hereiskyra's reviews
295 reviews

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Man, this book took me on a rollercoaster of emotions. I was stressed and sad and happy and everything in between. There was a bit more of a plot in this part, fortunately, and I think that made the story that much better.

We explored allllllll of the trauma, which was helpful in making me fall for each and every one for these boys even deeper. And I’m so glad we got to see more of what made Jessica the way she is/was. She had trauma too, even if it looked completely different from each of the others’ trauma. She came (no pun intended) so far over the course of just a few months. They all had me an emotional wreck.

I love their love and I had no idea how much I’d feel for each separate character and how much their personalities really blossomed.

I genuinely loved getting to see the bonds between the boys grow and strengthen, like Jason and Lucas. And I know everyone is loving Daddy Manson, and same but…. There’s no way in hell anyone can pick a favorite here, right? I love them all so much (Vince, dude… you’re still my least favorite but you’re cool).

Something about a seemingly emotionally unavailable man being nice to animals (looking at you Lucas)… I’ve always got a big soft spot for them.

This was some for the smuttiest reading I’ve ever done and it was also some of the hottest. There was not a single… scene… I didn’t thoroughly enjoy and that tells me a lot about myself I didn’t know before. But I’m okay with that. 😂

I already know this is going to be a re-read for me one day. I just finished and I already miss all the characters. I need more!

Tropes:

Enemies to Lovers

Found Family

BDSM/Kinks

Polyamory

MF/MM/MMFMM (everybody loves everybody)

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Content Warnings

Losers: Part I by Harley Laroux

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adventurous challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

Ummm… wow. For a book with a plot that is kind of struggling for its life, I loved it! Where there isn’t plot, there is personality, some solid childhood/family trauma (for some reason I can’t get enough of that shit 🙃) and my GODDD is there sex. All of it. All of the time.

There were some things I came across that I really didn’t expect to appreciate so much, like how much the importance of consent and pushing boundaries without hurting someone was stressed within their “relationship” and sexual activities. It is really important not only in practice but props to the author for doing such a good job including something like that and doing it well without ruining the story and tension.

Jessica had some of the most noticeable character development in this first part, which was more than necessary. She wasn’t only a shitty person but she was shallow and self-absorbed.

I really dug the idea of a hot, popular girl who could have anyone she wants choosing a group of men who are deemed by society as filthy, degenerates. She sees what’s underneath the surface, even if that isn’t clear sometimes.

The boys are all so different. While, yes, Manson is familiar and incredibly easy to like… my heart is drawn to Jason and the traumatized, curious parts of me are drawn to Lucas. I feel like they are both going to be the easiest for me to love when this is all said and done. But honestly, I do love them all. (Vince, you’re kindamy least favorite… and I think it might be the hair, weirdly. Sorry, my dude).

Surprisingly loved the car aspects of this. It’s like a kinky af fast and furious at times and I’m here for it.

Books like this continually surprise me and show me that I do in fact enjoy things I never expected to enjoy. Sometimes those things include four dudes who love on one girl. And each other. 🥵

And who do and say ALL of the filthy things. But you know what? Self discoveries are cool and you never know when you’re going to learn something new about yourself. 😉

Tropes:

Enemies to Lovers

Found Family

BDSM/Kinks

Polyamory

MF/MM/MMFMM (everybody loves everybody)

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️

Content Warnings

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m left a little confused and unsure at the end of this one. In some ways it felt like there was not enough going on and in others it felt like there was entirely too much.

While the story is set in the modern world, the “feel” I got is quite the opposite for me. I felt as though the house was old and the characters couldn’t possibly be from the same time I exist. I would go a couple chapters and completely forget it was modern and then someone would mention a cell phone and it would throw me for the biggest loop. That was a new experience, for sure!

Some aspects felt out of place or random. I felt as if the romance was a little forced, it kind of came out of nowhere and there was not much tension built up beforehand. But, of course I rooted for them once it was established there was an interest there. Overall, I liked the story and the idea in general, I just think a few things could have been better executed from a storytelling aspect.

Annie Bot by Sierra Greer

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This one was a MILD ride. 😅

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when I started this one. It was kind of interesting how much I kept expecting to happen and never did. Yet it still made me sad, mad, excited… a big range of emotions. It really felt like watching a slow thriller-ish movie in my head and waiting for a big twist that never really came.

I love a unique story and this was definitely that. It had elements I have never really seen in my reading journey. Maybe some Stepford Wives vibes… the result of this setup was essentially a sentient, domesticated robot who wanted more out of “life” than what was given.

I’m not sure how I felt about the ending other than the fact that it was anticlimactic.

It left me a little emotionally confused because while I understood what happened, I didn’t really understand if that was what I was supposed to want to happen.

It was different, I’ll give it that! I would recommend it and if I could go back and decide to read it or not, I definitely still would.

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

First and foremost… a recap on my current feelings towards Feyre’s family:

Nesta is still a bitch. I said what I said.
Elain is… *snores* 🥱
Daddy dearest is… still not a lot of redemption in my eyes.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way… I felt like this book was good but it was missing something. That something was tension… I neeeeeeed the tension. But I don’t think anything could have been a good enough follow up to ACOMAF because that book was pretty much flawless in terms of romance.

And even as little as I’m invested in Elain… can we maybe get some tension there? Because her (ex?) fiancé can kindly go dive off a cliff and she deserves better (even if her personality is that of a saltine cracker). I’d even take a little romance for Nesta at this point.

I don’t care if Tamlin saves Feyre or her new family a hundred times. He. Ain’t. It.

The war was possibly the most interesting part of this book, I never really knew what was coming next or who was in real danger. It almost made me like Nesta. Almost.

And if anyone touches another hair on Rhysands dark and handsome head… 👊🏼

I have no idea where this is going but I’m just here for the ride so on to the next one we go…

Spice: 🌶️

Content Warnings

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted tense 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? N/A

5.0

What the hell was in this book?! It was so good. Feyre redeemed herself in my eyes, for sure.
Rhys is so much better than I imagined he would be. The snarkkkkkk, omg.

These two are also just 🥵 every bit of tension in this book was so dang good. I don’t know how any other book in the series could be this good.

I don’t know if Feyre’s sisters and father can ever have enough redeeming qualities to change my mind about them. Tamlin sucks and has the personality of a wet paper towel. This one really drove that point home for me.

Some of my favorite things:
• Be rude to her and I will literally break your arm into pieces is a new vibe and I dig it.
• “I am very glad I met you, Feyre” 🥲
• I thought “touch her and die” vibes were good… but “touch him and die” might be even better.

I see it. I see the hype. I’m pumped for what’s to come next.

Tropes:
Found Family
Enemies to Lovers
Fated Mates

Spice: 2.5 🌶️

Content Warnings

The Fabric of our Souls by K.M. Moronova

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challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

It has genuinely taken me almost a full month to recover from reading this book. And I still think about it constantly. I have a feeling it will take up precious space in my brain for a long time to come and that's okay.

There were so many things I was not expecting going into this book. First of all, the entire premise is something I haven’t seen before and I can appreciate that because I love a unique story. The focus on each of their feelings about life and death and the ability of, what I am guessing is a lot of readers, to identify with one of the three main characters and their mental health struggles feels important. Dark… but important.

There was really only one thing I didn’t like that much about this book and that was the odd voyeuristic nature that was Harlow Sanctum and it’s weird ideals around therapy (like rooming two people together who were totally going to just end up banging).

It took a little bit of time but I ended up loving their relationship and how the three of them supported and kept each other accountable for their actions. The love shared between this group was something I will think about for a long time.

I didn’t expect to be near sobbing at the very end of the book. He deserved the world and every time I think of him now my heart aches a little. 😔

Respectfully… fuck you, K. M. Moronova.
You kinda broke my heart and my therapy bill is on you!
Currently sobbing just thinking about Liam… 😭

Tropes:
Enemies to Lovers
Forced Proximity

Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

Content Warnings

A Court of Thorns and Roses (Parts 1 & 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Sarah J. Maas

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adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This was a SLOW book, which I thought I was prepared for but turns out I wasn’t.

Unfortunately, I am a little (or a lot) late to the game with ACOTAR and a few things have already spoiled for me. So… I think that affected my judgment when it comes to Feyre and Tamlin (and how much I can’t stand them together even though I really have no reason to feel that way… yet).

The overall story, when I look at it as a whole, had a lot of cool and exciting elements to it. I think the execution could have been better but it wasn’t terrible.

I just keep telling myself - THE NEXT ONE WILL BE BETTER.

Don’t let me down, Feyre. You better become the badass FMC that I know you can be.

Tropes:

Enemies to Lovers

Beauty and the Beast Feels

Spice: 🌶️

Content Warnings

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

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

It was a little slow but it wasn’t the kind of slow I usually complain about… it was slow in the way that we are experiencing pieces of a very long life with Addie and learning about her 300 years on this earth, which takes time. So while the pacing and lead up to the conclusion felt slow, it wasn’t unbearable and it was necessary in a way.

As a whole, Addie’s character wasn’t anything overly special (I know, I know) but I think that is part of her charm. She is just a regular girl who wished one day that she could live life on what she thought would be her own terms. Ultimately, I think her humanity is what made her stand out and what made this story so easy to feel deeply about.

I almost found myself wishing that she and Luc would find a way to be happy (call me crazy, I’m aware) because even though he was the one who put her through a life of trouble, he provided something important for her over the years too and that was stability and some semblance of romance. I truly think he loved her in the only way he knew how, maybe the only way he was capable of, and I really expected things to end differently with them.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about the conclusion of this book. I’m happy she was able to give him his life back but at the same time, I wanted more for Addie.

Tropes:

Enemies to Lovers

Spice: 🌶️

Content Warnings

Foxglove by Adalyn Grace

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

If there is one thing about this author and this series, it’s that the twists and the “whodunnit” aspect is really hard to guess. I once again enjoyed the murder-mystery aspect of this book.

I have to admit, while I loved this book, the change in pace and added POV was a little challenging for my Signa/Death loving heart. I missed all of the dialogue and scenes with both of them and was wondering for half the book, “when did this become the Blythe show?!”
And then right at the end I was ready to admit how wrong I was because WOW did she give me exactly what I didn’t know I needed after that story. Proof:

April 2, 2024 –
96.0% "I’M SORRY FOR THE BLYTHE SLANDER"

This book is the definition of “trust the process” and it had me stressing! But that conclusion was worth the ride and the wait. 👏🏼
I’m excited to read the next and dive back into this world for some more.

Tropes:
(I genuinely have no idea)

Spice: 🌶️

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hereiskyra's reviews 295 reviews

hereiskyra's reviews
295 reviews