bioteacherbooknerd's reviews
171 reviews

First-Time Caller by B.K. Borison

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was magic. I truly adored everything about this story. The grumpy sunshine trope, the tension, the beautiful found family and just everything made this book an absolute joy to read. I truly am obsessed with Aiden and Lucie. Aiden dealing with his own fears of vulnerability in this story, and Lucie discovering that she was the magic she needed just made me tear up. I haven’t fallen in love with small moments in a story like I did with this one in a while. I still remember the sweater Aiden let Lucie borrow and the dancing around the bar to Thong Song. The small moments and the big ones in this book just all added up to a warm and cozy feeling.

Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

This book has interesting magical realism elements. I also found the descriptive nature of the story really interesting. Overall though this book was very sad, and the biggest surprise that is revealed in the book made me feel even more sad about the story itself. I think the elements of this book just didn’t make me love this title like I wanted to.

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was so spicy and I loved every second of that aspect, but what this book had that surprised me was a whole lot of heart. This book had so much love in it and it was about more than just two people who hooked up and caught feelings. This book really dove into how beautiful a relationship built on trust can be. I really enjoyed this book and it just had the perfect amount of conflict, and all of it felt realistic based on the characters and what they were experiencing. I adore Ali’s writing and I think this is my favorite of her books

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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

5.0

Wow. This is definitely my favorite of this series so far. I absolutely loved how Yarros was able to expand her world building so much more in this book. She opened this series up to going so many different directions, and I absolutely loved the adventuring experiences in this title. I also think she did a great job with character development in this one. She also had another doozy of an ending, which definitely will keep me reading this series after this.

A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young

5.0

Adrienne Young is such an amazing storyteller. She has not only great character development and plot, but also her writing itself evokes such imagery and emotion that is so beautiful. This is another story where she is able to mix some magical realism into the story to add a slightly supernatural element, but focuses most on humanity and solving the mystery that has been introduced in this story. I am never disappointed by an Adrienne Young book, and this was another one to love

Comedic Timing: A Modern Romance by Upasna Barath

emotional funny hopeful reflective 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

4.5

So I went into this book not knowing what to expect. I had read the blurb but was excited to see how this story unfolded. I ended up getting so sucked into this that I finished most of it in one sitting and only stopped to go to bed at 1am, only to finish the last 40 pages the next day. I really loved how this story is able to say a lot without having to make big, complicated plot points to get to the root of the emotion you are looking for. On the surface this seems like a fairly simple story but the themes it addresses about identity, self growth and love are so well done. I cannot get enough of Naina. She is such a great character because she has real flaws, but she also is working on herself, and is developing the ability to be more self aware, which I love to see. I also love how communication is at the forefront of this, and seeing both characters learning how to best communicate with each other felt so realistic. I could go on and on about this book. I truly loved reading it.

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense 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

5.0

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

Double Apex by Josie Juniper
Did not finish book. Stopped at 0%.

I truly couldn't get through this title because of how problematic both of the main characters were for me.

A man constantly sexualizing someone he works with and ignoring her attempts to keep their relationship professional was a red flag within the first chapter! But then it just seemed to get worse from there. I also found the female main character, Phaedra, was so awful to her female best friend, and to many other characters. The fact that this book was published with straight up sexual harassment in it is awful. I got about 50% in and then couldn't go any further.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual harassment

The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

This book was superb! I absolutely loved the balance of world building, plot movement, character development and the romance. This truly is such a well done romantasy book! I was a little confused by the very end, but it was definitely great set up for another book to come. Amalie has been a favorite of mine for historical romance, and this is such an impressive change to then write so well. I can’t wait to recommend this to everyone!