geekygraceelyse's reviews
1112 reviews

Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“Georgia, can’t you see it? It’s in every line of this place. This isn’t a mausoleum, it’s a promise, a shrine to that love.”

The Things We Leave Unfinished is the exceptional new stand-alone Romance novel by Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face to face with best-selling author, Noah Harrison. He’s just as arrogant in person as in interviews, and she’ll be damned if the handsome writing thinks he’s the one to finish her grandmother’s final novel, even if the publisher swears, he’s the perfect fit.

Noah is at the pinnacle of his career but he can’t walk away from what might be the best book of the century- the one his idol, Scarlett Stanton, left unfinished. Coming up with a fitting ending for the legendary author is one thing, but dealing with her beautiful, stubborn, cynical great-granddaughter, Georgia, is quite another.

But as they read Scarlett’s words, in both the manuscript and the box of letters, they start to realise why Scarlett never finished the book. It’s based on her real-life romance with a World War Two pilot, and the ending isn’t a happy one.

“I used to think their love was built into it. That’s why she always had it repaired, never rebuilt.”

“You don’t anymore?” He moved close enough to my side that I felt the heat of him against my shoulder.

“No. I think she built her sorrow, her longing into it… Love doesn’t last, not like this place… It’s too delicate, too fragile.”

Told in alternating timelines, The Things We Leave Unfinished is a captivating & poignant novel with compelling characters whose journeys will linger with you long after you have finished, and a plot that will have you utterly enthralled until the very end.

I honestly loved The Things We Leave Unfinished so much that I’m struggling to write this review. There’s so much I want to say but I’m just so overwhelmed by how much I adored it and I don’t think anything I say will ever do this phenomenal novel justice.

I don’t think I’ve ever read an author can make me feel so much, who can make me feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest while simultaneously making me fall completely and utterly in love with a book & its characters. Who can make me swoon, and laugh out loud, then have me sobbing uncontrollably a couple of pages later and loving every second of it.

I loved the chemistry between Noah and Georgia, as well as getting to watch their relationship develop over time, from antagonistic acquaintances to, begrudging allies, friends, and then lovers.

“Some things you have to fight for, Georgia. You can’t just walk away and leave it unfinished when it gets too complicated. If I could fly off and fight the Nazis to win your love, I would. But all I’ve got to battle with are your demons, and they’re kicking my ass… The epic, rare love story in this room isn’t Scarlett and Jameson. It’s you and me.”

Throughout the novel, we see Georgia work through her grief at her Grandmothers passing, as well as the emotional upheaval from both her very public divorce and her tumultuous relationship with her Mother. I really loved following her arc as she reclaimed her sense of self and grappled to overcome the feelings of abandonment and distrust that held her back.

Often, when I read a book that’s split between timelines, I find myself preferring one over the other. However, with The Things We Leave Unfinished I loved reading both the modern-day chapters with Noah & Georgia, as well as the ones that followed Scarlett and Jameson in the 1940s. All four characters had such rich character development and their arcs were so compelling that I was hooked on every single chapter.

I loved Scarlett and Jameson so much. Seeing them overcome so many hurdles – not just from the war but from Scarlett’s parents – so they could be together, and the intensity of their love for one another moved me to tears.

“You are strong, my love, and braver than I ever could be. I could never undertake what you now face. I love you, Scarlett Stanton. I have loved you since our first dance, and I will love you the rest of my life... and before you even have time to miss me, I’ll be home with you, where there are no more air-raid sirens, no more bombings, no more missions, no more war—only our love.”

Rebecca Yarros’ writing and the emotions she evokes are so breathtakingly vivid that it’s as if the very essence of the novel flows out of the pages as you read, bringing the characters to life before your eyes and enveloping you completely in a world full of hope, healing, and love.

“There’s a warning, a sound your heart makes the first time it realizes it’s no longer safe with the person you trusted…

It’s not as clean or impersonal as a break or a shatter. Besides, those are easy to repair if you can find all the pieces. Truly crushing a soul—now that requires a certain level of…personal violence. Your ears fill with this desperate… gasp. Like you’re fighting for air, suffocating in plain sight. Strangled by life and someone else’s shitty, selfish decisions.”

I was so invested in these characters that once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it at 3 am. I was left so completely wonderstruck by this exquisitely bittersweet novel that I laid awake for at least two hours afterward, unable to stop thinking and leave that world and those characters behind.

The Things We Leave Unfinished is a truly extraordinary novel and is due to release on February 23rd. It an absolute must-read.

Content Warnings

Reckless Road by Christine Feehan

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slow-paced

2.0

Content Warnings

A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas

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5.0

Goddess of Spring by P.C. Cast

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slow-paced

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

2.5

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to come but in the mean time..... HOLLY CRAP this was perfect!!

I started this book around 11am on Wednesday & it’s now 3am Thursday morning, I’ve spent the last 2 1/2 hours crying on & off as I read, absolutely glued to my iPad.

I could not put it down.

I have never read a book like this before. I have adored every book Rebecca Yarros has ever written, and every time I read a new release I think to myself “there is no way she can possibly top this one, it’s just not possible. Nothing can be better than this.” And then she does!

I went through such a roller coaster of emotions with this book. I even teared up at one point before anything sad had happened purely bc I was anticipating the sad thing happening. And I rarely cry in books!

Now I’m going to try to get some sleep & then figure out how to get all my thoughts together enough to write a review that will do this phenomenal novel justice.

Content Warnings

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

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funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book so much! I can’t even describe how much I loved it.

Content Warnings

The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

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emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

'“Say it. I need you to say the words.”

My call sign is Chaos. I miss you and your letters so damn much. I crave your words more than oxygen. I’m so sorry about Ryan. I don’t deserve to be here. He does.

The options played through my head. Instead, I steered to the safest truth I could give her without ripping her to shreds or blowing the most important mission of my life.

“Ryan sent me.” '

The Last Letter is heart wrenchingly wonderful contemporary romance by Rebecca Yarros.

Ella Mackenzie is raising twins alone while trying to keep her Bed and Breakfast afloat.

With her parents and grandparent’s dead, her ex-husband who walked out on her the moment she found out she was pregnant, and her brother Ryan serving in a special ops team in a classified location overseas, the last thing she needs is the knock on the door saying her brother has been killed in action.

Ryan Mackenzie was one of the only people Beckett Gentry, call sign Chaos, cares about. That is until Ryan’s sister Ella starts writing him letters. Initially reluctant to take part in Ryan’s Pen Pal set up, Beckett soon finds that Ella’s letters bring light into his otherwise dark life.

Although he had made plans to visit Telluride, Colorado with Ryan when they were stateside, those plans change when Ryan is killed.

No longer is he going to Telluride with his best friend, to meet the woman who he’d fallen for through the written word, but to look after his battle buddy’s little sister and help her through one of the most challenging times of her life.

Because not only is Ella facing the challenge of losing her brother, she’s at risk of having the remainder of her family torn apart by even more tragic circumstances.

When Chaos stops replying to her letters around the same time as her brother’s death, and the army refusing to answer any of her questions due to the classified nature of their work, Ella is left with no other choice but to assume Chaos was also killed.

Little does Ella know that Beckett Gentry, the man who just booked a cabin at her Bed and Breakfast for seven months, who served in her brothers’ unit; is also Chaos - the man she had been writing to and even starting to fall for.

"Beckett,

If you’re reading this, well, you know the “last-letter” drill. You made it. I didn’t. Get off the guilt train, because I know if there were any chance you could have saved me, you would have.

I need one thing from you: Get your ass to Tellurid...

… If I’m gone, that means I can’t get home in January like we’d planned. I can’t be there for her. I can’t help Ella through this, or play soccer with my nephew, or hold my niece. But you can. So I’m begging you, as my best friend, go take care of my sister, my family…

Please don’t make her go through it alone. "

The Last Letter is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel with writing and characters so spectacular it’s like the story lifts of the page and comes to life.

This book is a rollercoaster that will have you laughing one moment and reaching for the box of tissues the next, before realising that you’ve used them all already and now need to open another new box.

As emotionally bruising as The Last Letter is I LOVED everything about it.

I have been a fan of Rebecca Yarros’ since the moment I read her debut novel Full Measures back in 2014, and I was so excited about reading The Last Letter.

The Last Letter is spread over a period of about two years, and combines the letters between Ella and Chaos, with present day narration from both Ella and Becketts point of view.

I loved the pacing of this book, which allowed the characters to work through their grief in a realistic manner. It also allowed for their relationship to develop without rushing into it which really allowed the chemistry to build between Ella and Beckett, as we saw them go from a strained meeting, to friends, and to a couple.

'“Don’t let go,” she whispered. Her hands were still between us, but she wasn’t pushing me away, they were simply resting on my pecs. If anything, she leaned in. “I’d forgotten what this felt like.”

“Being hugged?” My voice was sandpaper-rough.

“Being held together.” Never before had a single phrase brought me to my emotional knees.'

There is so much more I want to say about this book, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone (and partly because I can’t actually put into words just how much I love this book) so I’ll just leave it at this: The Last Letter is a tragically transcendent story about love, loss, and family that will make you feel such a chaotic mix of emotions it leaves you wondering how you’ll ever move on from what you’ve just read, but loving absolutely everything about it.

Content Warnings

The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince by Jeffe Kennedy

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medium-paced

5.0

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

“I wouldn’t have advised Her Majesty to send the seven of you on this quest, if I didn’t believe that you are our one chance to avert a cataclysm that will eventually tear our world stone from stone, until nothing remains.”

The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is the spectacular first book in Jeffe Kennedy’s new series Heirs of Magic.

Crown Prince Astar has only ever wanted to do the right thing: be a credit to his late-father’s legacy, live up to his duties as heir to the High Throne of the Thirteen Kingdoms, and cleave to the principles of honour and integrity that give his life structure—and that contain the ferocious grizzly bear inside. Nowhere in those guiding principles is there room for the fierce-hearted, wildly free-spirited, and dizzyingly beautiful shapeshifter, Zephyr. They’ve been friends most of their lives and Astar is able to keep Zephyr safely at arm’s length. He’s already received a list of potential princess brides who will make a suitable queen, and Zephyr is not on it.

Zephyr has wanted the gorgeous, charming, and too-good-for-his-own-good Astar for as long as she can remember. Not that her longing for him—and his perfectly sculpted and muscular body—has stopped her from enjoying any number of lovers. Astar might be honourably (and foolishly) intent on remaining chaste until marriage, but Zeph is Tala and they have no such rules, and she wants him to at least taste life before he chains himself to a wife he didn’t choose.

But things change when a new terror threatens the Thirteen Kingdoms. Astar and Zeph—along with their mismatched group of friends— follow a prophecy & embark on a quest to stop a magic rift before it grows beyond anyone’s ability to stop. And, in the face of life and death battles with lethal monsters, Astar begins to lose sight of why having Zephyr, even just once, is such a terrible idea.

“You are a force of nature, maybe the one person I know who is fully herself. You are the fresh air that blows into my life and makes me realize how stuffy I’ve let it become. Please don’t change because you think it’s something I want. I don’t. You are perfect exactly the way you are.”

Heirs of Magic is a new spin off series set in Jeffe Kennedy’s Twelve Kingdoms Universe, set about twenty-five years after the events of The Fate of The Tala - the last book in The Uncharted Realms Series.

I was so excited when I found out that Jeffe Kennedy was writing more books set in this world and after reading the prequel novella, The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon in the Under A Winter Sky anthology I was dying to read more.

I loved this book so much that I was almost heartbroken when I finished it. I was nowhere near ready to leave this brilliant & vivid world, or these charismatic characters behind, even if it is only until the next book releases.

The plot was original and fresh. Normally when I read a book, I will have some idea of how I think it’s going to end, if not figure it out entirely. But with The Golden Gyrphon and the Bear Prince I was in the same boat as the characters in that I didn’t know what was going to happen or what they were going to face and it really allowed me to completely immerse myself in the story.

I was thrilled to get to see the characters from the other series and that we got to explore more of the incredible world Jeffe Kennedy has created.

Zephyr is such a strong and multi-faceted character & I liked that she didn’t fall into the category of ‘strong female character = tomboy who rejects anything traditionally feminine’ which we see so frequently in media. Not that that trope is inherently bad – it’s not – but it does seem to be the default for the way a lot of female characters are written, and it’s nice to have variety. Which is another thing I love about Jeffe Kennedy’s books; all her female characters are complex and each one feels completely new & independent from the others with so many different personality types and ways of being strong.

I loved how unapologetic & confident she was, particularly when it came to her love for sex & it was so refreshing to see that in a female character. I also liked that we still got to see her vulnerability and that she still felt self-conscious & unsure at times in the same way the most confident person on earth would still have moments of self-doubt.

Astar has been raised to become the next High King, and one who will do what’s best for his people. He values honour, integrity, and duty, and we can see through his point of view the pressure he puts on himself to live up to both his father’s reputation and his duty as heir to the High Throne. A lot of Astar’s character arc is learning – with help from Zephyr – to let go, relax, and realise that he doesn’t have to sacrifice everything in order to be the honourable High King he aims to be.

“No, Astar,” she hissed, dropping her façade and letting her fury shine bright, all gríobhth now. “You want to save yourself pain, because you’re afraid. You’re terrified of who you might be if you let go even a smidge. You call it honor, but that’s a shield you’re hiding behind. Your First Form is a grizzly bear for Moranu’s sake, not a mouse. But you’re so locked down, so determined to be a mossback prince in every way, that you stop yourself from embracing the ferocity of your nature—or of taking on any other form.”

I loved how much depth Astar had to him, and that his character subverted a lot of the typical (often toxic) characteristics that we frequently see used for the hero. I loved that it showed him feeling vulnerable, nervous, and worried about embarrassing himself at times – particularly when he was about to have sex for the first time. It was such a normal way for someone to feel in that moment, but it’s not something that seems to get applied often to male characters.

“There’s no wrong way to do this, as long as we’re both willing. Forget your rules and however you think you might be judged or found wanting. I want to please you. That’s all this is.”

I also really liked the importance that Astar puts on consent, and ongoing consent. There is a scene where Zephyr and Astar have discussed and established that they are going to have sex and he regularly checks in to make sure she is ok with what’s happening. Zephyr does end up saying that he doesn’t need to keep asking because she is comfortable communicating with him what she does and doesn’t like.

I am also dying for Rhyian and Selena’s book. I loved them in the prequel novella, and somehow loved them even more during The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince. I’m so fascinated by their characters & the dynamic (and the angst) between them.

“We can’t change the past, Salena,” he gritted out, “but we can change the future.”

“That’s exactly right,” she retorted, planting her palms on the table. “And my future has no place for you. If I could excise you from my past, I would.”

I’m really interested to see how Rhyian’s character arc is going to develop, he appears to let his fear & uncertainty dominate his life and presents himself as nothing more than a lazy, self-interested slacker as a way to protect himself. He does seem to have a developed a lot of bad habits because of this that he’s going to have to unlearn, and I’m eager to see his development & growth over the course of the series because I have a feeling it’s going to be a fantastic evolution.

One of my favourite scenes in The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is a conversation between Astar and Rhyian. I loved that Astar calls him out on his behaviour towards Selena and challenges him to do better, that pushing Lena isn’t going to help his cause and that he needs to put her needs and wants ahead of his own. I just loved everything about that scene and I can’t think of any other book that I’ve read that has had two men have that sort of discussion.

“I can’t prove myself to Salena if I’m not here,” Rhy growled in frustration.

“Then go and come back. Prove that you can do something against your self-interest,” Astar growled back, then relented, softening his tone. “You broke more than Lena’s heart all those years ago, Rhy. You broke her trust. That’s what you should be trying to fix.”

Rhy threw up his hands. “And how in Moranu am I supposed to do that?”

“By demonstrating your trustworthiness.”

The Golden Gryphon and The Bear Prince is a fantastic start to what I know will be a sensational series. While it does spin off from The Twelve Kingdoms series and The Uncharted Realms series, you will be able to read it without having read either or both of those. However, I do highly recommend checking them out, both series are two of my all-time favourites and will add so much more enjoyment to this fabulous story.

The Golden Gryphon and the Bear Prince is due for release on January 25th. The prequel novella, The Long Night of the Crystalline Moon, can be found in the anthology; Under a Winter Sky and is currently available for purchase.

Endless Knight by Kresley Cole

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3.0

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geekygraceelyse's reviews 1112 reviews

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

geekygraceelyse's reviews
1112 reviews