ARC Book Review: Curses by Lish McBride

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Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Retelling
Length: 488 pages
Author: Lish McBride
Publisher: GP Putnam
Release Date: July 20th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Merit Cravan refused to fulfill her obligation to marry a prince, leading to a fairy godling’s curse. She will be forced to live as a beast forever, unless she agrees to marry a man of her mother’s choosing before her eighteenth birthday.

Tevin Dumont has always been a pawn in his family’s cons. The prettiest boy in a big family, his job is to tempt naïve rich girls to abandon their engagements, unless their parents agree to pay him off. But after his mother runs afoul of the beast, she decides to trade Tevin for her own freedom.

Now, Tevin and Merit have agreed that he can pay off his mother’s debt by using his con-artist skills to help Merit find the best match . . . but what if the best match is Tevin himself?

Thank you to PenguinTeen for an eARC. All opinions are my own!

NOT BAD.

Just not great either.

I love the cast of characters. There were many, with unique personalities and I love how they were portrayed. It’s a great group of friends that end up working together to end Merit’s curse. The villains were plenty wicked (though it became too convenient in the end) and some morally gray ones are also a fun addition.

What I didn’t love was the lack of romance. It’s a Beauty and the Beast retelling…shouldn’t there be more? By the time Tevin is confessing his love I realized I’m not emotionally invested in this. It was a big let down for me because I definitely had higher hopes. Over the course of a long book I thought more page time could’ve been spent developing their relationship rather than my other problem, the amount of POV’s.

Usually I love multiple points-of-view. In this case, I thought it should have stuck to the main two. It would have helped a deeper connection with the main characters. We’d flit off to some side story that could have been handled (and honestly, would have been more surprising) coming from one of the main characters [Merit or Tevin]. I didn’t need to hear about everyone else to get the whole picture.

I liked the set-up for the story and how this retelling was managed. It really did feel distinctly B&tB reminiscent. I could see many parallels that helped [& occasionally hindered] the plot. There’s some good humorous moments and some soft ones too. I wish I had felt more emotionally invested to fully enjoy this tale.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy Retelling
  • Language: very little
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: physical altercations, animal attacks, poisonings

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Book Review: All About Us by Tom Ellen

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Tom Ellen
Publisher: HQ
Release Date: October 13th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A chance encounter leads to the journey of a lifetime in this powerful and emotional love story, perfect for fans of One Day, Me Before You and In Five Years.

If you could turn back the clock, would you choose a different life?

Ben’s always loved the month of December, but this year, with his relationship with Daphne on the rocks, it’s missing its usual magic. And then his old friend Alice gets back in touch. Ben’s always thought of Alice as the one that got away, and he can’t help but wonder: what if he’d done things differently all those years ago?

He never imagines he might get to find out… but when a stranger sells Ben a mysterious watch one freezing winter’s night, he’s astonished to wake up the next morning on 5th December 2005: the day he first kissed Daphne, leaving Alice behind.

Now Ben must make the biggest decision of his life, all over again. But this time around, will he finally find the courage to follow his heart?

All About Us is a captivating novel of heartbreak and loss, friendship and hope – and how the choices we make throughout our lives will shape our destiny.

AN ENJOYABLE RETELLING.

I must have missed the memo that this was A Christmas Carol modern retelling. Am I upset about this fact? Not a bit, I loved the way this was written.

It’s a much more somber and heart-felt Christmas/Holiday romance. There’s a lot to unpack with Ben and watching him find his way again. He had an incredible character arc that I appreciated and felt for. I ended up in his corner, wanting him to learn from his mistakes and becoming a better man.

I didn’t love that there was a cheating aspect woven into the plot. It’s a bit of a gray area type cheating, but still there emotionally and physically. Though usually I really hate a book that has this, I found myself not hating it as much this time around. It had its reasons for being there and captured the essence of what Ben was choosing to do.

Seeing Ben and Daphne rekindle things and work through them was a beautiful touch. I don’t read (or even come across) many romance involving a married couple and I always feel them on a different level as someone who is married.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses; a mention of a few closed door scenes (no detail)
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: emotional/physical cheating, sudden loss of a parent, depictions of depression and grief

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Book Review: Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive #4) by Brandon Sanderson

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: High/Epic Fantasy
Length: 1,232 pages
Author: Brandon Sanderson
Publisher: Tor Books
Release Date: November 17th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The eagerly awaited sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling Oathbringer, from an epic fantasy writer at the top of his game.

After forming a coalition of human resistance against the enemy invasion, Dalinar Kholin and his Knights Radiant have spent a year fighting a protracted, brutal war. Neither side has gained an advantage.

Now, as new technological discoveries begin to change the face of the war, the enemy prepares a bold and dangerous operation. The arms race that follows will challenge the very core of the Radiant ideals, and potentially reveal the secrets of the ancient tower that was once the heart of their strength.

At the same time that Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with his changing role within the Knights Radiant, his Windrunners face their own problem: As more and more deadly enemy Fused awaken to wage war, no more honorspren are willing to bond with humans to increase the number of Radiants. Adolin and Shallan must lead the coalition’s envoy to the honorspren stronghold of Lasting Integrity and either convince the spren to join the cause against the evil god Odium, or personally face the storm of failure.

READ IT.

How do you write a review for a book you basically consider perfect?

There aren’t words.

I loved this so much (and also highly recommend on audio, the narrators do a FANTASTIC job).

The incredible character development for every single person in this book was off the charts. The amount of emotion put into the words and scenes broke me down (no really, I almost cried a few times). I also found myself laughing, fist-pumping and preparing to pummel some characters too. There’s a clear raw, beautiful talent to Sanderson’s writing and you hardly notice you’ve spent 1,000 pages enraptured by the lives of these people.

I have more, lots more, but for fear of hinting at *any* spoilers I’m keeping it more brief. If you’re looking to try a fantasy or a big book, look no further. Read this series and come to be caught up in it all as the rest of us. It’s an amazing and stunning piece of literature.

Overall audience notes:

  • Fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: war depictions, swords, magic, battle scenes
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: depictions of grief and depression, suicidal ideation, a lot of discussion on mental health (struggling with it, coping, and finding help, etc.)

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Book Review: Jingle All the Way by Debbie Macomber

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Rating: ☆☆
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 272 pages
Author: Debbie Macomber
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: October 13th, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A young workaholic avoiding home for the holidays discovers that you can’t run away from who you are–a heartfelt Christmas novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Everly Lancaster always dreamed of leaving her hometown in rural Illinois. Now she helps run a burgeoning startup in Chicago, where her professional goals leave little time for friends…or a vacation.

When a massive snowstorm hits, Everly’s mother urges her to come home for Christmas, but she hesitates to return to the life she’s worked so hard to escape. Searching for other holiday plans, Everly tasks her assistant with booking her a cruise–the perfect getaway. Embarking on a weeklong tour of the Amazon guided by charming naturalist Asher Adams, Everly slowly but surely begins to realize that relationships are more important than work–and just might decide to journey home just in time for Christmas Day.

Debbie Macomber’s signature wintry warmth shines in this holiday delight.

MISSED ITS CHANCE.

Not gonna lie, the more I sat on this review, the lower my rating went.

There was an incredible amount of potential here. I thought the premise was a fun take for a holiday romance, could have led to a lot of different avenues, and took me nowhere. Or more, took me everywhere at an intense speed I couldn’t keep up with.

Insta-love/connections can work. I have read many good ones, but I tend to struggle with them more quickly when it’s truly rushed. Before halfway our couple had already had the big “conflict fight” and went separate ways more the moment. But I realized that they had hardly spent time with each other, so I never formed a connection with them. The amount of telling vs. showing me feelings and moments ruined most of this for me.

I liked how it ended and the resolutions that were made on both sides. There was better communication and compromises on both sides that worked for the story. Just wish that was fleshed out a bit more and that there was more story and moments.

Overall audience notess:

  • Contemporary Holiday Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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