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2.89 AVERAGE
2.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The ghosts parts erre actually pretty creepy tbh lol. I enjoyed them. I feel like the minor characters were just kinda there. I did like the love story, I did enjoy the ghost story. I also freaked out (in a good way) when they did the ghost tour down in the vaults of Edinburgh lol. Those are so cool irl. I think i wasn't too pleased withthe concussion scene because the symptoms werent very realistic, especially when he hit his head the second time. .
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Death, Grief, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Author’s discussion of race and racial issues betrays a deep bitterness and anti-indigenous sentiment. It is clear from the writing that this is not an own voices novel, not shocked the author was exposed as a fraud
I had such high hopes for this book - haunted house meets romance? Written by an author local to my area? Sign me up. Also bonus points for Indigenous representation written by an Indigenous author! (spoiler alert: the author may not be Indigenous after all.... yikes.)
The book starts out with the FMC calling out the MMC and throwing a book at him during an author panel in front of a live audience, causing him to bleed. I am NOT a fan of violence in romance at allllll. Then the internal dialogue the main character was having with herself about her Indigenous identity was... for a lack of a better word... weird.
That prompted me to do research about this book, in which I discovered the controversies around the author. Multiple sources say that Colby Wilkens has no Choctaw/Cherokee ancestry at all as she has claimed. The organization that did research on her (The Tribal Alliance Against Fraud) is perhaps not the most reliable, but regardless, Colby Wilkens has also been not very kind to Indigenous authors in the past. Apparently, Wilkens is now working hard to prove her ancestry, but in the meantime, her social media has been shut down and the other two books that were meant to be published will be shelved.
This controversy may not be enough for you to dismiss Wilkens entirely, which is fair. Make your own informed choices! But I'm choosing to proceed with caution and withhold my support for the time being. The book doesn't seem to be a good one anyways, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on much.
The book starts out with the FMC calling out the MMC and throwing a book at him during an author panel in front of a live audience, causing him to bleed. I am NOT a fan of violence in romance at allllll. Then the internal dialogue the main character was having with herself about her Indigenous identity was... for a lack of a better word... weird.
That prompted me to do research about this book, in which I discovered the controversies around the author. Multiple sources say that Colby Wilkens has no Choctaw/Cherokee ancestry at all as she has claimed. The organization that did research on her (The Tribal Alliance Against Fraud) is perhaps not the most reliable, but regardless, Colby Wilkens has also been not very kind to Indigenous authors in the past. Apparently, Wilkens is now working hard to prove her ancestry, but in the meantime, her social media has been shut down and the other two books that were meant to be published will be shelved.
This controversy may not be enough for you to dismiss Wilkens entirely, which is fair. Make your own informed choices! But I'm choosing to proceed with caution and withhold my support for the time being. The book doesn't seem to be a good one anyways, so I don't feel like I'm missing out on much.
Audio was challenging, I didn't feel connected to the characters
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Pregnancy, Alcohol
Minor: Racial slurs
2.5
I needed a bit of a break from some other books I was reading, and in that sense, this book was a great "junk food" read. It was quick and entertaining on a surface-level and certainly required no brainpower to consume.
But analyzing a bit deeper, this book... was just ok. I got lured in by wondering what "spooky romance" was, and I was a bit disappointed haha. The characters are pretty bland. Pen is pretty self-righteous and projects her insecurities onto other people in a way that felt really immature. Neil ... basically does the same but also switches gears as soon as he gets attracted to Pen? The other characters are purely filler with no substance whatsoever. The books the characters wrote / were writing about honestly sounded more interesting than this book itself. The haunted element of the book was really... anticlimactic? And finally, yes, the commentary on the publishing industry was interesting, but it didn't make up for the fluff of the rest of the book.
Received a free copy from Netgalley.
I needed a bit of a break from some other books I was reading, and in that sense, this book was a great "junk food" read. It was quick and entertaining on a surface-level and certainly required no brainpower to consume.
But analyzing a bit deeper, this book... was just ok. I got lured in by wondering what "spooky romance" was, and I was a bit disappointed haha. The characters are pretty bland. Pen is pretty self-righteous and projects her insecurities onto other people in a way that felt really immature. Neil ... basically does the same but also switches gears as soon as he gets attracted to Pen? The other characters are purely filler with no substance whatsoever. The books the characters wrote / were writing about honestly sounded more interesting than this book itself. The haunted element of the book was really... anticlimactic? And finally, yes, the commentary on the publishing industry was interesting, but it didn't make up for the fluff of the rest of the book.
Received a free copy from Netgalley.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
fast-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
This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting from the blurb but, you know what, I loved it even more for it.
The first chapter immediately hooks you, sets your characters - and they are very strong characters - and off you go. Not a second wasted.
The A plot of Pen and Neil is just as dynamic as the B plot of Georgina and Archie. I'm a history nerd so I would have liked to see more of the Georgina and Archie plot being discovered through old letters or objects around the castle but that's a personal preference.
And my very favourite thing: the plot didn't stop when the spice started.
This was my first book by Colby Wilkens and I'll definitely be checking out more.
The first chapter immediately hooks you, sets your characters - and they are very strong characters - and off you go. Not a second wasted.
The A plot of Pen and Neil is just as dynamic as the B plot of Georgina and Archie. I'm a history nerd so I would have liked to see more of the Georgina and Archie plot being discovered through old letters or objects around the castle but that's a personal preference.
And my very favourite thing: the plot didn't stop when the spice started.
This was my first book by Colby Wilkens and I'll definitely be checking out more.
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes