booksandbraids's reviews
1665 reviews

Antimatter Blues by Edward Ashton

4.0

This was not as good as the first book but I still really enjoyed it. I enjoyed getting to see more of the Creepers. 

Barbarian's Lady by Ruby Dixon

3.5

This one was only okay. It was not my favorite. It seemed sort of basic after all of the major community drama/plot we’ve had recently.

But that epilogue teased of excitement to come so I’m looking forward to the next one.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

The only thing I knew about this book when I added it to my TBR was that everyone was posting videos of themselves being completely emotionally destroyed while reading it. I’m a sucker for a sad story, so of course I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. 

I can confirm that you will in fact be emotionally destroyed while reading this book. What poor Jude has had to go through… I found myself absolutely hysterically sobbing for the first time

about halfway through the book

on New Year’s Eve. Who wants to go out on New Year’s Eve when instead you can play powerwash simulator while listening to an audiobook that absolutely crushes your heart? Then I started to get numb to the sadness/horrors of the book… until we got towards the end where something I maybe should have seen coming but didn’t happened and I was crushed all over again. And then the absolute ending crushed me for a third time. 

My heart hurts. But it was a very good 

Quicksilver by Callie Hart

3.5

It’s very rare for me to just lay there and read for an entire day- I’m extremely fond of multitasking and get easily distracted nowadays, so I tend to favor audiobooks lately. But this one wasn’t available (to me for free) as an audiobook. And I had to finish it by January 3rd for a book club. And after only reading small bits each night in bed before falling asleep, I started to worry about finishing it in time, so today I set out to at least read to 75%. I thought it would be a challenge, but once I put my phone on Do No Disturb and made myself a cozy little reading nest, I quickly remembered how much I used to love my days doing nothing but getting lost in a physical book and managed to finish the whole thing. And now I’m sitting here regretting the fact that I finished it so soon. 

Overall, it’s not the best fantasy I’ve ever read. It’s not the best world. They are not the best characters. But I did really enjoy it. And I want to know where it goes. And I hate that I need to wait for the next book in the series- this is why I typically have a rule against starting unfinished series. 

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

2.0

I don’t know… I don’t think I liked it… I had really high hopes because so many people have raved about it online. I did not really like any of the characters. Or their romance. Or the plot really… at all. I’m tempted to try the next one because I assume it will be about the princess and I sort of want to know what happens to her. But for a majority of the book I had decided to not bother with the rest of the series. 

Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

3.0

Not as good as Jane Austen… but not bad. I think part of the issue was my current mood and not the book itself. 

Barbarian's Redemption by Ruby Dixon

5.0

I feel bad that everyone was so mad at Bek for buying slaves. Yes, he bought slaves. But he bought them to give them free lives on this planet. Someone buying a slave with the intent to save them is honorable. Not reprehensible. Had he not obtained these humans they would have remained slaves and continued to live miserable lives and be abused. There is no reality where they would have gotten to go back to earth. That ship had sailed, completely independent of Bek’s actions. Bek should have been viewed as a hero. 

In another space romance series I read a bit of, the alien and his human love paired up to rescue/obtain all of the human slaves floating around the universe that they could. To give them proper free lives on their alien planet. They were not rescuing them to send them back to earth- that wasn’t possible. Just like it wasn’t possible for the ice planet barbarians humans. Were they yelled at for being evil because they obtained human slaves? No! They were heroes. 


But anywho. Enough complaining about that. I really enjoyed this book despite their mistreatment of Bek. I’m glad that the author found yet another way to continue this series with several more couples.  It will probably eventually need to end, but I’m still absolutely loving it. I think the series keeps getting better and better as the overall plot of this little community continues to develop and grow. 

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

5.0

I needed a book that was available now to fit a bookish bingo prompt and this fit the requirements. This is why I love doing the monthly book bingo boards- sometimes you find an AMAZING book only because of a prompt. I’m so thankful I came across this book. It was amazing. I thought it would be cheesy and hallmark because of the plot, but it was authentically amazing. I loved the story. I loved the romance. I can’t wait to read more of this author. 

Forked by Melanie Harlow

2.0

I did NOT like Nick. She should have dumped him before this story even started. She should have never been with him to go to Vegas. Sure his cheating was in the past, but was a fucking cheater. After that little revelation right in the beginning I knew he was never going to redeem himself, no matter how amazing he seemed in this book. And then he continued to be trash in between his big “I’m a romance lead so must make amazing romantic gestures” moments so really he had absolutely NO chance of earning my favor. 

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya

4.0