whatellaread's reviews
1121 reviews

Angel in a Devil's Arms by Julie Anne Long

emotional funny 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

4.0

I liked this a lot more than book one, but I think this is a series that moving forward I'll be reading in print vs. audio, as I think Justine Eyre's narration just doesn't line up with what I imagine in my head for these characters. I'm bumping this up a bit since I think I really would like this better in print! I did love Lucien and Angelique's journey both individually and together, and am so glad these two got their happy ending with each other! 

I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner

emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

 A thoroughly charming queer retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma that thoughtfully incorporates gender, race, and class. I particularly loved George, who is just such an emphatically good person struggling with how to be true to themselves in a society where there is no space for a queer trans/nonbinary person or even the words to describe what they feel. The illustrations are very sweet and all of it a reminder that queer and trans people have always always been here and have always always deserved a happy ending. 

Mafia Mistress by Mila Finelli

dark 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? Yes

2.5

I learned in reading this book that mafia books are not for me, but oh well. This was very hot, but also borderline too much sex?

Scandalized by Ivy Owens

• 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

3.5

This was a 3.5 star read for me, rounding down because while the sex scenes are INCREDIBLE and really well written, for their volume they needed to move their relationship forward a lot more. The pacing also felt off to me, in particular the ending/epilogue which...could have (arguably should have?!) just been the plot of the book. I felt like there was not enough conflict between the leads that was not external to their relationship, and the absolute failure of the most basic, uncomplicated journalistic ethics had me STEAMED. Overall pretty meh on this one. 

Manic Pixie Dream Earl by Jenny Holiday

emotional funny lighthearted slow-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

4.0

Like the first book in this series, I found this to be such a specific mix of lighthearted romp and the pure silliness of true friendship and deeply emotional, serious explorations of what it means to belong to someone, found family, freedom vs. duty, and being true to yourself no matter the cost. I found the writing very beautiful in places and laugh out loud funny in others, and I especially appreciated the approach that Jenny Holiday takes to PTSD, non-toxic male friendships, demisexuality, and general gender/sexuality expression. I think the closest read alike to this series is Alexis Hall's Something Fabulous. Definitely recommend this, but I do think the tone and mix of tension/angst to light heartedness might not work for everyone. 

Duke of Midnight by Elizabeth Hoyt

emotional funny inspiring 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? No

5.0

I don't know what it says about me that I loved this so much, but I loved this SO MUCH. Uggggggh give me a hundred just like this. Maximus, get thee to a therapist. Artemis, have some self respect. You both need help. Also never change, this is everything I want in a historical romance. 

Lord of Darkness by Elizabeth Hoyt

emotional funny hopeful sad

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

4.5

Two grief stricken vigilantes fall in love. Conveniently, they're already married to each other. Delicious, I ate it up with a spoon. 

Scandalous Desires by Elizabeth Hoyt

dark emotional funny 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? It's complicated

3.5

What I wanted was a mean pirate and what I got was a total softie single dad who loves artichokes and baths and who inexplicably starts being called by his full name halfway through? Still very readable though, Elizabeth Hoyt never misses.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense 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

4.75

The hype was deserved for this one. Interestingly, it has kind of a lit fic vibe, even though it has all the beats of a traditional romance novel. I felt like the first half was somewhat stronger than the second, but the writing was exquisite throughout and I really loved both Shane and Eva and wanted to root for them both as their troubled teenage selves and their equally, although very differently, troubled adult selves. 

When the Sea Came Alive: An Oral History of D-Day by Garrett M. Graff

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring tense

4.5

 "I was just a young kid, like the rest of them, trying to free the world from the Nazis. We did that, but we still haven't learned a damn thing." - Pvt. Frank Palys

Writing really compelling oral history requires the ability to convey the breath of history through the depth of specificity, threading a needle in way that captures a massive moment in history through raw individual perspective. I don't think anyone is doing this as capably as Garrett Graff (whose first oral history "Only Plane in the Sky" about 9/11 is if anything even more compelling). In "When the Sea Came Alive", Graff weaves together narratives from people at every level of the armed forces with civilians caught up in the invasion of Normandy to create an utterly vivid and spellbinding minute by minute breakdown of both the day itself and the preparations leading up to it. We hear from French citizens, weather observers in Ireland, Polish forced laborers, and journalists, infantry and generals on both sides, Prime Ministers, planners, and manufacturers, sometimes in long quotes and sometimes in rapid fire, single sentences that convey the intensity and pressure of the day. The tension that Graff manages to build between all these varied accounts is vivid and compelling. At times, I found myself tearing up both from the intensity of what these people experienced and from the sheer horror of reading this in 2025, where people in power in this country quote Hitler and give Nazi salutes and spread a hollow, white supremacist and ideologically weak nationalist vision. 

As the people at the highest levels of power quote Hitler and give Nazi salutes, its hard not to ask what was it all for. Or, in the words of a solider in the final pages of the powerful book: "when you look how peaceful it looks now, all those crosses, you cannot help but think, what a terrible, terrible waste."

Note: I listened to the audio for this, which I strongly recommend, but I did find that even Graff's careful curation cannot cut through the chaos of the morning of June 6th and it was easy to get lost at times in ways that might have been helped by also having the book in hand.