deannak92's reviews
172 reviews

A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen

adventurous tense medium-paced

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

4.0

My first Viking book, and thoroughly enjoyed it. There was a great pace with a perfect balance of action, romance and intrigue with the ending setting you up for the next book, with so many questions!! 

You get slow burn, forced proximity and forbidden romance. 

I enjoyed Freya’s character and her fire in her attitude as that’s so very relatable 😅

I did listen to a couple of chapters on audiobook to hear how the names etc were pronounced and let me say the narrator was perfection! 

Very excited for the next one in the series! 

The Christmas Fix by Lucy Score

funny lighthearted 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 book is literally the makings of a great Hallmark movie, but with spice! First half was a bit slow, second half redeemed it, even though it was a bit predictable, it’s a great funny spicy little Christmas read! 🌶️🎄

The Assassin's Blade by Sarah J. Maas

medium-paced

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

3.0

I read The Assassin’s Blade 3rd as per SJM’s recommendation on her website. I thoroughly enjoyed Throne of Glass and Crown of Midnight and I feel if I had read this one prior to those I may not have been as excited to continue the series. We get a good insight to Celaena and her life which definitely gives some good backstory to her character, however I just felt the first half of this book really dragged and I didn’t feel as excited to pick it up as I did with the first two. Really enjoyed the second half though and felt that did redeem these short stories as a whole. 

Lovelight Farms by B.K. Borison

funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

4.0

I enjoyed this book so much, it was cute and cozy, the small town Christmas setting was absolute perfection. 

I honestly wanted to SCREAM at Stella though when Luka was pouring his heart out. And she just stands there like a stunned mullet. Girl, you almost lost your chance. I was subliminally shaking and slapping her. I also 100% would have sent that other prick to jail.

Overall it’s a great little Christmas read though!

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

There’s so much happening, my brain is running a million miles an hour.

Spectacular by Stephanie Garber

lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

A fun holiday read with a bit of mystery and intrigue. The illustrations are so beautiful and really makes you want to keep turning the pages. ❄️🌹

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous mysterious 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? No

4.0

I have been putting this series off for a long time, mainly because I just wasn’t sure how it would compare to ACOTAR. However, I did really enjoy this first book and the premise. I’ll try not to guess too much though as we all know how that went with Tamlin. 🥲 At this stage though, please don’t ask me to pick between Dorian and Chaol, because I just couldn’t! I have the entire series sitting on my shelf, and looking forward to continuing this story!

25 Reasons to Hate Christmas and Cowboys by Elle Thorpe

funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

A super corny quick little Christmas read. 🎄

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

5.0

Infinity stars. An incredible, heartbreaking and beautiful tale of art, history, love, sacrifice and so much more. 

I am at a total loss of how to accurately put into words how I feel about this story. This is my book of the year. I am sobbing, this book is a masterpiece. 

‘She knows the paint will fade, rinsed off by a puddle, or simply wiped away by time, but that’s how memories are supposed to work. There—and then, little by little, gone.’

Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

“There is no hell so cruel as powerlessness.”

“Tall. Dark. Damaged. You’re just my kind of poison.”

What a journey. I read this via a mix of audio and on my kindle, the narrator does a fantastic job in setting the mood. I found the writing style very unique and interesting with the use of more than one language, however sometimes the story just felt a bit disjointed. Structured like an interview, it jumps from past to present time frequently. It is not something you can just sit down and read to relax, it is quite an intricate story that requires your full attention, but if you enjoy vampires and high fantasy I think you will enjoy this read. There is some beautiful quotes scattered throughout and a bit of comedy and banter sprinkled in there too, but there is a fair overuse of swear words and for someone that is not at all bothered by this, even I found myself questioning the overuse of it. A lot of the time it is used in a comedic way though which takes the edge off. I would not recommend it to people who are just starting out in the fantasy world. I am I’d say an intermediate fantasy reader and did enjoy it overall. 4 stars, not much spice, but the couple of scenes they did have were incredible. This would have been a 3.5 star read for me, but Dior increased my rating, she was my favourite, and the last 30% of this book was phenomenal.