bubblewombat's reviews
2393 reviews

A Broken Blade by Melissa Blair

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing 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

Melissa Blair, you can't name a character Riven and expect me not to love them (and yes, I was totally imagining the Winx Club character the whole time). It was over for me when he was properly introduced, he's now one of my fav

love interest

in books.

I heard so much praise for this series when it first came out, heard about the big author reveal as well, and thought it was a clever way to bring attention to the book. I decided to pick it up now, because the final book is coming out next month, on Orthodox Christmas, would you believe it, so it's yet another book I can count as a Christmas present, hah.

Anyway, I was not expecting to enjoy it this much, but I love the world, the characters, the plot and the diversity. Obviously, I'm also a fan of the romance, and the fact that the heroine is tall. If I'm being completely honest, that was the thing that won me over at the start.

The audiobook was also really easy to follow, at first I wasn't so sure it would be, but then I got into it and had no problems. I'm glad I decided to experience the series this way.

I'm a sucker for all things fae and elf, so it's no wonder A Broken Blade worked for me as well as it did. I found the lore surrounding them to be creative enough to stand out in a sea of fae books.

Circling back to the romance, it's enemies to lovers and it's done well. Though I do agree with some reviewers who said they kinda started liking each other a bit fast, but that didn't bug me in this particular story.

What I also like is that Keera isn't ready for certain things because her emotions are still raw, but he (you know who, I don't wanna spoil) doesn't push her, and they take it slow, so slow that we probably won't see it till book two which is a-okay with me. But I could see some people being slightly disappointed with the lack of steam, based on books this one was comped to.

The plot was so engaging that I found it hard to stop listening, so while I did switch books for a bit, I couldn't stay away from this one too long. It was just so fun!!

I predicted a portion of the ending, but I wasn't expecting it to happen so soon. I can't wait to see where it goes from here, I'm all in y'all.

OK LAST THING, a criminally small number of you have read this series, so you may now use this review as encouragement to begin it. That is all.

Searching for Savanna: The Murder of One Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many by Mona Gable

informative sad medium-paced

3.5

The topic is important and it's the main reason why I wanted to read this, but I don't feel like it was presented in the best way, something was missing.

What I like is that Savanna was the focus of the book, and I appreciate how the author tried to tie her case to MMIW, but the timeline was very jumpy, and the perpetrators trial (and lives) got too much coverage. I would've preferred to have seen a bigger focus on the Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women instead.

Parts of the book were very repetitive, I listened to the audio, and noticed some things repeating word-for-word in a different chapter.

But I still commend the author for attempting to bring more attention to this issue, I can say that I learned something about it that I didn't know before reading this book. 

3.5

The Everlasting Road by Wab Kinew

adventurous sad medium-paced

3.5

A pretty okay second book, this one was a smoother read/listen than the first one, but almost everything I said for that one still stands.

The Everlasting Road did a good job of wrapping some stuff up at the end, and explaining more about the world. The plot was also better developed.

The best part about both of these is learning more about Anishinaabe culture, so I'd recommend giving it a try just for that. But I do still think someone younger would enjoy it more.

3.5

The Firemen's Ball: A Masquerade Affair by Denise Essex

adventurous relaxing sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

A fireman romance with a tall MC? Yesssss.

It was a sweet story, albeit a bit silly in parts, like when Deja's house was burning and she was thinking about how hot the firefighter who came to save her son was, like, PRIORITIES??? There were a few moments like that which brought my rating down a little.

Also, the writing didn't quite work for me as well here as it did in some of Denise Essex's other books, not sure why. It felt a bit clunky and kept me from fully getting into the story.

But I did like it overall, especially Marshawn, he was so easy to picture and I loved how he knew exactly what he wanted and went after it with his whole heart. 

Walking in Two Worlds by Wab Kinew

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I've been meaning to give this series a try for a while, and since I added it to some Storygraph challenges, this seemed like the right time to get into it. Unfortunately, I can't say that I liked this, but it wasn't bad, just not really for me.

Even as a gamer, I was slightly confused about the Floraverse, because not enough info was given about it. The plot was all over the place, things weren't properly wrapped up by the end, I didn't really like the romance, nor the characters. The audiobook narration was so slow that I had to crank it up to 2.5x speed for it to sound normal, but that's not a huge issue.

The writing was okay, although more fitting for someone younger than me. In general this was geared more towards younger readers, despite the topics covered. So I'm sure kids would have a better time with this book than I did.

I will still be reading book two, because I'm a completionist and because I added that one to the challenges as well. And who knows, it might be better than this one. 

Little Nightmare by Melissa McSherry, Dana LeeAnn

dark medium-paced

2.0

I was looking forward to reading this book because I thought it would make me connect to the characters more than the first one, but that didn't happen. I'd even say the first book was better, because this one dragged on and felt repetitive.

I also didn't end up liking Rhett at all, he annoyed me more than anything. And every time he called Cara "his little nightmare" I wanted to roll my eyes because it happened so damn much, like ok we get it.

As for Cara, her transition from trying to run away, to wanting to stay with Rhett, was so sudden that it wasn't believable. I feel like that could've been developed better.

I'll still give the next book a try and see where it goes, who knows, Sloan's book might be better.

Twisted by Emily McIntire

adventurous dark relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

This book was what I was hoping Desperate Measures would be. Everything I didn't get in that book, I got in this one. Jafar finally got a proper story and I couldn't be happier.

Well, actually, I could. I wish I liked Yasmin more, but something about her character in combination with the accent the narrator did for her didn't really do it for me. I didn't dislike her, and I loved her scenes with Julian, and the story overall, it's just not my fav book in the series.

But Julian was written wonderfully, he was definitely my fav character in this. Though as amazing as he is, I think Yasmin got over her boyfriend a little too fast for my taste. Like, she still thought about him, but didn't have much trouble getting with Julian meanwhile.

Anyway, I don't think I'm gonna have time to finish this series this year since I have some other audiobooks planned, but I'm thinking I'll get to the other two books in January.

Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement by Irene Spencer

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

This book covers pretty much everything that was skipped over in Spencer's first book, and it jumps around a lot as a result, so I'd recommend you read Shattered Dreams before this one for a clearer picture.

The first book has a bigger focus on her own experiences, while this one focuses more on Ervil and his crimes. While I liked Shattered Dreams better, and feel like I learned a bit more from it, I still enjoyed listening to this one and will be checking out Irene's third book as well.

The Syndicater by RuNyx

dark emotional hopeful sad slow-paced

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

3.0

"She was his north star, the only thing constant, bright in his tenebrous world."

Okay so I won't be repeating the criticism for this book because others have said it better, I'll just say that despite all of that, I still liked it.

And I feel like my experience was different because I didn't wait years for this book and only jumped into the series in October, so I'm trusting that others know the characters better than I do, know what they would or wouldn't do in certain situations etc.

I will say that I had a really good time with the Dark Verse series, and I'll definitely be rereading it at some point in time. Also, the ending scene was so precious and I'm glad we got such a wonderful reunion scene between Tristan and his sister.

Carolina Homecoming: A Romance Inspired by the Book of Ruth by Heather Blanton

adventurous hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I'm always seated for a Book of Ruth retelling, especially one that's as well-written as this one!

I like what Heather Blanton did with Ruth's story, you can see the parallels, but she still found a way to make the story her own.

It was such a heartwarming read, despite the villain being truly awful. But we will be ignoring Leroy's existence from here on out, okay!! Only happy vibes allowed.

I really love Ruth as a character, Noemie too. Blanton managed to capture the strong bond between them perfectly. Of course, I care deeply for Montgomery and Bear as well, and cheered for the former's romance with Ruth every step of the way.

I'd say the setting was perfectly chosen, not just because it's one I love reading about, but it also fits the story so well.

This is my first book by this author, but I'll be checking out more of her works in the future.