Book Review: Bloodwitch (The Witchlands #3) by Susan Dennard

July 17, 2020March 16, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 464 pages
Author: Susan Dennard
Publisher: Tor Teen
Release Date: February 12th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Fans of Susan Dennard’s Witchlands series have fallen in love with the Bloodwitch Aeduan. And now, finally, comes his story.

High in a snowy mountain range, a monastery that holds more than just faith clings to the side of a cliff. Below, thwarted by a lake, a bloodthirsty horde of raiders await the coming of winter and the frozen path to destroy the sanctuary and its secrets.

The Bloodwitch Aeduan has teamed up with the Threadwitch Iseult and the magical girl Owl to stop the destruction. But to do so, he must confront his own father, and his past.

I LOVE AEDUAN.

Oh man. I’m so happy to get a book that had him more at the forefront. Gosh, I am smitten with this broody sassy man with a huge heart. And him and Iseult? Just stop. TOO CUTE.

But I mean, this whole book hurts. This is not some happy-go-lucky fantasy novel. The amount of backstabbing and political maneuvering that happens throughout this series blows my mind. I honestly can’t tell you where I think everyone *exactly* lies. All of these characters have their own motives and it definitely influences that intense action of Bloodwitch.

Addressing what I mentioned last time [not loving Vivia], she did grow on me over this book! She is truly having to claw her way to what she deserves and I feel that. I am enjoying her character arc. Also, real obsessed with pretty much everyone else. I love these characters. Everyone is unique and vastly opinionated and I here for it. This is a cast to enjoy and hug tightly because I’m convinced someone won’t make it to the end.

THE SHIPS. How can you not love them ALL? Seriously. I have intense emotions for everyone of them. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY. I will go down in flames with Aeduan and Iseult because they have one of the best developments I’ve read. The sparks between them will set the world in flames.

There were a lot of emotions throughout. I was up, down, and all around. So many things happened and I was convinced one too many times for my heart that someone was actually dead. WHY. Such strong and steady writing. Maybe a little slow at times, but this definitely [overall] held my attention.

Overall audience notes:

Young adult fantasy
Language: a little mild
Romance: kisses
Violence: plenty; skirmishes, physical, magic, arrows, swords

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Book Review: The Fine Art of Losing Control by Ashley Shepherd

July 16, 2020July 16, 2020 GoodeyReads1 Comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 366 pages
Author: Ashley Shepherd
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: October 7th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Willa Loveridge likes to be in control.

…of everything and everyone.

And when things start to spin out of her control, she only knows how to do one thing: panic.

So she failed her Foundations of Western Art class. Her ex-boyfriend sent her naked pictures to all of his friends. Her roommate hates her. Her mom and stepdad are having a baby. And her estranged father appeared after nineteen years of radio silence for the sole purpose of paying her college tuition.

Seriously? He couldn’t even introduce himself first?

But at least this one, she can handle. She can’t change her grades, wipe her pictures from the internet, force her roommate to love her, or stop her mom from replacing her. But the father she’s never met dropping serious cash on her floundering education? A girl can handle that.

Or so she thinks.

In an effort to regain some control of her rapidly spiralling life, Willa boards a plane to New Zealand to find the man who thinks he can just throw eighty-five grand at her and then disappear again. She’s done with the absent father act. She at least wants to meet him face-to-face before a panic attack sends her into an early grave.

But after an unexpected emergency landing and a brief encounter with a cult, Willa somehow finds herself in a caravan with a YouTuber, the star of a million Korean Dramas, and a Scottish kid with an unhealthy attachment to his guitar. Together, they navigate the backroads of New Zealand one wrong turn at a time.

Which is basically her worst nightmare.

Between some unnecessary hand-holding and a swift push out of her comfort zone, Willa soon finds herself learning the fine art of losing control.

A new adult slow burn romance!

I NEED TO TAKE A TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND.

One of my favorite parts of someone traveling in a contemporary book is getting a feel for the location. Shepherd’s writing had me convinced to buy a plain ticket for a trip ASAP [and I hate planes y’all].

Okay okay, back to the story. I enjoyed this! Not to the fanaticism level of Faking Under the Mistletoe (which is you’re reading this ADD TO YOUR TBR NOW), but still a solid read where I highly look forward to whatever book she writes next.

There was a lot of self-deprecating and darker humor (I should jump off this bridge right now, wish that car had ran me over, etc.). I definitely did not appreciate the amount of times this was used. I think it did shed light on what Willa was going through though. I was upset and angry for her and the horrid awfulness that was her ex-boyfriend.

I loved watching Willa slowly take hold of what this book is titled, losing control. Willa focused a lot on having things go exactly as planned and if not she would have control issues over it (which I can really relate too). Hanging out with the hodge-podge of friends that she did allowed her to loosen up as time went on. I thought her character arc was great as Willa accepted alternate routes on her life plans.

Ollie and Willa’s romance was cute. I loved all of the banter and slight flirtations. Ollie was clearly smitten with her and it took Willa awhile to realize that (with reason, of course). It was a slower build and didn’t shoot past its mark by the end. I liked how there story ended (for this book, I promise there’s a HEA!).

Many deeper lines in this story were involved too. Appreciating and finding family. Learning about one’s past. Accepting help and opening up about being harassed. These are all incredibly hard topics to approach and I like the way Shepherd went about it.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: strong throughout
Romance: kisses, some implied scenes but nothing detailed (at the very end)
Trigger warnings: abusive relationship (emotional/verbal), ex-boyfriend posted/shared naked photos of Willa to friends then repeatedly harassed her online

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Book Review: Until it Fades by K.A. Tucker

July 15, 2020March 14, 2020 GoodeyReads2 Comments

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: K.A. Tucker
Publisher: Atria Books
Release Date: June 27th, 2017
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population two thousand outside of tourist season.

And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.

Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works.

For a time.

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust.

Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?

SUCKER FOR TUCKER.

Okay, can this be my new tagline for K.A. Tucker books? It just came to me as I sat down to write this and I think it’s such an apt description for how I feel about her books. ‘Cause I love ’em.

This was a backlist title for me that I picked up (thank you library!) on a whim. I was feeling a contemporary romance, I got a contemporary romance. I liked how unique the overall setting and characters were to books I’ve read before. This one features a single mom and a hot hockey player. Yup, haven’t read that combination before. Looooooved it.

There’s a lot of heaviness that surrounds this book. Catherine knows she’s made mistakes and has held on to that guilt and fear for so long. Taking care of her daughter, Brenna, becomes the only focus. After saving Brett from a car wreck they’re thrown together as the news of just how famous he is comes to light.

Y’all. I adored Brett. SO STINKIN’ MUCH. He was charming, kind, and full of real, raw emotions as he had to cope with his injuries. Catherine is a brave, soft, and heartfelt mom. Add them together and the chemistry was flying. I thought they worked great together. And I love how accepting they were of each other. Even as Catherine’s past came out, Brett never wavered and left the past, in the past.

I love how there was a big focus on rekindling relationships too. Catherine slowly worked with her family to be connected again and started to realize how much they were truly there for her. A lot of redemption and grace was given from everyone throughout this book.

The touch of mystery that I didn’t even know was happening until it all came out was a good touch too. I just loved the entire flow of the plot. I would usually find quicker love stories harder to love. This worked on so many levels I could not be bothered to put this down. I ignored my other reads because I needed this happy ending. It was a blissfully beautiful book and I’m forever a Tucker fan.

Overall audience notes:

Contemporary romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses; heated make-outs; a few detailed almost scenes, a full detailed scene
Violence: details of a car wreck (resulting in someone dying)
Trigger warnings: a teacher having an inappropriate relationship with a student (brought up and discussed throughout the book; detailed back story)

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Book Review: Five Dark Fates (Three Dark Crowns #4) by Kendare Blake

July 13, 2020March 14, 2020 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 452 pages
Author: Kendare Blake
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After the battle with Katharine, the rebellion lies in tatters. Jules’s legion curse has been unbound, leaving her out of her mind and unfit to rule. Arsinoe must find a cure, even as the responsibility of stopping the ravaging mist rests heavy on her shoulders, and her shoulders alone. Mirabella has disappeared.

Queen Katharine’s rule over Fennbirn remains intact—for now. But her attack on the rebellion exacted a high price: her beloved Pietyr. Without him, who can she rely upon when Mirabella arrives, seemingly under a banner of truce? As oldest and youngest circle each other, and Katharine begins to yearn for the closeness that Mirabella and Arsinoe share, the dead queens hiss caution—Mirabella is not to be trusted.

In this conclusion to the Three Dark Crowns series, three dark sisters will rise to fight as the secrets of Fennbirn’s history are laid bare. Allegiances will shift. Bonds will be tested, and some broken forever.

The fate of the island lies in the hands of its queens.

DISAPPOINTED.

I expected so much more from this series. The marketing and taglines for it all made it seem like I was going to get something darker and more sinister than what I got. Some sinister things actually happened at the very end of this book, but it took too long getting there.

This really would have functioned better as a duology. The only book I can remember enjoying was book two. So by the time I got here, thinking I would at least get a good ending, I was wrong. That’s my biggest complaint overall. These books dragged. Added sub-plots that had no bearing on the story at hand. No big names actually getting taken down. All of these together made me listen as fast as I could to get through this.

I’ve always at least enjoyed the lore and story behind the island. I thought it was an interesting world set-up with a unique premise.

As a mostly plot driven story it left the characters lacking. I wanted more history and depth of personality and interactions with everyone. Things only felt surface deep and I’m not sure by the end if I even liked any of the characters? They all fell flat. The one character I did enjoy is one of the few who actually didn’t make it.

The potential to finish this off well was there, and I did not see it at all.

Overall audience notes: