midnightrose_reads's reviews
306 reviews

The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Darkness Within Us is the companion novel to The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller and follows the sister of Alessandra; named Chrysantha. She’s married off to a much older duke and is waiting for him to die so that she can then become a dowager duchess. After taking matters into her own hands, quite literally, she starts to have the freedom in her life that she’s always wanted. That freedom is threatened when a man named Eryx Demos shows up claiming to be the late duke’s grandson, and therefore the rightful Duke of the estate.

This enemies to lovers story, imo, is not nearly as good as the first book was. Crysantha is a Nesta-esque character meaning she’s prickly and that can be a tricky character to pull off. I loved that she was very close to her staff, and they were almost like family. Eryx character was intriguing at times as you were trying to figure out what was going on with him. The romance aspect was only okay, and really kicked in towards the end of the book. All in all I’m glad I read this despite it not being a new all time favorite like the first book is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Gore

Minor: Sexual content

Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Off the Deep End is a fast paced mystery-thriller by Lucinda Berry. The audiobook was narrated by Amy Landon & Andi Arndt. This was a super twisty listen and Lucinda is always good for a compelling short read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, Child death, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Car accident, Cursing, Self harm, Death, and Child abuse

Moderate: Pregnancy

City of Mirth and Malice by Alexis L. Menard

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

City of Mirth and Malice is the second and final book in the Vows of Vengeance duology. This book was more romantic fantasy leaning than fantasy romance.  The first book had great pacing, and kept my interest the whole time, whereas this one felt like a bit of a slog to get through. It also didn’t help that Nico and Milla are separated for a good portion of the beginning of this story. I like both the sub genres of fantasy romance and romantic fantasy so it’s disappointing that I didn’t connect as much with this second installment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Cursing, Torture, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Suicide, and Death

House of Bane and Blood by Alexis L. Menard

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

House of Bane and Blood is the first book in the Vows of Vengeance duology by Alexis L. Menard. I really enjoyed this romantic fantasy marriage of convience, rivals to lovers story. The banter between the two leads is fantastic. Nico and Camilla are characters that you really root for, and the found family aspect was excellent! Can’t wait to read the next book in this duology.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Child death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Cursing, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Torture

The Good Samaritan by John Marrs

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Good Samaritan is a fast paced thriller novel by John Marrs. The audiobook was narrated by Elizabeth Knowelden, Charlotte Cole, Matthew Lloyd Davies, and Tim Campbell. They were all excellent. This is my first time reading a John Marrs novel but it won’t be the last!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Death, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Animal cruelty

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood

dark emotional funny hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

Not In Love is the newest contemporary romance from Ali Hazelwood. It’s a fast paced, sexy and emotionally raw story about two people who are each dealing with major baggage from their pasts. 

Rue and Eli had me glued to the book and didn’t let go until the last page.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Cursing

Moderate: Stalking, Eating disorder, and Grief

Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Cancer, Car accident, and Pregnancy

The Guests by Margot Hunt

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a fun fast paced thriller by Margot Hunt that is a new to me author. There were a few twists I didn’t see coming. Audio book narrated by Amy McFadden, Sarah Naughton, Michael Crouch, Soneela,  and A.J. Beckles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Eating disorder, Gun violence, and Mental illness

Minor: Child death

The Wren in the Holly Library by K.A. Linde

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

The Wren In The Holly Library is an urban fantasy set in an alternate New York City. It’s filled with vampires, witches, werewolves, mer-folk, and other fairytale creatures. This was a perfectly average read. I thought the beginning of the book was very strong and thought it was going to end up being a solid 4 star read. That ended up not being the case. The middle of the book sort of lagged, and we get introduced to a lot of characters in a short amount of time. There are certainly aspects that I really liked such as the library and the found family trope. But they came together in a pretty average way. The urban fantasy angle to the story reminded me of the Shadowhunter Chronicles series, or An Unkindness of Magicians, both of which are favorites of mine: but this book is not nearly as strong as those books. Also the folklore angle of the fae reminded me of Holly Black’s style of fae, although again, not nearly as good as that author’s works.

The romance is not very strong here either between Kierse and Graves, instead being mainly physical with moments scattered here and there of emotional vulnerability. I think the problem is that they don’t spend enough time together so the declaration of affection towards the end of the book feels unearned.

So in the end, unfortunately, I have to give this book a 3 star rating.  I won’t be continuing the Oak & Holly Cycle series.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Death, and Sexual content

Moderate: Vomit, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, and Abandonment

Minor: Medical content and Stalking

Heavenbreaker by Sara Wolf
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year, but was disappointing ultimately. There were definitely beautiful moments but I found myself overall bored. I found myself not engaged in the action like I normally would be in a high octane book like this. Even the love interest for Synali that we meet early on is a bit blah. Even though the chapters are short it reads super slow. There’s something about this book that’s not clicking for me sadly, which made me come to the conclusion that this book is not for me. Also this is much more a sci-fi leaning book than a sci-fi romantasy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Murder, Sexual content, Violence, Suicide, and Vomit

Minor: Domestic abuse and Sexual assault

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Dragonfruit is a Pacific Islander YA fantasy adventure that is positively magical! Definitely reminds me of the adventure stories I read as a teen. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Animal death

Moderate: Death of parent, Child abuse, and Violence

Minor: Blood, Grief, and Kidnapping