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tobereadbookshelf's Reviews (935)
adventurous
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I don’t understand the hype for this one. It was arguably well written but ultimately a complete bore. 😴
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A bookstagrammer I follow claimed that this was one of her favorite Beauty and the Beast retellings but I don’t see how that can be true. There are SO many great versions out there and this one was just okay. In many ways, the plot was almost identical to the Disney movie with some changes to the supporting cast of characters and the addition of spice (maybe too much spice). The main character was blunt to the point of being unkind and frankly she was also kind of a hypocrite which got old pretty fast. What bothered me most was that the “beast” was cursed by a woman he forced into marriage and the “villain” of this story is attempting to do the same thing to her sister. This parallel was never really addressed which felt like an oversight on the authors part. It would have made sense for them to at least have had some tension surrounding this topic but it almost felt like he just kept it from her and she never asked the right questions to find out. There was really no tension or build up to the characters getting together either. Despite it being stated that the curse would prevent both father and son from finding love, they seemed to fall headfirst into it without any resistance. I liked this, but I didn’t love it and it’s definitively not my favorite Beauty and the Beast retelling.
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was decent for a novella. The book store trope will always stir the warm fuzzies.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
These books make no sense. I have been waiting patiently for the author to explain Oliver and the dreamscape among other things, but all I got in book 3 were more questions and a forced feeling cliffhanger. Every choice the main character makes is nonsensical and the only truly likable character is Finn. I’m convinced the author doesn’t know the answers herself at this point. Highly doubtful that she’ll be able to adequately piece this mess together in book four.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I read books one and two about a year ago and it took me a while to piece together what had happened in those books. I wish JLA would have included more of those details in the beginning to refresh my memory. This book was honestly pretty eventful but it did feel like a bridge to book 4. I think book 4 will be even better. I’ll see if I can get my hands on the novella that comes next because I’ve heard there are important details included in it that I won’t want to miss.
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m sorry to say that I think this series would have been better as a duology. Most of this book felt like filler. There wasn’t much to the plot and it felt a little dramatic and drug out to me. I really wanted to love this one, but I felt it was past time for their happy ending. And ooh dang, that prince is a psycho.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.5 stars. The world building felt a bit clunky to me. I slogged through the first 30% or so and could have easily put this down and never picked it back up again. I persevered and the next 60% did pick up and hold my interest. This is a high fantasy novel but it felt a little too much like historical fiction to me at times. I found myself thinking of it more like The Haunting of Hill House and kept having to reorient myself to their world. Gothic thrillers are not my preferred genre, but I did think the spooky aspects of this book were well done. The ending felt a little rushed and anticlimactic to me. I’m going to need someone to flesh out the full significance of “the drowning” and how it relates to the fairy king because I’m still confused. There was a lot of symbolism but I’m still struggling to connect all the dots.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
I was leaning towards giving this four stars, but that ENDING?! What the heck?! Was that really necessary? Also, they made a big fuss about how powerful they all were, but they got their butts handed to them in this book by literally everyone they encountered. I thought the plot was much more interesting than book one, but there are still a lot of things that have been left unexplained and frankly I am ready for some answers. I liked Collith more in this book but I’m still finding it hard to believe that they’re endgame. Their connection seems tenuous at best.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I honestly really did like this, but it was a cumbersome read. I listened to the audiobook and it was 33 hours long. There is probably a 7% chance I would have finished this if I had been physically reading the book. I enjoyed the characters and it was well written, but it had no business being 900 pages. Book two? Lawd no. On a side note, the voice actor for the audiobook was an 11/10. I would love to hear more books read by her but it seems she has only worked on this series. 😱Gonna need her to quit her day job as a news anchor and get to recording more books, STAT!
adventurous
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
When you order ACOTAR from Wish. The ending did pique my interest so I will continue the series but I can’t say that I am hooked just yet. Hoping that the author intended for me to feel completely unattached to Colith rather than her just writing an unappealing character on accident. The under the mountain vibes were far too strong for me to believe the author didn’t write them in intentionally. Drawing this many parallels to ACOTAR is a bold move and I don’t quite feel like the author brought their A game. The main plot points were interesting, but the subplot and all the in between moments were extremely dull. I realized at the end of the book that there was a character I was supposed to pay more attention to, but I literally cannot even tell you his name. I would have liked to see a little more character development across the board. Thinking back, they all feel a little flat and incomplete. There is a lot of potential here for sure. Hopeful that I’ll get to add more stars when I review book two.