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v_nerdbooks's reviews
3158 reviews
Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
Sunrise On The Reaping by Suzanne Collins
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
The Silent Wife by Karin Slaughter
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
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? Yes
4.0
The Last Widow by Karin Slaughter
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
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? Yes
4.0
Birthright by Nora Roberts
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The Kept Woman by Karin Slaughter
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
2.5⭐ 😬😬
Look, here's the rub.....When you read a book by Ali Hazelwood you know what you are going to get!
You are going to get a super clever woman/girl in STEM, who isn't like other girls, and you are going to get a *super* tall (oh my god he is always sooooo tall) man/boy who has a rock hard chest (which she will ultimately walk into while not looking where she is going) a lot of banter, a lot of "his chislled jaw, his green/blue eyes" etc etc..
You will get either enemies to lovers or insta love, it is the same playbook time after time, and guess what?? I EAT THAT SHIT UPPPP!!!!!
But this one....... I just....didn't 🤷
The book has all of the tropes above...ALL OF THEM...but for some reason the 2 MC's just didn't do it for me at all, i just didn't believe them
The fact that on PAGE ONE of the story we stumble onto an argument between a bf/gf, and then randomly discussing the kinks of said bf with the gf without him being there and giving consent to this is.......yeahhh i felt uncomfortable with it.
And then, after it turns out that our MC loves a bit of kink (WHAT are the chances!!) the gf dumps her bf (while still being best friends with him), sets up our FMC with said bf by getting drunk and spouting out loud that SCARLETT IS A KINKY BITCH TOO, YOU SHOULD FCK EACH OTHER!
Note that they have been together for YEARS by this point (7yrs to be precise), and she is *totally fine* with her new BFF scarlett fcking her (ex) bf because she wants to fck other people too, and incidentally she's got a date, and ughhhhhhh
I don't know, i can usually go with the story as it's popcorn romance, a quicky, if you will.
I usually read them as a pallette cleanser between my Thriller/Horror books, so I enjoy my time with them, but unfortunately not this time.
Which leads me to the narration of the audiobook........
Now I will not HEAR any slander about the amazing Therese Plummer, she is a goddess amongst narrators, and you should bow down to her heavenly feet, and honestly i thought i'd hit jackpot with the male narrator Ben Holtzmuller too (nice voice and also veeeery pretty 😏), he has a lilt of Jacob Morgan about him, and as I knew this one was going to be spicy I was rubbing my grabby hands ready......BUT.......
I think the fact that Lukas, our MC is Swedish, and no dis to my lovely Swedish followers (I love you) but the accent the narrator used just didn't sit right with me, and it didn't seem to gel right, and i think it may have added to the lack of chemistry there, I don't know.
The kink........is just.......lets just say if you are looking for a book with kink in it, this would not be the one that i would recommend to you, unless you like a poor 50 shades.
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
2.5⭐ 😬😬
Look, here's the rub.....When you read a book by Ali Hazelwood you know what you are going to get!
You are going to get a super clever woman/girl in STEM, who isn't like other girls, and you are going to get a *super* tall (oh my god he is always sooooo tall) man/boy who has a rock hard chest (which she will ultimately walk into while not looking where she is going) a lot of banter, a lot of "his chislled jaw, his green/blue eyes" etc etc..
You will get either enemies to lovers or insta love, it is the same playbook time after time, and guess what?? I EAT THAT SHIT UPPPP!!!!!
But this one....... I just....didn't 🤷
The book has all of the tropes above...ALL OF THEM...but for some reason the 2 MC's just didn't do it for me at all, i just didn't believe them
The fact that on PAGE ONE of the story we stumble onto an argument between a bf/gf, and then randomly discussing the kinks of said bf with the gf without him being there and giving consent to this is.......yeahhh i felt uncomfortable with it.
And then, after it turns out that our MC loves a bit of kink (WHAT are the chances!!) the gf dumps her bf (while still being best friends with him), sets up our FMC with said bf by getting drunk and spouting out loud that SCARLETT IS A KINKY BITCH TOO, YOU SHOULD FCK EACH OTHER!
Note that they have been together for YEARS by this point (7yrs to be precise), and she is *totally fine* with her new BFF scarlett fcking her (ex) bf because she wants to fck other people too, and incidentally she's got a date, and ughhhhhhh
I don't know, i can usually go with the story as it's popcorn romance, a quicky, if you will.
I usually read them as a pallette cleanser between my Thriller/Horror books, so I enjoy my time with them, but unfortunately not this time.
Which leads me to the narration of the audiobook........
Now I will not HEAR any slander about the amazing Therese Plummer, she is a goddess amongst narrators, and you should bow down to her heavenly feet, and honestly i thought i'd hit jackpot with the male narrator Ben Holtzmuller too (nice voice and also veeeery pretty 😏), he has a lilt of Jacob Morgan about him, and as I knew this one was going to be spicy I was rubbing my grabby hands ready......BUT.......
I think the fact that Lukas, our MC is Swedish, and no dis to my lovely Swedish followers (I love you) but the accent the narrator used just didn't sit right with me, and it didn't seem to gel right, and i think it may have added to the lack of chemistry there, I don't know.
The kink........is just.......lets just say if you are looking for a book with kink in it, this would not be the one that i would recommend to you, unless you like a poor 50 shades.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
The Favorites by Layne Fargo
emotional
informative
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
"It is the beginning of March 2025, and I have already read 3 , *count them* THREE 5 star books!!
This is also my 2nd 5 star read for this author, if you haven't read They Never Learn you should really add it to your TBR quick-smart!
I'm not sure whether you follow my reviews (when I eventually get round to doing them) but I am super stingy with my 5 stars, for reference I only gave EIGHT 5 stars in the whole of 2024!!
Anyhoo, let me now wax lyrical about this book, and be aware that I am reviewing the audiobook, and do for *every*book I read unless specified, I am an *exclusive* audiobook reader.
Right, with that out of the way, lets gooooo!
This is the story, of a story, about the world famous figure skaters Katerina Shaw and Heath Rocha, and we are, as readers, watching the Netflix documentary, about their life, loves, rise to the top, and down again.
They were *famous* like Rock Star famous!! They even had their own version of a Perez Hilton, who I wanted to throw through the wall haha
It is the ten year anniversary of their final skate, hence the "Shaw & Rocha" documentary, and we get to witness all of the juicy gossip about their lives from past skaters, lovers and rivals.
But Katerina doesn't want anything to do with the documentary as it is dragging up old wounds that haven't properly healed, and people gossiping about the "incident" has made her think about telling her own story, in her own words.
And that's where we come in, we are jumping from watching the documentary, to Katerina saying "actually, this is what happened"
We hear all of the stories from when her and Heath first met, up to *that* incident that rocked the world of The Olympics.
If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you will love this one, it is in the same sort of style.
Now to the narration.........OMG it was PERFECT!!!!
We have a full cast of people doing such and amazing job, i knew every character, and some of them mad me so mad Lol
Congratulations Ms Fargo *Throws stars*
This is also my 2nd 5 star read for this author, if you haven't read They Never Learn you should really add it to your TBR quick-smart!
I'm not sure whether you follow my reviews (when I eventually get round to doing them) but I am super stingy with my 5 stars, for reference I only gave EIGHT 5 stars in the whole of 2024!!
Anyhoo, let me now wax lyrical about this book, and be aware that I am reviewing the audiobook, and do for *every*book I read unless specified, I am an *exclusive* audiobook reader.
Right, with that out of the way, lets gooooo!
This is the story, of a story, about the world famous figure skaters Katerina Shaw and Heath Rocha, and we are, as readers, watching the Netflix documentary, about their life, loves, rise to the top, and down again.
They were *famous* like Rock Star famous!! They even had their own version of a Perez Hilton, who I wanted to throw through the wall haha
It is the ten year anniversary of their final skate, hence the "Shaw & Rocha" documentary, and we get to witness all of the juicy gossip about their lives from past skaters, lovers and rivals.
But Katerina doesn't want anything to do with the documentary as it is dragging up old wounds that haven't properly healed, and people gossiping about the "incident" has made her think about telling her own story, in her own words.
And that's where we come in, we are jumping from watching the documentary, to Katerina saying "actually, this is what happened"
We hear all of the stories from when her and Heath first met, up to *that* incident that rocked the world of The Olympics.
If you liked Daisy Jones and the Six, you will love this one, it is in the same sort of style.
Now to the narration.........OMG it was PERFECT!!!!
We have a full cast of people doing such and amazing job, i knew every character, and some of them mad me so mad Lol
Congratulations Ms Fargo *Throws stars*
The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0