whenimreading's reviews
984 reviews

Dreadful by Caitlin Rozakis
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.

Just thinking about reading this book brings down my mood. It’s a DNF 29% in

Other thoughts: MC is not likable. Too many internal monologues. Dry and not particularly funny. I see what the author tried to do (cozy fantasy) but it missed the mark for me.

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron

adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Do not be fooled by the title - The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye is an action packed historical fiction that will get your blood pumping. This is a story filled with friendship, family, love, sacrifice, revenge, and pirates!

I absolutely loved Jacquotte Delahaye, she is a strong-headed heroine, fighting for what’s right, trying to cut a piece of land to call her home. When the Governor is killed by a traitor, Jacquotte is forced to go on the run. Joining a crew of pirates and making a name for herself. What follows are nail biting fight scenes, sea travels, rescue missions, a sapphic romance, and more.

I was heavily invested in Jacquotte and her friends, her relationship with Teresa was such a nice slow burn, not to mention all the side characters we get to know and love. This was an epic adventure with feminist themes, slight political intrigue and I highly recommend it for an entertaining summer read! Would love to see this picked up for a movie or show, it would be fantastic on the screen. 

Some triggers to watch out for: slavery, colonialism, racism, misogyny, violence, death. 

Thank you to Atria Books for the eARC to review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Slavery, Death, Racism, Violence, and Misogyny

The Stardust Grail by Yume Kitasei

adventurous hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

The Stardust Grail delivered an engrossing space heist adventure story I entirely devoured in a couple days. I loved pretty much everything about this book - the world building was fantastic and imaginative with super likable characters. 

It was very fun to follow Maya, Auncle, Wil and, Medix on their interstellar space heist. The mystery of the grail and the history of Frenro made such an engaging plot that kept me guessing up until the end. Maya was a great MC, adding extra mystery with her visions, her shared history with Auncle was everything sweet I adored. I’m a sucker for wholesome and Auncle was hands down the best thing here, I loved their way of talking and thinking, it was very cute. Even Wil and Medix had heartfelt moments, and I like how the whole band had great chemistry. 

Katherine Chin’s narration and delivery was superb. I loved the voices she created for the various species, especially Auncle and their unique way of speaking, like saying Maya’s name with elongated y’s, it added a charming quality that made me so happy. 

All in, this is delightful and action packed, very much on the approachable sci-fi spectrum and I recommend it to fans of adventure and found family stories. 

Thank you Flatiron Books for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the listening copy to review. 

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This book was absolutely a delight start to finish. It was charming, magical, sweet, mysterious, and funny. Top favorite fantasy book I’ve read this year!

Told from two POVs, starting with young Cordelia as we learn about her sorceress mother, Evangeline. Then Hester, sister to Samuel, the Squire, whom Evangeline set her sights on.

I adored Cordelia, she has a wonderful character arc spanning from her innocence and gullibility, to more confident in the presence of Lady Hester and her friends. 

Hester is a spinster in her fifties, she sees right through Evangeline’s trickery and is helpless to get Samuel away from her clutches. 

When Cordelia realizes her mother’s plans will hurt her new friends, she seeks their help to stop Evangeline at all cost. 

I loved all the storytelling and the fast paced plot, it was a very concise tale with fantastic setting - regency with a little bit of magic, so charming and funny. All the various characters added entertainment to the book and made it insanely enjoyable. Hester’s friends, Penelope and Imogen were just the kind of company you’d want to keep! The small romance subplot for Hester and Richard was SO cute. I loved their shared history and the moments they had together. Richard Evermore is totally swoony! And can’t forget Willard, the butler, with the jokes. 

I devoured the audiobook in a short amount of time! Both narrators were phenomenal. Eliza Foss voicing Hester and Jennifer Pickens, Cordelia. Their voices and chapters blended seamlessly. This was my second book narrated by Pickens, she brought a childlike innocent quality to Cordelia. Eliza Foss had a wonderful delivery for Hester and all her friends, very high class with the time period. I’m looking forward to listening to more books with these narrators and picking up the next T. Kingfisher book off my shelf!

Thank you Tor Books for the eARC and Macmillan Audio for the listening copy to review. 

The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

This was a fun summer romance read! I laughed out loud constantly, Anna was hilarious and I loved her banter with Liam 💕 William ‘Liam’ ‘West’ Weston - honestly 5 stars for this name 🤣

BUT I wanted Ray to be destroyed - DESTROYED!! I needed more juicy details at the end. What a prick. Short man syndrome or what!?

Entertaining, tropes galore, and a fun happy ending, can’t go wrong with C-Lo 💚

Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Baby X by Kira Peikoff

adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Wow, this book blew me away! 💕 I was completely hooked from the beginning. The world building was insanely smart, the science aspect very effortless and easy to follow. The twists and turns really had me at the edge of my seat. This is the kind of realistic speculative science fiction that I absolutely love. 

Set in a near-distant future, your DNA can be stolen and used to create biological children, even from the smallest genetic tissue. That becomes reality for musician Trace Thorne. He hires Ember to be his bio-security, collecting all Thorne’s DNA wherever he goes. Until a woman claiming to be carrying his child shows up out of nowhere, upturning their world and the future they were hoping to start together. 

Told from the POV of three women - Quinn, Ember, and Lily - with fantastic narration performances from Jennifer Jill Araya, Imani Jade Powers and Abigail Reno. Each showcasing their character’s distinct personalities, it made the listening experience highly bingeable because I couldn’t turn it off! Their stories were so intertwined and gripping, I just adored how it came together in the end. It wouldn’t be a five star read without me shedding a tear! So big 5⭐️

Thanks to Dreamscape Media for the audiobook copy to review!

Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb

medium-paced

3.0

Birding With Benefits intrigued me with its unique premise, fake dating and super cute cover art. I love getting into books that show me something new like the bird watching plot featured here. It showed the author was very knowledgeable in this field and that was a big plus. 

It was unfortunately a little lacking, missing some spark, whether in the plot overall or the characters. I never really connected to Celeste and John, although I appreciated them being in their 40s, at times their actions were a bit immature. It must be said because many of the cartoon covers are misleading, there were plenty open-door intimate scenes in this book and I know some people are turned off by that. While majority of it was a lighthearted outdoorsy summer read, it just wasn’t my favorite.  

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for the review copy. 

One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

I’m pretty sure this is my first Ruth Ware book, initial thoughts were “oh god, I hate it here” (reality TV plot) but after that halfway point, I enjoyed the survivalist theme, it was very tense and I couldn’t put it down.

The audiobook performed by Imogen Church was great, I liked the personality she added to Lyla and the various male characters in the cast. Especially Conor’s calculating quiet voice, it was very eerie. 

I had many eye roll moments, my practical mind screaming at the page (phone?) at the stupidity of characters - no CPR? Not even a suggestion? I guess maybe that’s just the genre and me being me 😅 

Again, once people started dying and the clock running out on how much water and food was left, and a certain character keeping everyone on edge, had me gripping my seat. Fantastic setting with a remote beach, I think this will be great as a summer read or even a book club book. Lots to discuss about the alpha male phenomenon happening currently and I loved the addition of the feminist theme, it made me so angry so I guess kudos! 3.5⭐️ rounding up 👍🏼

Dragonfruit by Makiia Lucier

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0