ARC Book Review: Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

August 27, 2024August 24, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: August 27th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at living: a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favourite fantasy series.

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she’s not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor’s tale.

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they’re doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor’s fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain’s shoes, for an adventure that is both ‘brilliant’ (Holly Black) and ‘supremely satisfying’ (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue’s gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.

Thank you Orbit Books for the gifted copy and LibroFM for the audiobook.

I’M STILL CONFUSED.

That is unfortunately my biggest takeaway. I am still confused by this world and some of these characters and why the heck this was 17 hrs of audio? The heavy world dumping in the beginning didn’t stick.

It’s a fun idea and the bones are definitely there. There’s noticeable pop culture references and some of the humor does it well. I just don’t think ALL of it did the intended job. It kind of felt like the TV show adaptation of My Lady Jane. Honestly, I think Long Live Evil would work best as a show. With the real world cross overs and setting this could be great for TV.

There’s some good themes on the perception of others and choosing the best option from a list of bad. I did like most of the characters and different scenes were interesting or perfectly comical.

I’m undecided on picking up book two right now. If I do I will probably do the audio again. There’s a great twister of an ending at least.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy + Romance
Language: moderate, scattered throughout
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate
Content Warnings: terminal illness (cancer, theme throughout), murder

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Book Review: Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen

August 27, 2024July 28, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★.75
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 336 pages
Author: Kara H.L. Chen
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Release Date: July 23rd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.

Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:

1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.

2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.

When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.

WELL.

I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I think this has some great themes, is good for a younger audience and is a quick read. I liked the messages about staying true to yourself and making mistakes and learning from them. On the other hand, this is the same YA contemporary I’ve read at least 10 times. Which led me to having a harder time moving through this because nothing felt new. And since that’s entirely a me thing, it could easily be a book for others.

There is a little bit of language, but the romantic content is kisses only with no innuendo. It’s definitely a true to young adult book and that is its biggest strength. I did like the character growth from Juliana (even though it came a bit late). She stood up for herself and made the tough decisions facing a lot of nuanced aspects in her life.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary + Romance
Language: low
Romance: kisses
Content Warnings: loss of a father (cancer, recounted)

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Book Review: House of Striking Oaths (The Kingdom of Crows #3) by Olivia Wildenstein

August 26, 2024July 17, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: Fantasy Romance
Length: 591 pages
Author: Olivia Wildenstein
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: June 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

I WILL BECOME QUEEN OF LUCE… OR DIE TRYING.

There are few people I loathe more than Dante Regio, but my aunt Bronwen, my former grandfather Justus, and my Shabbin grandmother Meriam sit right alongside the Faerie monarch on my list of despicable beings. Especially after they assist the pointy-eared ruler with my kidnapping.

Locked in an obsidian underworld no Crow can reach, not even their king, I soon learn things aren’t as they seem. People aren’t as they seem. And history… I’m still attempting to reconcile the truth with what I was previously told.

My new allies have an agenda, but I have one of my own. Though there’s overlap—we all agree Dante must die—what I desire more than anything is to return to Lore before he levels the kingdom to find me… or loses his humanity trying.

I may favor crowns over coffins, but I refuse to live in a world where my mate only exists as a bird.

Strap in for one last romantic and pulse-pounding adventure in a world governed by magic and hearts.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT.

I don’t even want to write this review. I am incredibly frustrated by this one.

First of all, why did we spend so much time with Dante? He’s THE FREAKING WORST. And took up way too many pages with his over the top dramatics and trying way too hard to be a villain. It didn’t work. I missed Lore.

Lore is the only aspect I remember liking. I enjoyed his possessive and protective side, per usual. Aaaaand that’s about it.

Fallon got on my nerves some more. And the plot took a bunch of random directions with info dumping (in this, the third book mind you) to try to create more story??? I don’t know. I was confused. Disconnected. And just begging this book to be over.

And now that I know who the spin-off is about I thought it was an odd choice too? I wanted to be able to say, read this series, and now I feel like I can’t say that. Books one and two were very enjoyable. This one left me wanting in about 100 different ways.

Overall audience notes:

Fantasy Romance
Language: heavy and strong
Romance: 3-4 open; high explicit
Violence: high
Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life, murder, physical/magical/weapons violence, small battle themes

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Book Review: Summer Tease (Falling for Summer) by Martha Keyes

August 25, 2024July 11, 2024 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 354 pages
Author: Martha Keyes
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: July 10th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Falling for a Palmer would be the ultimate crime

Wild horses couldn’t drag me back to the small island where I grew up, but you know what can? Making sure the Palmer family–aka the worst neighbors ever–show appropriate respect to the newest resident of their retirement center: my grandma.

But as soon as Grams moves in, her shenanigans put her at risk of being kicked out. Since she’s set on staying in Sunset Harbor until her last breath and there’s no way I’m staying on this nightmare island to take care of her, that’s just not an option.

Enter Beau Palmer, the infuriatingly charming local cop who’s got the connections to keep Grams right where she needs to be and help me get out of Dodge sooner. His price? Use my PR savvy to convince the town council into making his position full-time. That way, he can help his beloved island put the Sawyer/Palmer drama in the past.

But the drama isn’t behind us. In fact, it’s right in front of me, wearing a police badge and a smirk that’s really started disturbing my peace.

Summer Tease is a small-town island romantic comedy with the perfect amount of swoon and none of the explicit scenes or language.

GREW ON ME.

I love a charming guy and Beau fit that bill to a T. I loved his demeanor and soft joy that he brought to the story. It contrasted well with Gemma and they had some great chemistry. There were a few truly standout scenes that I was hoping to get and they delivered.

The Grams plot line bugged me a little because I felt like it kept over shadowing the romantic aspects. I was tired of Gemma getting calls that Grams had caused some other kind of chaos and when the secrets came to light I was let down.

There’s good flirty banter, and like all of the other books in this series, I adore the summer vibes. I feel swept away to this island and love seeing different pieces of it in each book.

Overall audience notes: