Book Review: Their Will Undone by R.J. Valldeperas

June 16, 2026June 9, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: R.J. Valldeperas
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A debut YA fantasy must-read for fans of The Winner’s Curse, What the River Knows, and This Woven Kingdom.

When a maiden is selected to marry the emperor, her journey to the palace will see her fighting both a spark of magical power and her growing feelings for her broody escort in this romantic fantasy duology opener, inspired by a true story from the Inca empire.

In the Amaru Empire, it’s considered an honor to be chosen for the annual harvest. But when guards stole Nina’s brother away, it devastated her family. So, when the guards returned for Nina’s sweet sister, she threw herself into their clutches instead. And Nina has spent every moment since then in the acllahuasi, a gilded cage where women are trained to become servants or wives.

When Kasik, an obedient lieutenant in Amaru’s army, is sent to the acllahuasi to retrieve the emperor’s new wife, it’s only the promise of his own command—and a chance to escape his controlling father—that forces him to accept.

Kasik has no reason to trust Nina, nor she to trust him. But, as they begin their journey, their chemistry is hard to ignore. Also hard to ignore? The tugging sensation of magic in Nina’s chest, awakening more questions than she can possibly answer as she travels with a handsome stranger to her unknown fate.

Thank you HarperCollins for the gifted book and LibroFM for the gifted audiobook.

SAVED BY THE SECOND HALF.

🎧 The audiobook was good. I liked the narrator. This was dual POV though so I would have loved it had been dual narrators too. Luckily it was fairly easy to tell the POV’s apart.

This book started off iffy for me when I clocked into the insta-attraction/love. I’m someone who pretty much only ever wants a slow burn and I was confused by the supposed chemistry between Kasik and Nina when they are by all accounts, enemies. Luckily this connection started to disperse as conflict arose and different scenarios actually brought some needed stressors. I’m more endeared now to the story after the second half and I think it’s much better set up for the sequel.

I did enjoy the main characters and the different perspectives they come from. There’s a good battle of wills and understanding that all the information before them is not actually all of the answers. I liked the complicated political dynamics and trying to find the right answer for all involved. The feminine rage doesn’t overwhelm the story and added an edge that I was here for.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy Romance
Language: mild
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate

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Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2026

May 31, 2026May 31, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

What time is it?
SUMMERTIME.

Daggermouth (The Heart #1) by H.M. Wolfe
Beast Becomes Her by Crystal Seitz
[ALC] Seek the Traitor’s Son (The Burning Empire #1) by Veronica Roth
Into a Golden Era (Timeless #7) by Gabrielle Meyer
[ARC] Magic at Midnight by Courtney Millecam
Honey in Her Veins by Ruth McKell
[ARC] Rival Season (Hockey Boys of Loft 3B #2) by Rival Season
Release Me (Shatter Me: The New Republic #2) by Tahereh Mafi
[ARC] Stars, Stripes & Summer Nights by Celeste Dador
The Sea Spinner (Reign of Remnants #2) by Julie Johnson
Smoke in the Mirrors (Slanted London #2) by Jessica Scarlett
[ARC/ALC] Rebel Heiress (The Diamonds #3) by Amalie Howard
Annie Knows Everything by Rachel Wood
[Reread] Empire of Storms (Throne of Glass #5) by Sarah J. Maas
[ARC] Little Miss Goody Two-Shoes by Shelbey Kendall
Beneath the Wreckage (Wrecked #5) by Catherine Cowles
[ARC] Every Beat After by Sara B. Larson
The Paris Match by Kate Clayborn
An Honorable Love (The Gentlemen’s Gamble) by Audra Wells
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
[ARC/ALC] Shadow Reaper (Shadow Reaper #1) by Lynette Noni
Unsteady (The Undone #1) by Peyton Corinne
Cross Court (The Off Court #2) by Vai Denton
His Face is the Sun (Throne of Khetara #1) by Michelle Jabes Corpora
[ARC/ALC] Hard to Love (The Lost Girls #1) by Stacy Williams
[Novella] S’more of You (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Tessa Bailey
[Novella] Girls Just Wanna Have Sun (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Rachel Lacey
[Novella] One Hot Summer Wedding (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Falon Ballard
[Novella] Save a Horse, Keep a Cowboy (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Jessica Peterson
[Novella] Summer Staycation (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
[Novella] Summer Thaw (Summer Lovin’ Collection) by Rebecca Jenshak
The Gravewood (The Gravewood #1) by Kelly Andrew
[Reread] Tower of Dawn (Throne of Glass #6) by Sarah J. Maas
Fever Dream (Emerald Lake #1) by Elsie Silver
Made for Mayhem (Mayhem Hockey Club #2) by Aimee Vance
The Roommate Rule by Georgie Stone
Fury Bound (The Wolves of Ruin #2) by Sable Sorensen
[ARC] Hopeless Necromantic (The Catseye Chronicles #1) by Shiloh Briar
Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monaghan

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ARC/ALC Book Review: Shadow Reaper (Shadow Reaper #1) by Lynette Noni

May 30, 2026May 20, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 496 pages
Author: Lynette Noni
Publisher: Knopf Books
Release Date: June 2nd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Never bargain with a reaper.

The city of Aravell is in peril, plagued by a deadly blackmist that kills all it touches and reapers who roam the streets, stealing magic from innocent children in their thirst for power. Seventeen-year-old Viridia Solace has trained for years to hunt these reapers, but their ranks keep growing, led by the man who murdered her parents: the notorious Reaper Priest.

When the Priest’s most loyal follower, Reeve Ashton, is captured, he offers Viri a chance to avenge her parents . . . for a price. She knows better than to bargain with a reaper, let alone this reaper, but his offer is too good to resist.

Soon she’s breaking him out of prison, colluding with his crew of magic thieves, and following him deep into the blackmist forest in search of an ancient legend, all so they can stop the Reaper Priest’s plot to doom the city. Viri is staking her life on Reeve’s plan, but how can she trust a silver-tongued criminal to keep his word? And how can she trust her own heart when a buried secret could shatter everything?

Full of relentless twists, enemies-to-lovers romance, found family, and high stakes action, Shadow Reaper is the start of a breathtaking new duology from international bestselling author Lynette Noni.

Thank you PRH Audio for the audiobook and Get Underlined for the gifted copy.

GOOD START.

I’ve continually enjoyed Lynette Noni’s books over the years and have been so excited to see what a new series would hold! And not surprising, this was a great start and I’m excited to see what the next book holds.

It definitely leans darker in regards to how the antagonist operates and the threat to children throughout. I liked Viri’s character and the change she is showed as she processed new information flying at her. She makes mistakes and figures it out and learns. And those are always solid FMC’s to read about.

The romance is full of banter with an enemies to lovers vibe that holds more tropes I wont divulge here but that I enjoyed seeing too. There’s an air of mystery to the world building that is unveiled well and keeps you going and wanting to know what would happen next. I loved the found family characters and the unlikely partnership created in order to help save their world.

🎧 I listened to a lot of this on audiobook and loved it! Fantastic narrators. Easy listen. Definitely recommend that format.

Overall audience notes:

YA Fantasy
Language: low
Romance: kisses
Violence: moderate+
Content warnings: kidnapping children, murder, near death experiences

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Book Review: Beast Becomes Her by Crystal Seitz

May 23, 2026May 4, 2026 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Paranormal + Romance
Length: 464 pages
Author: Crystal Seitz
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Release Date: March 3rd, 2026
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Netflix’s Wednesday meets Norse mythology in this gorgeous dark contemporary fantasy following a teen berserkr sent to a secret magical academy where she must unmask the real killer behind the gruesome campus murders or risk becoming the next victim.

Edith has always been a good girl—she has to be, or her foster family might think she’s like her violent father. No matter how much anger simmers inside her, she keeps it buried, hidden…

Until the day she’s pushed a step too far, and that anger comes bursting out in the form of literal claws.

It’s then that Edith learns she’s a berserkr, a descendant of ancient Norse warriors with the ability to turn into animals. To avoid jail for attacking a student, Edith is shipped off to the mysterious Skallagrim Academy. The ancient school is supposedly a haven for people like her, a place where she can learn to control her powers and then push them down so deep that they’ll never come out again.

But someone—or something—is stalking the dark halls of Skallagrim.

On her second night, Edith stumbles upon a gruesome murder and is caught at the scene of the crime by Amund, who is tasked with hunting down wayward berserkir. Now, with Amund suspecting Edith as the killer, she’ll have to catch the real culprit to prove her innocence before she ends up in the hunter’s crosshairs—or becomes the killer’s next victim.

Thank you to Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

IT WAS OKAY.

I enjoyed Crystal Seitz first book but this one left me wanting more. I do think the audiobook was good though!! Two narrators for dual POV and they were fantastic. If you try this book, go with that format!

What I will say is that I do think this is mid-teens+ friendly. There’s not an obsessive amount of language and the romance level was kisses only. While I did find it predictable in regards to the villains and plot line up I still think a younger audience would have a good time.

If you enjoy paranormal academic settings with a murder mystery and wondering what’s around every corner, this could be for you! The atmosphere is perfect for a moody fall day.

Overall audience notes: