melycp's reviews
344 reviews

The Faking Game by Portia MacIntosh

4.0

 This is only my second read of Portia McIntosh’s books, but it’s safe to say, I love her writing style. She’s so effortlessly funny and both of her books have been super easy and quick to read. I quite literally devoured The Faking Game. It took me two evenings to finish and I actually could have done it in just one. 

It wasn’t perfect though. My biggest issue, which is really a small issue, is the name Millsy. My god did I hate it. Just call him by his first name, please. I couldn’t imagine calling my boyfriend solely by his last name, what a cringe. Anyway, that’s a small issue that really can be overlooked and it was, I enjoyed the book. 

My next issue with The Faking Game was how most of the events, which seemed like they’d have a huge impact on the story and character relationships were completely skirted over. The most annoying in particular was the trip to Aviemore. Cara and Millsy were just starting to get back on track again and you don’t get to see any of it happen. You hear small details about it in a future chapter, but honestly, I was a bit disappointed in the lazy approach the author took. How am I supposed to root for them if I don’t get to see anything happen? 

Anyway, those were my biggest and pretty much only issues with this book. I loved the characters, especially Cara’s love of escape rooms and how it’s her job to design them. I don’t know if the app she’s creating to do an escape room-style treasure hunt around the city actually exists but it sounds very fun. 

Both families had their quirks (and annoying characters) but that’s what made them fun. I really liked the scene when Cara’s uncle brings around “special wine”, the bottles get broken and Millsy replaces them with alcoholic wine not realising they were non-alcoholic. It’s very funny, I promise, I’ve just described it poorly. 

We all know by now that I love the fake dating trope and while this technically isn’t a fake dating book, it also is. There’s even a fake date within the fake dating. It was refreshing to this trope from the perspective of a couple that has broken up after being together for three years. It’s such a will-they-won’t-they and I love it. 

This is also very festive, which I didn’t realise - clearly I didn’t read the synopsis before picking this up. It’s the perfect read for this time of year. 

The Faking Game is a very fun and funny read that is a perfect read for any season, despite its festive nature. It has an interesting cast of characters and was a very quick read. I’d definitely recommend it. 

Doughnuts and Doom by Balazs Lorinczi

4.0

It’s very simple, I see a cute cover, and I want to read the graphic novel. Has this bitten me before? Yes, but not this time. Doughnuts and Doom was so cute and the story was great.

I love witchy books, even more so graphic novels. They always have great aesthetics and that can definitely be said here. The art style is very cute and I loved the character designs - the snake, whose name I sadly can’t remember, wins as the cutest design in this entire novel. The style has just enough detail to be interesting, but not so much that the pages were too busy.

This brings me to my next point, the minimal use of colour was actually my favourite part. Doughnuts and Doom is mostly blue with pink accents. It’s such a good combination, I love it when graphic novels do this.

The story was very sweet, if a little rushed. Margot and Elena start out as enemies as Margot quite literally blew up her place of work, well almost. The anger Elena has towards her is a little overdramatic, but I get why it’s used. They then very quickly become friends and it’s adorable. Elena makes Margot more confident and can I just say, a witch and a rockstar…I’ve found a new favourite trope. If there are any other books with this theme, please let me know.

I’d definitely recommend Doughnuts and Doom to anyone who likes sapphic witchy graphic novels with adorable art styles. It’s a super quick read and has an interesting story.

A Ruin of Roses by K.F. Breene

3.0

I didn’t know what to expect when starting A Ruin of Roses but let’s just say it wasn’t what I got. I’ve read one of K.F Breene’s series before and I don’t remember it having any adult content, this book was the complete opposite.

I’d be very cautious going into this if you’re not a fan of smut/crude content. It is absolutely filled to the brim with it. A lot of the language is very harsh and it can be a bit unsettling at times, but there aren’t any instances of missing consent. Everything is 100% consensual, so no need to worry about that.

If you take away the sexual content, there isn’t really a lot to A Ruin of Roses. However, the sections that didn’t have any of this were very entertaining. It’s a creative retelling of Beauty and the Beast and I liked how they incorporated smaller events from the original, such as Belle fighting off wolves in the woods, but instead, Finley was fighting demonic creatures. 

The characters were quite wishy-washy and seemed to change their minds and morals quite often. They were quite entertaining though, especially the castle staff. Finley has the potential to be a great main character and maybe this is further explored in the second installment. 

I loved the incorporation of shifters and having that be the reason why the prince is a beast. It was very clever and I’m interested to learn more about their history and the curse they find themselves under.

Overall, A Ruin of Roses was an interesting retelling that has potential. The over-saturation of adult content did make this less enjoyable for me, but I know some people will love it. As this series is available with Kindle Unlimited, I would consider reading the second instalment in the future.

Insanity by Cameron Jace

4.0

Wow, what an inventive retelling. Honestly, this was actually so good. I didn’t know what to expect from a book set in an asylum. Would it be offensive, take things too far? I don’t think it did. Although it does use a word I really don’t like, but it wasn’t said with malice, so it could have been worse.

From the get-go, Insanity was gripping. I often found myself flying through the pages and with the slump I found myself in at the time, that was impressive. The writing style was simple yet effective. 

I love an Alice in Wonderland retelling, Alice Madness Returns is one of my all-time favourite games, and this was a great one. Having Alice be in an asylum is not very unique, but also having other ‘Wonderlanders’ with her was (at least I’ve never come across this before). I love that the caterpillar is a serial killer and the hunt for the Chesire Cat was so fun.

You meet many of Wonderland’s characters along the way and they are never what you expect. I still don’t know who Jack Diamonds is, but I’m interested to find out. 

I left it far too long after reading the book to write this review (I wanted to take a break for the holidays) so I’m struggling to write this review.

Just know that this is highly entertaining with high stakes and eccentric characters. I will definitely be checking out the next book in the future. 

They All Had A Reason: A rumor. A secret. A lie. A murder. by Michele Leathers

3.0

Mystery thrillers are my absolute favourite genre right now and when this came up on Kindle Unlimited, I had to check it out. The cover instantly drew me in and it was a very entertaining read.

The characters feel a little shallow at times, especially Charlotte, but I can overlook this if the book is entertaining enough. She was either completely headstrong and stubborn, throwing herself into dangerous situations, or completely dumb and giving away her plans. 

I wasn’t expecting the greatest mystery in the world as this is a YA book (I’m not saying YA books can’t be complex) but its short length meant there wasn’t really a lot of time to actually weave the story. What you do get is pretty well written, even if the style is very simplistic.

What I will say about the mystery is that the twist was pretty good. It’s a little obvious, but the ending definitely has me interested in the second book. Hopefully, you get to see the aftermath of this book because Charlotte finds out her best friend basically betrayed her and Bellany’s brother, Bridger, her other best friend apparently completely turned on her and you never hear from him again.

There are quite a few two-dimensional side characters that the author attempts to use as plot drivers, but they fall quite flat. At times, there’s a sense of danger and urgency when it comes to them, but nothing ever comes to fruition.

Without giving any spoilers, I was worried about Charlotte getting close to Wade. I was suspicious that he killed Bellany and got close to Charlotte because they share a slight resemblance (they had the same hair length and colour, same height and had very similar cars). There was a scene where he strokes her face and touches her hair and I was thinking “girl, get away from him”. Thankfully this wasn’t the case, which isn’t a spoiler because he was never a suspect. Only I suspected him apparently.

There’s quite a lot of body shaming in the later half of They All Had A Reason and it really isn’t great. I was really enjoying the book until that point and I still did but it definitely leaves a sour taste. Hopefully, this was used to show how bad of a person the character is and doesn’t reflect the author’s views. Let’s hope not.

I’ve made it sound like I didn’t enjoy They All Had A Reason when it was actually the opposite, I’m just better at explaining things I didn’t like. The book as a whole was entertaining and I enjoyed trying to figure out the mystery. I will be checking out the second book at some point and I’m excited to see where the story takes us.

Dear McKinnon by Danielle Keil

4.0

Dear McKinnon was such a sweet read and I was honestly quite surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I’ll be honest and say I picked up this book because of its short length and also because contemporaries are always quicker reads for me, but it did not disappoint. I genuinely enjoyed the whole book and the premise was so fun.

Leaving secret notes for someone you like is such a cute idea, but why was it always the boy leaving the notes? It does say they sometimes leave them for other boys, so any boys that are gay are not left out, but what about the lesbians? Why can’t they join in? I’m obviously being very nitpicky and this may change further in the series.

I really enjoyed how simplistic the story was and I love anything that has anonymous communication, especially written letters. It was only one-way anonymous, obviously, but it’s still very cute. I loved that you got to know the boy through his letters, which he calls his true self, rather than knowing him through his high school reputation. 

This was also a super quick read, it did take me multiple nights to get through but that’s because I kept leaving it so late and therefore falling asleep. I could have easily read the whole thing in one sitting. 

I’m definitely planning to continue this series at some point, I’m intrigued to see how different each book is, as surely there are only so many ways you could do this idea? Well, I’ll find out I suppose. 

I’d highly recommend you check out Dear McKinnon if you’re looking for a sweet romance that is available through Kindle Unlimited!

The Bookshop and the Barbarian by Morgan Stang

1.0

I put this book on my winter to be read because it sounded very cosy and even claims to be, so imagine my disappointment when I don’t get too far in and have to put it down.

I’m not one to give up on books very easily but I just could not continue this. The second chapter uses the phrase ‘murder-hobo’ constantly and honestly what the hell? Just before it used this phrase, there were multiple instances of the “narrator” telling you to “check your prejudice because you definitely imagined this character as fat because I said they were lazy”. Nope, that didn’t happen. The author is the one who made that assumption. Make it make sense because I can’t.

I could see what the author was trying to do with the narrator breaking the fourth wall, sadly this wasn’t enjoyable for me. They tried too hard to make it funny when just breaking the fourth wall in general is already quite funny. There’s a very fine line between good and cringeworthy narration and this book is the latter, unfortunately.

This book potentially gets better the further you get into it, but I don’t have time to waste on bad books.

Giant Days Vol. 2 by John Allison, Whitney Cogar

3.0

 I’d say I’m enjoying the Giant Days series but I’m overly sold on it just yet. The first volume lacked a clear plot and this one was looking the same way for a while. It does, however, have a few main focuses; exams, relationships and whatever the hell happened with Susan.

This series is pure chaos, I never really know what’s going on, but I enjoy it anyway. Susan’s plotline was actually crazy, someone literally tries to kill her. See my point about it being pure chaos? 

It is very funny though. The feeling of forcing the comedy in the first volume has definitely dissipated in this one. The jokes feel more natural and while the plotlines are quite out there, they make sense for this world they live in. Your first year at uni is often a little crazy and that feeling has been captured well. 

I complained in volume one that you don’t really know who these characters are and they don’t go through any type of development. Well, that changed. You see Esther try to change herself for a man, but eventually she comes to her senses. Daisy is going through a rough time with her sexuality (this is more of a background plot, hopefully, this is explored in more detail in the future) and Susan develops a relationship with McGraw.

Overall, I’d say Giant Days Volume Two was much stronger than the first. You learn more about the characters, a somewhat clearer plotline is forming and I still love the art style. I will definitely be checking out volume three.

Love Among the Stars by Claerie Kavanaugh

2.0

 I always have high hopes for sapphic romances and more often than not, they let me down. Love Among the Stars sounded super cute, but I didn’t realise how short it was. This is less than 200 pages, so it’s a novella. Meaning there was no time to develop the relationship.

Well, that’s a little harsh of me. The relationship between Jemma and Eve is somewhat developed, but not to the extent that (spoiler) they profess their love for each other at the end. I’m all for a whirlwind romance, but they’ve technically only seen each other around five times. 

I enjoyed the antics of the different dates Jemma went on, but most of it was ‘this happened and now it’s over’. No time was really taken to actually describe the events and this made the whole book feel very rushed. 

Another issue I have with the dates is that they all went really well right until the end when something needed to go horribly wrong so Jemma would end up with Eve. I understand that this is the reason for the book, but maybe sprinkle these issues in a bit more delicately, so it’s not. I’m having a really good time on this date, the person is really nice and caring, oh wait what’s that? A bird is about to attack me so they’ve run off. This is legit what happens.

My biggest issue with this particular date is 1. Jemma’s date is a wildlife photographer so I don’t think you’d be that scared of a bird and 2. Why on Earth would a zoo let you into the bald eagle enclosure? Makes literally no sense.

One positive I will give Love Among the Stars is how quick it is to read. I read about 95% of it in one night and I could have finished the whole book in one sitting if I wasn’t so tired. It’s a good read to bump up your reading numbers, but don’t expect anything amazing.

 

We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

3.0

I remember this book coming out and it’s crazy to think it’s now almost 10 years old. It’s even crazier to think it’s taken me this long to read it. I’m not regretting waiting that long though, this wasn’t as good as I had expected.

The plot moves very slowly and while I don’t always hate that, there just wasn’t much happening. Not until the very end and by then I was pretty much over the whole book. 

I really didn’t like Cadence. Her whole ‘woe be me, I’m a sad little rich girl who has the worst life ever’ bit was very annoying. Yes, rich people can have problems, of course they can, but she complained about going on a summer trip around Europe. Most people would kill for that.

I did like the other ‘liars’ though. They were very interesting characters and they didn’t call their mom ‘mommy’ constantly (unlike Cadence), so that was a win. The whole family dynamic was very strange but I liked the intricacies of it.

My favourite parts of We Were Liars was definitely the ‘fairy tales’ in between sections. They had really great foreshadowing and they broke up the snail’s pace of the rest of the book. They also gave character development of the parents that you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. The breaking down of relationships and the slow crumble of the great Sinclair family were portrayed really well with these.

I’m not going to give any spoilers but I actually guessed the ending - not the entire twist but I did get the biggest one. I was quite impressed with myself. This really brought the story together and actually saved it from a bad rating. 

It sounds like I hated We Were Liars, but I didn’t. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but it was pretty decent. For a long time, I didn’t really care for what was happening and I was thinking about DNF’ing it. However, I pushed through and actually quite enjoyed it in the end - not enough to give it a high rating, but I think three stars are very fair.