nerdybookster's reviews
678 reviews

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was okay. It's one of the newest releases from a popular author and this is the story of Macbeth as told from the wife's perspective. It seemed strange that just out of nowhere Lady Roschille decided that she was going to be the downfall of her husband's house. I didn't understand half the plot. I think if we'd been given more of the original play as back story that would have been helpful, but with what we got it was sort of disjointed and didn't work for me. I want to try her other books and see if they are any better/different. 

Mortal by Bella Lore

challenging mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

2.75

Eh. A standard high school supernatural novel. Everything that happened seemed to be happening way too quickly. I have my suspicions that whatever his name is, Mr. Popular, is an incubus (which they never outright named) and he's actively living on the attention he's getting from the other classmates. You would think that there would have been some kind of letter or something in his will with someone to tell Winter what was happening instead of throwing her to the wolves, in one instance quite literally. I didn't quite believe her getting adjusted to the school and falling in love so quickly. It read like a mini-series on television where they have to hook you quickly. I didn't like it. 

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I liked this one. Not as much as the other book, Small Favors, but it was definitely good. The way that it followed a girl who's whole world was being ripped apart under her feet and she had no idea what was happening at all was neat. I listened to this one at work, and there were a few parts that I couldn't hear, but I think it was still pretty good. We're following Annaleigh and her remaining sisters after the death of another of their sisters. They are tricked almost into doing things that they shouldn't be because of a deal made by another. I loved the way it was told and I hope to get the second one. 

Dread Pirate Arcanist by Shami Stovall

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Second in the Frith Chronicles, this follows Volke and his fellow arcanists as they travel the ocean and learn more about what it means to be an arcanist (I find the pronunciation very entertaining). They have stopped on the island of Landin to witness a bonding ceremony for griffins, and while there are asked to find a missing baby griffin. They end up running across a pirate who is looking for a specific book, which they just so happen to have. Illia, Volke's adopted sister, decides they need to bring the pirate to justice and they see if they can't go up against a dread pirate and win. There was a lot that I wondered about in the novel. Volke gets very hurt in this one and nearly doesn't make it out of it. I found it funny that even being enemies, the rest sent their own eldrin to sit with him and keep him warm/company while he got better. I am curious about Adelgis and his aversion to certain things. It was an interestingly written novel that has me curious to know how the next will play out. 

Find Him Where You Left Him Dead by Kristen Simmons

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This one is definitely marked as being like Jumanji and while I do see that in the whole having to play the game, the fact the group has to make their way through a set up outside of their own world before a time limit is up was more like Jim Hensen's The Labyrinth. Especially the whole forgetting if you break rules you don't know about. 

I found Dax's whole thing kind of intriguing. Like how he'd forgotten who and what he really was. And how he was totally willing to just drop his whole world to help them. I liked it. 

I'm definitely curious to look more into the worlds presented in the book, Japanese underworld and the game. It was an interesting inspiration of course. I did like this book very much and plan to keep going with the author. 

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest
Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.

I made it much further, then realized it was just magic nazis who will not accept they are wrong. I won't read that.

The Rebel Mages by Laurie Forest
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.

I paused this one to listen to the first book. I just cannot get behind the whole idea of the First People being literally better than everyone else and wars being waged to kill off everyone else in the world that are not them. It absolutely reeks of racism and basically magical nazis. 

The Cracked Altar by Timothy J.R. Rains

challenging tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I'm not sure the sacking of a town is the correct response for the theft of a spellbook. I felt bad for Hinkle. Half for how she grew up and half for how her life goes after meeting Sir Gilcrest. Her life, garbage as it was, was better with the Baronet in Sweetwater than it was with him in Klomm. How are people like this? 

It proved one thing to me irrevocably: Those in power will sacrifice whatever people and morals necessary to get what they want and condemn the less fortunate than themselves for doing the same thing in the same breath. Gilcrest was a hypocrite of the highest order. I found myself rooting for the person who was meant to be the VILLAIN most of the time. 

I kind of wonder what half the point even was? I'm sure this is just the world-building lead up to the series arc, but I feel like there was so much that wasn't explained that should have been. Such as what prompted White/Black Magic in the first place? Who exactly was her uncle? Why was he in league with the sorcerer person? Why did they bring back Count Olgris at all? The opening tag line of the synopsis seems to have very little to do with the entire rest of the novel as we focus on a war between Klomm and Caragol instead of the Mage and Kerstin. 

I dunno. This was like a washy three and a half stars from me. I'll pick up the next book in the series eventually to see if it can change my mind, but right now it's very "meh". 

The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.25

I liked this one.  We follow Kiela, who was a librarian in the capital city. Until the revolutionaries attacked it and she was forced to flee with whatever books she could grab and her sentient spider plant, Caz. With no idea what she's going to do, she ends up going back home to the small island of Caltrey. I loved how every time she tried to be this reclusive introvert, the other inhabitants of Caltrey were like "nope, you will not" and forced her to interact with them. She was quite the pessimist. Always thinking the absolute worst would happen, even if no one had any idea that she was even there. I come from a small town like Caltrey. We look after our own. She was part of the people and I'm glad she finally learned that. I thought the love story between her and Larran was pretty good, too. Believable. I'm looking forward to the next volume when it comes out. 

A Demon's Book of Shadows by Amanda Casey

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.0

I'm prefacing with the fact I have exactly zero recollection of signing up for this eARC. Not that I particularly mind when that happens. It's a fun surprise. 

That said, I'm not entirely sure this particular book was for me. The connection between Amon and Lucy seemed really contrived. There were many many moments throughout the book that gave me a bit of ick. I really didn't understand their absolute obsession with sex all the time. That it's only sex that will cure/solve any kind of problem. 

Lucy is a librarian. She has not been practicing magic for quite some time. And that seems to be causing interesting things to happen in Midhaven. And by that, I just mean a bunch of demons that showed up and opened a magical bar that I guess only other magical folk can see, you know, demons or witches. That was a unique thing that happened, but then there was no explanation that it was only demons and witches (and probably vampires, I don't know, they are mentioned in passing) that could even see and interact with the place. Lucy ignores it, focusing instead on her work with the library and then going home to be an introverted bookworm. 

Until Amon, a demon, begins basically stalking her and harrassing her. He's looking for this grimoire that his parents wrote that he lost. I think that he lost something like 300 years ago. In that time, he hasn't found it? Or even knew where it had ended up? You'd think something like that would have been a higher priority, but who am I to say anything. 

There were many times that I considered DNFing this book, but I wanted to see if it got any better or at least not so pent up? This was so just awkward, reading about them thinking about sleeping with each other and then just not bothering. It was like watching a very slow car accident. 

It did pick up a little bit after they finally get together, but by then my interest had wholly waned with the book. I think I would have been far more interested in it had there been more about the relationship between Familiars and Witches, a history of what happened at the Earth Uprising, more on the Bone Threader, the history between Melrose, Jeffery, and Amon. It felt really rushed at the end because she only gave herself half the book for all of this to happen.