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smokedshelves's reviews
573 reviews
Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher
5.0
thank you to wednesday books and st. martin’s press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
lex croucher the author that you are!!
while GWART will always hold a supremely special place in my heart due to my pure love for anything arthurian, getting to experience their work in another retelling that i have less of an attachment to was truly a lovely experience. they made me laugh and fall in love with characters i never really thought i would ever fall in love with. and reading this book shortly before going to their publishing event in nyc and seeing them explain just why they picked certain moments or aspects of the story made me enjoy the story even more.
lex truly just has a way to imbue peak british humor completely throughout their stories. i was laughing the whole time at clem’s jokes. i was laughing at how serious mariel took herself even when there was no! need! to! the two of them becoming one of my favorite grumpy x sunshine pairings to date says a lot. genuinely, lex just has a way to make your soul feel lighter and fuller when reading their books. genuinely, i had the widest smile throughout the whole story. and it just reminded me why i loved their writing so much when i was introduced with them last year for GWART.
as many others have said, don’t go into this book expecting it to be plot based. we’re here for the vibes of riding around (often blindfolded in the back of a cart) throughout sherwood forest. we’re here for a rag-tag crew of misfits that are just doing their best to make the merry men crew proud. and if you can accept that it’s all vibes, little plot, i think you will truly love this book. it was just so fun. and sometimes that just what we need, ya know?
i can’t wait to see what other english mythological/historical figures they decide to write about next, but i will sure as hell be right there waiting to pick it up!
lex croucher the author that you are!!
while GWART will always hold a supremely special place in my heart due to my pure love for anything arthurian, getting to experience their work in another retelling that i have less of an attachment to was truly a lovely experience. they made me laugh and fall in love with characters i never really thought i would ever fall in love with. and reading this book shortly before going to their publishing event in nyc and seeing them explain just why they picked certain moments or aspects of the story made me enjoy the story even more.
lex truly just has a way to imbue peak british humor completely throughout their stories. i was laughing the whole time at clem’s jokes. i was laughing at how serious mariel took herself even when there was no! need! to! the two of them becoming one of my favorite grumpy x sunshine pairings to date says a lot. genuinely, lex just has a way to make your soul feel lighter and fuller when reading their books. genuinely, i had the widest smile throughout the whole story. and it just reminded me why i loved their writing so much when i was introduced with them last year for GWART.
as many others have said, don’t go into this book expecting it to be plot based. we’re here for the vibes of riding around (often blindfolded in the back of a cart) throughout sherwood forest. we’re here for a rag-tag crew of misfits that are just doing their best to make the merry men crew proud. and if you can accept that it’s all vibes, little plot, i think you will truly love this book. it was just so fun. and sometimes that just what we need, ya know?
i can’t wait to see what other english mythological/historical figures they decide to write about next, but i will sure as hell be right there waiting to pick it up!
The Sound of Storms by Anya Keeler
4.0
i would like to thank the author for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
when i saw this email pop in my inbox i was beyond intrigued and interested in the premise of this world, a queer normative world following fae and animal shifters. wracked with (elemental) magic, political intrigue, and an even unique religious entity that brings the characters’ known worlds to a slamming halt.
this indie debut shows promise for such an beautiful and successful future for this author. the book follows three main perspectives, one of our main girl and her two companions who have importance to the plots events in their own rights. i think anya places one-off perspectives very well into this story, giving us small insights into the minds of minor characters surrounding aria, our true main girl. they’re people who have importance to her world view and to her actions, and it gives us little tidbits and insights into their motivations without overwhelming us by having 5+ point of views. i think the way the perspectives moved between our characters was done so well that i was equally invested in each storyline. and whenever we switched perspectives as much as i wanted to know more from the character we were following, i was still very happy to be seeing more from another’s events.
while it was a bit slow going in the beginning, once we started having more interaction between the characters the pace truly started to pick up and i became more and more invested in the over-arching story. of these characters trying to go past their differences to fight a greater evil. i still have so many questions for why their battle even started (according to their shared god), of some lore that was introduced but never completely answered, and of the end scene between aria and luka. i think it was implied well enough that there’s a chance of a sequel for these characters. and i hope to see it, to get some answers and learn more of this world’s history!
in some parts while it was obvious that this was a debut since some storylines were a bit simplified, i think it shows such strong foundations for this author. i can’t wait to see her work grow, to see what she has in store. and i will be highly anticipating what’s next!
when i saw this email pop in my inbox i was beyond intrigued and interested in the premise of this world, a queer normative world following fae and animal shifters. wracked with (elemental) magic, political intrigue, and an even unique religious entity that brings the characters’ known worlds to a slamming halt.
this indie debut shows promise for such an beautiful and successful future for this author. the book follows three main perspectives, one of our main girl and her two companions who have importance to the plots events in their own rights. i think anya places one-off perspectives very well into this story, giving us small insights into the minds of minor characters surrounding aria, our true main girl. they’re people who have importance to her world view and to her actions, and it gives us little tidbits and insights into their motivations without overwhelming us by having 5+ point of views. i think the way the perspectives moved between our characters was done so well that i was equally invested in each storyline. and whenever we switched perspectives as much as i wanted to know more from the character we were following, i was still very happy to be seeing more from another’s events.
while it was a bit slow going in the beginning, once we started having more interaction between the characters the pace truly started to pick up and i became more and more invested in the over-arching story. of these characters trying to go past their differences to fight a greater evil. i still have so many questions for why their battle even started (according to their shared god), of some lore that was introduced but never completely answered, and of the end scene between aria and luka. i think it was implied well enough that there’s a chance of a sequel for these characters. and i hope to see it, to get some answers and learn more of this world’s history!
in some parts while it was obvious that this was a debut since some storylines were a bit simplified, i think it shows such strong foundations for this author. i can’t wait to see her work grow, to see what she has in store. and i will be highly anticipating what’s next!
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
3.0
for a book about multiple heists i really wish there were, well... more heists.
Prince of the Palisades by Julian Winters
3.0
thank you to viking books for young readers and penguin teen for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
in the synposis of this book it’s comparable books are young royals and red, white, & royal blue. both media pieces that i’ve consumed and absolutely adore. and while i totally see the comparison to these two titles, unfortunately i did not fall into complete love with prince of the palisades as i had with it’s comp titles.
unfortunately, for me, i felt that the relationship moved quite quickly and felt a bit under developed. i wish we had more of a chance to see jadon and reiss experience each other in their high school life, through theater, through classes before throwing the plot straight back to jadon’s responsibilities as a prince. not just their relationship but also the whole story felt so rushed. and maybe that’s on me for listening to the story on 2.5x speed in one sitting while doing busy work. but i listen to all my books on that that speed and normally i’m not feeling like i’m missing pivotal bonding moments in the romances. but from what we did have, i loved it. i found jadon and reiss to be a lovely little couple and i actually could see them working out in the long term, even with the bumps they had throughout the story.
i never want to say this about a queer romance, especially one by an author of color, but it felt so commercial?? i know it’s a YA book but the conflict and its’ resolution definitely felt a like a bow being tied on a christmas present. it was such a quick and nonchalant ending. i guess i was wishing for more pining? more angst?? who knows.
overall this was sweet and short. i honestly find this like a holiday-adjacent (hallmark if you will?) romance. and i definitely see the place it has and can absolutely appreciate the story for what it brought. still hoping for more of a win from julian winters on a personal level!
Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann
2.0
i really wanted to love this given i rave about the romantic agenda but this just dragged on :/