taliabasma's reviews
881 reviews

Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense 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

4.0

Aggh I really enjoyed this one but DAMN I WISH she would have told him the truth 😆 I will say the ending was stellar as per usual! And the romance was fierce & fun.

The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson
Did not finish book. Stopped at 2%.

I wanted dual POV for this 

Paper Princess by Erin Watt
Did not finish book.

Didn’t even start bc brothers love triangles and bulky romances are not really my vibe….def thought this was gonna be smth else from the cover lol

How to Choose a Guy in 10 Days by Lila Monroe
Did not finish book. Stopped at 1%.

Idk the whole “omg three dates and you didn’t sleep with him” really turned me off. It’s not the first book to do this nor is it the last but it particularly read eh to me and it was only 2 pages in lol

A Kingdom This Cursed and Empty by Stacia Stark

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

There’s are too many characters for me to properly keep up with lol but it’s fine bc overall this book’s storyline is pretty juicy. 

I do think this series has a solid balance of internal and external drama for a romantacy. 

BUT I DO WANNA KNOW

IF THEY ARE FATED HOW DIDNT HE KNOW WHEN HE LEFT HER TO DIE IN BOOK ONE?!

What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic: Unpuzzling a Life on the Autism Spectrum by Annie Kotowicz

5.0

As a 27 yr old woman, this was super helpful and informative. I’m 98% sure I have autism but 2% of me is doubtful bc of the “stereotypical traits” I don’t have or not sure if I’ve just been masking my whole life. Like maybe I’m just trying to subconsciously be a “pick me” 😔🫣.

Buttttt after listening to this, I do feel less ridiculous about my pendulum about if I’m autistic or not. The spectrum is a spectrum and in true patriarchal scientific fashion, the diagnosis processes is not fully inclusive of women. 

Also I generally never finish non fiction after graduating school so even though it is 3 hrs long, finishing it is a huge win. 5 stars because I would probably listen to this again if I ever wanted to brush up my context around autism—but it’s unlikely and with nonfiction, my bar is lower bc i don’t read much variety. 

The Bribe by Willa Nash, Devney Perry
Did not finish book. Stopped at 50%.

Yeah I wanted to push through but I don’t care about them much. I was curious about her reason for running but now that I know, I’m good. Might try the other books though to see what happens bc the other plots sound interesting. 

But rn this sheriff isn’t doing it for me lol 

Babymoon or Bust by Ava Hunter

emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-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

4.0

I’m not a huge fan of the baby trope and while I do enjoy a mushy head over heels love story this book was very heavy on the Insta-love which I’m also not crazy for.

However, I did love that they didn’t have the main male lead be the sleaze ball who slept with her and ditched her. Someone felt Tessie deserved better bc his love for is first wife but idk I think it was a healthy balance of love and grief over his first wife vs his love for Tessie. Someone else mentioned Tessie being a dumb name and I agree, Tessie is a nickname. Her name should have been Tessa or Tess bc I could not take Tessie seriously lol. 

Now for the climax — the third act “break up” was not needed when there were 3 other high intensity plot points after that. I know the fights are a prerequisite and wrote it myself but

Tessie almost DYING felt like a solid climax enough lol

Deep Kiss of Winter by Gena Showalter, Kresley Cole

hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

3.75

I actually quite liked this book even though it wasn’t as “intense” as other books in the series thus far. It was a good palette cleanser in terms of the severity of the drama in this one, especially because it’s covering such a long period of time and it refers to a lot of the drama that happened in the books before this one. 

That said, the whole Ice queendom, being displaced, getting it back, abdicating. It was dealt with very lightly and as if she was talking about her “childhood home” as opposed to a WHOLE PEOPLES AND “COUNTRY”. One her mother died trying to get back. I think if they made reference to her mom saying “you will find your way back, but it may not be home” or something, it would help with her logic that her mom just wanted her to be happy, but otherwise we are just trusting that at face value. And I think this levity feels more extreme when the Wode brothers were just before this and getting their kingdom back was DO OR DIE. With that off my chest, the loop whole for them as a couple was cute and totally made sense, idk how I didn’t see it coming sooner.

The Rules by Lauren H. Mae
Did not finish book. Stopped at 4%.

Idk something about this author’s writing doesn’t do it for me 😔