joyreads2024's reviews
40 reviews

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

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

3.75

The book was good but slow until the last like 5 pages. The epilogue had be gasping, but not enough to immediately read the second book.

I enjoyed the Fated Mates trope and Jaren’s overall character, as well as Vera standing up for herself. Trey and Elric were great side characters and I appreciated their parts in the storyline

Book summary:

Vera is actually the Princess, was kidnapped, Jaren and her knew each other since they were kids, Prince Eithan is a psycho and ends up torturing Gibson and imprisoning Elric, the crystals are dying and the ”Fae” are losing their power, oh and Queens die quicker

Content Warnings

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 1 by Anashin

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funny lighthearted fast-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

4.75

Good manga! The main couple is adorable

Hold Your Breath by Katie Ruggle

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.75

OMFG. When I bought this book two years ago, it sat on my shelf completely forgotten. I mean, how good could a book be when the cover is a shirtless guy holding a gun with ice mountains behind him? The answer is: GOOD. LIKE REALLY GOOD.
I am actually gobsmacked. I’m gonna be processing this one for a while, and I am like O.o

I wish we got a bit more background on Cal, and a bit more depth to him and his need for everything to be in place, but that’s being picky. Sooo excited to read the next one

Dragon Fall by Katie MacAlister

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

It’s good, I just wish things were delved a bit more deep into, because there was so much to delve into. And the conclusion was meh. Kostya was hilarious, Jim was sometimes funny sometimes cringy, the magic system was a bit confusing and I feel like you definitely had to read the pre-series books to understand things. At some points I loved it, at other points it was just.. meh.

Content Warnings

Playing with Fire by Gena Showalter

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

Look. The premise is so good, and the book started with humour and good energy. And then I realised the entire book (except for the last few pages) happens over like 5 days?? Like you fell in love with someone over 5 days?? It’s not even a true mate trope, it’s just horniness (which, don’t get me wrong, is fine, but over 5 days and possessive/jealous/the l word IS WHACK). It was also incredibly cringy and everything was icky.

Gena Showalter, babes, you are definitely sometimes a hit or a miss

Archangel's Lineage by Nalini Singh

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

PS: According to her newsletter a year ago, the next book comes out in April 2025

THAT IS WHAT I WAITED 2 YEARS FOR?? THAT??????

GAH. It wraps up a lot of RANDOM ASS loop holes and gave me MULTIPLE jump scares FOR NO REASON. If the next book is 300 years in the future I WILL NOT BE SURPRISED.

I feel like I have been edged and not in the fun way.

The next day review update:

Okay, it was pretty good, and istg if I didn’t know the next book was coming out next year I’d feel so much better about the book, but now i’m left wanting (see above edging comment)
The title was dead on
If that was the last Elena/Raphael round up (firstly, where was Ransom then, or my babies Janvier and Ashwini) I liked it but like I need time to process
What happened with Kier I need time to process

Imma be processing the book for ages.

Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 1 by Kamome Shirahama

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adventurous fast-paced

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

3.5

It’s aight

Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

This book is junk food, it’s meant to be sweet, funny, with some complexities but overall, it’s meant to give you a cavity. Cat’s constant freak outs about unicorns (including unicorn underwear) was INCREDIBLY cringy, but her overall attitude to “supes” was understandable. The ending really clinched it for me as a 3.5 star because I was desdset not expecting it.

I’m really curious to find out more on how Sawyer and Cat deal with him being an incubus in the next few books.

Custom Built by Chantal Fernando

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-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

4.25

This book was incredibly touching. It’s been sitting on my shelf for nearly 2 years now, and I have only just picked it up, and man do I wish I had picked it up earlier. Who knew a biker romance could have so many emotional facets?

Brontë deals with grief (

the death of her father, with lines such as just wanting the man who loves her most in the world wanting her back making me tear up

), cancer scares, infertility and then at the end

becoming a mother

. This book has such strong found family and Crow was the biggest sweetheart. Brontë experienced major growth, and the whole book was very heartwarming. 100% enjoyed reading it and will be going on a Chantal Fernando buying spree.

Content Warnings

Die for You by Lauren Jackson

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adventurous dark sad medium-paced

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

2.75

Short explanation: Twilight meets Vampire Diaries; but the bad qualities of both. Long explanation:

If you're going to write a vampire romance story, a few things:

Describe the powers they actually have
Describe how one becomes a vampire
Don't randomly have a bonded system that isn't explained
DOn't hint at other supernatural creatures but not explain it

If you're trying to make a male character interesting, a few things:

Don't name him Hunter and then randomly make him Italian, that just reads as shallow and stupid
DESCRIBE HIM MORE THAN ONCE
Don't say he has had intense depression, and then randomly fix it with a girl - yes, while being in a relationship can help, if the character has intense depression, actually delve into it rather than mention it a total of 3 times, it feels very shallow and "just for the plot"

Things I didn't like about the female main character:

The constant repetitive description of her as "weak" "precious" "fragile" and "tiny." It's 2024, stop it.
THE WHININESS and constant back and forth in her head, dear god, even Elena and Bella did better AND THATS SAYING SOMETHINg
Her describing herself as "weak". Bitch, go do some bicep curls or sit ups or push ups. Women aren't weak inherently, and yes a vampire can move faster than you, but I'm sure if you actually work out you'll be fine. Don't go on about doing self defence classes and then not be able to do shit.

OH AND DON'T SAY "brave girl" BEFORE A SEX SCENE, HELLO??? And don't even get me started on Cora and Theo. Lucy deserved better.

While this book should have had an awesome premise, the writing was weak. The constant repetition of sentences from one page to another; the, at times, dodgy sentence structure; and the overuse of ellipses was draining. While set in Australia, there was barely any "Australian-esque" vibes. I really wanted to like this book, but I kept nearly ripping it in two, and that's the vibe I got.

Content Warnings

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joyreads2024's reviews 40 reviews

joyreads2024's reviews
40 reviews