paperbacksandsketchbooks's reviews
341 reviews

The Sunflower House by Adriana Allegri

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Thank you St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a super deep, super heavy read about a horrible part of WWII (and even pre-WWII): eugenics.
Going into this book, I knew nothing about Lebensborn or eugenics or anything of the sort. It is not something I was taught in history classes. It disturbed me to my core.
We have our main character Allina, who goes to live and work at Hochland Home (a lebensborn facility) after the most horrible thing happens to her. I loved Allina. She was the perfect main character for this story. She wanted to change the program and actually help these children and treat them like humans. She despised the n*zis and their leader. Yet she does something I didn't think she would do -

she falls for an SS officer, Karl.

I'm always iffy on books that feature members of the n*zi party as main characters. Karl is an SS officer. He is written well. He's also very ambiguous and I couldn't tell if he liked or hated what he had to do. Turns out

he hated the eugenics program and everything to do with the state of Germany in this time period. Doesn't excuse his actions, though.

 
I didn't love everything about this book

(like how our MMC is smuggling the Jewish people out of Germany but continuing to hide behind his SS uniform... which I know they had to do back then but this is historical *fiction*, it could've strayed from reality a liiiitle bit there)

, but I did love how this story was told and how much emotion was behind it, which is why it still gets five stars. It also taught me something I knew nothing about.
Overall, super emotional read with underlying feelings of hope for a better future. This book also reminds us that sometimes the truth isn't pretty but it should always be spoken.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Antisemitism

All by My Elf by Olivia Dade

lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

This one was just fine. It was cute and the characters were sweet but it didn't excite me like the rest of the novellas in this collection.

Merry Ever After by Tessa Bailey

lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This was cute and I loved Luke and Evie, but now I'm left wanting more! I wish we got to know more of their backstory and see more of them together before the epilogue. Still sweet and spicy, though!

The Ornithologist's Field Guide to Love by India Holton

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

This book gave off the best vibes! I loved the humor, the characters, and the writing. The magical birds are a bonus! Even if this book didn't have magical birds and just had ordinary birds, I would have still loved it.
I really liked how cleverly written this story was. The bit of how nobody can pronounce "ornithologist" was done so well. 
Sometimes this book got a little wordy for me (I'm a dialogue lover) and I found my eyes glazing over. The story was still interesting, but I wasn't always gripped by it.
Overall, this was fantastic. Great dry humor, great layout, great characters. If you enjoy magical realism and love stories, you'll enjoy this one!

Cruel Winter with You by Ali Hazelwood

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I need more of Marc and Jamie NOW.

This Cursed House by Del Sandeen

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was such a solid horror novel! I genuinely enjoyed so many things about this.
First off, loved the whole Jemma can talk to spirits/ghosts thing. It was truly chilling in the best way. Didn't love that she just assumed she'd be a tutor for the Duchon household - seems like an odd thing to assume. And she also didn't leave when she realized the family is off their rockers. I would've been out of there asap!
Second, the family curse plotline was done well. It was clear what the curse was and how it was implemented, but I still feel confused as to *how* Ines was able to legitimately curse the family. 
Lastly, I really liked how Jemma took her duty at the Duchon household in stride. She was such a strong female character (although she did irk me sometimes because she had this habit of backtracking once she decided she was going to stand her ground). She knew what was just and unjust. She took matters into her own hands!!
While I really enjoyed this book, I did feel like there was a lot happening at some points and the main focus of the story got a little muddled. But overall, it was chilling and haunting and a great horror novel to close out the fall season. 

The Killing Hour by Lisa Gardner

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

An amazing fourth installment to the FBI Profiler series!
I really enjoyed how this book focused on a geological murder investigation. I feel like I learned a lot about different types of "-ologists" and their specialties involving nature.
The introduction of Special Agent McCormack was great. He brings something to the story that I felt was missing in the other books. I liked that he did his own thing without worrying about the repercussions because he was so concerned about bringing these missing girls to safety.
I really enjoyed seeing more of Kimberly's character arc in this book! She is such a complex character and kind of hard to read. I'm hoping we see even more of her in the next book. I especially love her and Mac's budding relationship. I think they're going to be good for each other.
Obviously I was missing Rainie and Pierce Quincy for a good chunk of the beginning of this story. I just love their characters. I love their relationship. I love their story. I wish we got to see more of them in this book.
I found the beginning of this book to move a tad slow, too. But overall, this ended up being a really interesting story! Some of the nature stuff got kind of gross when the scenes depicting the victims popped up, so beware of that. Looking forward to the next book!

Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria

lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.5

I really liked this one! MMC Theo was so sweet and I really liked our FMC Evie. The Christmas vibes were spot on 👌🏻

Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I don't have a ton of thoughts about this but it was cute and spicy.

Hexed by Emily McIntire

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Thanks Book Sparks for the gifted copy of this one!

I enjoyed this story a lot. I'm a huge Little Mermaid fan so it was fun to see all the references to the original tale as they were being turned into a dark and twisted thing.
I'm noticing that I've become a big fan of mafia dark romance, and this delivered! Loved Enzo and Venesa's vibe. Loved the rivalries between their families. This went so in depth with the mafia stuff, and I actually found that to be super intriguing.
I did find this story to move a bit slow for me and it was loooong. It took a bit to get to the meat of the story, but once we got there, it picked up the pace. Enzo and Venesa did seem to fall fast for each other, and I usually enjoy more of a slow burn in dark romance. I still thought their characters were great, but I wish it was less insta-lovey. (This is definitely a me problem)
Overall, a great installment to the Never After series! The Little Mermaid references were spot on and made this super enjoyable. If you love dark romance and other books in this series, you'll love this one!