kavuyi's reviews
206 reviews

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Tropes:
Sports romance
College
Competitive diver X swim captain
Opposites attract
Slow burn
Golden boy MMC
Main characters in STEM
He falls first
Secret hookups
Kink exploration

Ali Hazelwood has outdone herself. 

We have the FMC Scarlett, who is a competitive diver, healing from a diving injury, 15 months ago. What starts as listening in on one of her teammates breakup woes on kinks if I may add ends up with her having secret hookups with Lukas Blomqvist, the Olympic gold medalist, swim world darling, record holding Scandinavian treasure, captain Sweden, hottie.” Her friends ex. 

 Cue in the fireworks. It is hot. I loved Lukas and Scarlett. They were perfect. From kinks exploring to facing trauma to building friendships and falling in love Ali Hazelwpod gave me an amazing read. 

The banter in this book is gold!!!! I loved every little thing here. Scarlett’s internal monologue was gold. Lukas’s chapter was everything I ever wanted. 

If I were Scarlett and Lukas send me that email. I would’ve said yes. In capital letters. 

I loved seeing Dr Adam Carlsen and Dr Olive from the Love Hypothesis. Sooooo cute!!!! 

My Dark Prince by L.J. Shen, Parker S. Huntington

medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

2.0

Tropes: 
Billionaire romance 
Friends to lovers to enemies to lovers 
Amnesia 
Second chance romance 

We have a dark secret, love, lost and amnesia playing in the forefront. 

Briar Rose loved Ollie for years until something made him pull back. Ollie loved Briar Rose with everything he was until his dark secret and he changed into the Playboy, the world knows. 

15 years later and a chance meeting lead to Briar Rose losing her memories. What starts as support ends up as a fake engagement. Ollie wants to tell the truth but at what cost when the only girl he’s ever loved is in his arms now. There elements of revenge when conversation would have sufficed. 

I loved Ollie in the other books but this one is a hard pass. It’s was too much and just not enough to keep me in. I’m so disappointed. 

And this is my opinion, hate me if you want but I didn’t like Frankie at all. I liked Briar a lot more but Ollie and Briar as a couple did not work for me. Their love story fell flat. I really tried and just didn’t feel it. After the 50% marker it went downhill for me. 

Out of the Shadows by Sorena Graves

adventurous inspiring fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

ARC Review

Thank you Sorena for the opportunity to read this book. 

Tropes:

Fake dating 

Cheerleader x football player 

No Third Act breakup

Virgin MMC 

Virgin FMC

Opposites attract 

Obsessive 

"Get your hands off her”

Size difference

Dual POV

I think I’ve read too many books where the guy is the determined unhinged side. 

This book is the opposite. The girl is determined to get the guy. My jaw dropped often with how she was adamant to get the guy. One objective, get the guy. I love it. 

We meet Hailey who’s into the big boys in this case literally. And we meet Colt who is a big boy, literally. The FMC is close to the unhinged side, but she is sweet and very defensive about the MMC. The MMC is obsessive about the FMC. It was cute and lovely!!!! She fake dates him to get him for real. He fake dates her to get her for real. Swoon. 

I love the fact that the FMC was determined to get the guy. It’s a refreshing take on what we normally see. I know one of the micro tropes was the blindside vibes based on how huge he was and how people treated him, but I loved the dynamics around them. I loved that she stood up for him. 

In all this there is family drama. Blackmail. Friendships. 

The hallway part and the after…. The echo part had me howling. I felt it. 

Loved this story. I ate it up. 

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

Tropes: 

Touch her and you die 

Enemies to lovers 

Dragons 

Magic 

Fantasy romance 

Found family 

Cliffhanger 

We are in book 3 and the stakes are higher than ever. There is an even bigger secret this time around and Violet will stop at nothing to find the answer and cure of the secret.

There is so much going on in book 3 and just looking at the first few chapters. It’s sort of a lot of information to catch up on while as a reader you’re panicking as to what’s gonna happen to one of the main characters. Death is at every corner. The fight is ongoing, exes causing drama, bonds being made and the truth is at the edge.

One thing I feel like I’m certain of is Andarna is the key.

I feel Iike Iron Flame foreshadowed a number of things and Onyx Storm confirms somethings. I have so many questions that need answers so many thoughts that need to be spoken out. 

 

The main person is Xaden. This man!!!! I’ve read their love story from Fourth Wing and I’m in love with Xaden. The way he openly loves this girl. He will protect her even if means changing. And Violet trying to save him. Guys!!!! 

The cliffhanger!!!!! 

The ending!!! The foreshadowing!!! The dreams!!! So much happening in this book. Omg. I need answers. 

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Tropes: 
Touch her and you die 
Enemies to lovers 
Dragons 
Magic 
Fantasy romance 
Found family 
She dies, he dies 
Slow burn 

Fourth wing was one thing but iron flame is madness. So much going on in this book I thought fourth wing was a simple book. 

I don’t know how to explain the story without spoilers. Book 2 stats exactly where book one ends and it sort of answers some questions and again raises new questions. So many secrets. So many choices. And in the end, they lead us to a cliffhanger so epic. 

So it’s second year for Violet, she’s back in college, but has a secret that she keeps from her friends and it is so hard to keep the secret while she’s still fighting with Xaden. I won’t lie Violet has a lot of insecurities. Damn girl. You have lightning, use it. 

Still hate Dain. Not sorry. 

The fight!!! Cat!!! 

The my chair part!!!! Damn. 

The one thing I love about this book is how Xaden just does not change. He loves this girl. It is so beautiful to read and the side characters in the book are so……. I have no words. I felt grateful to see a character that died in book one back in book 2, even if he was not really alive, I was amazed by that, I shed a a few tears. 

Another death in the book. I cried. Limbs lost. 

The ending of this book!!!! Nah. What!!!! Omg. 

Xaden!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Comeback by Rebecca Jenshak

emotional funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

Tropes: 

ASL & Chronic Illness Rep

Best Friends X Sister

Broody, Tattooed Hero

Roommates

Football Romance

Sneaking Around

Pro-football player x ballet teacher 

No third act breakup 

Found family 

Archer and Sabrina are so cute. So they start off on a rocky slate, end up as roommates then friends. 

I love their evolution in terms of archer being suspicious of her, and then them becoming friends and them becoming more than friends. I loved how Archer  was such a helpful guy, caring and just all out sweet. Sabrina was the perfect girl for a guy like Archer and they had amazing moments in the book. The side characters? Amazing!!! I’m in love. 

Irreversible by Chelley St Clair, Jennifer Hartmann

dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Tropes:

Dark Romance

Angsty

Escaping a Killer

Forced Proximity

Heroine in Danger

Kidnapped Main Character in Peril 

Mystery 

Opposites Attract

Slow Burn

Stranded Together

Suspense Thriller 

Tortured MMC

Touch Her and Die

Tragic Past

The minute I saw a post about Irreversible, I was like I am ready for this. Tears included.

Love is blind with a twist. 

Everly has been kidnapped and locked in a cell for a long time hearing people in the next cell come and disappear. 

Isaac is looking for the mastermind to figure out what happened to one of the women who was kidnapped years ago. Bad choices lead him to being kidnapped and finding himself in a cell next to Everly. It’s traumatic. 

The grump that is Isaac is not a people person, let’s put this out there. There was the moment in the book I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry because Isaac’s sarcasm is on another plain, considering what’s going on. Everly was persistent, I’ll give her that. She was patient with this man. 

This is where the authors thrive when they puts us in the middle of danger and change our lives together with the characters. Ma’am who puts a plot twist mid book? The growth of the characters. Loved it. 

Irreversible is an angsty, romantic suspense, dark romance.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

5.0

Tropes: 
Touch her and you die 
Enemies to lovers 
Dragons 
Magic 
Fantasy romance 
Found family 
She dies, he dies 
Slow burn 

I finally read Fourth Wing. Chileeee!!!

There is a lot going on in this book. From Violet being fragile boned, forced to be a rider, trying to survive from everyone trying to kill her, bonding with dragons, activating her signet and finding Xaden attractive. 

There is so much, and if I would explain one part of it, it would be giving spoilers. The book just makes sense; of course I have questions about where the book is going and the characters and the death of a main side character. I cried. Heartbreaking. Not telling any more than this. The cliffhanger at the end. What!!! The way it ends it makes you want to read book 2 right there and then. 

Do I need to read Iron Flame? 

PS: Is there anyone who didn’t find Xaden attractive. The man has it all. 

Let me put this out there. I hate Dain. Not sorry. 

Stalking Ginevra by Gigi Styx

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Tropes: 

Dark romance 

Morally black MMC 

Stalker 

Forced  marriage

Virgin MMC

Touch her and you ☠️

Mafia 

Breeding

Second chance 

I have been waiting for Benito’s story for a while!!!! 

Check the trigger warnings. 

We have the MMC who is still angry that the love of his life who is the FMC left him for an enemy. And we have an FMC who has been abused and degraded by said enemy but also harbors guilt from dumping the MMC. 

The MMC puts the FMC through degradation, humiliation and manipulation so wild my jaw dropped. He did all this without really understanding what happened to her. The path to revenge is so blurred. In all this, you can see the love between the MCs. Behind this there is scheme happening in the casino that Benito needs to find a solution to. 

I wanted to put my hands in the book and beat the MMC. Of all the three brothers Benito is the worst. The quiet ones are always the problem. I mean Roman is a leader, Caesar is unhinged and I expected Benito to be better or above it all and he’s just mad. Let me just say that this could’ve been finished with a conversation from the get go. 

This is one book I wanted to stop reading at the third act. 

My praise for Gigi? How she wrote these books around these characters and connecting the story from different perspectives. I loved understanding the whole picture behind certain moments. After reading this book, everything clicks and makes sense and for that Gigi did an amazing job. 

When Hearts Awaken by Victoria Lum

challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

When Hearts Awaken ARC Review 

Thank you Victoria Lum for the opportunity to read this book. 

Tropes: 
Enemies to lovers
Who did this to you?
I'll burn the world for you
Billionaire
Slow burn
Trauma healing
Age gap 
Goth ballerina and complicated hero
Found family
Mental health representation
Swoony text messages
Dark topics but romance isn't dark
Spicy and angsty
Dual POV 

We meet Taylor, who is getting through a traumatic event that happened to her when she was 16, a ballerina, trying to be the principal dancer. 
At the same time, we meet Charles who has demons of his own. I on top of that reputational damage in his company, family damage and he tries to fix one. 

I loved how the first few chapters are. The characters are introduced apart from each other and when they meet, there’s obviously instant hatred, but then you see a link in the trauma. Sometimes the people who are the closest to you other people that create damage in other people’s lives. 

There is heavy trauma in the book, it’s sad. Both MMC‘s face trauma differently and yet the same, behind a mask with secrets so deep you can’t tell which way it is up. I felt the FMC‘s pain, it was overwhelming, getting to understand the triggers which also explained her reactions and behavior. I was overwhelmed. The book broke me and healed me. Amazing.