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Book Review: The Agaped Bearer: Wishing Stars by Hannah Taylor Lindsey

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Rating: ★★★
Audience: Middle Grade Fantasy
Length: 584 pages
Author: Hannah Taylor Lindsey
Publisher: Starnate Publishing
Release Date: July 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The most powerful force in the universe falls out of the sky and into the hands of a magicless thirteen-year-old girl. Lisa Robbie, a freckled, soon-to-be-eighth-grade girl from Keyport, New Jersey, happens upon a shooting star that isn’t merely space debris but is magic—the Agapéd Magic. This leads her to a whole new way of life where she learns she has the most powerful magic in all four galaxies, a power that the Guardians have waited 120 years for… and they are not too thrilled about it.

The only person who sees her worthy enough to wield this magic is the 700-year-old brutish Wishing Star gardener, Gaius. Still, even he won’t tell her the Agapéd’s true purpose—the purpose for Lisa’s life. Why don’t they like me having this magic? What is so special about it? Why are they keeping me and this Agapéd Magic a secret?

Curiosity takes Lisa down a path of nightmares as the Agapéd Magic begins to take a toll on her heart, and she must decide if this new way of life is worth all the pain and sorrow tagged along with it.
. . .
The Agapéd Wishing Stars is the beginning of the epic light-versus-darkness saga, a fantasy adventure perfect for those who enjoy constant tugging at their heartstrings and plenty of magical encounters.

Thank you to the author for a gifted copy.

VERY LONG.

I could see the good bones in this book. There’s some coming of age and being the chosen one and all that comes with when your thrust into something so young. I liked the learning moments and I didn’t mind the main character, Lisa, or Gaius. I liked their mentor/mentee relationship and the growth there. And the prince is cute too! I loved his addition and think that will play a much bigger role in the future books.

What brought this down for me was the length. With 600 pages and only 300-400 of those truly necessary. There were a lot of tangents and world dumping explanations. And I found myself skimming more than I wanted. The plot lost a lot of speed and I this book felt completely dedicated to Lisa working on her power, that’s it.

A mixed bag of thoughts for this one.

Overall audience notes:

  • Middle grade fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: loss of life

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Book Review: A Deal with the Devil (The Devils #1) by Elizabeth O’Roark

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 314 pages
Author: Elizabeth O’Roark
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: August 10th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

He might not be the devil, but working under him for six weeks is my idea of hell.

Hayes Flynn is an arrogant jerk known best for his scotch habit and the way he spreads his British “charm” all over Hollywood, never with the same woman twice.

He’s the last person I want to work for, except he has a face I can’t look away from, and the longer we’re together, the harder he is to hate. Because under that smug exterior is a heart he doesn’t want to show—one that was badly broken a decade earlier.

A part of me wants to fix it for him before I leave…but can I do it without breaking my own in the process?

AN INTERESTING HOT MESS.

I feel conflicted by this book (which is how I felt about book two in this series before coming back to this one).

One on side, we have a SUPER sweet grump x sunshine; boss x assistant; slow burn romance. I really liked the chemistry between Hayes and Tali. Fantastic banter and soooo many sub tropes in romances that I flat out adore. The protective alpha vibes totally worked for me and every time Hayes opened up more I was a puddle. Great hero.

Aaaaand the other side was this weird amalgamation of plot things that felt like it was trying too hard. Each side character had to have some intense thing happening in their lives, & I HATED how the Mom thing with Tali was handled. There’s quite a few off-color jokes that did not land well whatsoever and made me cringe. The addition of book stuff from what Tali was writing? And just stuff like that?

Hayes truly carries this entire book and is the only reason it held its four star status. I’m undecided on reading book three at this point as the wild plot seems to be a theme.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: strong
  • Romance: multiple open; med-high explicit + medium innuendo
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: cheating recounted, parent with alcoholism, suicide mentioned, death of a parent recounted

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: December 2023

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We have made it! It was a fantastic year with so many good books and reaching new highs I didn’t think I would get to. Excited to see 2024 and what books it’ll hold.

Favorites this month:

  • The Christmas Letters
  • The Last Love Note
  • The Duet
  • House of Earth and Blood
  • Even If It Breaks Your Heart
  • The Letter Tree
  • The Golden Goal
  • Powerless
  • An Heir of Frost
  • Bride
  • Emma M. Lion Vol. 4
  • The Catch
  • The Christmas Guest
  • Fate Calls the Elf Queen
  • Divine Rivals
  • Ruthless Vows

Least favorites:

  • Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White
  • Daughter of the Sun (The Mothmar Trilogy #1) by Amanda Auler
  • [ARC] The Christmas Letters by Jenny Proctor
  • The Last Love Note by Emma Grey
  • Love on Deck (Arcadia Creek #1) by Kasey Stockton
  • The Duet (Falling for Franklin #3) by Hailey Gardiner
  • Peaches & Honey: These Immortal Truths by R. Raeta
  • [ALC] Dark Star Burning, Ash Falls White (Song of the Last Kingdom #2) by Amelie Wen Zhao
  • Technically Yours by Denise Williams
  • [ARC] The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
  • This Cursed Light (The Last Finestra #2) by Emily Thiede
  • [Reread] House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1) by Sarah J. Maas
  • [ARC] Falling for Your Brother’s Best Friend (Love Cliches #3.5) by Emma St. Clair
  • Censorshipped (Getting Shipped! #4) by Savannah Scott
  • [ARC] Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn
  • [ALC/ARC] The Lily of Ludgate Hill (The Belles of London #3) by Mimi Matthews
  • [ALC] Courting War (Vicious Gods #1) by Hazel St. Lewis
  • Long Live (The Elementals of Iona #1) by V.B. Lacey
  • The Letter Tree by Rachel Fordham
  • [ARC] The Golden Goal (More Than a Game #1) by Annah Conwell
  • Powerless (The Powerless Trilogy #1) by Lauren Roberts
  • [ARC] An Heir of Frost (A Trial of Sorcerers #4) by Elise Kova
  • [ARC] Bride by Ali Hazelwood
  • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
  • [ALC] Dungeons and Drama by Kristy Boyce
  • The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion Vol. 4 by Beth Brower
  • [ARC] The Catch (The Influencer #3) by Amy Lea
  • The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson
  • The Book That Wouldn’t Burn (The Library Trilogy #1) by Mark Lawrence
  • This Cruel Dawn (The Curse of the Blessed #3) by Renee Dugan
  • Fate Calls the Elf Queen (The Elf Queen #3) by J.M. Kearl
  • A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat
  • In Which Margo Halifax Earns Her Reputation (Halifax Hellions #1) by Alexandra Vasti
  • [Reread] Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross
  • Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment #2) by Rebecca Ross

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