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alex_pcbff's Reviews (389)
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
tags/tropes/themes:
๐ Chinese mythology
๐ชท Cinderella inspired
๐ YA
๐ชท Classism
๐ She has a knife and she's not afraid to use it
๐ชท Mysterious heritage
๐ Reluctant allies to lovers
Never Ever After feels like being transported into a fairytale โจ It has an absolutely enchanting atmosphere, filled with magic and secrets. I was really hooked for the first 20%, but it did drag a bit for the rest of the book.
For the romance, I liked Jin, but for me there was a spark missing between him and Yining. I kind of think Zixin is fixable โ ๏ธ
Unfortunately for me, I have aphantasia (I can't see movies in my head while I'm reading). I probably would have liked this book more if I could see all the magical scenes in my head. It still had very magical vibes though, and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a book with fairytale vibes ๐
Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
๐ Chinese mythology
๐ชท Cinderella inspired
๐ YA
๐ชท Classism
๐ She has a knife and she's not afraid to use it
๐ชท Mysterious heritage
๐ Reluctant allies to lovers
Never Ever After feels like being transported into a fairytale โจ It has an absolutely enchanting atmosphere, filled with magic and secrets. I was really hooked for the first 20%, but it did drag a bit for the rest of the book.
For the romance, I liked Jin, but for me there was a spark missing between him and Yining. I kind of think Zixin is fixable โ ๏ธ
Unfortunately for me, I have aphantasia (I can't see movies in my head while I'm reading). I probably would have liked this book more if I could see all the magical scenes in my head. It still had very magical vibes though, and I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a book with fairytale vibes ๐
Thank you Netgalley and Little Brown Books for Young Readers for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
What I liked:
- bisexual MC
- interesting magic system
- hot dragon ex-girlfriend
I'm honestly just bored and don't really care about the characters. I'm not a fan of information being repeated unnecessarily, and the story just isn't going anywhere for me at this point. I think the magic system is interesting, but it's underutilized imo. I'm also mad she is not with the hot dragon ex-girlfriend! But overall it just feels too formulaic for me (FMC has power that hasn't been seen in centuries, mysterious secrets surrounding dead parents, librarian/archivist/bookish close friend, unique and recognizable hair, etc). Life's too short and my TBR is too long to force myself to read something I'm not loving
- bisexual MC
- interesting magic system
- hot dragon ex-girlfriend
I'm honestly just bored and don't really care about the characters. I'm not a fan of information being repeated unnecessarily, and the story just isn't going anywhere for me at this point. I think the magic system is interesting, but it's underutilized imo. I'm also mad she is not with the hot dragon ex-girlfriend! But overall it just feels too formulaic for me (FMC has power that hasn't been seen in centuries, mysterious secrets surrounding dead parents, librarian/archivist/bookish close friend, unique and recognizable hair, etc). Life's too short and my TBR is too long to force myself to read something I'm not loving
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
4.25๐
tags/tropes/themes:
โ last of her kind
๐ง elemental magic
โ YA
๐ง court intrigue
โ deadly trials
๐ง slow burn
โ dad left to get milk
I really enjoyed this one! The romance was definitely romancing. I wasn't sold at first, but as the story progressed I was LOVING every single moment between Blaze and who I think the endgame love interest is going to be. Definitely slow burn (which I ate up), and the banter between them was excellent. I am very excited for book 2!
tags/tropes/themes:
โ last of her kind
๐ง elemental magic
โ YA
๐ง court intrigue
โ deadly trials
๐ง slow burn
โ dad left to get milk
I really enjoyed this one! The romance was definitely romancing. I wasn't sold at first, but as the story progressed I was LOVING every single moment between Blaze and who I think the endgame love interest is going to be. Definitely slow burn (which I ate up), and the banter between them was excellent. I am very excited for book 2!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Death of parent
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-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:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5๐
Tags/tropes/themes:
๐ธ YA
๐งต murder mystery
๐ธ unique magic system
๐งต MC has a unique ability
๐ธ Selection-style bride tournament
๐งต secret identity
๐ธ multiple potential love interests
This book was not what I expected. I went in thinking it was the Selection but with magic, but the murder mystery aspect was a lot more prominent. I'm not as much of a fan of the mystery genre, so that may have affected how much I enjoyed this and my rating. I probably would have liked it more if there was more done with the magic and the weaver objects, which I found were underutilized in the story. However, if you love a good murder mystery, you will probably LOVE this!
For me, the romance fell a little flat. I liked that it had 2 potential love interests, but without getting into spoiler territory, I wasn't heavily rooting for anyone. It was just kind of meh.
This is very minor, but the book referred to Noรฉ as 'Bastian's heir' instead of using his name SO MANY times ๐ญ Overuse of unnecessary epithets is a huge pet peeve of mine. It was an ARC though, so hopefully they caught that and edited out some of those.
I will probably be reading book 2, so I recommend reading this if you find the premise and vibes interesting!
Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
Tags/tropes/themes:
๐ธ YA
๐งต murder mystery
๐ธ unique magic system
๐งต MC has a unique ability
๐ธ Selection-style bride tournament
๐งต secret identity
๐ธ multiple potential love interests
This book was not what I expected. I went in thinking it was the Selection but with magic, but the murder mystery aspect was a lot more prominent. I'm not as much of a fan of the mystery genre, so that may have affected how much I enjoyed this and my rating. I probably would have liked it more if there was more done with the magic and the weaver objects, which I found were underutilized in the story. However, if you love a good murder mystery, you will probably LOVE this!
For me, the romance fell a little flat. I liked that it had 2 potential love interests, but without getting into spoiler territory, I wasn't heavily rooting for anyone. It was just kind of meh.
This is very minor, but the book referred to Noรฉ as 'Bastian's heir' instead of using his name SO MANY times ๐ญ Overuse of unnecessary epithets is a huge pet peeve of mine. It was an ARC though, so hopefully they caught that and edited out some of those.
I will probably be reading book 2, so I recommend reading this if you find the premise and vibes interesting!
Thank you Netgalley and Delacorte Press for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Classism
Moderate: Slavery, Suicide, Trafficking
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
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:
Yes
This is a really cozy, witchy read, perfect for fall ๐
DNF @ 18%
What I liked:
- court intrigue
- multiple potential love interests
- MC has a mysterious past
This book has a lot of my favourite tropes and themes, but sadly I just could not get into it. I really liked that there were multiple different love interests that the MC could go for, and that it wasn't clear from the start who we're supposed to root for. I may in the future come back to it for this reason.
I think my main issue was that the MC felt a bit emotionless? She didn't really react to the things happening around her. For example, at the beginning when she isannounced as a candidate for the succession , her reaction was pretty bland. I also found the pacing slow, and some of the scenes felt unnecessary.
Like I said, I might come back to this one in the future, so if the blurb and tropes appeal to you, you might want to give this one a try!
Thank you to The Nerd Fam and Jamie June for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
What I liked:
- court intrigue
- multiple potential love interests
- MC has a mysterious past
This book has a lot of my favourite tropes and themes, but sadly I just could not get into it. I really liked that there were multiple different love interests that the MC could go for, and that it wasn't clear from the start who we're supposed to root for. I may in the future come back to it for this reason.
I think my main issue was that the MC felt a bit emotionless? She didn't really react to the things happening around her. For example, at the beginning when she is
Like I said, I might come back to this one in the future, so if the blurb and tropes appeal to you, you might want to give this one a try!
Thank you to The Nerd Fam and Jamie June for the chance to read the ARC! All opinions are honest and my own.
There was nothing particularly wrong with it, it just wasn't as exciting as I expected. This seems perfect for people who like a more character-driven instalust read
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes