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bookish_kristina's reviews
1224 reviews
Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
5.0
If you give me the space to grow, I’ll plant myself next to you, always.
Marriage in trouble is not my fave trope, I tend to avoid it, but I had to read about Caleb and Sarah after Out on a Limb. This didn’t disappoint. It has nothing that I hate in marriage in trouble, no cheating, no frustrating miscommunication, no hating the husband for being a douche and no breaking up and endless wasted time apart. It was such a relatable hurt/comfort read. It was heartwarming and uplifting and I routed for both of them so much.
Loved the Bo and Win moments too, this was cute, easy and feel good.
The sixth book in my read Canada challenge.
Marriage in trouble is not my fave trope, I tend to avoid it, but I had to read about Caleb and Sarah after Out on a Limb. This didn’t disappoint. It has nothing that I hate in marriage in trouble, no cheating, no frustrating miscommunication, no hating the husband for being a douche and no breaking up and endless wasted time apart. It was such a relatable hurt/comfort read. It was heartwarming and uplifting and I routed for both of them so much.
Loved the Bo and Win moments too, this was cute, easy and feel good.
The sixth book in my read Canada challenge.
Love Is A War Song by Danica Nava
4.0
A cool concept and a cute story.
I would have loved this more if the usual dumb romcom barriers weren’t inserted so hamfistedly.
Avery was a great heroine and I loved her development and growth as she discovered herself and her heritage, but unfortunately Lucas was not as well developed and I needed more depth from him.
But I’m super happy to read a book with Native American characters written by a Native American author, those parts seemed so authentic and the cultural aspects were inserted so organically I loved them.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the arc, these opinions are unbiased.
I would have loved this more if the usual dumb romcom barriers weren’t inserted so hamfistedly.
Avery was a great heroine and I loved her development and growth as she discovered herself and her heritage, but unfortunately Lucas was not as well developed and I needed more depth from him.
But I’m super happy to read a book with Native American characters written by a Native American author, those parts seemed so authentic and the cultural aspects were inserted so organically I loved them.
Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the arc, these opinions are unbiased.
In flight: : a flighty novella by Noelle Adams
3.0
The premise of this book is so cute and interesting but it didn’t amount to what it could have.
River and Isaac sit next to each other on commuter flights back and forth from Savanah and Boston for a few months and get to know each other. They are opposites, Issac a strait laced, finance guy and River an artist who leads with her heart, so it had all the makings of an interesting novella but it just didn’t hit with me.
The first part of the build up with them was cute but they kept putting up barriers to why they couldn’t pursue anything which didn’t work for the length of this novel.
Then when they did get together they jumped right into bed, exacerbating my issue with not feeling a connection between them. Lots of tell and no show about their feelings and the lack of Issac’s pov made it hard to like him. I know this author never gives us the MMC’s pov but I really felt the lack here.
And then the third act break up, in such a short novel for no good reason other than negative motivation, did me in. I stopped liking this even though it had such potential. The last half dropped off and ended up just annoying me. This would have worked better as a slow burn with no sex until perhaps the very end. Because as it was I didn’t get why they liked each other and why she ended things other than because she liked him too much. Like why? I need more connection, perhaps an ongoing text message exchange between them or a a deeper friendship while they were seeing other people. This just ended up being a sex based relationship on page, except we are told they mean so much to each together I frankly didn’t really see it.
River and Isaac sit next to each other on commuter flights back and forth from Savanah and Boston for a few months and get to know each other. They are opposites, Issac a strait laced, finance guy and River an artist who leads with her heart, so it had all the makings of an interesting novella but it just didn’t hit with me.
The first part of the build up with them was cute but they kept putting up barriers to why they couldn’t pursue anything which didn’t work for the length of this novel.
Then when they did get together they jumped right into bed, exacerbating my issue with not feeling a connection between them. Lots of tell and no show about their feelings and the lack of Issac’s pov made it hard to like him. I know this author never gives us the MMC’s pov but I really felt the lack here.
And then the third act break up, in such a short novel for no good reason other than negative motivation, did me in. I stopped liking this even though it had such potential. The last half dropped off and ended up just annoying me. This would have worked better as a slow burn with no sex until perhaps the very end. Because as it was I didn’t get why they liked each other and why she ended things other than because she liked him too much. Like why? I need more connection, perhaps an ongoing text message exchange between them or a a deeper friendship while they were seeing other people. This just ended up being a sex based relationship on page, except we are told they mean so much to each together I frankly didn’t really see it.
How To Read A Killer's Mind by Tam Barnett
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This was quite dark and twisty
This was quite dark and twisty. I really enjoyed it and was gripped until the very end. It gave Mindhunter vibes in a way but the procedural parts were much more far fetched. Theres no way a psychologist would be allowed to do any of what Emu did, but that’s ok, I was still on the edge of my seats through the end item book.
I’d have loved a bit more detail on how her family was doing at the end, but the last paragraph was so creepy and good.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy, my thoughts are my own.
This was quite dark and twisty. I really enjoyed it and was gripped until the very end. It gave Mindhunter vibes in a way but the procedural parts were much more far fetched. Theres no way a psychologist would be allowed to do any of what Emu did, but that’s ok, I was still on the edge of my seats through the end item book.
I’d have loved a bit more detail on how her family was doing at the end, but the last paragraph was so creepy and good.
Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy, my thoughts are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder
Method of Revenge by Cara Devlin
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This was so good, I burned through it and need the next one, like, right now.
This was gripping, fast paced and full of longing and angst. The mystery was so well woven and the romance burns so slowly. We have hand touches and hand clasps and covert looks, all helping the build up to when these two finally *hopefully* get together.
And that ending… aaaaaah!
Thank you to Cara Devlin for the complimentary copy, can’t wait for the next one.
This was gripping, fast paced and full of longing and angst. The mystery was so well woven and the romance burns so slowly. We have hand touches and hand clasps and covert looks, all helping the build up to when these two finally *hopefully* get together.
And that ending… aaaaaah!
Thank you to Cara Devlin for the complimentary copy, can’t wait for the next one.
The Wickedness of a Highlander by Elisa Braden
2.5
another book with an big, angry, horny hero and a naive, simpering heroine. This series has lost the plot
The hero in this is so angry, he shouts at her the entire book. I don’t know if that has to do with the narrator making him shout every line of dialogue but this heroine was badly abused by her brother, he knows that, but he rails at her at every opportunity.
She’s nothing but naive and sweet too. This is hard to read.
The first book in this series was a strong heroine and a charming hero, the rest are all wide eyed heroines and super grouchy, angry and horny heroes, this one is the worst of them. I am not into assholes with bad tempers, especially when this book had virtually no plot and focussed solely on their frequent sex capades, like they did it ten times a day (it was mentioned) and when they weren’t doing it they were thinking about doing it. No time for plot when you’re busy railing each other.
The last 20% of the book attempted to have a villain arc but it was too little too late. I should have abandoned this series after the last book but I wanted to see how Sabella’s story went after being the sister of the big bad from the rest of the series. It’s basically a carbon copy of books two and three. Yawn.
This is only really good if you are looking for historical smut because that’s all this was.
The hero in this is so angry, he shouts at her the entire book. I don’t know if that has to do with the narrator making him shout every line of dialogue but this heroine was badly abused by her brother, he knows that, but he rails at her at every opportunity.
She’s nothing but naive and sweet too. This is hard to read.
The first book in this series was a strong heroine and a charming hero, the rest are all wide eyed heroines and super grouchy, angry and horny heroes, this one is the worst of them. I am not into assholes with bad tempers, especially when this book had virtually no plot and focussed solely on their frequent sex capades, like they did it ten times a day (it was mentioned) and when they weren’t doing it they were thinking about doing it. No time for plot when you’re busy railing each other.
The last 20% of the book attempted to have a villain arc but it was too little too late. I should have abandoned this series after the last book but I wanted to see how Sabella’s story went after being the sister of the big bad from the rest of the series. It’s basically a carbon copy of books two and three. Yawn.
This is only really good if you are looking for historical smut because that’s all this was.
Embers by Claire Kent
medium-paced
4.0
Some of this made me uncomfortable but that’s just a Claire Kent special.
All the Missing Pieces by Catherine Cowles
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
5.0
He nicknamed her Chaos and her cat routinely attacked him.
I’ll write a better review for this at some point but it was a perfect mix of mystery, enemies to lovers, emotional backstories and great side characters.
Also I want a three legged attack cat now.
I’ll write a better review for this at some point but it was a perfect mix of mystery, enemies to lovers, emotional backstories and great side characters.
Also I want a three legged attack cat now.
A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
3.5
A cute and light romance
3.5 rounded up because overall this was cute.
Don’t overthink this one and shut your brain down for awhile. This is a really cute and earnest romance with a very optimistic, almost starry eyed heroine, who made some dumb choices that were hard for me to understand.
But other than that, this was your traditional small town grumpy sunshine book and it was very light hearted and funny. The concept was cute (yes I’ve said cute four times now, that’s just what this was) and everything was really relatable but I did have some annoyances with the authorial choices; notes below.
Number of Anne of green gables references:
12. Why? Just because the book is set in PEI? Seemed trite and unnecessary.
To keep this book authentically Canadian can she not have applied for an internship at the AGO or the ROM and applied for her masters at the university of Toronto?
I was so happy for a Canadian story in a Canadian setting and then her dreams took her to fucking New York City like every other stupid small town romcom. Lean into the Canadian authors, New York isn’t the only city where dreams are made. I’d actually venture to say most Canadians wouldn’t want to seek their dreams south of the border because yikes, why?
Book four in my reading Canadian authors for 2025.
3.5 rounded up because overall this was cute.
Don’t overthink this one and shut your brain down for awhile. This is a really cute and earnest romance with a very optimistic, almost starry eyed heroine, who made some dumb choices that were hard for me to understand.
But other than that, this was your traditional small town grumpy sunshine book and it was very light hearted and funny. The concept was cute (yes I’ve said cute four times now, that’s just what this was) and everything was really relatable but I did have some annoyances with the authorial choices; notes below.
Number of Anne of green gables references:
12. Why? Just because the book is set in PEI? Seemed trite and unnecessary.
To keep this book authentically Canadian can she not have applied for an internship at the AGO or the ROM and applied for her masters at the university of Toronto?
I was so happy for a Canadian story in a Canadian setting and then her dreams took her to fucking New York City like every other stupid small town romcom. Lean into the Canadian authors, New York isn’t the only city where dreams are made. I’d actually venture to say most Canadians wouldn’t want to seek their dreams south of the border because yikes, why?
Book four in my reading Canadian authors for 2025.
Scythe & Sparrow by Brynne Weaver
dark
funny
medium-paced
3.0
Well narrated but the story was so disappointing.
It seemed like Asher was just trying to outdo her sex scenes in previous books, but forgot to build the relationship, the suspense or work on the plot. This is just many many explicit sex scenes (not nearly as edgy as the first book) in between a lot of inner monologues of both of them wanting each other but resisting that want for no good reason. Over and over, rinse and repeat.
There was little thrill in this thriller and even though I really liked both characters, I didn’t feel their connection and missed Asher’s usual dark suspense. Yes, Rose is a murderous serial killer, but why? None of that is well developed. Too much time is spent on her cum obsession and him thinking he was too dark for her (too dark for a freaking lady murderer, my eyes kept rolling). The inner torture he had was silly and went on too long. And it was basically the entire plot.
I’m so disappointed with this ending. It does not measure up to either of the previous books. It feels rushed and like she was relying on the plots from previous books too much and didn’t bother really digging into this one.
It gets three stars because the narration was good and the writing ok (not her best) but not sure if I will bother reading anything else by this author as I think butcher and blackbird was a one hit for me.
Book five in my reading Canadian authors for 2025.
It seemed like Asher was just trying to outdo her sex scenes in previous books, but forgot to build the relationship, the suspense or work on the plot. This is just many many explicit sex scenes (not nearly as edgy as the first book) in between a lot of inner monologues of both of them wanting each other but resisting that want for no good reason. Over and over, rinse and repeat.
There was little thrill in this thriller and even though I really liked both characters, I didn’t feel their connection and missed Asher’s usual dark suspense. Yes, Rose is a murderous serial killer, but why? None of that is well developed. Too much time is spent on her cum obsession and him thinking he was too dark for her (too dark for a freaking lady murderer, my eyes kept rolling). The inner torture he had was silly and went on too long. And it was basically the entire plot.
I’m so disappointed with this ending. It does not measure up to either of the previous books. It feels rushed and like she was relying on the plots from previous books too much and didn’t bother really digging into this one.
It gets three stars because the narration was good and the writing ok (not her best) but not sure if I will bother reading anything else by this author as I think butcher and blackbird was a one hit for me.
Book five in my reading Canadian authors for 2025.