skyhigh_99's reviews
187 reviews

This Spells Disaster by Tori Anne Martin

lighthearted medium-paced

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

2.75

This book had a good premise, but considering the author wanted to be considerate of bodily autonomy, she went about it in completely the wrong way. You can’t just ignore and hold off on telling someone that you accidentally gave them a love potion and believe that’s the least traumatic way to go about the situation.

There were some cute moments, but lying about the love potion and Morgan’s constant self deprecation ruined the book for me.

Scream For Us by Molly Doyle

dark fast-paced

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

4.25

Literally so good, but also miss a few extra scenes that would’ve made this book perfect

One of Us is Dead by Jeneva Rose

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Literally so good! It’s all the drama/scandal of a reality show meets a murder mystery. The back and forth between present and past keeps you guessing on who could have possibly died as well as who the murderer is. There are several twists that keep you on your toes and several made my jaw drop. This was so much fun to read!

The Long Game by Elena Armas

funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

It had the same charm as Elena’s other books, but it felt super rushed and that it was missing key elements to make it better. Adalyn is really dis likable and really never redeems herself. The story was okay, but the ending really lost me. They were acting as if the problem was end all or be all when in reality it wasn’t. Also Cam kept saying he was playing the long game, but by the time he said that Adalyn wasn’t fighting him back, and then he said it wasn’t a game for him so what was the point of all that. This book just missed the mark for me, but it still had sweet/funny rom-com moments.

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.5

This book was exciting and I did enjoy it in the moment. But had I known what I know now about the second book…. I probably wouldn’t have read it in the first place.

The Quiet Tenant by Clémence Michallon

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I really enjoyed listening to this as an audiobook, there’s different narratives for each female character and I feel like it gave the book a lot more feeling than had I just physically read it. This is a slower paced book, but the tension slowly builds on and makes you not want to put it down. I loved that this story was focused on the women’s perspective and that even though Aiden is the center of their worlds, his impact on each person was completely different.

I also enjoyed that there wasn’t an immediate escape plan. It’s very frustrating to see the missed opportunities that would’ve led to Rachel escaping earlier, but she’s also severely traumatized. It’s so easy for people to say “well i would’ve done this…” but in reality we don’t know what we would actually do in these situations or what our thought process would be like. 

(Slight spoilers)

A few issues I had with the book was Emily as a whole. She acts like a high schooler who is getting attention from guys for the first time. I understand why she was written the way she was, but given that her and Aiden only talked for seemingly a few weeks, she needed a serious reality check. I also didn’t like that towards the end we focused more on Emily coping with everything vs Rachel’s perspective after everything that happened. 

This is a little issue, but I wish the women had actually come together to save each other. It seemed like that was the premise of the book, but Rachel really was the only person to help herself and she didn’t connect with the Cecilia or Emily really at all.

Flawless by Elsie Silver

adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This was so sweet and fun to read, I knew I’d love it because who doesn’t love a good cowboy story, but this was *chefs kiss*. My only complaint is that we didn’t get a moment between the couple in the truck under the stars since those moments were mentioned so much in the book. Also the milk jokes were 10/10.

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.25

This was very boring and forgettable. The huge cliff hanger it’s left on isn’t even interesting enough to want to read the rest of the trilogy. The plot was confusing and the romance was so dull, no part of this book was enjoyable.

Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer

adventurous challenging dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

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

4.75

It reminded me of a mashup of ‘Despicable Me’ & a 2000’s rom com… It was just so much fun to read and I can’t wait for the rest of the series! However, since finding out this is going to be a trilogy, I believe the romance and plot will get better in the next two books. I didn’t realize this was a series so when I was almost done with the book and the characters hadn’t even kissed I was very confused. As a stand alone though, this book doesn’t really hold up. Since this book is advertised as a romance first, I really wish they would’ve at least romantically kissed. Overall, it was a fun read, but I really hope for more for the rest of the trilogy.

Cruel Seduction by Katee Robert

adventurous dark emotional funny tense 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

4.25

Katee does not ever miss. This was so good and I loved seeing more of the enemy side (Minos and his people) of the start of the fall of Olympus. The only negative thing I can think of is that i constantly wanted Aphrodite in a power pant suit instead of her work dresses. I also wish we saw more of Aphrodites and pandoras relationship develop, but with four main characters it’s hard to fully develop every relationship in the poly knot. Given how much is going on in this book, I think the story does a good job of developing the relationships while also diving deeper into the bigger issues regarding Minos and the future of Olympus.