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banter_or_bust's reviews
39 reviews
Circus of the Dead: Book Two by Kimberly Loth
3.0
I felt this book lacked balance. Samual is 99% ick and 1% pretty. His character and his impact on the island so off balanced it made it difficult for me to care about the story. Vinny and his birds are great throughout. Most of the side characters, including Elias coming out of left field with his 4 languages, are also interesting. With Samuel being the main focus though, this book just wasn’t my fav. I still have books 3-4 included on my hoopla borrow, making me committed to finish. If I didn’t, I’d ditch the series after this one.
Circus of the Dead: Book One by Kimberly Loth
3.5
3.5 ⭐️
I know they’re out there, but I haven’t really read any circus fantasy themed stories that I can recall. I really enjoyed the macabre route of this one. This book is a fairly short/quick audiobook listen. I found the side characters to be interesting. The FMC is okay. I disliked how much she talked about idealizing her first kiss experience. I didn’t need to hear about it so much - I also don’t think it’s believable as written. She makes a point of saving her first kiss for a magically memorable moment and partner. A handful of pages later she’s ready to kiss the second pretty face she finds. Which is it? The whole series is about 20 hrs audiobook time. I checked out the whole series for 1 borrow credit on hoopla. I plan to continue onto book 2.
I know they’re out there, but I haven’t really read any circus fantasy themed stories that I can recall. I really enjoyed the macabre route of this one. This book is a fairly short/quick audiobook listen. I found the side characters to be interesting. The FMC is okay. I disliked how much she talked about idealizing her first kiss experience. I didn’t need to hear about it so much - I also don’t think it’s believable as written. She makes a point of saving her first kiss for a magically memorable moment and partner. A handful of pages later she’s ready to kiss the second pretty face she finds. Which is it? The whole series is about 20 hrs audiobook time. I checked out the whole series for 1 borrow credit on hoopla. I plan to continue onto book 2.
Monster's Temptation by C.R. Jane, Mila Young
3.5
Monster’s Plaything
By C.R. Jane & Mila Young
3.5 ⭐️
Okay, hear me out! I don’t foresee anyone ever calling this a literary masterpiece. I found it to be a raunchy onslaught of “wtf” entertainment - in a fun way. 🤪 This is a wildly unhinged story where the authors joy from writing it is felt throughout. This read like an impressive drunken story rant that happened after too much wine combine with fever dreams. Creative choices that give 🤔 energy abounds. There are definitely plot holes. Is this story a good rec for you? No idea. But, I had fun.
There is a plot - the plot happens to revolve around lusty thoughts, dreams and actions. Down and dirty gist: A realm full of monsters sustains itself on a food source created from lust. The realm is left in ruin after their queen (who was the best lusty-food source their land had known) is assassinated. The king, who takes her place, searches for a new food source to feed the masses. He finds that in Blake (FMC). The king has 3 right hand men/monsters that aid in pulling all of the lusty energy out of Blake (why chose). Yep, 1 person creates enough lusty energy to sustain a kingdom. Blake’s backstory is more unhinged than that plot line. You’ll have to read the story to get that. It’s wild.
Now this doesn’t have an included trigger warning. It likely should. What I noticed (not an exhaustive list as I don’t notice many things that trigger others): detached parent child abuse, Rx drug use against FMCs will, and some non-con situations.
Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto
5.0
Bonesmith
By Nicki Pau Preto
Narrated by Molly Hanson
5 ⭐️
This story is clever, action packed, and had me locked in from page 2. Necromancy is one of my favorite fantasy themes and it was in every nook and cranny of this book. Wren, Julian, and, yes, even Leo are instant favorites. I love Wrens spirit and, eventual, humility. Julian is stoic and loyal to a fault. Leo is Leo - the humor and flair. I’m really impressed with this read from start to finish. The audiobook for this is 1 narrator - they did a great job with it. I would always love to have more narrators with a fairly complex cast such as this; however, Hanson really pulls out their skills to deliver an excellent listening experience.
The Conjurer's Wife by Sarah Penner
3.5
The Conjurer’s Wife
By Sarah Penner
3.5 ⭐️
This very short story is fanciful and imaginative. Centered on a magician and his wife who suffers from amnesia, we get to join in one 2 of their shows. This is absolutely worth a read as it can be read start to finish in well less than an hour!
eARC courtesy of: NetGalley, Sarah Penner, and Amazon Publishing. 🪄
Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery
3.5
Pole Position
By Rebecca J. Caffery
Narrated by Joshua Chase; James Joseph
3.5 ⭐️
Overall: a fun entertaining read. The spice, spiced but didn’t seem forced into the story. The last 20% far outshines the first 80%. I adored the last part of this story. It’s purely emotionally driven and allowed me to finally connect with the MCs. I missed that emotional component so much in the bulk of this book where it read like a Days of Thunder fanfic/remix. Many of the issues I had listed out around the midpoint of this read improved in the last part of the book. Had the whole story been written with the same care, I would have been head over heels for this one. Alas. No such luck.
The audiobook was delightful. Both narrators were so easy to listen to. They were easy to identify for POV shifts and really added depth to the story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Rebecca J. Caffery, and HarperAudio for this audiobook ARC.