arminareads's reviews
639 reviews

You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

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

2.0

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑺𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 felt more like "You Shouldn't Have Read This" 😅.

I personally did not really enjoy this book. I contemplated not finishing it but I wanted to see where the story was going. First few chapters were alright, but I was waiting on the plot to thicken, and I was disappointed. The more I got into the book, the more I started to roll my eyes....and it happened a lot.

First it was the way the story was written, I didn't find pleasure in it. There were sentences that made no sense, for example the FMC scratched at a scar on her knee that she didn't remember where she got it from. Then the next sentence was something like "Sometimes we don't remember how scars become". And there were a lot of sentences like that just thrown in there that had me 🙄, "sometimes this" and "sometimes that" that was just too repetitive. "Sometimes the sky is blue, it'd be like that, but who knows the mysterious ways about it?"(I made that up because that's how I felt like reading some parts of this book....🙄).

Secondly, the characters fell flat. Calvin was on a whole another delulu level, and Grace's personality wasn't very enjoyable either. The dialogues between the main and side characters lacked some essence and I failed to see where the story was going for the entirety of the book. The only action/reveal is in the last 10 pages or so, and I did not like the ending at all. Everything was too monotone for me, I didn't feel any emotion reading this book.
Maybe in the future I'll try another book of hers, but this one did not work out for me. 😔

In Bitter Cold by Jason A. Jones

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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

5.0

The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

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dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Jester by Brielle D. Porter

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adventurous funny mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

🃏 𝓑𝓸𝓸𝓴 𝓡𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 🃏

I really like it when I stumble upon a fun ya read once in a while. And 𝓙𝓮𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓻 was fun and enjoyable.

♧ Lisette has no magic but she loves performing for the crowd. Her shows are nothing but illusions, but she's determined to make herself known so she can get the role of Jester for the Crown/Queen. But, because her father was accused and executed for the murder of the late King, and Lisette was left with nothing, she is also wants to clean her family's name.
In her desperate attempts to fulfill her dreams and desires she makes some questionable and not so very sound choices (like trying to blackmail someone into giving her their magic, or stealing magic). However, as deeper as she gets into this competition for Jester, some darker secrets are being revealed which makes her question herself and what she believes to be true.

♤ The love interest and her biggest competitor, Luc, was funny to me and with obvious feelings towards her, but Lisette was so self centered, she wasn't looking at the bigger picture in this entire plot. And she drove me crazy! She was so hard headed and stubborn, and a bit naive in the beginning. She, personally, was not my favorite. But I liked how the character was written, because it gave her a not so boring personality 😅.

◇ I enjoyed the story overall, it had glimpses of the past every other chapter, giving you an insight of what happened to her brother and father. And the world building definitely gave me some Las Vegas vibes, but with a world of magic. You had showgirls, and street performers, headline performers at different hotels, all kinds of unthinkable shows, casinos, exotic animals, and all in a desert area called Oasis. And what happens in Oasis, stays in Oasis.

Umbra: sentient stars by Amber Toro

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious relaxing medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

✨️𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 ✨️

I want to thank the author for the opportunity to be part of the ARC team, and get to read an advance reading copy of her debut novel, 𝑼𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂.

This was such an enjoyable, refreshing sci-fi story. It gripped me from the first page and kept me interested throughout the entire book. The story is told from 3 character's POVs, it is paced well, it reads easy and does not lose you in the technical and scientific descriptions. It's packed with action and I was there for the next chapter, and the next and the next. The characters are also great and well written. I love how you get to know them, with their quirks and interests, desires and dreams.
Everything was playing in my head like a movie, that's why I had so much fun reading this story.

I was very hyped for this book and it did not disappoint. So mark your calendars, because the book releases on 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟰th and you'll want to read it. I'm excited that this will be a series.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

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dark reflective sad medium-paced