raereadssmut's reviews
72 reviews

The Risk by S.T. Abby

challenging dark informative mysterious 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

5.0

I’m all for vigilante justice 👀 I absolutely ATE this book up!!!!! The plot is AMAZING!!!! 5000⭐️ omg

No one disturb me while I’m finishing this series pls and thx 🫶🏻

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Murder, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Vomit, Death of parent, and Child death

Just Call Me Confidence by Stella Grae

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

So this novella was HOT 🥵 this was very well written and super fast paced which I loved! Some of the conversations that happened seemed kind of weird, I think it might’ve been the way things were worded but Travis’s character just seemed very immature. 

I really enjoyed Collin! He seemed like an old soul which I felt was very relatable, it made me connect with him more than the other characters. 

Jenna was able to find her confidence in and out of the bedroom! She was definitely a MILF and I enjoyed this story so much 🖤 

𝑰’𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒘𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂 𝒎𝒂𝒏’𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒔.

Tropes:

•Love Triangle

•Reverse Age Gap 

•Confident Cougar 😉

•Surprise Pregnancy 🫣

•Single mom 

•Insta-love 

How does it feel? by Jeneane O'Riley

adventurous dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Wowowowow!!!! Okay this book is definitely my favorite read of 2024 and I’m fairly certain it will remain in my Top 5 this entire year!!!! 

Here’s some cute lil tid bits 🤭

“𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢!” 𝙄 𝙮𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙, 𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙥𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙩! 𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙣𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙮. “𝙃𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

“𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙, 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪.”

𝙄 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨, 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙄 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙞𝙧.

And last but certainly not least…

“𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡?” 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙, 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙡𝙮. “𝙏𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚? 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙖 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙨𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙤𝙧.”

I just LOVE when the title is in the book 🤭😍 

And omfg I almost forgot to mention that TWIST tho???? I did NOT see that coming and that cliff!!!!!!!!!! I cannot wait for book 2 to be released next month!!!!! 

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

challenging dark informative reflective tense slow-paced

3.0

This book was honestly just “meh” for me. For it being labeled as a thriller, it wasn’t very thrilling. 

We learn about Ansel, who’s scheduled to be executed, through the lives of the women he encountered. 

I didn’t feel connected to a single character. I might’ve felt a bit more connected to Saffy but even then it wasn’t a strong one. It seemed although the author wanted us to empathize with Ansel, I could be wrong about that but that’s kind of what I got after reading this. Ansel is trash and you can’t change my mind about that. He got what he deserved. 

Also to add, the lack of quotation marks infuriated me. 

Better Left Unsaid by Princess Berry

challenging emotional funny inspiring tense medium-paced

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

4.5

4.5⭐️ 

The beginning was pretty sad, but it’s a buildup for who our FMC, Luna, becomes as a person. Luna is a ballet dancer working her butt off to become a principal ballerina. She meets Nick and it’s hate at first sight! 

Honestly the banter between these two was hilarious and I kept looking forward to their next interaction! The way Nick helped Luna through the first panic attack made my heart flutter. Even though he didn’t really care for her at that time, he still did everything he could to help her through it. 

I loved reading an FMC that struggles with anxiety and panic attacks because I can’t heavily relate to it since I personally struggle from the same. It can be extremely hard and debilitating trying to get yourself out of a panic attack because all you can focus on is your lack of oxygen and breathing. Nick being able to help calm her down and elevate her breathing made me love him even more. 

I do not like Dean at all!!!! I’m glad Gia was able to admit she was wrong and was trying to extend an olive branch to Luna near the end, and I’m glad Luna finally set some boundaries with them. 

There was a very heavy use of the terms “first of all, second of all / firstly, secondly” which got very very redundant which is why I rated 4.5. But overall I LOVED this book! 

The ending does end on a cliff, but it’s a cliff for Gia. I think book two will be about Gia and Dean. I’m so excited for when it’ll be released! 

A Bouquet of Viscera by Bridgett Nelson, Ronald Kelly

dark fast-paced

4.25

Absolutely loved these short stories!! I think my favorite one was “Spores” because it gave me The Last Of Us vibes and fungi is very smart and can learn to live in any environment it’s given the opportunity to live in…. 

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy

adventurous challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

Let me preface this review by saying this book is heavy. I started it in October 2023 and have now finally finished it in January 2024. This is not a book you’re going to read and feel good while reading. It is 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚. 

With that being said, Migrations is about a not so distant future where the climate is changing rapidly and the animals and sea life have gone near extinct. Franny Stone sets sail with a group of fishermen to follow the Arctic Terns on their final migration. 

There was something about Franny that I found solace in. She was lonely. And incredibly exhausted. She is suicidal which we know throughout the book, but don’t learn why until near the end. We learn about her past and everything that occurred to bring her to where she is right now. Being inside her mind was devastating and heartbreaking. And I think Niall was an incredibly symbolic character.

This was a fairly slow book, there isn’t going to be a huge climax awaiting for you at the end. You just learn about how the world as Franny knows it is dying, slowly. And I think that is the ultimate climax. While the ending is a bit hopeful, it still left me feeling emotional and angry for the planet we are slowly killing. 

McConaghy has written an incredibly emotional and phenomenal story about a dying world, grief, and loss. 

The Witness by A.N. Boyden

dark funny tense fast-paced

4.0

I’m so torn on Damian!!!! Do I love him??? Do I hate him??? I literally don’t know?? 

Damian is a serial unaliver posing as a Jehovahs Witness when he sets his eyes on Grace, a preachers daughter. He decides to make Grace his 17th victim….. but when the circumstances change he finds himself falling for her, and she’s falling for him! 

The ending leaves on a major cliff and now I have to read the sequel to find out how it all goes down! 

How will this all play out? Will Damian finally get caught? Not me hoping he doesn’t get caught tho!! 😂 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexism

Hidden in Shadows by Viveca Sten

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Detectives Hannah and Daniel are investigating the murder of Johan in this mystery thriller! Their investigation leads them to a woman named Rebecka who hasn’t been seen or heard from in 5 days. Rebecka has endured violent abuse from her husband, Ole, but when she tries to reach out for help she’s met with “oh he’s a pastor he could never”. 

The two stories of the man found dead in the snow and missing Rebecka come together in the end for a twist I did NOT see coming! 

There were quite a bit of characters, which got a bit confusing for me at times, but they all played an important role and made this story all the better! 

4.5⭐️ I highly recommend!! 

TW:

•Murder

•Attempted murder of mother and unborn child

•Cult-like religion 

•Suicide

•DV 

•Mentions of infertility 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Infertility

On the Count of Three by AJ Nicole

dark tense fast-paced

4.5

This novella by AJ Nicole was absolutely salacious and I ATE UP every minute of it!!! 

Who knew smutty wrestler novellas were so hot?? 

4.5⭐️ because the ending doesn’t really convey what happens with Nova’s situationship with the other two men. Will Zayd learn to share or did he stake him claim to Nova? 

This book definitely has the potential to be a full novel! And I think it’s what the people demand!!! I want more of Nova and her three men!! 😍😍 

“Sometimes, your only job is to get pinned, little star. Now, hold still and don’t you dare think about running. I don’t like chasing my meal.”

Ok I’ll hold still 👀