bookstarbri's reviews
361 reviews

The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery

Go to review page

emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.25

This was cute! My biggest issues came down to pacing, a few weird plot holes (and things that just generally don’t make sense for reality), and a fair amount of editorial mistakes present in the book that actually were frequent enough to distract me. Also, the first third of the book is all about how they don’t like each other and there’s a lot of good banter moments because of it, however they never really dive into *why* Kian didn’t like Harper so much. It’s kind of suggested at why, but for them to have said as awful things to each other as they did and then to really get no explanation why it all started in the first place was odd.

The beginning was slow to get into for me as the banter was alright, but they often went too far, in my opinion, for a 25 and 33 year old. They were so immature at times that I wondered why the author made them that age at all and not younger. Also, my biggest gripe with age gap in general is that authors like to poke fun and make the older one almost view the younger one as a kid in many regards. Kian did that in the start very frequently though I wouldn’t say it was the worst I’ve seen in age gap romances, it did make it weird and hard for me to believe at first that they would’ve ever started hooking up in the first place.

It seems like I don’t like the book, but mostly they were just minor annoyances. I wanted it to be better than it was of course, but I still liked a lot about it. The latter 2/3 of the book was significantly better. I actually really like miscommunication in romances—at least when it makes sense for the characters and, to me, I felt like it did in this case. But overall, once Kian and Harper hit their stride together, I found their romance cute and this was fun. It’s an easy read that I think is ultimately enjoyable, even if you have to suspend disbelief at times.

Content Warnings

Lore Olympus: Volume Eight by Rachel Smythe

Go to review page

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

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

4.5

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful fast-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

4.25

this was actually so wholesome and sweet , i could cry!! the concept alone was so good and unique but then the great characters just made this such a great read. i can’t wait to read the next book!!

Content Warnings