val_theburrowofstories's reviews
359 reviews

Ignite Me by Tahereh Mafi

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adventurous fast-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

2.0

Look I am just so glad that I finally finished this trilogy lol yeah I’m not going to continue with whatever is next, I just cannot do it, bye.
I just don’t care?? I mean the author shows us for TWO books who Warner is, and then in this whole book she is trying to explain and justify every single bad or evil thing he did AND adds that he has an ill mom, you know, just so the readers would have that one final push to sympathize with him and love him. Whatever. I truly could not care less about Warner, it even feels weird to call him Aaron.
To be honest I don’t even care about Juliette at all either. She’s suddenly and in such a short amount of time in control of her powers AND she’s the most powerful of them all, okay. She is a really bad friend (she never ever talks to the others alone to ask how they are doing, just in group meetings), she’s a really bad best friend to Kenji, she’s stupid (yes, she is), she doesn’t think or cares about anyone else but herself and her feelings with the current boyfriend she might have, and she doesn’t even gives a fuck about those boyfriends and their feelings like Warner literally lost his mother and is grieving and she made it about herself and her feelings just to get fucked (I’m sorry!) and she still kept calling him her friends lmaooo
I might have cared about Adam, I was even on his side at the beginning with this whole Juliette and Warner thing, but then he just got so annoying too, he was so disrespectful to her, he would not let it go and kept whining over and over again, it was pissing me off. AND the worst thing is that he put Kenji’s hand in Juliette’s, he could’ve hurt him??
Basically, the only character I truly cared about was Kenji, the second he appeared the whole vibe shifted and the stupid drama was gone, but he isn’t enough to save this book for me.
At least they finally acknowledge what I’ve been thinking from the beginning, that the only reason why she and Adam worked is because he is literally the only person to show her kindness and the only person who could touch her. Then the second option is Warner so naturally she is drawn to him because he can touch her too. But the author wanted to take that out of the equation and make it look like it’s Juliette’s choice because now she can control her powers and touch anyone. Still, both boys had a WEIRD obsession with her.
I still enjoy some YA but what I cannot stand are stupid self centered teenage girls, and I have found SO much of that in the most famous YA book series that I started (and DNF) this year, it’s insane.
Finishing this book felt like a chore and the author was dealing with so many things at the same time, quickly fixing them or giving them some sort of closure, but I think some things (like Warner finding out Adam and James are his brothers) deserved way more pages, maybe that’s explore in the next books but I guess I’ll never know.
A funny thing is that this book made me realize in YA books (especially romantasy) they almost NEVER mention condoms or teenage pregnancy, because if I were Juliette I would be so worried of fucking every single day lol
And still, I’m giving this 2 ⭐ yeah bye.

Husband Material by Alexis Hall

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.0

The 4th audiobook I started while I was painting the house, but I finished it days later. At least it kept me company at the beginning.
I just wanted to see how they relationship grew and how their dynamic was now, but damn Luc really is the worst and ruins the book for me 😭 so I have no interest in reading whatever comes next for the series because this man-child will be taking care of little kids? no thank you. I don’t want to see poor children involved in this messy relationship, they just fight and don’t really solve the issues and once again having children will probably be Luc’s decision and not Oliver’s.
I don’t think they should’ve get married at all and especially not under the circumstances of “let’s get married because everyone else is, not because I actually want to” which obviously led them to have a huge breakdown at the end because they were not marrying because they love each other but because of this mental social pressure. Spoiler,
in the LITERAL last minute they do not get married
but still! They have big communication problems and Luc always plays the fucking victim.
I even forgot this but yeah besides all the negative things I have to say about Lucien he acts like the way he lives and express his sexuality is the ONLY right way to do it?? What a way to despise your boyfriend over and over again.
A bit of a spoiler but
I kept wishing Oliver’s parents drop dead and his father actually did
lmao well that was at least something good here.
They are just constantly fighting. Always because of Lucien and how he always makes everything about him and his feelings only like no one else matters. And Oliver always takes him back, agrees to whatever whim of his, he always is the one to apologize too.
Oliver is the main reason why I finished both books but damn he deserves way better but his self esteem is on the floor thanks to his parents so of course he settles for the first man to stay because Luc happens to be a way worse mess and a project to fix.
Look I had a little bit of fun but omfg now that I’m trying to write the review all I have to say is negative things and just saying “I love Oliver and the friends” is not enough for anything else beyond 2 ⭐ and I’ll stop writing now or I’ll get even more mad lol

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour

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emotional reflective sad fast-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

3.5

This is the 3rd audiobook in less than a week that I finish while I paint the house lol
The themes of this short book are basically grief over her grandpa, friendships and discovering her sexuality.
Because of the themes I am glad that I read these at the end of 2024 and not the end of 2020 because I think it would have destroyed me back then but I still got to enjoy it now and see the big picture I guess.
I am glad this girl does have a family that cares about her, even if they're not related by blood, it just shows once again how you can build your own family and support systems with the people around you.
I think it was a beautiful book, I finished it in a few hours and it was great company while painting the house so I would rate it 3.5 ⭐

Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes

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adventurous medium-paced

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

3.0

This is the 2nd audiobook I finished while I was painting the house. I was looking for something easy to understand to me and since I love Greek Mythology this was the choice.
I think this was entertaining enough so I rated this book 3 ⭐, I liked that the audiobook was narrated by the author herself!
And because I like Greek Mythology books I’m adding the other books written by the author.
I don’t have much to say really, we all know how these Greek Gods behave when it comes to humans / mortals, but specially women. I just liked reading another take on how the story goes.

The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

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mysterious 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

This book has been on my TBR for a couple of years now and the day I started the audiobook I didn’t read the synopsis so I went in blind. I was just looking for an audiobook to listen to while I helped my grandmother with painting the house.
It’s amazing how always (to me) when the book has two stories happening in different times, the one set in the present is way more boring compared to the one that happened in the past. That seems like a rule at this point in every book like this.
In the story set in the past we have Nella, the owner of a secret and hidden apothecary and she helps women with poisons for their husbands or men who have wrong them. And she meets Eliza, a 12 year old who works for this woman and she was ordered to get poison for the man of the house. That’s how Nella and Eliza met and a friendship between the two is form, a deep so strong they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the other in the end. I’m very happy for the ending they got.
Then in the story set in the present we have stupid Caroline and her asshole husband. Honestly to me she was just there, you know? It’s like my brain barely payed any attention to her story but then I was so immerse on what was going on with Nella and Eliza. I just felt sorry for Caroline but at the same time how can you be so stupid lmao like girl didn’t even try! And now that I read another very long review that is basically just trashing this character I am mad at her and how she is a waste of pages that could’ve been used to the interesting story lol but I guess this adds up to the mystery and discovering what happened so many years ago.
I truly believe that if we didn’t have Caroline in this book then this could’ve been a 5 stars. Just Nella and Eliza and maybe newspaper extract in between to add to the mystery? it would’ve been great.
But anyways, I really liked this book, to me it was a 4 ⭐ and I’ll be adding more books of the author to my TBR.

Content Warnings

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

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funny lighthearted fast-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

This book has been on my TBR for years and actually I was planning on taking it out of there, but it was available as an audiobook on Libby so I decided to give it a try.
Not gonna lie, if it was just because of Luc I would’ve DNF this book at the very beginning because I don’t like the man. Luc is a bad friend, he’s bad at communication, he has this trauma with what people say about him online so he doesn’t trust anyone new, he makes everything about him and doesn’t really seem to give a fuck about anyone else’s life or feelings… idk so many things I didn’t like about him and because of his behavior I thought he was 20 or 23 max. but he is 28yo!?
Anyways, then we meet Oliver and he’s the only reason why I didn’t DNF the book. He is so serious but I really liked him. Now he is the kind of guy I would like to hang around and date, Luc is a total mess I would not want near me at all.
Oliver is a sweetheart and Luc is a complete mess. Honestly? With that ending in my opinion Oliver deserves WAY better than him.
There’s only two things I agree with Luc: 1) The way he reacted to his father coming to him after so many years just because he had cancer and wanted to reconnect? Yeah, he can die alone (which spoiler,
but sadly he doesn’t even have cancer he kinda made it all up
) ; 2) Oliver’s parents deserve to be spoken to that way because they’re such assholes too to their children. If I have such a perfect boyfriend and upon meeting his parents he is treated that way? I would’ve screamed too.
I know I sound like I have many complains but in general it was very funny and entertaining. I kinda like Luc (sometimes) but what this really made this book for me was Oliver, Luc’s coworker and Luc’s group of friends. So I ended up rating this book 3 ⭐ and it wasn’t on my plans but I’ll continue with the 2nd book because I want to see their dynamic as a true couple now and how they get engaged.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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dark mysterious medium-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

2.0

My hatred towards stories with girls who are sexually assaulted / raped will always influence my rating in a book :( I’m sorry but I just can’t handle it. Maybe if the campaign of this book wasn’t just “oh sweet YA with faeries and mystery” and people mentioned what happened to her as a trigger warning then MAYBE I would not have picked up this book.
This poor girl has NO ONE rooting for her and she doesn’t stand up for herself. She might as well be all alone in the world because her mother is an alcohol addict who doesn’t care about her at all, she’s the only girl studying architecture and every man or boy looks at her like she doesn’t belong there. She only has this one girl friend but they don’t see each other that much.
I hated her fucking mother so much you cannot even imagine 😭
In general I would say is a very simple story and despite the things I hated (what happened to her, her asshole mother and how women are treated) I was entertained with the audiobook and I liked listening to it while I was doing house chores (then I discovered that was influenced by the fact that the narrator is one of my favorites and has narrated some of my favorite historical fiction books)
I don't think this book was enough for me to want to continue whatever book is next in the series and honestly I do not want to pick up another book of this author either. I think every single one of her books include rape or sexual assault and I do not like to read books with those “elements”.
So yeah, 2 ⭐ and that ending was very underwhelming.

Content Warnings

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

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adventurous dark medium-paced

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

2.0

Basically the story here is that The Young Elites are dealing with their powers turning on themselves, attacking their bodies, and they must overcome their differences and work together to somehow return their powers to the Gods before it's too late and everyone dies because the world is kind of breaking apart.
It's sad how I went from really liking and admiring Adelina, to now finding her incredibly annoying. I was annoyed with her for most of this book for many different reasons and that affected my reading experience because how can you like a book when you dislike the main character?
Something that really bothers me is that there was no point on bringing Enzo back to life. There was no lesson learnt, he didn't contribute to the story, he was just an obstacle imo for Adelina and Magiano, he wasn't even himself he was just a ghost of what he used to be, he was just a tool used a couple of times for his powers. It feels like the author HAD to bring him back for the fans and to try to make it an interesting plot line, but it didn't work for me.
I liked Magiano but the boy has no self love, I do believe he deserved better than Adelina.
Violeta also deserved better. I feel like the author tried to create a nice sister relationship (especially at the end iykyk) but damn Adelina is toxic as hell while Violeta is a sweetheart who didn't deserve to be treated that way.
I predicted this ending for Adelina since the beginning of Book 2, and I'm sorry but I'm glad that's how this ended and not in some rushed redemption story that makes no sense.
Anyways, this last book was okay but still a disappointment. Thank God it was the shortest lol. My rating is 2 ⭐

The Rose Society by Marie Lu

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.0

In the first book I really liked Adelina, but I am sad to report that me liking her went kind of downhill throughout this book. First of all, she acts like she is the victim, like she was betrayed and the group turned their back on her without reason LOL girl be so for real, you ARE the reason why Enzo is dead, it IS your fault. I don't even care that he is dead or the fact that is her fault, what bothers me is her constantly thinking about how she is the victim here. The second thing that bothers me is how she won't get over Enzo when there's a new perfectly fine boy who likes her and who actually gets to know her and support her more than Enzo did. And the third thing was at the very end when she lost it over power and tried to attack Violeta, she always had a love/hate relationship with her sister but imo the girl did nothing wrong to deserve her hate.
I liked to meet new characters and how the story followed Adelina on her journey to form a new group called The Rose Society meanwhile Raffaele with the Daggers had an alliance with a Princess.
Magiano gives me Magnus Bane vibes, so I'm kinda bias when I say I like him.
I'm okay with the ending of this book, it fits the characters, that's how this had to end.
It's kind of funny how I predicted the ending of the whole trilogy after a couple of chapters of this book. I mean it was so obvious, there could be no other ending for Adelina and some of the other characters.
So, in general this book was 3 ⭐ for me.

Content Warnings

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

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adventurous dark 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? Yes

4.5

This book feels perfect for readers who are just starting with books and want to experience some of that dystopia era of books in 2014.
In this story, years ago a fever affected kids changing their physical appearance, but a handful of them ended up with supernatural powers. Our main character is 16yo Adelina Amouteru who survived the fever but with a big scar in her face because she lost her eye and her hair color changed to white. Adelina will soon discover she belongs to one of the powerful Young Elites and this book is about how she learns to control it with a new group of friends and how they can change things in their Kingdom.
Personally, I feel like this year I read so many fmc from popular books who were just stupid and/or the stereotype of "I'm not like other girls but I hope he picks me and saves me because I can't do it myself", I really dislike those characters. But Adelina was not like that! She has darkness inside of her (because of childhood trauma) and she is learning to control her powers to change things for people like her, she's smart, she always has a plan, she is ambitious, she fights back, she doesn't take shit from anyone, she wants power! I really like her and want to see where she ends up.
Probably the only thing I didn't like was Enzo falling for her. It didn't make sense to me: he doesn't know her, there's no chemistry or connection there, she's just the new girl, somehow Adelina reminds him of this other girl but in personality and physical appearance they're very different??? So, yeah.. Honestly, if it wasn't for this stereotypical believe that every YA must have a boy-girl romance, I think in terms on romance, chemistry and connection it would've been way more interesting to see Enzo involved with his second hand, Raffaele, or with this other boy who is his childhood friend and now enemy, Teren. It would've been so good that way, but that's asking too much from a 2014 YA book.
Overall, I loved to see Adelina’s journey. I did not expect that ending at all and it had me intrigued for the next book. I really liked this book, 4.5 ⭐ for me.

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val_theburrowofstories's reviews 359 reviews

val_theburrowofstories's reviews
359 reviews