the_spicy_readers_club's reviews
44 reviews

Into the Woods by K.C. Enders

adventurous dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

4.0

A deliciously dark mafia retelling of Winnie the Pooh. It’s got childhood friends reunited over the death of Winnie’s parents…. But not as friends. 

The chemistry and want between these characters were so good. Balanced really well between the anger of their current relationship. 

I’m not sure I love virgin auctions as a new trope but this one worked well. And there was just enough Mafia violence to tie everything together. 

Luc and Lila by JodiMarie Meyer

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

So I’m not normally a big stories of the Bible fan but I do love a creative retelling, which this is. I loved the world building in this world as well as interesting characters. 

The story telling was a little slow for me, especially with the dual timeline. I didn’t really feel like it picked up till 60/70% in. I also thought there was going to be more romance than there was. I think if I didn’t go into thinking that or there was more romance I would have rated it higher. That being said, the ending was worth the read. I would be interested in continuing this series. 

Thanks for letting me arc read this!

The Sacrificial Rose by Olivia Renner

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

This fantasy book is a fun ride with great world building and an interesting twist that is the roses. I loved the imagery in this book and what life was like for the Roses. 

However this book is full of dark betrayal and horrible people. There are very few redeemable characters in this book. The FMC is definitely naive and helpless. She drove me insane since she couldn’t listen to a single bit of advice and kept getting herself in worse situations. I empathize with her a lot of the times, because yes I would be like that too but maybe not that much. It didn’t help that this world and every character has secrets galore. Again it gives it a sense of realism but a little to much for my liking. I felt like things never got explained well enough for me, the reader, and that was frustrating. Maybe the next books will give me more the answers I seek? 

Either way, I enjoyed this read and I will continue the series. 

Thanks for letting me be an arc reader for this! 

The Staff of Beckoning by Praneet menon

adventurous challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

First off, I would like to say how amazing this audiobook was. For how full and complete this world was, the narrator had a large task in front of him. I felt like I was sitting by a fire and a wise wizard was creating the scenes with only his voice.
He was able to create so many characters that had a distinct feel to each of them. I was never confused who was speaking and he brought multiple accents and genders to life. 

This ability the narrator had was made easier by the  writings of the author. In this epic novel, the author built multiple povs of characters from across many different lands and cultures. The world was built with lush details but did not weigh the writing down with too much flourishing language. I was so able to picture the world and the people so easily in this novel. Their cultures and beliefs so embedded in writing that it never felt forced or a bog to read. I love the depth of character everyone had, especially the women. They were strong and complex and not side notes in this story. 

The ending and deaths of this novel were shocking but never used for shock value. This was a well crafted story, with so much love and respect built into, that I enjoyed every minute of this story. (And it is long story). Thank you Praneet for reaching out to me and gifting me this beautiful story to listen and review. I feel deeply honored. 

House of Night by Celia Aaron

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

Omg this book! What a wild ride. An FMC, cdc scientist, that is missing memories in a dystopian, plague and vampire horror world….. just yes. It was giving walking dead season 1, a little American horror story and a whole lot of Manacled. Iykyk. It’s was a truly gripping, although frustrating (in the best way) story where the reader is trying to figure out what is happening and what has happened… with only snippets of recovered diary entries. I hope we learn more of the plague in book two. I can’t wait for the sequel and to be getting more answers.

Thank you Nerd Fam for the chance to read this arc. 

Prince of Pain by Tara Gallina

dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

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

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️🌶️
This story hooked me right off the back. I loved the telling of the two MCs story from childhood. I had tingles while reading the first half of this book. I was feeling the betrayal and confusion of the FMC. I also wanted to know how he could do that to her. Then the confusion of what their relationship had me fully engaged. 

Then after the half way point I did feel the back and forth was a little repetitive. I kept thinking  something bad was going to happen at any point only to never have that happen. I also felt the reasons for everything happening was not high enough stakes. 

By the end of the book, I realized my want for more higher stakes is from reading much darker romances. I had forgotten the author said this would be a lightly dark romance and it is soooo lightly dark I would put in the grey world. This was just a little fluffier than I expected it but overall really enjoyed it. 

Thanks to Tara and Love.Notes Pr for letting me read this arc. 

Sophie's Ruin by V.I. Davis

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️.5
Im so glad I continued on with this series. I was here for Sophie’s villian arc. I think it was really well done and I understood her decisions completely. Evil comes out of desperation. 

I also really appreciate getting a more fleshed out world, which was one of my critiques from book 1. In this one we got more lore, more character building, and felt better paced. 

I would also like to thank the author for allowing me to read this Arc and happy release day! 

Josephine's Tear by V.I. Davis

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

Overall I enjoyed this read. The plot was compelling: a girl, searching for an artifact made by her mother to destroy the vampires and witches, offers herself up for selection to be a vessel to the said vampire. While living under the vampires roof, she finds her captor not so bad and has to rely on him for help to find the artifact. 

I did find the writing needed a little more fleshing out. There were so many compelling plot points that I felt like we bounce from too quickly. I also felt the relationship between the two main characters could have been built up more. The vampire just felt like a golden retriever the whole time. However the storyline was good enough that I would continue this series, even with these critiques. 

A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley

emotional inspiring lighthearted 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? It's complicated

3.5

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
🌶️

What a cute little romance book. It has second chance romance and takes place in a cupcake store run by NFL players. What else can you ask for? The fmc is the sister of one of the store owners who is trying to get her dream social media manager job. In order to show this job she has the chops she starts to run the cupcake store social media account. Unfortunately that means working with her old crush and other store owners, August,  her brother’s best friend and team mate. August has gone viral for a pro female speech that has all the ladies swooning. So now she has to work closely with him to promote the store. And man does tension and sparks fly. I had a great time reading this book. This is the second standalone book in this universe but I didn’t realize when I picked it up and had no problem starting with this one. 

A Court Bright and Broken by Amy Patrick

adventurous emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a fast comfort read of a book. It’s like Cinderella or Ella Enchanted met ACOTAR had a baby. Human girl, fae prince. It feels familiar but with a twist. And so many twists it had but the one I loved was that the fmc keeps her head on her shoulders while being romanced by a fae prince and refuses to be helped by him. It was refreshing. I am very excited for the next book and the development of some of the key plots: the witch’s curse, her family, the love interest…. So much to get into. 
Thanks for letting me arc read this!

Like acotar I don’t think the first prince is whom she ends up with. And I hope that is true because this one is a little too naive, desperate and a little dumb