snazzyspeedy's reviews
112 reviews

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

Go to review page

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

Go to review page

adventurous tense slow-paced

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

3.75

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

Go to review page

emotional hopeful reflective 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

4.0

A solid four star romance. There were some storytelling elements that were introduced at the end that I’d have loved to see happen throughout the book (namely,

Grant plotting out his options in screenplay format when deciding to go to the premiere. That was a wonderful element of both creative storytelling and character development that should have been weaved throughout the book!

). I also agree with another user that the

third act breakup

was a little long, but overall I enjoyed the pacing of the book.

Content Warnings

House of Flame and Shadow by Sarah J. Maas

Go to review page

adventurous emotional tense 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

3.75

Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

Vengeance Becomes Her by Alexis C. Maness

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

I got an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I'll try to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible! Before I start, I will say that it's very important to check the trigger warnings provided by the author on her website as well as the author's note in the book prior to reading. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and am excited for the sequel! The plot and characters pulled me in pretty quickly, and I definitely stayed up way too late reading for several nights after work (but it was absolutely worth it). I did have some formatting issues, but the issues were sporadic and sometimes fixed themselves in a matter of seconds so it could've been my device. There were also some typos, but nothing too distracting and as it was an advanced copy, I trust that they'll get fixed before publication!

The characters were by far my favorite part of this book! As a woman who fluctuates between mid and plus size and enjoys a good fantasy novel, it was so refreshing to finally have a character who looks more like me as the main character! Rhiannon was confident, fun, strong, and tenacious, and I loved seeing her journey throughout the novel. Her story is not a light one to tell or read, and every moment was very real, raw, and very beautifully handled. While she's a bit more flirty and quick to confront than I am, I still was able to find pieces of myself in her that made her an incredibly relatable character to read and root for. I loved Rhiannon's sister and wish we'd gotten to see more of their relationship. The other women in the story were just as intriguing and loveable as Rhiannon, and I loved the friendships between all of them. And though I tried as hard as Rhiannon to be wary of Tristain, he won me over fairly quickly too 😅

Speaking of Tristain, the spice between him and Rhiannon was *chef's kiss*. Admittedly, I'm a little picky about spice. I like for there to be some tension and build-up, and I truly prefer for spice to serve a purpose, whether that be plot development, character development, or both. And the spicy scenes in this book definitely ticked all of those boxes. The tension and build-up to the first spicy scene was E V E R Y T H I N G and the actual scene itself did not disappoint!

There were a few things that kept me from giving this book 5 stars (and these are where I might have to talk spoilers a bit, but they'll be blocked):

Pacing
World Building
Secondary Characters

Pacing: I wanted this book to move a little faster. I loved the strong internal character development, but I did want the plot to pick up and move just as much.

And while I loved the training that Rhiannon and Tristain did together, I wish they had left for their journey to find Silas sooner. I know Rhiannon had to build her strength back up, but I was getting so antsy waiting for her journey to get her revenge. On a similar yet slightly opposite note, it felt a little too easy for them to find Silas. I wish we'd gotten a little less of Rhiannon's training at home, and a little bit more of them journeying together to find Silas. I also thought it was a little too easy to have Kyra basically tell them exactly what they were up against. Again, I just think it could have been more difficult for them to find Silas and more time could have been spent on that than Rhiannon's time in Oakhaven.

World Building: I can sum this one up in one word--more!! I LOVE world-building. When I'm in a new fantasy world, I want to know everything! I wanted so much more info about the world. What's their political structure? Their folklore? Are all the towns part of a larger kingdom, or do they operate like independent city-states? Maybe all of this isn't exactly necessary info, but it's info I wanted nonetheless. Especially the folklore, and I'm hoping for more of that in book two with how this book ended!

Secondary Characters: We got such a great picture of Rhiannon and Tristain, but I definitely felt like we could have gotten better insight into

Samara and Kyra. I loved what glimpses of them we got, but I wanted more! Fingers crossed for more Samara being a badass bitch with a bow and Kyra fucking shit up with her dual swords in book two 🤞🏼

The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced