Category: Book Review

Book Review: Bane of Asgard (Runestone Saga #2) by Cinda Williams Chima

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy
Length: 640 pages
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: October 22nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The highly anticipated sequel in the acclaimed Runestone Saga from New York Times bestselling author Cinda Williams Chima with more adventure, mystery, and plot twists than ever before.

Reunited in New Jotunheim, Reginn, Eiric and Liv discover that they are game pieces being played on a hidden board. Eiric’s slaughter of the old council has opened Tyra’s path to power—she now has the perfect excuse to launch a war against the Archipelago. Tyra is also using her dottir, Liv, as a vehicle to raise a dangerous goddess. And Reginn is tasked with crossing the boundary between the living and the dead to gain access to powerful magical secrets.

With Reginn’s help, Eiric escapes prison and returns home to find his brodir and warn the Archipelago of the impending attack. Meanwhile, she remains at the Grove to try to prevent the outbreak of war. Soon, though, Reginn learns her true role in this use her power to raise the dead to ensure victory for New Jotunheim. The demon Asger Eldr tells her that she alone can prevent another Ragnarok. But how?

Back in the Archipelago, Eiric agrees to join the king’s forces, though that means taking up arms against his systir, Liv, and Reginn, the spinner who has ensnared his heart. For perhaps the first time in his life, he dreads the coming fight. 

As the two sides prepare for an apocalyptic battle, Eiric, Reginn, and Liv find allies and enemies in unexpected places and draw on new strengths as they seek to prevent the destruction of the last of the Nine Worlds.

THANK GOODNESS FOR AUDIO.

I think I may have struggled with this more if I was physically reading it so I’m grateful for an audiobook to help the pacing issues that plagued this throughout. It is slow and a bit meandering and occasionally lost focus.

The characters were all fantastic though. After I finally started remembering what happened in book one I started to fall more for this whole cast. There’s some solid found family foundations and plenty of political intrigue to have some good turns woven in. I have always enjoyed (and continue to do so) CWC writing style. I like her story telling capabilities a lot. I do wish there had been a bit more romance though (I can’t help myself) because I genuinely think that would have built the impact of some scenes more.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Fantasy
  • Language: low
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content Warnings: blood/gore depiction, murder, torture, kidnapping, loss of life and battle themes

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

ARC Book Review: The Maid of Sherwood Forest (A McQuivey’s Costume Shop Romance #2) by Sian Ann Bessey

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 296 pages
Author: Sian Ann Bessey
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Release Date: November 4th, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Mariah thought Robin Hood was just a legend—until time pulled her into his world and the outlaw stole her heart.

Nothing about Mariah Clinton’s passion for archery or her work as a sous-chef in contemporary London prepares her for the moment she’s pulled into another time—and another life. One minute, she’s stepping into McQuivey’s Costume Shop to rent a medieval gown. The next, she’s standing in a castle kitchen in twelfth-century Nottingham—with no idea how she got there or how to return to modern time. Forced to pose as a kitchen servant, she must draw on ingenuity and courage to survive in a world in which she shouldn’t exist. But when her skill with a bow draws the attention of outlaws in Sherwood Forest, she’s swept into a conflict that is more dangerous—and more thrilling—than she could ever have imagined.

Robin Hood has spent years outwitting the sheriff, protecting the innocent, and keeping his men one step ahead of Prince John’s reach. But when he crosses paths with a mysterious archer who shoots like no woman he’s ever met, he knows she’s hiding something. Her words, her ways, even the fire in her eyes—none of it belongs in his time. Yet the more she stands at his side, the harder it becomes to imagine Sherwood Forest without her.

Mariah is torn between a past she understands in modern-day London and an uncertain future with an outlaw who has stolen her heart. But as the sheriff’s grip tightens and betrayal looms, one truth becomes clear—some choices are impossible to undo, and love, once found, is not so easily left behind.

Thank you to Shadow Mountain for a gifted ARC.

NOT FOR ME.

I’m just going to accept that this series isn’t for me and take a step back. I don’t think the writing was bad or anything along those lines. The story itself was lacking something that made me want to keep picking it up. It felt like I was reading any movie or historical article I’ve read about Robin Hood without adding anything new. The romance is also a bit insta-lovey and I wanted a deeper connection between them.

So while not for me, I know plenty of people who will love this more than me and I hope you do.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: The Temptation of Magic (Empyreal #1) by Megan Scott

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: NA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Megan Scott
Publisher: Harper Collins
Release Date: August 27th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Nicole Palmer has needed to study the supernatural art in a local Cornish manor for years. Encoded in it is the last message from her mother on how to stay safe from The Wake—the organization that governs all supernaturals. As an Empyreal, Nicole has the ability to hunt and kill dangerous creatures, making her invaluable. But if her power was ever triggered, they would find her, use her, and then kill her.

Like they did her mother.

Securing an undergraduate research role to study the collection, Nicole discovers her greatest enemy—one of The Wake’s Empyreals. Kyan McCarter is their best hunter, stationed at the manor to track and kill a deadly creature, but when they realise a painting’s been stolen by his prey, Nicole and Kyan are forced to work together to find it.

As the creature threatens to expose Nicole’s power, her tenuous alliance with Kyan threatens her heart. If Kyan finds out what she is, he’ll hunt her next—or risk execution. No one disobeys The Wake and survives. Especially not when the art they’re seeking holds the key to a conspiracy that could get them both killed, and change the lives of creatures, and humans, forever.

SERPENT AND DOVE meets A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, in this luxurious, forbidden romance.

NEVER FULLY ENGAGED.

I kept waiting for this book to really GRAB me and the further I got into the audiobook the more I realized, I just didn’t care. There was nothing inherently wrong with the plot, I thought the characters were fine, but it was missing something that I could not nail down yet desperately needed.

The romance left me wanting too. I had heard that there was a fated mates trope in here (which I love, but lets me down too often) and the let down was more present here. It was fine. Though, FYI, this is NOT young adult — it seems tagged that way on Goodreads — it’s NA for the sexual content, but more YA in writing style.

And while I loved the dark academia x monster fae concept, I am realizing I was still confused by the magic and world building. There were a lot of crisscrossing names and terms that I got lost in the shuffle.

I’m not sure I’ll continue the series.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Dark Acadamia/Fantasy Romance
  • Language: moderate
  • Romance: innuendo, vague open door
  • Violence: moderate – high
  • Content Warnings: blood/gore, murder, weapons and magic altercations

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Never Thought I’d End Up Here by Ann Liang

GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: Ann Liang
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date: June 3rd, 2025
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, Never Thought I’d End Up Here is another hilarious and romantic romcom from Ann Liang, this time following a former model determined to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA – it’s all she’s ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She’s forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can’t hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China’s most beautiful cities. To them, it’s the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it’s simply a much-needed escape.

But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who’s somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.

While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody’s looking, she can’t get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.

Yet the deeper they wander into China’s provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love – with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she’d call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.

GOOD THEMES.

I love a good young adult book I feel I can actually hand to young adults. Ann Liang continues to deliver fantastic coming of age novels that hit you in the feels and supply a sweet romance too.

I loved the traveling aspect of this one. Touring cities with beautifully written imagery brought China to life. And I loved that this immersion for Leah helped her reconnect with her roots. It wasn’t perfect and filled with fumbles and I feel that’s a resonating aspect that we all go through with big experiences. Leah was letting go of a future she thought she had to participate in and found a way to be and love herself. The growth of Leah’s confidence was one of my favorite themes.

And the romance? Oh it was the sweetest childhood friends turned enemies turned slow burn lovers. Cyrus is down bad and I am here for every moment of that. The romance isn’t the front of this story but does provide such a good dual plot line that brings a lot of growth moments for the characters too. These are the kind of travel romances I adore reading.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Content warnings: bullying (recounted), body image (theme throughout)

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph