Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
The concept was super intriguing! I really enjoyed the science behind the shifters and the myths about their origins. I wish they had explored that a bit more. There was so much happening that it kind of got overshadowed. Plus, the transitions felt a little jumbled. There were times and location shifts that made you have to backtrack to see if you missed something. It could have been a bit more structured, but overall, it was really interesting!
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a super cute, super fun read! Love urban fantasy so that was an automatic point from me but I also really liked the main relationship here. It was definitely more of a romance than a fantasy and it's one of those stories where they get together (relatively) quickly and have time to deal with some relationship problems along with the main plot, which I think the author handled well without drawing out the drama for drama's sake. Everything they tackled together as a couple felt very realistic and was handled with care while also causing them to grow. I like how Cas's coming out journey wasn't angsty but more 'ok this is something I didn't know about myself', which I find myself appreciating since there's still such an oversaturation of angsty queer books on the market, which I'm rarely in the mood for. I like how the dynamics between them were fluid and nothing was set in stone even with how they were the 'nerd/jock' trope, at least visually.
The plot itself wasn't given a lot of focus since it was mainly trained on the romance, but I still liked it. I don't know if it really counts as a murder mystery but it was definitely giving those vibes and I was never bored with it. I didn't guess the twist but I wasn't thinking about it particularly hard since this wasn't a thriller but I wasn't disappointed.
I wish we had given a little more time to Thor's family and their whole dynamic and shifter culture as a whole, but I was still satisfied with it. To keep it non-spoilery, I think what happened in the end with his dad was a nice bit of poetic justice, but I wish it hadn't been left so open-ended. I wish we could've gotten more with the rest of his family too and how they treat him besides the one dinner scene.
Overall I would've appreciated a bit more worldbuilding because I'm a fantasy nerd but I don't think anything was missing from the story per se. I had a good time! Might check out the other standalones in this series!
C.A.P.E Rating:
Characters - 4/5
Atmosphere - 3/5
Plot - 3/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
The plot itself wasn't given a lot of focus since it was mainly trained on the romance, but I still liked it. I don't know if it really counts as a murder mystery but it was definitely giving those vibes and I was never bored with it. I didn't guess the twist but I wasn't thinking about it particularly hard since this wasn't a thriller but I wasn't disappointed.
I wish we had given a little more time to Thor's family and their whole dynamic and shifter culture as a whole, but I was still satisfied with it. To keep it non-spoilery, I think what happened in the end with his dad was a nice bit of poetic justice, but I wish it hadn't been left so open-ended. I wish we could've gotten more with the rest of his family too and how they treat him besides the one dinner scene.
Overall I would've appreciated a bit more worldbuilding because I'm a fantasy nerd but I don't think anything was missing from the story per se. I had a good time! Might check out the other standalones in this series!
C.A.P.E Rating:
Characters - 4/5
Atmosphere - 3/5
Plot - 3/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
emotional
funny
inspiring
tense
slow-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:
Complicated
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault
Neat concept but the execution was a hot hot mess.
I grabbed this book because I wanted to read the second because the cover is beautiful. I still am, despite this being yet another 2023 fail.
There is some serious editing that needs to happen. It needed to be about 200 pages shorter.
Also, I’m not sure why authors give away to the reader who done it in a who done it book, but when I’ve figured out exactly what’s happening with who at 20% while the characters act like oblivious idiots through the rest of the book… it makes me not want to read. But I did. For days. I’m not really sure why, I guess there were parts of the plot I wanted to see completed. But by the end I was too distracted by how messy the writing is.
Attempting the second and if it’s just as bad, shelving this author.
I grabbed this book because I wanted to read the second because the cover is beautiful. I still am, despite this being yet another 2023 fail.
There is some serious editing that needs to happen. It needed to be about 200 pages shorter.
Also, I’m not sure why authors give away to the reader who done it in a who done it book, but when I’ve figured out exactly what’s happening with who at 20% while the characters act like oblivious idiots through the rest of the book… it makes me not want to read. But I did. For days. I’m not really sure why, I guess there were parts of the plot I wanted to see completed. But by the end I was too distracted by how messy the writing is.
Attempting the second and if it’s just as bad, shelving this author.
Halfway through and it already feels unnecessarily long and drawn out, I give up
MM Romance
Roommates/Fated Mates
3.5 Stars ⭐️
The author’s last name is fitting for this book because it was a bit strange at times. Previous reviews mention this book needing editing and I assume it was updated because besides the meandering plot that made things a bit drawn out, there were no spelling typos or huge grammar issues. Because of the length I did take breaks while reading this but I kept coming back because I really loved the main couple, Cassian and Thor. I also liked how different this was compared to other fated mate books because these two took the time needed to figure out if they wanted to be mates for life. It was all very mature instead of the usual love at first sight, bite my neck, vibe most have.
So, Thor is from a family of shifters but their inner beast is called a fauna and it comes about when you’re of a certain age but Thor’s never appeared and his family makes him feel like he’s broken because of it. His dad makes him research the old scriptures/lore for anything that can make it appear or why his genetics failed but besides doing that he’s also a busy college student. Thor doesn’t want to be tied to his family forever so he decides to get a roommate to squirrel the money away to leave after graduation. He rents out a room to a hockey player named Cassian who had some scandal happen last year and is just trying to get by. These two become really good friends and their relationship gradually turns into more. They hit some roadblocks along the way but they’re it for each other.
I liked that this book showed how their relationship progressed from roommates to friends to more and we saw every stage of it. It really helped me care about both characters and they were together for most of the book instead of just being together at the very end. I really enjoyed being a part of their journey and seeing both of them grow as characters but also accept each other unconditionally. Once Cas gets on board with the fated mate aspect, this book becomes quite steamy and I loved how Thor’s true alpha nature came out.
There is a mystery woven through this book and it brought secondary characters into it that I really liked. Leda is Thor’s friend and she also works in a lab studying shifter dynamics and I found all the shifter info pretty fascinating at times because it’s stuff that is never discussed in other books. Then we have Cassian’s friend Lucy who I liked as well. She was a really good friend to Cas and I just really liked her.
But this wasn’t perfect. The mystery woven through this book is quite predictable since only one name is ever mentioned. There were some storylines that kind of fizzled out like the situation with Benson and that’s not an acceptable thing to let him get away with. It should have had more resolution. Also, Thor’s dad has a big role in this book but that storyline also dissipated and this book ended so abruptly it made my head spin. I thought I had more book because it was only 90% when it ended but the rest was snippets of this author’s other books. I think this was done because this is a newer author and if this hadn’t been such an abrupt ending, I wouldn’t have cared much because it was a long book. This is minor but I have no idea why Cassian was a hockey player because it had no effect on the plot one way or the other. It was just kind of a random choice and made me wonder if it was a ploy to try to reel in more readers because most of us MM readers are whores for hockey players.
Roommates/Fated Mates
3.5 Stars ⭐️
The author’s last name is fitting for this book because it was a bit strange at times. Previous reviews mention this book needing editing and I assume it was updated because besides the meandering plot that made things a bit drawn out, there were no spelling typos or huge grammar issues. Because of the length I did take breaks while reading this but I kept coming back because I really loved the main couple, Cassian and Thor. I also liked how different this was compared to other fated mate books because these two took the time needed to figure out if they wanted to be mates for life. It was all very mature instead of the usual love at first sight, bite my neck, vibe most have.
So, Thor is from a family of shifters but their inner beast is called a fauna and it comes about when you’re of a certain age but Thor’s never appeared and his family makes him feel like he’s broken because of it. His dad makes him research the old scriptures/lore for anything that can make it appear or why his genetics failed but besides doing that he’s also a busy college student. Thor doesn’t want to be tied to his family forever so he decides to get a roommate to squirrel the money away to leave after graduation. He rents out a room to a hockey player named Cassian who had some scandal happen last year and is just trying to get by. These two become really good friends and their relationship gradually turns into more. They hit some roadblocks along the way but they’re it for each other.
I liked that this book showed how their relationship progressed from roommates to friends to more and we saw every stage of it. It really helped me care about both characters and they were together for most of the book instead of just being together at the very end. I really enjoyed being a part of their journey and seeing both of them grow as characters but also accept each other unconditionally. Once Cas gets on board with the fated mate aspect, this book becomes quite steamy and I loved how Thor’s true alpha nature came out.
There is a mystery woven through this book and it brought secondary characters into it that I really liked. Leda is Thor’s friend and she also works in a lab studying shifter dynamics and I found all the shifter info pretty fascinating at times because it’s stuff that is never discussed in other books. Then we have Cassian’s friend Lucy who I liked as well. She was a really good friend to Cas and I just really liked her.
But this wasn’t perfect. The mystery woven through this book is quite predictable since only one name is ever mentioned. There were some storylines that kind of fizzled out like the situation with Benson and that’s not an acceptable thing to let him get away with. It should have had more resolution. Also, Thor’s dad has a big role in this book but that storyline also dissipated and this book ended so abruptly it made my head spin. I thought I had more book because it was only 90% when it ended but the rest was snippets of this author’s other books. I think this was done because this is a newer author and if this hadn’t been such an abrupt ending, I wouldn’t have cared much because it was a long book. This is minor but I have no idea why Cassian was a hockey player because it had no effect on the plot one way or the other. It was just kind of a random choice and made me wonder if it was a ploy to try to reel in more readers because most of us MM readers are whores for hockey players.
I really liked the two main characters and the romance that went from roommates to friends to lovers. The main mystery plot had potential but didn't make a lot of sense (why leave the failed experiments just laying around? Instead of making at least some attempt to dispose of them discreetly like burying the bodies.) The end comes really abruptly with a bunch of loose ends (what happens to Leda and Lucy, what happens with Thor's father and his family, does he ever show them his fauna?). And it was annoying that it was never explained how Thor managed to escape.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced