southernbibliomom's reviews
181 reviews

The Christmas Tree Farm by Laurie Gilmore

lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.0

This is a cute rom-com along the lines of a Hallmark movie if Hallmark showed us what happens behind closed bedroom doors. Kira is flighty. Her whole existence up to this point has been to push back against her wealthy parents’ expectations by making the worst decisions possible. Bennett is in town for a month to visit his sister Jeannie (from The Pumpkin Spice Cafe). He’s Mr. Fix It. He feels the need to help wherever he can and unfortunately has been taken advantage of. They both swear off the opposite sex in an effort to change their ways. Kira to be responsible after impulse buying an old falling down Christmas tree farm and Bennett from falling for girls who just use him for favors. But fate and the town of Dream Harbor step in. What started as a town mission for Bennett turns to a holiday fling with them both wondering if it could be more. It’s cute and funny and a quick read!

Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous challenging emotional slow-paced

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

3.75

I’m going to be honest. This one took me awhile to read. I know this is a wildly popular series, but I find it incredibly slow. The first 1/2 almost is slow and laborious. Once I got over that hump, I finished the rest within 48 hours. It picks up, I finally got invested. I am hoping that pattern is not the next book. Once it got going, it was really good. The complexities of the characters. How they are having to figure out where they stand. There were parts where my whole self tensed wondering what would happen when Celaena found out. She’s a magnificently flawed heroine. That makes her seem more real. She struggles with what to do and that seems genuine. Again, it’s a great story that just drags so much in the beginning. 

Iron Flame (Parts 1 & 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I listened to the graphic audio version in my reread to get ready for Onyx Storm. It’s excellent!

Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare

funny lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Home Is Where the Bodies Are by Jeneva Rose

emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

This book is a quick thriller that centers around three siblings (Beth, Nicole, and Michael), who have come together to lay their recently deceased mother to rest. While staying in their childhood home, they discover a videotape that seems to show their parents’ involvement with a town mystery. As they try to navigate what to do and how much their parents are responsible for, they also must learn whether they want to be a family again and to forgive the hurts. I liked the family aspect of it. It seemed real. How the hurts and frustrations would bubble up. How you would be reeling after the discovery they initially made, and then each discovery after. However, the twist is just not a twist. I don’t think I was 1/3 of the way in when I called it. In fact, it’s pretty obvious. And because I had figured it out so quickly, there were some boring parts of the book. It’s fine just not great.

Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I know that this is a beloved series. But this book was so ssssslllllooooowwww. I like Celaena. She’s been through some stuff and is still strong and able to inspire people to follow her. This just took so long to get going for me. The last 1/4 of the book is really good. But it was hard to get to that point. I will keep reading the series as I hear it gets to superb status soon.

Fourth Wing (Parts 1 & 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros

adventurous challenging inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I already did a review of this book when I read it with my eyes. For the reread I listened to this dramatized version. I thought it was outstanding and I still am not over Liam!

The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

How dare the author leave me on that emotional cliffhanger with the next book not coming out until September! I will always listen to these on audible because the narrator is *chef’s kiss* - just everything you want in a dream narrator. This installment finds Strike and Robin investigating a cult. Not just a small one either. One that has ties to celebrity and has been “controversial” for decades. However, when a wealthy family wants help talking to their son who is immersed in said cult and cut off communication, Robin decides to go undercover. For months she is indoctrinated, starved, over worked, and punished by this brutal cult. But Robin is stronger than they think. And her connection to Strike comes through beautifully. This is the best installment so far. It has the cult, the tension where I was literally talking out loud to the characters, and then of course the relationship between Strike and Robin. Robin is now in a relationship with Ryan Murphy who we met the last book, but will that one prevail? Strike of course makes the mistake he always seems to make when he is trying to get over Robin, but I won’t spoil it, you do see some real growth from him here. And then the ending. Listening to the lay out of the case was great, but it’s the very end in a moment between Strike and Robin with Murphy interrupting, that I am not sure I will forgive the author for. I need resolution! 

The Mindf*ck Series by S.T. Abby

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy wow! FBI agent falls for a serial killer. But this killer has a rhyme and reason. What happens when the monster is the hero and the heroes are really the monsters? What happens when justice is denied? What do you do when the ones who are supposed to stand up, choose to hide it all … again? I finished the whole series in 24 hours. It kept me hooked and definitely asking what does justice mean. I really loved the main female character. She was strong and smart yet vulnerable. A serious page turner!

Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney

challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Wow! This definitely kept me up too late turning just 1 more page! It is so tense and such a wild ride. Told from the perspectives of three characters, it keeps you just off balance enough. The story centers around husband and wife Adam and Amelia who are coming to Scotland to holiday at a remote chapel turned vacation home as a way to save their marriage. They both have secrets, but it’s the house and a mysterious woman who lives on the property that become their immediate concern. Who is she? What does she want? Who really got them to this particular vacation rental? And will they all make it out? So many swings for me in this and man what a twist! Highly recommend!!