courtofbooksanddogs's reviews
317 reviews

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

adventurous inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

5.0

Light Bringer by Pierce Brown

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

My heart. The way I love this series and the characters so much! It’s crazy to me that I contemplated not continuing after finishing book 1. The series evolves and grows so much depth! 

The best part is now I can finally look up all the things and won’t be spoiled 🤘 

If you’ve debated reading these OR struggled after book 1, I recommend giving it a second try!

Dark Age by Pierce Brown

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

This book is HEAVY at times, check your trigger warnings on this one if needed, people. Even with that being said, I loved this book so so so much! An author who can make me gasp, cry, laugh, and not shut up about the story is a favorite author! The characters and story are just so so so good!

Thank You for Listening by Julia Whelan

emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

4.75

Ok I LOVED this! I’ve had the audio sitting in my Libro.fm library for months and started it on a whim yesterday. It was such a fun, witty, and surprisingly emotional. 

Iron Gold by Pierce Brown

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I’m torn. I think of all the books so far this one was definitely the most confusing. I don’t know if it’s the multiple POV’s or what, but I kept having to look up characters to remind myself who people were 😅

The way I see it, this is more of a build up into the bigger story, so it’s my least favorite of all of them, but I also enjoyed it because I love the world and Pierce’s writing. I’m eager for Dark Age! 

On the Bright Side by Anna Sortino

emotional funny informative inspiring relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

This was cute! It’s definitely a YA high school romance in terms of plot, but I still had a good time reading it. I enjoyed the disability and Deaf aspects to the story. I found myself laughing a few times at the parts I found relatable as a Deaf/HoH person.

Thinking Out Loud by Grayson Long

emotional funny inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.5

Picture this. You walk into your closest breakfast diner to meet with your book club besties. You all order waffles, coffee, and discuss your latest read about a romance between two high school faculty members.

You all giggle at the cuteness, the banter, the naked cat, and the princess bride references. You all awe at the fantastic mental health rep that goes so much deeper than anxiety and depression. Then you immediately schedule next month’s book clubs for book two because there’s no way just reading the first is enough. 

How does that vibe sound? Amazing? Well it should. Go find yourselves a copy of Thinking Out Loud by Grayson Long, eat some waffles, and settle in for a cozy and sweet romance 💝 

I adored this book and I think you will too! ☺️

The House of My Mother by Shari Franke

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

As a rule, I don’t rate memoirs, so no star rating for this one. This story was so well done! I listened to the audiobook and loved the approach that Shari took to only tell her side of the story in order to avoid perpetuating the lack of privacy her mother gave her younger siblings. 

I found this story to be very enlightening and well written. While the story itself is sad, I never felt like she was too descriptive or depressing. She kept the lessons needed as the forefront of the story instead of the horrific details of the trauma.

My Funny Demon Valentine: Deluxe Limited Edition by Aurora Ascher

adventurous dark funny lighthearted 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

3.75

On the Slopes of Tahoe by J.A. Forde

adventurous emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Spoiler free ARC review for On the Slopes of Tahoe by J.A. Forde 🏂🏔️💕

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT 

PREORDER IT YESTERDAY. 🫵