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psionicsorceress's reviews
649 reviews
Masquerade by O.O. Sangoyomi
3.5
TLDR: Red flags!! Everything is NOT alright.
I have some serious thoughts on this book, but I'm keeping this review short and sweet because I don't feel like throwing caution to the wind…like the main character of this book. Ododo, Ododo, how I wanted to really like and root for you Ododo. But, alas, you were headstrong, obstinate, and naive.
Apparently, this book is a Hades and Persephone retelling set in historical Africa in what is now known as Nigeria. If you know me, you know that Hades is one of my favorite Greek gods. If you know me, you also know that I have an almost infinitesimal amount of romance that I like in my stories. I have never read a Hades and Persephone romance. But, now that I have, I can add it to the list of romances I don't like. Don’t worry, it will have great company right up there with enemies-to-lovers. I know. How dare I!
The problem I have with this romance is that this dude was throwing red flags up, down, left and right and Ododo was shrugging them off like they didn’t even matter. From the very first time she described his eyes as some kind of dark pooling orbs when he looked at her, arrangements would have had to be made to extricate myself from this man’s interest, expeditiously. I would have run for the hills, hid out in the Sahara. No means no everyday of the week and in every freaking century, historical fiction or not. And, that was just the beginning, the triggers kept progressively getting worse and worse. I don’t know how she stomached that man for so long. I really just couldn’t get with this supposed romance.
The plot progression and underlying message in this book are the main two things I liked about it. I also enjoyed the world building. The plot never felt like it dragged to me. I enjoyed reading about day-to-day life in Yorubaland. Well, I don't know if enjoy is the right word. It would be best be described as intrigued. I could never enjoy anything with that dude around. King or not, I hate that dude.
I want to say the ending was unexpected, but honestly, it took way too long to happen at all in my humble opinion. It should’ve happened in chapter 2 when he showed her the kind of man he really was. Ugh!
Ariel Blake, the narrator did an amazing job with the audiobook. Her voice is perfect for the inflections and accents needed.
On a Clear Day, You Can See Block Island by Gage Greenwood
2.0
I unfortunately have to start this review off negatively. I borderline hated this book. I’m giving it two stars, but my frustration with it is trying to make me give it one star.
There were a couple of major problems that won’t let me like this book. The first one is the plot. When I read a story, I like for that story to be fed to me through hidden unveilings and discoveries that lets you know that something is afoot even though you might not know exactly what is going on. I like a plot that gives evenly and slowly but just enough to keep you interested until eventually all the pieces come together to form a bigger picture. None of that was done in this book. The pacing was slow, the plot was almost nonexistent for most of the book, and then about two-thirds of the way in everything kicked into gear. This pacing change was then followed by a few info dumps of really important information. It made the book feel clumpy like the author copied and pasted different parts of the plot together.
The other major problem I had with this book is the utter lack of emotional depth in the characters. At the start of the book the Keating family witnesses a major life changing event that causes Jackson Keating and each of his children to suffer their own versions of PTSD. Because of this, you would think that the reader would be enticed to have some sort of emotional attachment to this family. But, you don’t. There is a monster killing people violently, characters that were introduced with thoroughly explained histories and backgrounds. Normally, you would develop some kind of emotional attachment to these characters when they come close to death or even get killed by the monster. Tragically, I felt nothing. I even speed read through the end of the book just to find out who died and who lived. I really wanted to feel for those kids, but in the end, I just couldn’t muster up the energy to care. I regret not caring for Charlie and Chrissy the most. Charlie got tagged as the responsible one after their family tragedy although he suffered from near crippling anxiety. Chrissy was the horror book nerd that reminded me of myself. I loathed that I did not feel for them in their time of monster dodging. It’s such a tragedy.
So, yeah. I’m supposed to read another book by this author, but I just don’t know if I can.