royda88's reviews
60 reviews

Never Grow Up by Jackie Chan

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

The Science of Attraction by Jay Hogan

adventurous emotional informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

Another one that I felt that I needed to review. For the first half of the book, I really enjoyed it. I liked that Jules was bi and gave me a chance to read about that. The portrayal of what an occupational therapist does was very fascinating. 

What I'm about to write is going to sound weird since I have gone out of my way to read pure smut writing before. I found myself reading the spicy parts faster just to get through the book. Right when they start sleeping together, the whole book was too predictable. Like, I could see everything falling into place predictable. Just writing about it makes me more annoyed about it. Anyway, I enjoyed the first part up until they got together then after that, it became a predictable mess where the reveals seem to come at a weird pace and really seems to not be realistic to me. I don't even know if anybody would understand what I just wrote but there we have it. I finished the trilogy. 

The Mechanics of Lust by Jay Hogan

emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Don't usually review books that I finished but this needed one. I actually enjoyed the first part of the book. The conflict between Luke and Zach was understandable and was believable. Once they got together and started their "friends with benefits" thing that isn't a thing, I found their reasons so annoying. 

I understand their journey of grief is different but does it have to be said and made a point of? I'm pretty sure we didn't forget that Luke is grieving and is having a hard time dealing with it. It doesn't help that Zach didn't have the emotional stability that Luke needed. 

Everything resolved rather fast with a lot of gratuitous sex sprinkled in there. For people that keep saying they didn't want a relationship, they didn't do a very good job of staying away from each other. Maybe its the predictabiity of the ending that annoyed me more than anything. Still reading the third.

Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.

Characters and situations were not doing it for me. I'm all for a forbidden affair but when it's the constant thought of one of the main characters and it's the ultimate boss/subordinate trope, it just didn't work for me. Maybe I'll get back to it when I'm in a different mood. I find the espionage and intrigue and plot of the book very interesting and that has probably been the reason this book was even in my reading list in the first place. But poor character ethical decisions does not float my boat. I'll visit again in the future maybe. 

Becoming by Michelle Obama

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

5.0

The Art of Husbandry by Jay Hogan

adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

For the Fans by Nyla K.

dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing fast-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

4.75

Ship It by Britta Lundin
Did not finish book. Stopped at 5%.

After the obvious fancition section at the very beginning, I thought I was going to enjoy this book. I've been in and out of fandom for decades and always enjoy my time there in all its forms. But I have never seen nor experienced what the first few pages this book tries to set up. 

I grew up in a small town in South Carolina so I know a little bit about country boys and hiding in plain sight when reading about ships. I came from New York City so it doesn't get any more big city than that. I already had a bad feeling when the main character is so self-invovled that I don't think she even hears what she's saying. 

Anyway, I knew I should 't have started this book since the main character was a girl and I don't read anything with a girl in it as a main character. I'm sad I paid for it but I guess lesson learned. 

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

adventurous informative lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

Need for Speed by Brooke Blaine, Ella Frank
Did not finish book. Stopped at 46%.

I just couldn't emphatize with the main characters. Solo's attitude just rubs me the wrong way and I'm usually up for reading about bad boys with golden hearts. Panther was a little better and you get to see some of the reasons why he's so uptight but it wasn't enough for me to be on his side. While I got through the first book relatively fast, I just can't with this one. Maybe I'll come back to this later and pick it back up again.