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sydneys_neverendingtbr's reviews
116 reviews
The Pumpkin Spice Café by Laurie Gilmore
3.5
Very cute! Not anything ground breaking, but something sweet and fun. I don’t really understand why everyone calls Logan grumpy though? He’s just a little reserved. He instantly helps Jeanie with her “haunting” issue at the beginning of the book after knowing her for about five minutes. He seems really sweet and not at all grumpy.
Also, this doesn’t affect my rating, but the physical book is a dream come true. Cute foiled accents? Check. Perfect font size and type? Check. Beautiful flop and easy to open pages? Check.
Also, this doesn’t affect my rating, but the physical book is a dream come true. Cute foiled accents? Check. Perfect font size and type? Check. Beautiful flop and easy to open pages? Check.
Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
3.0
I was definitely hoping for more. More rats, more body horror, more mushrooms. This could have benefited a lot from just even 50 more pages. It felt like there was so much more meat that could have been picked from this plot. I did really enjoy the characters though and would have been totally absorbed by them in a full length novel.
Unsteady by Peyton Corinne
2.5
I’m so conflicted about this book honestly. I wanted to love it so bad as I’ve struggled to find a good sports romance that I love. But I really struggled with the relationship.
Sadie was understandably rough and closed off in the beginning of the book. She is struggling with SO much so I understood her need to keep people at arms length. But as the relationship progresses, she stays rude, sometimes even down right mean, to Rhys and constantly snaps at him or ignores him for weeks.
Rhys is a very emotionally developed as character. He struggles with his anxiety of skating again and the stress of being a captain when he feels he doesn’t deserve it. He is absolutely whipped for Sadie, sometimes to his detriment. He honestly felt like such a doormat, never once holding Sadie accountable for saying some truly cruel things to him when all he wants to do is care and love her and her brothers. The fact he convinced himself he needed to “be better” to get Sadie to trust him was absolutely heartbreaking because he was nothing but emotionally honest with her.
This book sits just along the outside of instalove. I craved more romance between them but mostly got lust. There were so many sex scenes that I, the erotica reader, skimmed most of them. The sex didn’t grow their relationship or connection, it was just there to fill pages. I wish most of them were cut, along with the all the back and forth of Rhys trying to get Sadie to even look at him. If that was cut, there would be a well done plot. Most of the pain points in the book were wrapped up in the last 10%. With all the extra smut cut, it would also give so much more time for their relationship to actually develop.
Sadie was understandably rough and closed off in the beginning of the book. She is struggling with SO much so I understood her need to keep people at arms length. But as the relationship progresses, she stays rude, sometimes even down right mean, to Rhys and constantly snaps at him or ignores him for weeks.
Rhys is a very emotionally developed as character. He struggles with his anxiety of skating again and the stress of being a captain when he feels he doesn’t deserve it. He is absolutely whipped for Sadie, sometimes to his detriment. He honestly felt like such a doormat, never once holding Sadie accountable for saying some truly cruel things to him when all he wants to do is care and love her and her brothers. The fact he convinced himself he needed to “be better” to get Sadie to trust him was absolutely heartbreaking because he was nothing but emotionally honest with her.
This book sits just along the outside of instalove. I craved more romance between them but mostly got lust. There were so many sex scenes that I, the erotica reader, skimmed most of them. The sex didn’t grow their relationship or connection, it was just there to fill pages. I wish most of them were cut, along with the all the back and forth of Rhys trying to get Sadie to even look at him. If that was cut, there would be a well done plot. Most of the pain points in the book were wrapped up in the last 10%. With all the extra smut cut, it would also give so much more time for their relationship to actually develop.
Her Soul to Take by Harley Laroux
3.0
I originally checked this book out all the way back in ‘21 and really did not like Rae and DNFed at 30%. Three years later, and Ive read every Harley Laroux novel, besides this one. I’m so happy I did not let this book originally deter me from their writing. It’s their weakest book, in my opinion. Rae drove me absolutely crazy and I didn’t find her “oppsie! I didn’t believe Leon when he said it was dangerous and now he’s near death!” attitude charming. Their relationship was quick and really surface level. I felt like she did nothing but endanger and hurt him the whole time and he just dealt with it because she was hot.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
5.0
Wow wow wow!!! I devoured this, I couldn’t listen fast enough. This had such delicious angst and tension. I’m so happy I finally gave this a chance after seeing it so much on my feeds.
Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright
3.0
Firstly, thank you so much to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me an early copy of this book in exchange for a review!
I was so incredibly excited for this book the second I found out about the plot and saw the stunning cover. Pseudo vampires, murder mystery, and in-depth politics all wrapped in a lush dark fantasy setting? Sign me up immediately.
Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I find the bones of this book amazing! The magic system was there. The messy, lusty poly relationship was there. A powerful and cunning main female character was there. But none of these things were fully fleshed out in my opinion. Let's break down Shan, our main female character.
Shan is portrayed as being cunning, doing anything to help her brother and secure her place in society. She kills her father in the very first chapter, saving Anton, her Unblooded twin, from their father's abuse. Her end goal is to topple the Eternal King and create a better society in the process. She has a vast spy network that all reports to her, only knowing her as Sparrow. But as the story progresses, I really began to doubt Shan's 'prowess' in the political arena she's found herself. Her plan to change the country feels deeply selfish. She champions slow change and is generally incredibly apathetic to the Unblooded's struggles. This is where her relationship with Anton really falls apart. She is very over baring, assuming that everything she does will automatically benefit him and make him feel grateful to her. She completely disregrads all of his concerns because he 'doesn't see the big picture'. Even when she discovers how deep the corruption goes in the country, her plan never changes. She also allows herself to be cowed into proposing a controversial bill that another Lord created and forced upon her. Her internal thoughts tells us over and over again that she has to do this to gain political favor. Which is perhaps true, but it makes her feel really weak. Also, her entire Sparrow persona feels so shallow and weak. She supposedly has spies everywhere, always listening. Despite all that, people seem to usually have the drop on her. This is petty, but Shan doesn't even wear a mask, relaying solely on a different outfits to disguise her.
Samuel is our main male character and I find him the far more interesting of our two POVs. He is suddenly thrust into high society after living as an Unblooded his whole life after Shan exposes his true identity. I find his slow descent into excepting his power pretty well done. He has a healthy distrust of Shan, who has taken him under her wing to help him fit into his new world, but eventually starts to develop feelings for her. I find their chemistry really lacking though. In one chapter the author is emphasizing their emotional connection, in the next one it seems that the only attraction between them is physical and both were shallow.
While we don't get a POV from him, I would say that Isaac is my favorite character. He is mysterious, powerful, and effortlessly charming. He comes into the story with lots of history with Shan, their relationship rocky but undeniable. Isaac spends hours with Samuel in order to train him, which spirals into so much delicious tension. Isaac was everything I wish Shan was, morally grey and ruthless.
Now to move a bit onto the writing itself. I found the middle of this book super slow and really struggled to get to the last 15% when the plot really picks back up. While I can't say there was any filler, I just found a lot of it a bit dull. I also found the actual writing very repetitive. There were lots of times where a character would say something, then their internal thoughts would explain the same thing again. It was both telling and showing.
Overall, I think that that K. M. Enright has set up a good start to a series. But there are several things that need to ironed out and cleaned up to make it great.
I was so incredibly excited for this book the second I found out about the plot and saw the stunning cover. Pseudo vampires, murder mystery, and in-depth politics all wrapped in a lush dark fantasy setting? Sign me up immediately.
Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat for me. I find the bones of this book amazing! The magic system was there. The messy, lusty poly relationship was there. A powerful and cunning main female character was there. But none of these things were fully fleshed out in my opinion. Let's break down Shan, our main female character.
Shan is portrayed as being cunning, doing anything to help her brother and secure her place in society. She kills her father in the very first chapter, saving Anton, her Unblooded twin, from their father's abuse. Her end goal is to topple the Eternal King and create a better society in the process. She has a vast spy network that all reports to her, only knowing her as Sparrow. But as the story progresses, I really began to doubt Shan's 'prowess' in the political arena she's found herself. Her plan to change the country feels deeply selfish. She champions slow change and is generally incredibly apathetic to the Unblooded's struggles. This is where her relationship with Anton really falls apart. She is very over baring, assuming that everything she does will automatically benefit him and make him feel grateful to her. She completely disregrads all of his concerns because he 'doesn't see the big picture'. Even when she discovers how deep the corruption goes in the country, her plan never changes. She also allows herself to be cowed into proposing a controversial bill that another Lord created and forced upon her. Her internal thoughts tells us over and over again that she has to do this to gain political favor. Which is perhaps true, but it makes her feel really weak. Also, her entire Sparrow persona feels so shallow and weak. She supposedly has spies everywhere, always listening. Despite all that, people seem to usually have the drop on her. This is petty, but Shan doesn't even wear a mask, relaying solely on a different outfits to disguise her.
Samuel is our main male character and I find him the far more interesting of our two POVs. He is suddenly thrust into high society after living as an Unblooded his whole life after Shan exposes his true identity. I find his slow descent into excepting his power pretty well done. He has a healthy distrust of Shan, who has taken him under her wing to help him fit into his new world, but eventually starts to develop feelings for her. I find their chemistry really lacking though. In one chapter the author is emphasizing their emotional connection, in the next one it seems that the only attraction between them is physical and both were shallow.
While we don't get a POV from him, I would say that Isaac is my favorite character. He is mysterious, powerful, and effortlessly charming. He comes into the story with lots of history with Shan, their relationship rocky but undeniable. Isaac spends hours with Samuel in order to train him, which spirals into so much delicious tension. Isaac was everything I wish Shan was, morally grey and ruthless.
Now to move a bit onto the writing itself. I found the middle of this book super slow and really struggled to get to the last 15% when the plot really picks back up. While I can't say there was any filler, I just found a lot of it a bit dull. I also found the actual writing very repetitive. There were lots of times where a character would say something, then their internal thoughts would explain the same thing again. It was both telling and showing.
Overall, I think that that K. M. Enright has set up a good start to a series. But there are several things that need to ironed out and cleaned up to make it great.
Soul of a Witch by Harley Laroux
5.0
The witchy whimsy is so delectable. This book balanced truly terrifying moments with the sweet and smutty ones so well.
King of Greed by Ana Huang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 72%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 72%.
I could not stand Dominic. He was too much. Like were his temper tantrums suppose to be cute or sweet because he's frothing at the mouth with anger that his ex wife is just...going about her day in the general area of a man?? He could not stand to leave her alone for more than a few seconds.
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood
2.0
Eli needs to be neutered immediately.
All he could think of was how horny he was and how sexy Rue was. I’m not exaggerating, when her jobs and life’s work is threatened, all he can think about is how she looked while having sex with her. I don’t even feel like they really connected on an emotional level, if they did it was completely over shadowed by horny. I read erotic books, a lot. Smut is not something I mind. But there was just *too* much in this book.
The plot was paper thin (with random figure skating/hockey in it for some reason?) with sex filling out the rest of page count.
All he could think of was how horny he was and how sexy Rue was. I’m not exaggerating, when her jobs and life’s work is threatened, all he can think about is how she looked while having sex with her. I don’t even feel like they really connected on an emotional level, if they did it was completely over shadowed by horny. I read erotic books, a lot. Smut is not something I mind. But there was just *too* much in this book.
The plot was paper thin (with random figure skating/hockey in it for some reason?) with sex filling out the rest of page count.