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ieemee's reviews
329 reviews
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Pace is - slow-medium
Things I love 💕
💕Dragons taking centre stage and having their own ideology
💕 Violet and Xaden love story continues and faces challenges
💕 Depiction of family secrets & imperfect parents
💕 Great depiction of power corruption
💕Dragons agency
💕Quest for her to rescue him
Things I wish 🧞♂️:
🧞♂️More chronic illness moments & that Violet is more impacted & needs to use alternative thinking to get out of it.
Not my cuppa tea ☕️
☕️ slower pace in the first half of the book ( lots of setting the scene)
☕️ professor x student dynamics ( doesn’t really look at the imbalance of power & essentially addressed it as no big deal
Things I love 💕
💕Dragons taking centre stage and having their own ideology
💕 Violet and Xaden love story continues and faces challenges
💕 Depiction of family secrets & imperfect parents
💕 Great depiction of power corruption
💕Dragons agency
💕Quest for her to rescue him
Things I wish 🧞♂️:
🧞♂️More chronic illness moments & that Violet is more impacted & needs to use alternative thinking to get out of it.
Not my cuppa tea ☕️
☕️ slower pace in the first half of the book ( lots of setting the scene)
☕️ professor x student dynamics ( doesn’t really look at the imbalance of power & essentially addressed it as no big deal
First Love by Rio Shimamoto, Rio Shimamoto
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Untethered by Angela Jackson-Brown
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Themes:
Motherhood, Abandonment, love, found family, transformation
BIO:
In the small college town of Troy, Alabama, amidst the backdrop of 1967, Katia Daniels lives a life steeped in responsibility. At the Pike County Group Home for African American Boys, she pours her heart into nurturing the young lives under her care, harboring a longing for children of her own. Set in a society where due to race and gender she has less power & options.
Love this 💕:
💕 Perspective of a Group home carer
💕 Medical Representation
💕Discussions around womanhood & motherhood
💕disability rep in love interests
💕 Ending
I loved Has a happily ever after- Romance ending
Not my cuppa tea ☕️:
☕️ only negative perspective on birth parents
Ideal Reader:
✨Fans of stories with complex mother & child relationships
✨Fans of books that deal with complex themes
✨Fans of historical fiction from BIPOC perspectives
Thanks to NetGalley , Harper Collins & author Angela Jackson-Brown for an ARC Copy of this Books in exchange for a fair and honest review
Motherhood, Abandonment, love, found family, transformation
BIO:
In the small college town of Troy, Alabama, amidst the backdrop of 1967, Katia Daniels lives a life steeped in responsibility. At the Pike County Group Home for African American Boys, she pours her heart into nurturing the young lives under her care, harboring a longing for children of her own. Set in a society where due to race and gender she has less power & options.
Love this 💕:
💕 Perspective of a Group home carer
💕 Medical Representation
💕Discussions around womanhood & motherhood
💕disability rep in love interests
💕 Ending
Not my cuppa tea ☕️:
☕️ only negative perspective on birth parents
Ideal Reader:
✨Fans of stories with complex mother & child relationships
✨Fans of books that deal with complex themes
✨Fans of historical fiction from BIPOC perspectives
Thanks to NetGalley , Harper Collins & author Angela Jackson-Brown for an ARC Copy of this Books in exchange for a fair and honest review
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Drug use and Sexual assault
Ringing in the Lunar New Year by Isla Chiu
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
3.5
Rating 3.75⭐️ Spice: 🌶️
Tropes: FMC & MC both Virgins, Friends to Lovers, promise rings
What I loved 💕:
💕 Peppa Pig moment
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Spice scenes were great
Not my cuppa☕️:
☕️ Virgin / or double virgin trope
Ideal Reader ✨:
✨ Fans of romance novels around first times
Tropes: FMC & MC both Virgins, Friends to Lovers, promise rings
What I loved 💕:
💕 Peppa Pig moment
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Spice scenes were great
Not my cuppa☕️:
☕️ Virgin / or double virgin trope
Ideal Reader ✨:
✨ Fans of romance novels around first times
Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings
5.0
I enjoyed the book in hardback but the audiobook was hard to follow wouldn’t recommend it
Tropes: Cheating , Toxic Relationships
Tropes: Cheating , Toxic Relationships
The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I Hated You in High School by Kathleen Gros
challenging
funny
hopeful
reflective
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
5.0
Tropes:
Coming-Out, High-school Crushes, Enemies to Lovers, Second-Chance Romance , Forced Proximity,
Bio:
Struggling 20-something Tessa has a dead-end job as a barista and the dream of a creative career that never quite seems to take off. When the coffee shop where she works goes out of business, she's able to visit her parents for the first time in years. Arriving at her family home, she discovers that her parents have rented out the basement apartment to her high school nemesis, Olive Virtue.
Love this 💕:
💕 Creative Burnout rep
💕 Career path of Creative
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Personal accountability
💕 Complex Love interest
Cup of tea ☕️:
☕️ Mocking Older Sibling
Ideal Reader:
✨Fans of books that right previous wrongs
✨Readers looking for good Sapphic Rep in Manga/ Comics
✨Fans of Enemies to lovers romance
Coming-Out, High-school Crushes, Enemies to Lovers, Second-Chance Romance , Forced Proximity,
Bio:
Struggling 20-something Tessa has a dead-end job as a barista and the dream of a creative career that never quite seems to take off. When the coffee shop where she works goes out of business, she's able to visit her parents for the first time in years. Arriving at her family home, she discovers that her parents have rented out the basement apartment to her high school nemesis, Olive Virtue.
Love this 💕:
💕 Creative Burnout rep
💕 Career path of Creative
💕 Enemies to lovers
💕 Personal accountability
💕 Complex Love interest
Cup of tea ☕️:
☕️ Mocking Older Sibling
Ideal Reader:
✨Fans of books that right previous wrongs
✨Readers looking for good Sapphic Rep in Manga/ Comics
✨Fans of Enemies to lovers romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia
The Bookstore Keepers by Alice Hoffman
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Description: Five years into their happily ever after, Isabel and Johnny are making the most of their second chance at love. In the wake of loss Johnny and Isobel’s world is irrevocably altered. Isabel does her best to give Johnny space as he struggles to accept the new chapter life has opened for them. But Johnny can’t do it alone—no one can. As the whole family is soon to discover, seasons change, but love never does.
What I loved 💕:
💕multiple types of love depicted (sisterly& couple)
💕love story between Isabel & Johnny
💕Hypnotic type of writing
💕Dream Realm
Not my cup☕️:
☕️the leaving the nest trope
🎧Audiobook:
🎧The narrators voice Jennifer Jill Araya is easy to listen to and enhances the lyrical writing of Hoffmans work.
🎧Araya brings both the female and male parts to life and demonstrates a good variation in vocal tone for the female and male parts.
Some of my favourite Quotes from the book:📕
📕”You can’t love someone too much”
📕”She had married a man who cried & was patient & who wasn’t afraid to love someone.”
📕”Some things would always be remembered because they were handed down, things like love and memories and stories.”
Ideal Reader:
✨ Fans of magical realism
✨ readers who enjoy lyrical writing
✨ Fans of Hoffman’s other work like Practical Magic
✨ Fans of long lasting romances
Trigger Warnings:‼️
‼️Death of a parent
Thanks to NetGalley, Author Alice Hoffman & The publisher for this ARC audiobook & paperback in exchange for a fair & honest review.
What I loved 💕:
💕multiple types of love depicted (sisterly& couple)
💕love story between Isabel & Johnny
💕Hypnotic type of writing
💕Dream Realm
Not my cup☕️:
☕️the leaving the nest trope
🎧Audiobook:
🎧The narrators voice Jennifer Jill Araya is easy to listen to and enhances the lyrical writing of Hoffmans work.
🎧Araya brings both the female and male parts to life and demonstrates a good variation in vocal tone for the female and male parts.
Some of my favourite Quotes from the book:📕
📕”You can’t love someone too much”
📕”She had married a man who cried & was patient & who wasn’t afraid to love someone.”
📕”Some things would always be remembered because they were handed down, things like love and memories and stories.”
Ideal Reader:
✨ Fans of magical realism
✨ readers who enjoy lyrical writing
✨ Fans of Hoffman’s other work like Practical Magic
✨ Fans of long lasting romances
Trigger Warnings:‼️
‼️Death of a parent
Thanks to NetGalley, Author Alice Hoffman & The publisher for this ARC audiobook & paperback in exchange for a fair & honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent