabrielle Charbonnet, James Patterson

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

I read this quite a few years ago and then dropped the series before I had finished it. After running out of audiobooks to listen to at work, I picked this one up again. To be honest it’s not as good as I remember, but I think part of that is due to age. I think it’s definitely something a younger audience would enjoy. My main complaint lies in the language used. As an adult it comes off as someone much older trying to appeal to younger audiences, which is of course what they’ve attempted it’s just so obvious and in a way makes it seem kinda dated to me.

How I rate books:
⭐️ - I hated this book
⭐️⭐️ - I didn’t find anything enjoyable while reading, but I didn’t hate it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - an average book, could see why some might like it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I liked this book, am likely to recommend it to friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - the perfect book for me

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

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adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. While it’s not the best, I couldn’t help getting engrossed. There I was at work, kicking my feet and giggling. It is a rather basic premise, normal girl suddenly realises she’s actually not normal. Cue learning new powers, meeting new people, and an all to convenient small makeover. I personally don’t mind the repetitive nature of these tropes much, when I want something easy to listen to this is the kind of thing I go for. I think it really separates itself from others of similar plot closer towards the end, and as I’m currently listening to the second book I can say it continues to differentiate itself.

don’t worry Alina, I’ll take one for the team and deal with the darkling ;)

How I rate books:
⭐️ - I hated this book
⭐️⭐️ - I didn’t find anything enjoyable while reading, but I didn’t hate it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - an average book, could see why some might like it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I liked this book, am likely to recommend it to friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - the perfect book for me

Love Potion For the Alpha by Alice Coldbreath

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.0

If you are only looking for an erotic novel explicitly for the erotic scenes, this book will do just fine. This is your basic wolf shifter erotic novel, with the added spice of having a period setting. There were small aspects of this book that I didn’t particularly like, more specifically sometimes I felt like Jorah’s possessiveness leaned a little too close to misogyny for me. He’s definitely not the worst but some of his statements made me grimace a little bit, though to be fair I find this happening in various other erotica so idk I guess it’s not that big of a deal. I liked most of the other characters, my favourite being the uncle. It had some pretty silly moments and if you have nothing else to read then I think it’s and okay choice.

How I rate books:
⭐️ - I hated this book
⭐️⭐️ - I didn’t find anything enjoyable while reading, but I didn’t hate it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - an average book, could see why some might like it.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - I liked this book, am likely to recommend it to friends.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - the perfect book for me

Heaven Official's Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Novel) Vol. 2 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

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adventurous funny slow-paced