anna4's reviews
300 reviews

Seven Faceless Saints by M.K. Lobb

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

Great and solid plot. Great characters. Something was missing for me to completely click with the book.

I also feel like there was a missed opportunity to interact with the other disciples, even though I understand they and their Saints weren't the main focus in this story.

Disciples of Chaos by M.K. Lobb

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

For the longest time I had the same issues (if you want to call it that) as with book one: Well written, good characters, solid plot and yet something was missing. And I couldn’t really pinpoint what it was, but nonetheless the book did a thing in the second half. Especially the last 20%.

Did I cry ? Maybe. Was I prepared for it? Absolutely not. 

I feel like what made this book slightly better was for one, I read it shortly after finishing Seven Faceless Saints, and then two, the change of scenery as we were exploring the North and Brechaat as well as the introduction of new characters, which added a lot to the dynamic of the group and the story.

Roz and Damian’s thoughts and dialogues did end up often revolving around the same topic, which was understandable, but also…

I feel like there was a missed opportunity to include one or two interlude-esque chapters from Chaos’ pov before, during or after Damian’s transition. I think that would have added something more dangerous (?)/mysterious(?)/tangible(?) to that transition.

One might argue the ending was questionable, and I would agree to a certain extent, but my heart is pretty happy the way it is. 

A great sequel and ending to this duology.

I’m also intrigued to read more from the author.

Kinda mad that *a certain book box* didn’t do a fancy edition of this book to match their Seven Faceless Saints one…but well.

Thank you Titan for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A Feather So Black by Lyra Selene

medium-paced

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

3.25

This is one of those books where I’m not sure if everyone around me read one version of the book (and loved it) and I read another one and don't seem to “get it”.

Fia and Rogan didn’t make any sense to me. Their whole relationship is based on their teenage past and every time they have a moment, I felt like the author was forcing them on me. Especially for like the whole first half of the book. It was just a bold attempt to make me believe they have any chemistry. Which they didn’t. 

Yet at the same time, Fia and Irian were somewhat having a vibe. I too would melt if someone were to say I look exquisite. Ignoring the sort of love triangle situation (which: ew), I’m not sure if Fia and Irian made more sense to me, because they just genuinely made more sense and Irian really grew on me (considering who and what they are, I guess they did) or because I couldn’t stand Rogan. Either way, I was happy when Rogan finally was more of a subplot situation.

Fia was surely something. She wasn’t really annoying, but definitely naive to the point of annoyance. Especially when it comes to her sister. And Rogan for that matter. 

The fact that this book was written in first person and as a reader you know everything that goes on in Fia’s head, Fia herself seemed very oblivious to her own thoughts and suspicious. She could very clearly see through everything Eala said and yet she still decided to believe her sister’s words over her own instincts. Mind Blowing, really.

The last 15%-20% of the book dragged on for what felt like forever. Not sure why. 

The writing reminded me at times of storytelling. A lot of the descriptions were a mouthful/over the top/too much. Whatever you want to call it. There was really no need to describe that one thing for like five or six (short) sentences, even though I understand the intent behind it. It was fitting for the world and the Folk. Someone might want to call it poetic, which I would agree with to a certain extent.

But then again the world confused me so much, especially during the beginning (and this might be my own fault for not paying 100% attention) that I’m not sure if the writing added to the confusion or not. 

In regards to the Folk, if you enjoyed Emily Wilde, you might enjoy this too. Though this is Emily Wilde in a not so Emily Wilde way.

I might also have enjoyed this more, if it weren’t written in first person. I don’t know, there was potential but somehow missed the point of getting me really invested. 

Thank you to Orbit UK for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

King of Pride: Bonus Scene by Ana Huang

3.0

King of Pride by Ana Huang

emotional funny reflective fast-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

4.25

It's the "That's it, love. Now be a good girl and come for me."  and "It's scientifically proven, my love." in a british accent for me. 

Only a Monster by Vanessa Len

adventurous hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

Great and solid book.
Joan seemed naive and slightly annoying at the beginning but considering the circumstances that was understanding and I could look past that.

Loved that there wasn't much focus on the romance. It's not like the plot had much room for it anyway, so that worked out quite well.

The time travelling aspects of the book had some great concepts.

My only issue is that calling the time traveler families "monsters" doesn't really make sense in my head. But that's 100% a me-thing. 

A lot of unanswered questions at the end so I am excited for book 2! 

Offtrack by Esha Patel

fast-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

2.25

This is a very very very very very generous 2.25 - 2.5 star rating from me. When I saw this book I was fully committed to dive further into my sport romance era, but damn. 

I wanted to DNF twice. Once at 30% and then again at 80%.

After I finished the book, I went back to read the synopsis just to make sure and yes, it does say “enemies to lovers romance”. Unfortunately, this book is by any means not an enemies-to-lovers, not even a rivals-to-lovers, story. And calling this a romance is kind of a stretch in my humble opinion.

The pacing might have been my biggest issue, because it made zero sense to me, whether it was from chapter to chapter or even within a chapter. Would have loved some time (and location) indicators.

As much sense Miguel and Diana may make as a couple, they very barely spent any time together until they suddenly were a couple. There was a lot (and when I say a lot, I really mean a lot) of focus on the F1 part, which the F1 girlies might appreciate. But it did come at the cost of the romance part of the story.

Up until 60%, the two leads barely had any moments to connect and liking each other was communicated through looks, shy smiles and blushing.

What I didn’t understand was Jatziry’s character. She was barely there, spoke maybe 5 sentences and really didn’t add anything valuable to the subplot or Miguel’s character arc. I feel like this space could have been used to develop a relationship with Diana or any other character for that matter.

The 3rd-act-break up was pure audacity, really. Smh.

What I did appreciate was the really well portrayed international level F1 has as well as the sexism and misogyny Diana faced, being the only female driver in F1. However, while the approach in the book was probably the more realistic one, I wish there would have been more confrontation on that front. 

The author profile is a 10/10 though.

(I did read some reviews mentioning the writing and the multiple povs. The writing for me was fine, by any means not bad or horrible. And the version I read had only two povs: Miguel and Diana.)

Thank you Avon for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

To Cage a God by Elizabeth May
Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.

Let's start with the good parts, because it goes just goes downhill from here:

Two things that the book did very right were
1. multiple pov
and
2. short chapters

Now...
This book didn't work for me for a couple of reasons, but it all boils down to mainly one thing: the writing.

The first 50-ish pages were rough to get through. Very confusing. I understood what happened and yet didn't understand shit. Those pages would have been a great prologue.

Most of the chapters ended in a way that made you want to keep reading but with the beginning of every new chapter you had to start all over again to get into it.
I also felt the direct speech didn't match the writing/thoughts of the character's pov.

Maybe the following is entirely my own fault but when I read "russian inspired" I expected something like winternight in terms of language and (russian) vibes. This book did have its own language (with a language key!!) but I felt like it added more to the confusion than anything else.

I'm annoyed and disappointed that this book didn't do anything for me because it does have an interesting premise. And dragons.

I would have looooooved if the dragons could talk with the sister they are trapped in. Kinda felt this was missing.

Some of the characters were great and the chemistry between them was just as good but this is not enough to enjoy the book as it is or convice my brain to not fall asleep mid-sentence.

For pure pettyness on my part: Zolotiye Palace is an atrocity to look at. I understand the language is made up, but you cannot tell me that "zolotiye" isn't from the word zoloto which means gold.
The grammar with Zolotiye Palace isn't grammaring. I hate it. 

EXTREME HORROR – Die Anthologie by Edward Lee, Jack Ketchum, Frank Festa

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.5

10/10 auf einer Fiebertraumskala.

The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

THERE’S. NO. 3RD. ACT. BREAK.UP.
IT. JUST. DOESN’T. EXIST.

AND WE LOVE TO SEE IT.

Nora was cute, funny, bubbly and absolutely carried the book from start to finish, not only with her personality through her pov chapters, but also the way Derek sees her in his.

Loved their chemistry and the way these two made 100% sense.

My personal highlight of this book was Nicole. Even more so because of the way Nora talks about her. Do I dare to say Nicole might need her own book ? Maybe. Definitely.

While this book is more on the lighthearted side, I do think it’s fair to acknowledge the very real issue of women working in a male dominated field and, as in this case, the environment and the sexism that takes place there.

I know this book is a book 2 in a series and I haven’t read The Cheat Sheet (yet) (or any other Sarah Adams book for that matter). I’ve been going back and forth on whether I should read it, but I do have to say that I am now more intrigued to read The Cheat Sheet as well as her romcom backlog after reading The Rule Book.

I can see this book being a very easy 5 star for a lot of people.

Thank you Headline Eternal for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.