kaerene's reviews
460 reviews

I was really excited to read this. I loved the premise of a Jewish family owning a Christmas tree farm with the female main characters being rivals to enemies. But as I was reading, I realized that the story is very new adult coded (even though the characters are at least 35) and it was a little trauma dumpy. The story seems to focus more on the main character's trauma rather and honestly I just wanted this to be a little romantic comedy that was funny. I also feel like there is something missing with the characters. They just don't have a lot more depth to them and I didn't feel like they were connecting when they were supposed to. I also skimmed the book to see if the main characters were going to kiss and they did but the author did not describe it. I'm ok if there isn't any smut but if I'm gonna read a romance, then at least describe them kissing rather than a fade to black.

Content Warnings

The Helm of Midnight by Marina J. Lostetter

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-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

4.0

I stayed up all night to finish this book because I couldn’t sleep. Was it worth it? Yes and no. The last few chapters dragged and didn’t really fit the overall pacing of the book. Which I get, Krona is dealing with the fallout of a spoiler that happened but woof was it slow. I also felt like there was a lot more info about the gods and other revelations that the author tried to reveal in those last chapters and it felt rushed. And I honestly think I would have felt the same way if I hadn’t stayed up all night reading it.

ANYWAY I did enjoy the rest of it though! I liked the characters especially Krona and Thibault. I liked the multiple POVS and how the world building information was given to me via different POVS and throughout the story. The world building and magic systems didn’t feel info dumpy until the end and I so appreciate that. I will definitely be buying the second book to see how this turns out.

The Tea Dragon Society by K. O'Neill

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

5.0

This was super cute. And it was a nice and easy read!

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 7%.

Cozy fantasy isn’t for me. And that’s ok.

Dreaming in Color by Uvile Ximba

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dark emotional sad fast-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? Yes

2.5

I honestly thought that this was a memoir with all of the chapters feeling like the main character was retelling and reliving huge moments in her life only to find out that I got it wrong and it is fiction. Which I’m still processing because there are some seriously heavy topics that this book covers in a very real and lived experience way. I’m also not sure what I was expecting out of this book. I went in knowing it was a queer story set in South Africa and was ready to read and learn about what life is like for someone queer in South Africa but oh man, it was just a little too heavy for me.

Content Warnings

The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie Oh

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.

Honestly not feeling it I also keep comparing the book to Daughter of the Moon Goddess and that’s not fair to Beneath the Sea.

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kaerene's reviews 460 reviews

kaerene's reviews
460 reviews