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miyawakiss's reviews
152 reviews
Obliviate by JessalynMichele
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I Shall Master this Family, Season 3 by Antstudio, Mon, Kim Roah
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
5.0
Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
dark
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Picked this up on a whim and I can definitely see why people like this! I'm actually not a Sci-Fi girl and I'm not into monster romance or alien romance but why was this so good? The beginning of the book was written really well - the atmosphere of how serious things were and how dark their situation was really made me wonder how the romance would come in. But once it did.... I was 100% onboard. The MMC is such a sweetheart and I can see why the FMC was won over so quickly. I would too.
The pregnancy trope shocked the heck out of me cos it was so damn sudden. Like damn, it's only been a few days since yall started boinking. Has it even been a week?!
But I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books! Will definitely take my time and use this series as buffer between my longer and more serious reads.
But I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books! Will definitely take my time and use this series as buffer between my longer and more serious reads.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault
Moderate: Trafficking, Kidnapping
Minor: Pregnancy
Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
This book wasn't as good as the first. Probably because Liz, who was a great character in the first book, suddenly became insufferable and annoying af in here. Sure, she was stuck with a broody sullen alien but her attitude wasn't helping her situation. And then all of a sudden, she does a 180 and becomes affectionate and obssessed with him. Poor guy must have had one hell of a whiplash. The politics part at the end also made me grit my teeth because it really felt like the women have no voice in the tribe despite them saying they do. Because no one was listening to Liz, not even Georgie which was disappointing. Georgie only finally listened when Liz was on the verge of breaking. Wish Liz's character didn't go through such a drastic change. I did like the small peeks we got of Kira's future relationship so I'm looking forward to her book. Her alien man also seems very likeable.
On Wings of Blood by Briar Boleyn
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 35%.
In theory, I should have liked this. Perhaps the author raised the bar by pulling names like Harry Potter, Fourth Wing, Zodiac Academy + Dramione romance. Perhaps it was the publishing company's decision. These claims are quite the stretch in my opinion, perhaps just to get people to give this book a try. It's one thing for a reviewer to state these claims, it's another coming from the official source. If you need such tactics, it may prove that this book isn't very good.
This is an academia setting with vampires. Blake is not remotely close to a Draco Malfoy besides being born blonde from a prominent family. He WISHES he could be Draco Malfoy, at least he would have some personality and redeeming qualities. Heads up: He's already betrothed to another girl. It was arranged but I hate OW drama even if it's not by his choice. And he does have a somewhat good relationship with her but she's also a bitch which makes the whole dynamic so annoying.
Then comes our main girl. The only time when Medra resembles Hermione is her immediate thought that humans are slaves to the vamps and that she needs to do more research. Speaking as a Harry Potter fan, I liked Hermione's character though I recognized that I would hate her irl and we wouldn't be friends but wow Medra is so much worse. She's a woke version of Hermione - constantly being snarky and sassy to everyone and acting like she's all that. I know it's the trend now to have "strong" FMCs because no one likes damsels in distress anymore but why would you act like this when you don't know what's going on, why you're here and what everyone is capable of? Medra wakes up on a pile of corpses and her first instinct is to start mouthing off and pissing off the people who found her like she isn't vulnerable and lost. She continues to keep doing this instead of pretending to be meek and gathering sympathy and allies and gain intelligence. I find her incredibly stupid for acting like a brat, she could have been smarter than this. Honestly, Hermione would have kept her mouth shut and bided her time. Normally I don't do this and compare books and characters like this but the author was asking to be compared by making such bold claims in the first place.
So far, the only redeeming parts of the book are the great side characters. Why can't the two main leads be more like them because the side characters like Florence and Naveen, and the professors are way more likeable and easy to root for. This showed that the author was capable of writing good characters but chose to make Medra and Blake annoying af - probably to push the enemies to lovers narrative but was that really necessary?
DNFing at 40% and about 200 pages in. The characters are too insufferable and stupid to drag myself through another 300 pages. I do want to see and experience the dragons but I don't have the patience to wait for Medra and Blake to be more mature and I doubt that they will improve.
This is an academia setting with vampires. Blake is not remotely close to a Draco Malfoy besides being born blonde from a prominent family. He WISHES he could be Draco Malfoy, at least he would have some personality and redeeming qualities. Heads up: He's already betrothed to another girl. It was arranged but I hate OW drama even if it's not by his choice. And he does have a somewhat good relationship with her but she's also a bitch which makes the whole dynamic so annoying.
Then comes our main girl. The only time when Medra resembles Hermione is her immediate thought that humans are slaves to the vamps and that she needs to do more research. Speaking as a Harry Potter fan, I liked Hermione's character though I recognized that I would hate her irl and we wouldn't be friends but wow Medra is so much worse. She's a woke version of Hermione - constantly being snarky and sassy to everyone and acting like she's all that. I know it's the trend now to have "strong" FMCs because no one likes damsels in distress anymore but why would you act like this when you don't know what's going on, why you're here and what everyone is capable of? Medra wakes up on a pile of corpses and her first instinct is to start mouthing off and pissing off the people who found her like she isn't vulnerable and lost. She continues to keep doing this instead of pretending to be meek and gathering sympathy and allies and gain intelligence. I find her incredibly stupid for acting like a brat, she could have been smarter than this. Honestly, Hermione would have kept her mouth shut and bided her time. Normally I don't do this and compare books and characters like this but the author was asking to be compared by making such bold claims in the first place.
So far, the only redeeming parts of the book are the great side characters. Why can't the two main leads be more like them because the side characters like Florence and Naveen, and the professors are way more likeable and easy to root for. This showed that the author was capable of writing good characters but chose to make Medra and Blake annoying af - probably to push the enemies to lovers narrative but was that really necessary?
DNFing at 40% and about 200 pages in. The characters are too insufferable and stupid to drag myself through another 300 pages. I do want to see and experience the dragons but I don't have the patience to wait for Medra and Blake to be more mature and I doubt that they will improve.
Sabotage by Shantel Tessier
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
My first book from Shantel Tessier and wow... 100% a dark, DARK romance. A bit hard to categorise this as a college romance since there wasn't a single scene where any of the characters were actually attending school. The school was just briefly mentioned a handful of times in passing. No matter.
The book immediately starts in the deep end, no toe-dipping whatsoever. The relationship between Colt and Raylee was fked up and twisted, throwing in the stepsibling relationship, combined with friend-sharing, it was hella spicy. I couldn't look away.
The darkness took a different turn when Raylee was SA-ed and I actually really appreciated how Ms Shantel wrote this. There was no denying that it was a horrible and incredibly traumatic act, no matter how kinky and rough Raylee usually is with her sexual experiences. It did not matter her body count nor the level of kinkiness she has participated in, the SA was still very traumatizing and she needed a lot of time to recover from it.
The reason I highlight this is because a lot of dark romances usually ghost past or gloss over SA but it is very important to know the difference between a dark kinky consensual act and an SA. Thank you to Ms Shantel for not brushing it under the rug or implying it was something she could easily move on from with a bit of TLC. Colt was amazingly understanding and supportive with Raylee's needs and her road to recovery.
I'll definitely check out the rest of the LORDS series and other books from Ms Shantel, she really left a wonderful impression on me with this book.
The book immediately starts in the deep end, no toe-dipping whatsoever. The relationship between Colt and Raylee was fked up and twisted, throwing in the stepsibling relationship, combined with friend-sharing, it was hella spicy. I couldn't look away.
The darkness took a different turn when Raylee was SA-ed and I actually really appreciated how Ms Shantel wrote this. There was no denying that it was a horrible and incredibly traumatic act, no matter how kinky and rough Raylee usually is with her sexual experiences. It did not matter her body count nor the level of kinkiness she has participated in, the SA was still very traumatizing and she needed a lot of time to recover from it.
The reason I highlight this is because a lot of dark romances usually ghost past or gloss over SA but it is very important to know the difference between a dark kinky consensual act and an SA. Thank you to Ms Shantel for not brushing it under the rug or implying it was something she could easily move on from with a bit of TLC. Colt was amazingly understanding and supportive with Raylee's needs and her road to recovery.
I'll definitely check out the rest of the LORDS series and other books from Ms Shantel, she really left a wonderful impression on me with this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Violence
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
After seeing so many people RAVE about this book, about the "world building" and "lore" and "high fantasy elements", I was severely let down and almost DNFed this book many times. The world building was lackluster and had no proper structure or setup which made it very hard to understand anything going on. The first quarter of the book had me in constant question marks. The lore made absolutely no sense because tell me why a weak little human (idc if she was trained from young) was able to, time and time again, overpower and kill VAMPIRES. The vampires honestly seem really weak - they're like humans who are immortal and drink blood but that's about it. Also, Oraya was the most insufferable FMC throughout the book with her blind devotion and loyalty to Vincent. Even her own brain tries to point out his inconsistencies and red flags but she GASLIGHTS herself into putting Vincent back on his pedestal. And Vincent wins the award for worst father in the world because if that is love, I don't want it. I honestly can't think if any moments in this book fhat I loved. Maybe the spice because it was the only thing that made sense. But Raihn killing Vincent was satisfactory, wish it was dragged out more. Also wished I DNFed this and didn't waste my time.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
So. Much. Angst. I had to take breaks reading this book because there was so much anger and sadness - which is fair considering what happened in Book 1. But holy crap, it was GOOD. I liked that the romance between Rhysand and Feyre was gradual. She didn't immediately fall out of love with Tamlin and jump to Rhys. She took her time to really grieve for the love she lost, the new home she thought she had and the realisation that she had possibly fought so hard and sacrificed so much UTM for an unworthy man. She took her time undoing all the emotional manipulation she endured, learned to draw her boundaries and really pondered on what she wants now.
Speaking of emotional manipulation, everytime I thought that Tamlin could sink no lower, this man really said "Alright, bet" cos why does he keep sinking?! He's really the worst of the worst. I honestly have no idea if the person we met in ACOTAR was an illusion he set up so Feyre would fall in love with him and break the spell or if he changed drastically from UTM traumas. Also, Lucien, also changed into a simpering dog. In Book 1, he was Tamlin's confidante and friend first before he was his subject. He would speak up and have his own opinions. Here, he's a "Yes Master" and "I shall obey my Lord" dog!
Despite the horrible antagonists, there were some amazing moments in this book that will likely stay with me as I go through the series. The part where theyreyin the cabin and Rhys finally tells Feyre everything was very beautifully done. No more secrets, just full and open communication. Feyre doesn't interrupt him or say anything - she just lets him talk and get everything out. And at the end, she accepts all of him and his truth, and opens her heart to him. Truly a beautiful scene that brought tears to my eyes.
My favourite quote has to be "I want you to know that I am broken and healing but every piece of my heart belongs to you". It addresses her past trauma, her resilience getting through it and her moving on. Hands down, a 5 star read.
Speaking of emotional manipulation, everytime I thought that Tamlin could sink no lower, this man really said "Alright, bet" cos why does he keep sinking?! He's really the worst of the worst. I honestly have no idea if the person we met in ACOTAR was an illusion he set up so Feyre would fall in love with him and break the spell or if he changed drastically from UTM traumas. Also, Lucien, also changed into a simpering dog. In Book 1, he was Tamlin's confidante and friend first before he was his subject. He would speak up and have his own opinions. Here, he's a "Yes Master" and "I shall obey my Lord" dog!
Despite the horrible antagonists, there were some amazing moments in this book that will likely stay with me as I go through the series. The part where theyreyin the cabin and Rhys finally tells Feyre everything was very beautifully done. No more secrets, just full and open communication. Feyre doesn't interrupt him or say anything - she just lets him talk and get everything out. And at the end, she accepts all of him and his truth, and opens her heart to him. Truly a beautiful scene that brought tears to my eyes.
My favourite quote has to be "I want you to know that I am broken and healing but every piece of my heart belongs to you". It addresses her past trauma, her resilience getting through it and her moving on. Hands down, a 5 star read.
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
✨ SPOILERS ✨
To be fully transparent: I came after seeing a year of tiktoks being made about this series. I have seen quite a few spoilers already so I came with eyes wide open.
Starting this book was incredibly hard. Somehow the first maybe 150 chapters were grueling for me and I nearly DNFed this as I found it boring but also infuriating. Everything and everyone in Feyre's life was ragebait. I have quite a few choice words and a shiny fist reserved for her father and a bunch of bitchslaps ready for her sisters. Honestly, they deserve to rot after she was taken away. They didn't say a word and didn't try to protect her when the beast came. Mind you, she had killed to keep them all fed but they cowered in the corner. I'm not expecting them to try to fight the beast but really, not even a "Please don't take away our sister, she means everything to us" plea??? Though Nesta was later redeemed, I feel like it still didn't excuse some of her actions. You just don't treat someone you love who has constantly sacrificed for your survival like that.
The story got alot better once Feyre was in faerieland and I immediately liked Lucien. He was mean at times but understandably so, she DID kill and skin his friend. I'd be acting way worse to her. The mask lore was interesting but not really appealing to visualise. While I do like the masked stalker men trope, 24/7 glued-on masquerade masked faeries don't seem particularly sexy or fun.
Feyre was quite annoying as a female main character and tbh it was hard to root for her. She had no backbone with her useless father, bitchy sister and delusional other sister. But somehow she was constantly rude and mouthy with Tamlin when he was nothing but nice to her. She literally killed and skinned his friend, he's a nicer person than I am, I would have thrown her into the dungeon and given her basic meals with minimum comfort clothes. Another thing that makes Feyre so annoying is that if you tell her not to do something, even if there's a good reason, SHE WILL DO IT.
"Don't go to Fire Night, it's dangerous cos there's alot of other Faes there."
"BUT I WANNA PARTYYYY!"
"Don't go out of your room. Lock your door otherwise you might get graped since your scent is everywhere."
"BUT I WANT COOKIES!"
"Don't drink the wine. It's Fae wine, it's not for humans, it may have a bad effect on you."
"BUT I WANNA DRINKKKK!"
This was literally her. She was like a child. Telling her not to do something was basically encouraging her to do it. I've never had a more annoying female main character. People hate Tamlin but so far, in this book at least, he was more bearable than Feyre.
I'm on the fence about Alis because she seemed nice at times and a bitch at alot of times so I have no idea if she actually wants to help Feyre or not. The other creatures we're introduced to, the puca, Suriel, naga and Attor, were all terrifying. Lowkey can we meet some nice magical creatures in the next books?
Sidenote: all the names, be it the characters', the magic lands and the creatures are incredibly un-catchy. Incredibley un-remember-able. Hopefully I'll catch on as I pick up the other books but holy cow, it's just human girl, Faerieland, Bitch Sister, Princess Syndrome Sister, Faerie High Lord, Lucien, Dark Faerielord, Psycho Stepmom Queen and Disgusting Creature 1, 2 and 3 in my head right now.
Speaking of Psycho Stepmom Queen, Amarantha is a pretty well-written villain. No mercy, cold, cruel and vindictive. I don't like her but I can appreciate a good character.
The action was written well and I enjoyed the trials a lot. The gaps between the trials left a bitter taste in my mouth as Feyre was basically either horribly injured and suffering or she was forced to wear extremely revealing clothing, forced to dance until she threw up, forced to dance again once she was done throwing up and made to basically be a tool of entertainment for the Faes.
Tamlin I have very mixed feelings for. Like I mentioned, I came after seeing spoilers and I know everyone on the booktok community hate Tamlin and have been scarred by him. And I am scared because I am really liking him now. I keep waiting for a betrayal of some kind but I guess not yet. A bit glad I saw the spoilers cos if I didn't know, I'd be the Tamlin tattoo girl, just without the tattoo.
I'm liking Rhysand towards the end, though he was easy to hate at first. I am extremely curious to see how he becomes endgame and how the author will make me hate Tamlin.
Overall, a very interesting premise set in the first book. Looking forward to my next read.
To be fully transparent: I came after seeing a year of tiktoks being made about this series. I have seen quite a few spoilers already so I came with eyes wide open.
Starting this book was incredibly hard. Somehow the first maybe 150 chapters were grueling for me and I nearly DNFed this as I found it boring but also infuriating. Everything and everyone in Feyre's life was ragebait. I have quite a few choice words and a shiny fist reserved for her father and a bunch of bitchslaps ready for her sisters. Honestly, they deserve to rot after she was taken away. They didn't say a word and didn't try to protect her when the beast came. Mind you, she had killed to keep them all fed but they cowered in the corner. I'm not expecting them to try to fight the beast but really, not even a "Please don't take away our sister, she means everything to us" plea??? Though Nesta was later redeemed, I feel like it still didn't excuse some of her actions. You just don't treat someone you love who has constantly sacrificed for your survival like that.
The story got alot better once Feyre was in faerieland and I immediately liked Lucien. He was mean at times but understandably so, she DID kill and skin his friend. I'd be acting way worse to her. The mask lore was interesting but not really appealing to visualise. While I do like the masked stalker men trope, 24/7 glued-on masquerade masked faeries don't seem particularly sexy or fun.
Feyre was quite annoying as a female main character and tbh it was hard to root for her. She had no backbone with her useless father, bitchy sister and delusional other sister. But somehow she was constantly rude and mouthy with Tamlin when he was nothing but nice to her. She literally killed and skinned his friend, he's a nicer person than I am, I would have thrown her into the dungeon and given her basic meals with minimum comfort clothes. Another thing that makes Feyre so annoying is that if you tell her not to do something, even if there's a good reason, SHE WILL DO IT.
"Don't go to Fire Night, it's dangerous cos there's alot of other Faes there."
"BUT I WANNA PARTYYYY!"
"Don't go out of your room. Lock your door otherwise you might get graped since your scent is everywhere."
"BUT I WANT COOKIES!"
"Don't drink the wine. It's Fae wine, it's not for humans, it may have a bad effect on you."
"BUT I WANNA DRINKKKK!"
This was literally her. She was like a child. Telling her not to do something was basically encouraging her to do it. I've never had a more annoying female main character. People hate Tamlin but so far, in this book at least, he was more bearable than Feyre.
I'm on the fence about Alis because she seemed nice at times and a bitch at alot of times so I have no idea if she actually wants to help Feyre or not. The other creatures we're introduced to, the puca, Suriel, naga and Attor, were all terrifying. Lowkey can we meet some nice magical creatures in the next books?
Sidenote: all the names, be it the characters', the magic lands and the creatures are incredibly un-catchy. Incredibley un-remember-able. Hopefully I'll catch on as I pick up the other books but holy cow, it's just human girl, Faerieland, Bitch Sister, Princess Syndrome Sister, Faerie High Lord, Lucien, Dark Faerielord, Psycho Stepmom Queen and Disgusting Creature 1, 2 and 3 in my head right now.
Speaking of Psycho Stepmom Queen, Amarantha is a pretty well-written villain. No mercy, cold, cruel and vindictive. I don't like her but I can appreciate a good character.
The action was written well and I enjoyed the trials a lot. The gaps between the trials left a bitter taste in my mouth as Feyre was basically either horribly injured and suffering or she was forced to wear extremely revealing clothing, forced to dance until she threw up, forced to dance again once she was done throwing up and made to basically be a tool of entertainment for the Faes.
Tamlin I have very mixed feelings for. Like I mentioned, I came after seeing spoilers and I know everyone on the booktok community hate Tamlin and have been scarred by him. And I am scared because I am really liking him now. I keep waiting for a betrayal of some kind but I guess not yet. A bit glad I saw the spoilers cos if I didn't know, I'd be the Tamlin tattoo girl, just without the tattoo.
I'm liking Rhysand towards the end, though he was easy to hate at first. I am extremely curious to see how he becomes endgame and how the author will make me hate Tamlin.
Overall, a very interesting premise set in the first book. Looking forward to my next read.
Sticks and Stones by S.J. Sylvis, S. Massery
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
If you're looking to read something with a good almost thriller-like plot with a mix of steamy spice, this is the book for you!
Some might say it's not true enemies to lovers but if anyone did what Stone did to Wren and vice versa, I would hate them with a burning passion. Do they literally want to kill each other? Of course not, they're college kids and they're good kids at heart, this is not a dark romance. But do they hate each other? Absolutely. I love how the hate was justified and turned petty fights into resentful actions. But I also really liked how it slowly fizzled into something else and when it came to a head, the conflict was properly resolved with all the cards being laid on the table. Love communication!
This would have been a full 5 stars but I docked one for how it ended.We find out that Stone's dad is Wren's abuser's defence attorney and freed the man from prison. While of course, he's just doing his job, I wish we could have seen a scene, perhaps at the hospital, of his dad regretting that his actions in defending a chronic druggie (someone he sneers down on) ended up hurting his son and an innocent girl very badly. The ending was too anticlimactic and I wish it was fleshed out a bit more.
Nevertheless, this was a very good read and a great start to my March.
Some might say it's not true enemies to lovers but if anyone did what Stone did to Wren and vice versa, I would hate them with a burning passion. Do they literally want to kill each other? Of course not, they're college kids and they're good kids at heart, this is not a dark romance. But do they hate each other? Absolutely. I love how the hate was justified and turned petty fights into resentful actions. But I also really liked how it slowly fizzled into something else and when it came to a head, the conflict was properly resolved with all the cards being laid on the table. Love communication!
This would have been a full 5 stars but I docked one for how it ended.
Nevertheless, this was a very good read and a great start to my March.