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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Libby/audio
This was a weird book. Well, i guess i should say, a weird story.
It's really grounded in reality, a true urban fantasy i guess, with this slight twist of magic users having a higher caste than regular or smaller magic people.
I read quite a bit of UF, so it's not the setting that bothered me per se. It gets hung up on a lot of the random unimportant(to me) details, such as pop culture references, and it's weirdly obsessed(read: OBSESSED!) with the type of gun(constantly changing) that the FMC is carrying at any given moment in the story, the bullets, running out of rounds, changing mags, counting down rounds, and the sounds and feel of shooting said rounds. Like OBSESSED.
Im just saying, I'm here for characters and interpersonal relationships. Not gun content.
Pop culture referencing is also almost always a detriment in my mind, it gets on my nerves, shows the personal taste of the author-which feels vain and superior(as if they are the voice of taste making) and immediately dates the story in that moment of time-cringy.
I also really didn't jive with the Audiobook narrator. I feel bad about this, because she is obviously putting in a performance. She is clearly a professional going above and beyond at her job. However, the sarcasm and funny inner dialog quips that the MC is cracking didn't really land for me. A beat after the one-liner my brain would catch, 'oh-joke. Funny.' Not in the moment. Her cadence really bothered me, and her southern drawl did too, though this is set in Houston, so that is authentic. This brings me sadly to my biggest problem-the guys. In particular Mad Rogan(ugh. That name though, oof. I digress...) she plays them like old men. It just doesn't do anything at all for me. In fact i get uncle/dad/boss-guy vibes. She also reads quite slowly, so at 3x speed this still felt incredibly slow, and what with all the focus on cars, buildings, guns, cell phones and computer/tech equipment, and her sisters instagram and texting content-i think you get that i really wanted this to move faster.
Underneath all of that, the plot was both insane and interesting. Im oversensitive to certain political leanings and commentary at this point of my life, and so the few things sprinkled in did bug me. Though this is probably more a me problem that a fault of the book.
The best part of this story is the romance(always why i read-no surprise there) this is very much a setup for that, and hardly a blip in the plot of this book.
At the moment, they are at an impasse. She is a forever girl. He is a have fun-take what you want kind of person. They are supposedly different classes(though i have an inkling that this isn't actually the case) and so he has to pick a proper wife and sire children with someone whose bloodlines will boost the aristocracy, as it were. And She ain't it. Also, Because she said no, he's in lust with the chase/challenge of her now. There are a few other minor impediments too.
In general, dreadful name aside, i like him. I even like Nevada(ugh-names???) most of the time too. I find it odd that she still lives with her family at 25. I don't love all the estrogen in their household.
I will probably continue on with the series. And probably read the authors other series. This first book hasn't gripped me yet, though. This is fine. I guess i will give it a chance to get rolling.
This was a weird book. Well, i guess i should say, a weird story.
It's really grounded in reality, a true urban fantasy i guess, with this slight twist of magic users having a higher caste than regular or smaller magic people.
I read quite a bit of UF, so it's not the setting that bothered me per se. It gets hung up on a lot of the random unimportant(to me) details, such as pop culture references, and it's weirdly obsessed(read: OBSESSED!) with the type of gun(constantly changing) that the FMC is carrying at any given moment in the story, the bullets, running out of rounds, changing mags, counting down rounds, and the sounds and feel of shooting said rounds. Like OBSESSED.
Im just saying, I'm here for characters and interpersonal relationships. Not gun content.
Pop culture referencing is also almost always a detriment in my mind, it gets on my nerves, shows the personal taste of the author-which feels vain and superior(as if they are the voice of taste making) and immediately dates the story in that moment of time-cringy.
I also really didn't jive with the Audiobook narrator. I feel bad about this, because she is obviously putting in a performance. She is clearly a professional going above and beyond at her job. However, the sarcasm and funny inner dialog quips that the MC is cracking didn't really land for me. A beat after the one-liner my brain would catch, 'oh-joke. Funny.' Not in the moment. Her cadence really bothered me, and her southern drawl did too, though this is set in Houston, so that is authentic. This brings me sadly to my biggest problem-the guys. In particular Mad Rogan(ugh. That name though, oof. I digress...) she plays them like old men. It just doesn't do anything at all for me. In fact i get uncle/dad/boss-guy vibes. She also reads quite slowly, so at 3x speed this still felt incredibly slow, and what with all the focus on cars, buildings, guns, cell phones and computer/tech equipment, and her sisters instagram and texting content-i think you get that i really wanted this to move faster.
Underneath all of that, the plot was both insane and interesting. Im oversensitive to certain political leanings and commentary at this point of my life, and so the few things sprinkled in did bug me. Though this is probably more a me problem that a fault of the book.
The best part of this story is the romance(always why i read-no surprise there) this is very much a setup for that, and hardly a blip in the plot of this book.
At the moment, they are at an impasse. She is a forever girl. He is a have fun-take what you want kind of person. They are supposedly different classes(though i have an inkling that this isn't actually the case) and so he has to pick a proper wife and sire children with someone whose bloodlines will boost the aristocracy, as it were. And She ain't it. Also, Because she said no, he's in lust with the chase/challenge of her now. There are a few other minor impediments too.
In general, dreadful name aside, i like him. I even like Nevada(ugh-names???) most of the time too. I find it odd that she still lives with her family at 25. I don't love all the estrogen in their household.
I will probably continue on with the series. And probably read the authors other series. This first book hasn't gripped me yet, though. This is fine. I guess i will give it a chance to get rolling.
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This really hit the romance fantasy long weekend read I was looking for! The romance was cheesy, with your stereotypical badass main female character and your stereotypical dominating alpha male love interest.
I like how there was no exploration of other romantic relationships, when I read these I just wanna focus on the main characters, and I get quite bored when the author tries to match make every single side character with somebody (Cassandra Clare I’m looking at you).
The romance in this book was actually slow paced, and somewhat slow burn! We got a steamy kiss and that was it! Keen to read the next in the series to see how it develops. I thought their banter was funny. Rogan wasn’t exactly a gentleman, and he definitely had questionable personality traits, but hey, I didn’t come into this looking for a role model romance. Just a fun ride!
And finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the fantasy side of things. I like a hard magic system and it was interesting learning about the different magical powers people had and how they could be amplified.
A 5 star read, not because I think it’s fantastic writing or is worth a re-read, but because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it and have no serious criticisms for it.
I like how there was no exploration of other romantic relationships, when I read these I just wanna focus on the main characters, and I get quite bored when the author tries to match make every single side character with somebody (Cassandra Clare I’m looking at you).
The romance in this book was actually slow paced, and somewhat slow burn! We got a steamy kiss and that was it! Keen to read the next in the series to see how it develops. I thought their banter was funny. Rogan wasn’t exactly a gentleman, and he definitely had questionable personality traits, but hey, I didn’t come into this looking for a role model romance. Just a fun ride!
And finally, I was pleasantly surprised by the fantasy side of things. I like a hard magic system and it was interesting learning about the different magical powers people had and how they could be amplified.
A 5 star read, not because I think it’s fantastic writing or is worth a re-read, but because I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it and have no serious criticisms for it.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When I read it in the lens of it being a YA novel, it made it a lot more digestible. The plot is interesting, but there are too many, just joint events and a few plot holes.
TO BYŁO CUDNE dawno się tak świetnie nie bawiłam, uwielbiam główną bohaterkę! jej żarciki, riposty, ciągle się śmiałam i nie mogłam się oderwać!!!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
tense
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
I love this book. And the graphic audio is great ...but I struggled to get on with the voice for Rogan. Just didn't quite fit to me. But maybe it'll settle in for the next book. Either way, still loved going back to Nevada's world.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes