r_bookish_rambles's reviews
191 reviews

Queen of Sorrows by Eliza Tilton

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.0

This was another slow-burn, fantasy that ended up feeling lukewarm based on lack of originality. I found some elements to be unique and enjoyable to read but not enough to impress me with groundbreaking writing or plot.

I think the most original part of this book was the immortal MMC and a prophecy that was already in motion, meaning that our FMC was already aware of the prophecy as a child. The idea that our FMC had an entire life before the start of this book was very intriguing to read and brought a fresh perspective to the structure of the book. It kind of felt like I was coming into an already progressing story, but I get that it was intentional. I would have liked more background regarding the FMC, her childhood and her husband. I understand that isn’t the focus of the book, but I wish it wasn’t glossed over so much as it was.

The world building in the current story is mediocre at best, which ends up being the norm in this book. I like that great care was taken to build the atmosphere of the castle and its grounds. This is something I ended up really enjoying in the book, and I hope book 2 will continue this trend.

There’s a lot of detail given to the magic systems and different creatures in this book which was a positive point for me. It’s kind of at the line where it’s too much and just enough, but it ended up fine. Having this much differentiation in creatures and magic made up for the absolute lack of chemistry, emotion, and depth to the characters we were presented with.

The lack of chemistry, emotion and depth in characters unfortunately include our FNC. and MMC. Those two are poorly written cookie cutter molds for literally every fantasy enemies to lovers plot that there is ever existed. This made the little spice there was unbearable and skip worthy, and also made any interaction between these two so incredibly cliché.  I could practically go over the entire map of their relationship in my sleep based on how unique it was. And this is a huge point of contention for me because I read fantasy and especially this genre of fantasy for the romance, and the building of the relationship between the two MC’s but unfortunately, this did not meet my standards at all.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

A Very Cryptid Christmas by D. B. Sieders, D.S. Dane, Su Fertall, Victoria Raschke, Wednesday Wheeler, Lulu M. Sylvian, E.C. Spaur, Gemma Snow

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

 What’s better than a holiday monster romance? More than one of course!!

This was an education on all popularity levels of cryptids, and a good smut read all in one, which is not something that is easily accomplished but done very well in my opinion. I really like the list of cyprids and I’m happy to note it wasn’t all the popular ones we see all the time. The pairings were all a healthy mix of spicy yet cute and most importantly all were unique as the creatures themselves.

I know you’re all wondering this.. And yes, some of these stories are true monster smut with fun hardware. The level of spice overall is less than I was anticipating but still a good amount, especially if you’re just getting started on your personal monster loving journey. 

A Very Cryptid Christmas Vol. 2 by D. B. Sieders, D.S. Dane, Su Fertall, Wednesday Wheeler, Mia Bishop, Lulu M. Sylvian, E.C. Spaur, Elva Birch

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

 

I was so impressed by how readers were treated to an entirely new volume of cryptid romances, while still preserving the same captivating vibes as the first.

What stood out most to me was the inclusion of different, often more obscure, cryptids. I truly appreciated this fresh take! I also loved how the stories maintained their focus on mythology and education, a nice element carried over from the previous volume. The holiday theme was still woven in seamlessly, which I expected and was happy to see hadn’t been lost.

When it comes to the romance, I enjoyed how the level of spice varied between stories, striking a great balance of SFW-ish and NSFW moments. The strong LGBTQIA+ representation was a fantastic surprise! Overall, I found myself liking this volume even more—it felt more modern and grounded, even with the cryptid MMCs.

 

Hospital for Immortal Creatures by Alexandrina Krusharska

adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

 Another day of me being bamboozled by a fantastic blurb yet being let down in the end.

This was a lot for a paranormal romance/thriller book. There are so many moving parts to the plot which can be hard enough to follow as is. But this time readers also get a large cast of characters who happen to all different creatures, and with extensive world buiding. All added together it turns into an exhausting but decent read. I think the biggest thing for me was having so much dry content to read through and file away for later for understanding.

The writing overall felt very dry to me. I didn’t feel connection to any characters and even the heartfelt scenes felt medicore to me. The spice was lackluster and totally skip worthy, which was a shame because… Monsters. This is also slow burn which I would normally enjoy but not this time. Mostly because the wait wasn’t even worth it.

Even with how many unique species there are, I still felt like most of them got the recognition and space to learn about their mythology and special talents. It may have made for a longer read but I really did enjoy diving deep into the world building. We got left at a pretty big cliffhanger, and I am a little worried to see how things progress. My hope that we wil get more emotion in book 2 and a continuation of the deep world building we already have started. 

The Gods Time Forgot by Kelsie Sheridan Gonzalez

adventurous slow-paced

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

3.0

 

I’m forever chasing the high I felt while reading Outlander and so I was super excited to give this a try! I found a few similar elements, but this remained an entirely unique novel.

To me this was a mediocre read. I found nothing overly incredible, nor anything atrocious about it. The plot summary read as intriguing, but the delivery of it diminished any excitement I had. I felt no strong attachment to the characters and found their hot and cold, back and forth attitudes with one another to be annoying after so long. I did think the Manhattan setting was unique especially given the time period.

The near entirety of this book’s mythology happens in the last few chapters which was annoying. There are bits and pieces that are given to readers earlier in the story but nothing major. Instead of having everything thrown at us at once I would have definitely preferred a slower and more gradual progression into the mythology. Even then it felt sloppy and not conjoined well at all. 

A Game of Veils by Eva Chase

adventurous dark emotional medium-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

4.0

I have had the pleasure of reading Eva Chase before and let me tell you she never misses on a why choose fantasy novel, including this one!

This is the perfect mix of Hunger Games, fantasy royalty, and why choose romance. The drama is top tier and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire read. The fantasy and magic aspect was done well in my opinion, though I was looking for more world building especially regarding the different gods of this world. I’m hopeful that book 2 will give us a better insight on the kingdom and the magic system. 

The enemies to lovers trope is verystrong which only means better and hotter spice scenes. 👀 At first I hated the men but they’ve grown on me and I’m so excited to see how they adapt in the next book. They’re all unique in their own right, both in powers and personalities which is so refreshing. Our FMC is a total badass and I felt for her during the entire trial. She’s truly a gem and I will keep on rooting for her in book 2!

Hunted for Christmas: A Dark Stalker Romance by Des Sweet

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.75

You know the feeling when you eat too much candy and get sick? That is literally the best way I can describe this book. It’s too much of a good thing (stalker romance) and ends up being a super weird and completely off the wall unrealistic read.

I know especially for stalker romances that sometimes readers have to have suspended belief because- well it’s fiction and most of this genre is littered with irl red flags. But this was way over the top dramatic for me. It was okay up until like 80% of the way through, and then it was a total nosedive into a weird and jumbled mess that became the ending. And I will be honest, the end ruined the entire rest of the story for me.

Normally I try my hardest to avoid spoilers because I believe reviews should help others decide to read the story, not be told the story. But because I found something to be a huge peeve of mine, I found I will include spoilers now: The fact that this man kept drugging her over and over again absolutely set me off. There is nearly no time for Hazel to become organically in love with him if she’s constantly drugged up beyond belief. I am all for dub-con and somo, but this is something totally different and absolutely outrageous.

The Land of Shadows by Seth Lowen

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.75

 

I had such high hopes for this book as I am always chasing the high of the classic high fantasy novels. Imagine my surprise when I found out just how similar it was to the novels I was reminiscing about.

Nothing about this book felt original besides the names. The entire book from start to finish was nearly a copy and paste of different plots, settings, ect between The Wheel of Time, Harry Potter, and literally any other high fantasy/magic novel. In every single chapter there was something I had seen or read about before which was mind-boggling to me. It felt like the entire book was cherry picked from a handful of other stories and mashed together.

It was hard to get past the copy paste in the first place, but I also found that the characters were overly bland. There was nothing unique about the brothers themselves besides their somehow incredible luck at having a famous dad and also miraculously being able to use the magic without a hitch, which was more than a little cliche. The villain also was so cookie cutter to just about every other villain I’ve read about it seemed almost pointless to have him in the story.

The magic system absolutely made 0 sense to me with hardly any background for the reader. It appeared it was within the brothers and students at the academy for no reason. As much as I normally love magic academies, this one fell short on so many levels. The brothers arrive in book 1 and we are subjected to chapters and chapters of meaningless time at the academy with no real understanding of their classes and lives besides the two of them joining the clan and participating the eventual school wide tournament.

This was not a good time for me, I will be honest. Nothing makes me more peeved at a book than not being unique, especially in such a popular genre. I had high hopes but all of them dashed. 

Motheater by Linda H. Codega

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-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

5.0

This was an absolute masterpiece showing the power of love, speaking intention, and the acceptance of grief. I finished this book the last day of the year and it easily became my favorite read of 2024. This rewrote my entire being twice over and broke my soul in the very best of ways.

There is a very strong religious undertone present here, but I didn’t feel it to be preachy or over the top. Instead, it added a deep level of mysticism and familiarity to the plot, one that I found myself loving over and over again. The magic system is one that I can confidently say is the most unique one that I have ever experienced in a novel. This is deep Appalachia at its core- it’s gritty, it’s powerful and it is filled with love and mystery. It took a while to grasp onto the concept since it is also very philosophical, but the more we learn about Motheater the deeper we dive into the mountain of both her life and her magic call to Kire Mountain.

I fell in love with these those two quicker than they did themselves. Both are so unique and at times worlds apart, but both have deep and unfathomable pain that brings them together. It is very slow burn, but I loved every moment of Bennie’s falling for Moth and how she tries to gain traction on not catching feelings. She fails but of course it’s cute 😂

The overall plot in itself was a masterpiece. I really like the split timeline between my theater’s life before and after bunny and I think it brought so much depth to the story. Prepared to be confused till about 50% of the way through, but I promise everything makes sense the end, and it is a journey in itself to discover the end of their story.

Power of Draken by Alex Lidell

adventurous

• 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

4.0

 

I’ve been a fan of Alex Lidell for some time and appreciate her ability to create incredible worlds and characters. This was no exception, and I had an incredible time getting lost in the new fantasy world we are introduced to.

The world building in Book 1 lays out a strong groundwork for this new series. It’s always exciting for me to read while the FMC in the training and realization phase of her purpose. I’m excited to see how much larger the reader’s world view gets as the four of them continue on their journey as right now it is a fairly limited scope. Per usual we did leave off with a cliffhanger, but I was expecting it which made it less bad and honestly, it wasn’t the absolute worst way to leave off a book.

I absolutely loved our FMC and her men. With this being a relatively slow burn and the first in the series I knew there wouldn’t be a ton of spice- but I absolutely loved what we got. I am eagerly awaiting when the entire crew gets together. I think it will be well worth the wait.