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chantaal's reviews
2277 reviews
The God and the Gumiho by Sophie Kim
1.0
This book annoyed me so goddamn much, mostly because it could have been SO MUCH MORE.
This started as an interesting premise, and I liked how much the characters frustrated and annoyed each other in turns. It seemed like an actual rivals/enemies/hate to lovers situation vs the typical lukewarm "I hate you because of a misunderstanding 3 years ago" version of the trope. But then it kept going and going and the WAY these two annoyed each other started to annoy ME. I hated the way they talked to each other, I hated that they both smirked and scowled and had wicked gleams in their eyes and they sneered and snickered and were mischievous 100% of the time. I hated how these millennia old creatures acted like absolute dumbass idiot teenagers. And then they were horny for each other and falling in love.
Don't get me started on the fucking coffee running joke. IT STOPPED BEING FUNNY REAL FAST.
There was so much promise here, and I'm so upset that a book that could have done so much interesting stuff with this premise only wanted to do the romantasy bit and ignore everything else. It could have been so cool to expand a lot more on the gods and demons aspect, to really dig into what the world is like with demons running around and how they have to hide from humans. This felt like a romantasy taking place on a stage with a cardboard painted backdrop of urban fantasy.
I keep thinking about how childish this was. How many times did Hani stick her tongue out at Seokga? How many times did she fuck up his coffee on purpose? How many times did Seokga speak with an icy calm or snarl at someone? Why did this just feel like a Loki/Reader grumpy/sunshine fanfic? Why did they have a literal staring contest seeing who could keep their eyes open the longest like a pair of 10 year olds?? WE COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE.
The way they went from completely annoyed at each other to absolutely horny for each other in .5 seconds was WILD.All it took was for a fairy to make them kiss and for Hani to see Seokga shirtless and boom, horny romance??? The worst part was that the story WAS seeding moments where they were starting to break through the annoyance and seeing more in each other, but then it seemed like the story felt it was taking too long, so BOOM, now they're horny for each other and falling in love. IT COULD HAVE DEVELOPED THE ROMANCE SO MUCH BETTER.
There were some good red herring setups and lampshading and swerving, but then the actual reveal of who they're tracking down in the end was meant to be a big reveal but...it wasn't? It was as obvious as the first red herring. The journey that the side plot takes with Hani's gumiho friend was incredibly obvious as well. At least the very final moments were a bit of a surprise, but I didn't feel a thing by then.
Finally, the audio. All I'll say is that neither of these two narrators know how to act/emote. There are great audiobook narrators who read books and bring them to life. Then there are these two, who say a line of someone growling with the exact same cadence and tone as someone crying. Hell, I wouldn't even know what emotion a character was supposed to be feeling in a line of dialogue until the dialogue tag was read out. Go girl, give us nothing!
Anyway. What a fucking let down. We could have had a much more interesting in depth story with the mythology. The romance could have gone down a different, much more interesting path if it wasn't so interested in being a "spicy" romantasy.
My first disappointing read of 2025, woo hoo.
This started as an interesting premise, and I liked how much the characters frustrated and annoyed each other in turns. It seemed like an actual rivals/enemies/hate to lovers situation vs the typical lukewarm "I hate you because of a misunderstanding 3 years ago" version of the trope. But then it kept going and going and the WAY these two annoyed each other started to annoy ME. I hated the way they talked to each other, I hated that they both smirked and scowled and had wicked gleams in their eyes and they sneered and snickered and were mischievous 100% of the time. I hated how these millennia old creatures acted like absolute dumbass idiot teenagers. And then they were horny for each other and falling in love.
Don't get me started on the fucking coffee running joke. IT STOPPED BEING FUNNY REAL FAST.
There was so much promise here, and I'm so upset that a book that could have done so much interesting stuff with this premise only wanted to do the romantasy bit and ignore everything else. It could have been so cool to expand a lot more on the gods and demons aspect, to really dig into what the world is like with demons running around and how they have to hide from humans. This felt like a romantasy taking place on a stage with a cardboard painted backdrop of urban fantasy.
I keep thinking about how childish this was. How many times did Hani stick her tongue out at Seokga? How many times did she fuck up his coffee on purpose? How many times did Seokga speak with an icy calm or snarl at someone? Why did this just feel like a Loki/Reader grumpy/sunshine fanfic? Why did they have a literal staring contest seeing who could keep their eyes open the longest like a pair of 10 year olds?? WE COULD HAVE DONE SO MUCH MORE.
The way they went from completely annoyed at each other to absolutely horny for each other in .5 seconds was WILD.
There were some good red herring setups and lampshading and swerving, but then the actual reveal of who they're tracking down in the end was meant to be a big reveal but...it wasn't? It was as obvious as the first red herring. The journey that the side plot takes with Hani's gumiho friend was incredibly obvious as well. At least the very final moments were a bit of a surprise, but I didn't feel a thing by then.
Finally, the audio. All I'll say is that neither of these two narrators know how to act/emote. There are great audiobook narrators who read books and bring them to life. Then there are these two, who say a line of someone growling with the exact same cadence and tone as someone crying. Hell, I wouldn't even know what emotion a character was supposed to be feeling in a line of dialogue until the dialogue tag was read out. Go girl, give us nothing!
Anyway. What a fucking let down. We could have had a much more interesting in depth story with the mythology. The romance could have gone down a different, much more interesting path if it wasn't so interested in being a "spicy" romantasy.
My first disappointing read of 2025, woo hoo.
The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter, Vol. 5 by Yatsuki Wakatsu
5.0
I just really enjoy this series a lot, especially Aresh and Kondou being dumb dumbs in looooove
After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
2.0
So. I'm trying to read more past Hugo/Nebula award winners and I've enjoyed Nancy Kress in the past so I thought this would be a good place to start.
Unfortunately, all I got here was a bunch of ideas thrown together in a way that tried to provide something compelling and thoughtful, but only made me groan. The general climate fiction theme here feels clunky, and everything that had to do with the After sections, I haaaated. I get that it was a very specific point of view, but I hated reading it. The other sections weren't much better.
I don't know. It was whatever. My reading slump to close out the year continues.
Unfortunately, all I got here was a bunch of ideas thrown together in a way that tried to provide something compelling and thoughtful, but only made me groan. The general climate fiction theme here feels clunky, and everything that had to do with the After sections, I haaaated. I get that it was a very specific point of view, but I hated reading it. The other sections weren't much better.
I don't know. It was whatever. My reading slump to close out the year continues.
So This Is Ever After by F.T. Lukens
3.0
So this was a cute idea and for what it's doing, it's great! Fun times! It's a bit silly and anachronistic and not meant to be taken seriously. World building is non-existent. The story exists only to ask the question of what happens after the D&D campaign is over and two of your party are in love and one of them accidentally triggers a magical binding to be the new king and has to find his soulmate or die and how can you make a romcom out of it. It's predictable and fun.
It just went on maybe 100 pages too long for how absolutely goddamn OBLIVIOUS the two main characters were. You fucking love each other, just fucking SAY IT and GET TOGETHER ALREADY.
Literally every trope you can think of that would keep apart two characters who totally love each other but think the other DOESN'T love them is utilized. If that's your jam, I am so happy for you. Go forth! Enjoy this book! It just frustrated me to no end and that frustration ultimately took away from the fun time I was having with the rest of it.
It just went on maybe 100 pages too long for how absolutely goddamn OBLIVIOUS the two main characters were. You fucking love each other, just fucking SAY IT and GET TOGETHER ALREADY.
Literally every trope you can think of that would keep apart two characters who totally love each other but think the other DOESN'T love them is utilized. If that's your jam, I am so happy for you. Go forth! Enjoy this book! It just frustrated me to no end and that frustration ultimately took away from the fun time I was having with the rest of it.
King In Black: Marauders #1 by Gerry Duggan, Russell Dauterman
2.5
I….what? What was the point of this existing?
Shards of Hope by Nalini Singh
4.0
I'm glad I finally picked this up to finish up this first "season" of the series. It's been an interesting ride over the last couple of years, and the political macro plot here exemplifies why I invested so much time in this series - the world building and the greater overall plot is just so good.
The romance was fine here, nothing super interesting beyond the fact that Zaira struggles with believing she's "evil" and has intense rage blackouts...and Aden is incredibly boring. I did like that this started out with them being kidnapped and meeting up with a new (to the story) pack that they form a bond with. Aden taking Alpha lessons from them was a nice way of showing how he wants to move the Arrows forward.
I wonder if this is a fact of having left so much time between this and the last book, but I really do not understand how the Arrows are supposedly such a huuuge part of the political landscape now and for the stability of the Psy world. Very weird, especially because they weren't really a thing until around book 8? 10?
Anyway, this has been a nice enjoyable long series with some great world building and low and high romances. Singh is just enjoyable to read. I'm still debating whether to continue on, but I can't deny that I've had a good time.
The romance was fine here, nothing super interesting beyond the fact that Zaira struggles with believing she's "evil" and has intense rage blackouts...and Aden is incredibly boring. I did like that this started out with them being kidnapped and meeting up with a new (to the story) pack that they form a bond with. Aden taking Alpha lessons from them was a nice way of showing how he wants to move the Arrows forward.
I wonder if this is a fact of having left so much time between this and the last book, but I really do not understand how the Arrows are supposedly such a huuuge part of the political landscape now and for the stability of the Psy world. Very weird, especially because they weren't really a thing until around book 8? 10?
Anyway, this has been a nice enjoyable long series with some great world building and low and high romances. Singh is just enjoyable to read. I'm still debating whether to continue on, but I can't deny that I've had a good time.