tbrthatneverends's reviews
16 reviews

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Just finished reading, and... wow. 

I went into this book completely blind, aside from hearing the content warnings. I wasn't expecting to read this incredibly gorgeous, whimsical prose that made the book truly feel like a fairytale. yet it has realism in all the right places. it's slow paced, but i didn't mind because I loved reading the prose so much, and i found that there was just enough action in between to not get boring. 

I will also say that this book isn't the one to read if you're looking for a good romance. while not entirely unbelievable, it wasn't nearly as developed as the rest of the story, although honestly it didn't mind that much either. 

TL;DR: 
the prose is too beautiful and the story is too captivating to give this less than 5 stars

Manacled by SenLinYu

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

For non-book records, review text and ratings are hidden. Only mood, pace, and content warnings are visible.

Doctor D'Arco, Sorcerer Of London: A Victorian Gothic Romance by Kathryn Colvin

dark mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

2.75

For me, this book dragged. it was interesting for the first 20%-30%, then after that, until about 70% it just seemed to drag on and on; with the stuffy gentlemen, the endless talking, the use of the same 7 adjectives over and over, the nothing happening...

Then we hit the 70% mark, and *minor spoilers*

they kiss, we get Victor's backstory (which is so weird and honestly a bit confusing), they do nothing but fuck for 10% of the book while nothing happens (still)!!! also, at this point this book turns into every other book in this genre, with the *surprised Pikachu face* its soooo big, how will it ever fit?!?!? and he's a secret sex god (shocker).

and then we get the big fight with Gremio we've been nonstop talking about for more than half the book, and it's confusing and then the book ends.

TL;DR: the magic system was interesting, the tension was very high and historical romance-esque (which I enjoyed), but it tells way too much with next to no showing, and it falls completely off the rails at the end. 

Black and Deep Desires by Claire Trella Hill

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

This book was written fantastically, paced well, and the first ~75% was so hard to put down!! i just felt as though the last ~25% and especially the ending was just.. confusing? not quite thought out enough??

the ending was way too confusing for me and not in a good way. too many ideas and concepts and it felt like it was haphazardly thrown together because the author had too many ideas and didn't know how to properly end the story. 

The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

The premise of this book is so interesting!! It has a unique setting (during the Spanish Golden Age), and a unique and simplistic magic system - both of which I loved. 

I also loved the complexity of the characters. None are simply good or evil, they're all a mix of both. It's very realistic and I enjoyed that very much. As well as the writing style - it reminded me of an old/original fairy tale, and I don't see many authors writing that way now. 

I had two main issues with this book, though: 

1. The pacing in the beginning was kind of really slow. Like up until almost the torneo, it was pretty slow. 

2. this is kind of more of a personal issue, but some of the Spanish words i had issues finding translations for which had me a bit confused on some words. if I had been reading a paperback instead of on my kindle, I probably would've DNF'd. 

Shadows so Cruel by Liv Zander

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Is this book dark and problematic? yes. 

did I love it? also yes. 

These things are not mutually exclusive. 

the ending crushed me. I sobbed. It makes sense even though it makes me sad. I love it so much. 

Feathers So Vicious by Liv Zander

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

While I predicted half of the big twist at the end, i still loved this book so much. the characters are so complex and the magic is so interesting.

It is also extremely dark so please check TW's before reading!!

Sea of Ruin by Pam Godwin

adventurous dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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

4.25

This book is dark. especially in the beginning and at the end. however, something about it was just so fun that I read it all in one sitting!! the FMC was witty, girly, and authentically herself without being bratty or a Mary Sue. And the MMC

both of them

was fun! and hot!! 

There were some obvious issues but I just had too much fun to care. 

A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J. Maas

adventurous 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? No

3.0

I think my least favorite part about these books is the formula. shit happens at the beginning, 90% of the middle is filler, and then shit happens at the end. overall shit only really happens for 20% of the entire 700 page book. for all the non math nerds, that's less than 150 pages where shit actually happens. 

I'm tired of the mates thing, it's super overused. I'm tired of the "what is the highest of all the high stakes you've ever read and how can I make it higher than that?" honestly I'm just tired of these books lol. 

It was just okay. Better than the first, worse than the second. The MCs are together now so all the tension (aside from the upcoming war nobody will let you forget about for even a second). 

In my opinion, there's no need for more books in this series!! the ending here was good enough for me. also i just don't care about the characters enough to read more lol

TL;DR:
I don't have much to say. same general formula as the previous ones (aka so much middle filler). if you didn't like the first two, you won't like this one. book 2 is the best of the series imo. Will not be continuing.