courtofbooksanddreams's reviews
125 reviews

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

I joined in on my friend’s buddy read with her cousin to help me want to read this book, as I was worried I would not enjoy it after not really enjoying the Grishaverse books I have read so far. The writing in this book is different and I was very surprised by how much I was enjoying this! It is a bit slow-paced at first but needed to understand the characters. Once you get to the torneo, the pace really picks up. 

 

The plot was strange, but interesting. Leigh Bardugo did a great job combining elements of historical fiction, fantasy, and religious fiction into one book. Some of thee writing choices were unique and made it for a more interesting read. There is not much more I can say without spoiling but if this is on your TBR, you should definitely give it a try! 

 

This is not a romance novel. There is some closed-door scenes but the ✨magic✨ is the real meat and potatoes of the plot. 

Spoiler review:

I did find myself confused at some parts of the plot prior to getting to the torneo. I needed to ask for clarification on some points to my friends. Sometimes there were just so many words that I needed to look up that I think I lost focus on the plot itself! I also wish the playwright bit was fleshed out a bit more. It was a huge plot twist but it came out of nowhere and there was not any additional follow up.

Gold by Raven Kennedy

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Each book in the Plated Prisoner series gets better and better! I was shocked by so many of my feelings throughout this book. I found myself rooting for people I never thought I would root for and SOBBED for people I did not expect to. So many things happened and even with multiple POVs in different parts of the world, it was not overwhelming to read.  I am so excited to see how things are wrapped up in Goldfinch! 

A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout

5.0

Till Death by Miranda Lyn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

I received an ARC of this book through The Realm Archives and was very excited to dig into it but ultimately, I decided to DNF. 

TLDR: There were parts that I really enjoyed, but finding myself dragging through this made me decide to DNF. I will try again in the future, likely as an audiobook!

I thought the idea for the plot of this book was very unique and is what kept me reading for most of the month. The world building was interesting and I enjoyed Dey's character. It was interesting to read an FMC who was viewed as a villain by everyone around her. I also loved reading the scenes with Quill and Boo!

Despite these positives, some of the world building felt confusing. The magic in this world, while interesting, was not really making sense to me. I also really struggled to connect with Dey, especially with

her and Orin's relationship. While I was able to see the relationship building between Dey and the other members of the house, her relationship with Orin seemed to come out of no where. I was not able to see that slow burn/enemies-to-lovers relationship building.

I found myself not wanting to pick it up and still had not finished after almost three weeks of reading, which is why I chose to DNF for now. I do plan to try this again at a later date, likely as an audiobook! I think this is a book where I would enjoy the audio experience a bit more. I rated ACOTAR 2 stars the first time I read it and changed to 4 on a reread. Sometimes with fantasy I need to know more of the world building to fully enjoy it so I look forward to trying again.

The Emperor of Evening Stars by Laura Thalassa

adventurous dark emotional fast-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

3.0

It was interesting being able to see some events from Desmond's POV. I didn't see much value in this book towards the overall plot of the series, but I may think differently after the next one. I would have rathered the series be multi-POV where we learn Desmond's backstory through him thinking of memories or telling Callie. 

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

I had so much fun reading this book! Stassie and Nate had me giggling and kicking my feet! I usually am not a huge fan of enemies to lovers in contemporary romance (even though its my favorite trope) because it just doesn’t hit the same like it does in fantasy, but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it here. I loved the big college friend group which made me so nostaglic for my own college experience. My only complaint was the eating disorder storyline that was throughout the book. I did not know about this going into it and would have appreciated a warning prior.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder

Earthed by Holly Wilde

lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

You can always count on Holly to make me laugh! Another entertaining and quick read!

The Deviled Egg Made Me Do It by Holly Wilde

funny fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

This was so silly, I laughed out loud. Loved the puns!

Letters in the Attic by Meredith Lindsey

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.25

Once I got into the meat of the story, I could not put it down! I had an idea of how I thought the plot would go, but that was not the case and I was surprised by many of the events in the story. Meredith did an excellent job setting the scene of the spooky house and creepy woods. I really love how she weaved in elements of magic into a thriller storyline. It felt very natural and was not filled with so much magic that a person who does not like fantasy will also enjoy this book. Overall I highly recommend this book if you are a YA reader and I look forward to reading Meredith’s future works!

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.25

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book (liked it WAY more than Shadow and Bone), but I still am not vibing with the grishaverse like so many others are on bookstagram and BookTok. Part of it could be that it is YA. I do wish that I read this when I was first published because I don’t think I would have had the “omg these are children in a gang??!” moments that I do not think I would have had back in 2015. This is also a busy month at work- IRL I do social work in corrections so when I got home I didn’t always want to read about children in a gang and drug addiction lol. 

 

I still recommended giving this a try, and I will be reading Crooked Kingdom!