talknerdybookblog's reviews
2607 reviews

The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Representation: Bisexual supporting character, Black gay side character, Gay side character

Mature Themes:

• Sexual content doesn't surpass kissing (see Possible Triggers tho - prologue opens with sexual assault)
• Alcohol consumption

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Child abuse
• Pedophilia (detailed prologue alluding to the molestation of the protagonist that persisted for months when she was a child)
• Parental neglect
• Emotional abuse
• Grief
• Death of a parent (the protagonist and love interest)
• Death of a spouse (the protagonist's friend is widowed and grieving)
• Estranged father-son relationship

Ending:

HFN. The protagonist reunited with her birth father and started a restaurant with him in Paris. Protagonist falls in love and seems to be going strong in her relationship.

Shadow Heart by Morgan B. Lee

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Polyamorous bisexual supporting character, Polyamorous bisexual side characters

Note: No MM in the series.

Safety Rating: Safe

• No cheating
• No OW drama
• Does have OM drama
- After being hurt by the Heroes (she finds out about their sex bet), she purposefully flits with an OM to hurt them. It works, but they quickly nip it in the bud. 
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Heroes away (+ 
• No separation

 

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Murder
• Attempted murder
• Sexual harassment
• Child abuse
• Gore
• Classism
• Body horror
• Bullying
• Stalking
• Gaslighting
• Murder of parents
• Intrusive thoughts (held by Silas)
• Mental illness
• Everett is a virgin
• Confinement
• R@pe of Crypt's birth mom recounted (his birth father has a proclivity towards necrophilia) 
• Torture
• Mutilation

Ending:

Mild Cliffhanger

Blood Oath by Morgan B. Lee

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Polyamorous bisexual supporting character, Polyamorous bisexual side characters

Note: No MM in the series.

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- OW (who has slept with both Baelfire and Silas - on separate occasions) hits on Baelfire and tries to get with him again. Baelfire immediately and rudely (lmao, it's awesome) shuts her down.
• No OM drama
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Heroes away
• No separation

 

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Murder
• Sexual harassment
• Child abuse
• Gore
• Classism
• Body horror
• Bullying
• Stalking
• Gaslighting
• Murder of parents
• Intrusive thoughts (held by Silas)
• Mental illness

Ending:

Cliffhanger

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton

adventurous emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

Mature Themes:

• Swearing
• Sex
• Drug and alcohol abuse

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Alcoholism, including recounting of extreme binge drinking during university
• Eating disorder discussed
• Death from c@ncer
• Grief

Ending:

Reflective. But didn't feel like it lived up to the hype.

Destiny of Ashes by Tessa Hale

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

2.0

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Asian-American side characters

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Mean girls still mean girl-ing
- Declan's past fling makes an appearance 
• No OM drama
• No pushing away
• No separation

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Kidnapping
• Human experimentation witnessed by Heroine
• Death resulting from experimentation
• Murder
• Attempted murder
• Gore
• Violence

Ending:

HEA

Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-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

2.5

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Asian-American side character

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Mean girls/Heroine's bullies from Book 1 still causing a lot of issues
• No OM drama
• Does have the Heroine pushing the Heroes away
- They have to work to earn her trust again... though I think she forgives them too fast.
• No separation

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Kidnapping
• Torture of Heroine (on-page)
• Sexual harassment
• Bullying
• Child abuse recounted
• Panic attacks
• PTSD

Ending:

Cliffhanger

Legacy of Shadows by Tessa Hale

adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine, Asian-American side character

Safety Rating: Not Safe

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Trace is an incubus and, therefore, feeds off sex. The Heroine catches him fingering one of the Heroine's BULLIES. His dumb rationale is that he only has sex with ppl he hates cuz he hates himself, but there are so many other ppl he could hook up with who aren't actively bullying HIS FATED MATE. 🤮🤮🤮
- Queen Bee/the mean girl of the school, is thought to be the Anchor of the Heroine's mates (basically, the anchor stabilizes their powers and ensures they won't go mad once they reach 21). It's very rare for the fated mate to not also be the Anchor but cuz of *reasons*, the Heroine doesn't have an Anchor mark. The Heroine, therefore, feels guilty cuz if the men choose her, there's a chance they'll lose their minds. But, what I didn't get was that the few times in the past when the Anchor was chosen over the fated mate, they still went mad cuz they didn't have their fated mate. Soooo, why not take a risk and be happy instead of taking a risk and being miserable?
• Does have Trace pushing the Heroine away
• Does have a separation at the end
- Heroine finds out the big secret her men have been keeping from her and decides to end the relationship by running away. But something happens before she can leave.

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Child abuse
- Heroine was physically and emotionally abused by her mom. This includes a flashback to when she was 16, and her mom burned her with boiling water.
• Threat of molestation 
- Heroine was sexually harassed by her mom's boyfriend
• Physical violence
• Death of Heroine's father recounted
• Kidnapping
• Bullying (extreme)
• Panic attacks
• Torture
• Sexual assault

Ending:

Cliffhanger. Heroine is kidnapped by Big Bad #1 right after learning her mates always knew where she was - and who she was to them - and only decided to come back into her life upon learning she was being abused. Their logic was that their world was too dangerous for someone with no powers - but this feeds into the Heroine's insecurity that the only reason they wanted her when she had no powers was cuz she was being abused at home. Essentially over-riding her right to make her own decision about whether she wanted to be with them or not.

The Queen of Quintessence by Tessa Hale

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted tense fast-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

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Riven's fake gf still causing problems cuz Riven considers her his bff and feels bad that he's putting their friendship 2nd. But as I said in the spoiler of my Book 1 review, it's hard to be friends with someone (man or woman) who is actively undermining your romantic relationship. Alas, Riven doesn't call his fake gf/bff out ... instead, the Heroine takes charge, sets boundaries and is committed to Riven reconciling with his bff (even tho the Heroine doesn't like nor trust her). Smh.
• No OM drama
• Does have some of the guys pushing the Heroine away cuz they feel guilty their siblings/parents are trying to kill her. But it doesn't last long and doesn't compare to Riven's bs from the previous books.
• No separation

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Violence
• Medical trauma
• Sexual harassment
• Kidnapping 
• Emotional abuse
• Torture
• Death of a parent

Ending:

HEA

The Last Aether by Tessa Hale

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious fast-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

3.5

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions

• No cheating
• Does have OW drama
- Riven is still with his gf, but in the latter half of this book, we find out that the relationship is fake. Riven is in a fake relationship, humour his father, and also protect the Heroine from his father's attention. But, as I mentioned in a spoiler in my Book 1 review, the fake gf/Riven's bff is actually romantically interested in Riven and is therefore trying to sabotage his relationship with the Heroine. Alsooo, Riven continues to act like he's still dating the fake gf for the rest of the book despite the Heroine asking him to stop cuz it hurts her.
• Does have Riven pushing the Heroine away
• No separation

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Violence
• Bullying
• PTSD from fire injury when the Heroine was a child
• Murder of Heroine's parents recounted
• Kidnapping
• Panic attacks
• Attempted murder
• Child abuse recounted

 

Ending:

Cliffhanger

The Lost Elemental by Tessa Hale

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-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

4.0

Representation: Polyamorous Heroine

Safety Rating: Safe with Exceptions/Not Safe*

• No cheating*
- Alludes to emotional cheating. Riven has a girlfriend (see below) yet acts in a proprietary way with the Heroine. 
• Does have OW drama*
- Riven has a girlfriend to whom he is betrothed. This whole book, the Heroine witnesses how Riven and his gf seem to be perfect together and she feels bad for messing up their relationship by being his fated mate. 
- SPOILER FOR BOOK 2:

Turns out that Riven and his gf never had a romantic relationship - they were essentially fake dating. But, to the surprise of ONLY Riven, the fake gf actually does have feelings for him. Also, Riven continues to consider the fake gf his best friend and refuses to choose between the Heroine and her, even though it's the fake gf who is treating the Heroine like shit. Eventually, the Heroine feels so guilty for "causing" the strife between Riven and his bff that she decides to be the bigger person and encourages Riven to hang out with her separately (i.e., to ensure his bff doesn't feel like she's being ditched). What pissed me off here was that there would be a lot of distrust from the Heroine concerning Riven and his bff since they both went out of their way to convince the HEROINE that they were dating. Riven never acknowledges that. Also, after the Heroine decides to trust Riven, he further doesn't acknowledge that being bffs with someone who is actively trying to undermine your romantic relationship is unhealthy for everyone involved. At some point, you need to set boundaries, and he never did. Instead, the HEROINE is the women are the ones who randomly come to a truce - it's a complete 180, and I'm assuming the author had written herself into a corner and didn't know how to make the readers believe that they could actually ever be friends after all that water under the bridge so just decided to tell us rather than show us.

 
- Essentially, this makes the Heroine the OW.
- There's also another OW who is 
• No OM drama
• Does have Riven pushing the Heroine away
• No separation

Possible Triggers: Yes

• Bullying
• Panic attacks (on-page)
• Injury from house fire recounted
• Gun violence
• Classism
• Violence
• Grief
• Kidnapping
• Death of parents

Ending:

Cliffhanger