We follow our FMC, Bristol. Her and her sisters live in the small town of Bowskeep. They have lost both of their parent ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 3.25 Stars ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
We follow our FMC, Bristol. Her and her sisters live in the small town of Bowskeep. They have lost both of their parents, and are struggling, but trying their best in life. Trying to make ends meet by selling their father's artwork and working minimum wage jobs.
A mysterious aunt surfaces out of the blue and the news of her father being alive sets Bristol on a new path that’s quite literally out of her world. Bristol starts receiving mysterious letters from an aunt that she’s never heard of before.
Against her better judgment, Bristol goes to meet with the aunt and soon discovers that significant parts of her life have been a lie, and her father may not even be dead. Bristol travels to a magical land, full of danger, fae, and monsters, and things get even more mysterious.
I've gotta be really honest - the audiobook narration by Brittany Pressley really gave me the nudge a few times which really helped get me through the book. She delivers great voice and pitch changes, with fun accents thrown in, that make the story pleasing to the ear.
This would have taken me much longer to get through if I didn't have the audio to pull me through. It's not that it was boring, but there were some areas that felt drawn out and I found myself not staying as engaged.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ While there's really nothing new that an avid fantasy reader will find in this story - it's comforting and enjoyable. I love a good portal fantasy featuring a human girl tossed into a magical fae land.
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ The writing and the world building are excellent - I think this is a very solid start to a new series.
This book is full of secrets and betrayal and fae and gods and shifters. It's got hidden identities and enemies to lovers that try so hard not to fall for each other.
It's a romantic fantasy, but it's also epic fantasy. Its full of magic and whimsy and it's got a morally gray shadow daddy who likes to make himself invisible and sneak around with our best girl.
I do recommend this to readers who are looking for a fantasy romance that isn't over the top with spice or romance since it's a subplot and a world that is easy to keep up with.
╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Adult Fantasy ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Reluctant Allies ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Enemies to Lovers ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Morally grey MMC ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Slow Burn ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Forbidden Romance ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Royal Court Intrigue ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Past Betrayals ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Found Family ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ He Falls First ╰⪼ˎˊ˗ Hidden Magic
This story was fantastic! I've come to expect no less when it comes to a Steve Cavanagh novel.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 4 Stars ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Twists and turns, multiple viThis story was fantastic! I've come to expect no less when it comes to a Steve Cavanagh novel.
˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗ 4 Stars ˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗
Twists and turns, multiple villains, unexpected surprises along with Eddie's gang of well-rounded and quality crew that you can't help but admire as they tackle another high-profile case.
Unfortunately this one didn't hold my attention. It didn't pull any emotion out of me and I felt my mind drifting off to other things while trying to Unfortunately this one didn't hold my attention. It didn't pull any emotion out of me and I felt my mind drifting off to other things while trying to read it. It came across really simplistic with the writing, which could be due to the translation but ultimately it wasn't for me.
It did feel a little juvenile- this might be suited better for a younger audience.
This sounds like the cutest, most magical book ever - and the cover ...more
Oh boy, did I ever struggle to get through this book and not just DNF. When I say struggle- I mean I literally sighed, bitched, complained and dreadedOh boy, did I ever struggle to get through this book and not just DNF. When I say struggle- I mean I literally sighed, bitched, complained and dreaded each time I picked up this book. I can't remember the last time I looked at my progress percentage so often in a book and damn did it move incredibly slow. I thought it was never going to end.
Had it been an epub copy and not an audio- I would have given up for sure.
Alright, I've been procrastinating on writing this review. Sometimes I get this unreasonable guilty feeling when my Goodreads friends love a book and Alright, I've been procrastinating on writing this review. Sometimes I get this unreasonable guilty feeling when my Goodreads friends love a book and I end up not loving it so much.
To be fair, I received the audio arc and not the kindle. A good part of my lack of enjoyment was due to the narrator. She was horrible. The best way I can describe it - is she was doing this gentle, soft, whisper voice. Often high pitched in a way that it seemed like she was trying to come across as some soft spoken and fragile woman. She really just came across as sounding inauthentic and wrong.
It didn't work for me at all, I had to muster up quite a bit of will and strength to make it through to the end.
While the story was entertaining enough, I felt that it lacked some depth, a character to root for - because I wasn't a fan of the FMC or anyone for that matter. And I felt like it could have leaned more into the murder mystery, gothic and dark vibes and less on the romance side.
Thank you, Kristina and Dab for putting this book on my radar! ...more
Okay, this book took me forever to finish which is typically unheard of for me. I really enjoyed These Hollow Big sigh. Deep breath. Cracks knuckles.
Okay, this book took me forever to finish which is typically unheard of for me. I really enjoyed These Hollow Vows and These Twisted Bonds last year so I thought I would really enjoy this one. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.
There's so many tropes in this book that I adore, but Ryan failed to utilize them properly and the story was a big flop.
╰┈➤ First, and speaking as a reader who not that long ago read the duology that this is spinning off from - there wasn't much information given about the human realm, the rulers, who these humans are and why they have magic.
I felt a little thrown into the thick of it, I can't even imagine how someone who hasn't read the first two would feel. Totally lost I would imagine.
The story has the bones to be something great but I feel the author squandered opportunities away on boring and insignificant conversations - so many pages just snail-paced along and for what?
There was a lottttt of repetition. Over and over again we're told certain things - I got the memo - moving along please?
I literally started skimming around the 40% mark, then skipped from 60% to 80% then sped read to the end. I felt like a prisoner in this story and I just wanted to escape it.
╰┈➤ These so called big revelations at the end? I honestly thought it was common knowledge not an actual plot twist? So add predictable to boring, slow and repetitive.
Jas is one of the most bland FMC's I've read in a good long while. Whiny and meek. Non stop complaining.
Felicity was not much better, however I did appreciate her more- but having the story split between her and Jasalyn did nothing for either character.
Felicity's storyline is more intriguing but got cut off and was underdeveloped due to half of the book belonging to slog-fest rock personality that is Jas.
Unfortunately, I don't believe I'll continue this series.
✨ Many thanks to NetGalley, Harper Collins/HarperTeen and Lexi Ryan for the complementary digital copy in exchange for my honest review. ...more
I feel like I've been trying to snag this ARC from NetGalley for so long now lol. Nothing like Macmillan coming through for me in the 11th hour. FRTC
I feel like I've been trying to snag this ARC from NetGalley for so long now lol. Nothing like Macmillan coming through for me in the 11th hour. Moving it right up to the top of thee TBR. After Hidden Pictures I've been dying to try another Jason Rekulak novel...
╰⪼ Family Secrets ╰⪼ Wedding Drama ╰⪼ Father/Daughter Relationships ╰⪼ Single POV ╰⪼ New Hampshire Fancy Lodge Setting ╰⪼ Domestic Suspense/Thriller
Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio (...more
If you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?
2.5 Stars
Bear with me... I've never read a Liane Moriarty book before. The only experience I haveIf you knew your future, would you try to fight fate?
2.5 Stars
Bear with me... I've never read a Liane Moriarty book before. The only experience I have with her is the adaptations for Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall. I'm a huge fan of the shows, so I was super excited to receive an advanced copy for her new novel and eager to dive in. And I guess I expected something far different?
ೃ⁀➷ A brief summary
While aboard a flight to Sydney- a woman starts making predictions to all of the passengers, providing their cause of death and age of death.
Some passengers are delighted to receive an old age and natural causes, others were flustered or nervously laughing as if not taking it seriously; The predictions of death at their current age and in an unlikely manner.
The flight lands, everyone gets off - the story breaks into several POV's as we follow a handful of passengers as well as 'the psychic' 'the death lady' -Cherry, after the predictions/flight.
ೃ⁀➷ My Thoughts
Whew. Clocking in at 512 pages, you would have thought this was a 1012 page book for the length of time it took me to get through. At times it really felt like it was a 1k page novel! I struggled with it from cover to cover, but I didn't want to DNF another arc.
First, I had a hard time with the amount of POV's and the way it quickly switches there wasn't always a clear indication as to who's POV you were in as the chapter started. The jumping back in time during Cherry's chapters was even worse. I honestly have no clue what the majority of that information added to the story? Nothing. I'm going to go with absolutely nothing, I skimmed through those chapters at lightning speed.
I was invested in a few of the characters and finding out what happened with them was pretty much the only driving factor in getting to the end of the book. And the thing is, while yes it all comes together in the end... I found the end disappointing, still. I was expecting some huge revelation and it just kind of fell completely flat for me.
Based on her previous work I expected more thrill, a faster pace, something that gripped me, just more. I seem to be a bit in the minority though so I do think it's worth giving a try, it's very well written- unfortunately it just didn't work for me.
Many thanks to NetGalley, Crown Publishing and Liane Moriarty for the complementary digital copy in exchange for my honest review ...more
I...uh. Have no idea wtf really went on in this story. There was a ton of characters, too many in my opinion for a thriller. The story takes 2.5 Stars
I...uh. Have no idea wtf really went on in this story. There was a ton of characters, too many in my opinion for a thriller. The story takes place in 4 different cities and from 4 different POV's and it made it hard to keep up with.
I felt like it lacked some detail and was a little far fetched, the ending was a bit rushed.
I may have very well liked this more and kept up better if I read it on kindle and not listed to the audiobook while multitasking - but that's no excuse for the issues that I had. I feel like anything you read on kindle you should be able to listen to on audio - unless it's a narrator issue and that wasn't a problem here.
I'm a little disappointed considering I've seen such high ratings in my feed. Oh well, on to the next one.
Many Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and Alex Finlay for the complementary audio advanced copy in exchange for my honest review...more