Mini Reviews: Long May She Reign & Hunted

Long May She Reign

by Rhiannon Thomas

Source: eARC provided for review.

My Rating: 3 stars

Goodreads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Freya was never meant be queen. Twenty third in line to the throne, she never dreamed of a life in the palace, and would much rather research in her laboratory than participate in the intrigues of court. However, when an extravagant banquet turns deadly and the king and those closest to him are poisoned, Freya suddenly finds herself on the throne.

Freya may have escaped the massacre, but she is far from safe. The nobles don’t respect her, her councillors want to control her, and with the mystery of who killed the king still unsolved, Freya knows that a single mistake could cost her the kingdom – and her life.

Freya is determined to survive, and that means uncovering the murderers herself. Until then, she can’t trust anyone. Not her advisors. Not the king’s dashing and enigmatic illegitimate son. Not even her own father, who always wanted the best for her, but also wanted more power for himself.

As Freya’s enemies close in and her loyalties are tested, she must decide if she is ready to rule and, if so, how far she is willing to go to keep the crown

 ***

I read this book some time ago, and I had to change my rating from 4 stars to 3, because in all honestly I didn't remember much about it. All that I remember is what I wrote in the mini reviews I keep in my bullet journal.

So, here's that:

Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas is a book with such a cool premise with many likable characters. I loved Freya and how she handled the situation of becoming a queen when she wasn't supposed to.

The plot was really good, I loved the mystery about the murdered and what really happened at the banquet. I knew from the beginning that I couldn't trust anyone but Freya (AND her best friend AND her cat), so I loved when I couldn't guess who the killer was.

Although the characters and the worldbuilding were good, my biggest problem with Long May She Reing is that sometimes it felt too slow and a little boring. Like those the times Freya stayed in her laboratory, it was really easy to skip some pages and I didn't miss anything important.

This book had so much potential, and I wish there were more action packed escenes to make pages fly, but sadly that didn't happen.

Anyway, for a standalone fantasy, it was really good and there's a chance you will love it more than I did.

*****

Hunted

by Meagan Spooner

Source: eARC provided for review.

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them. 

So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance. 

Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?

****

This is my second favorite Beauty and the Beast re-telling! Don't ask me about my very favorite one, because right now I CAN'T remember! 

I absolutely loved all the characters in this book, from fearless and strong Yeva, to the messy and chaotic Beast. I loved how they were written, their character development and the slow hate-to-love shift between them. 

One of my fave "changes" about this book is how lovely was the relationship between Yeva and her sisters (and their father). In most of the re-telling I've read, the sisters are mean and cruel to her, but in this book, Yeva's family was lovely and united. 

I'd like to say that I loved everything about this book because I did, but for a long time, Meagan made me think Beast did "the inforgivable" and I hated him for a long time.I ended up loving him, but it took some time, so I feel like my time hating him was wasted? 

Overall, I loved this book. Loved the plot, the setting, the characters, the magic and the creatures. This book did not disappoint at all. It's a must read! 

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ARC Review: By Your Side by Kasie West

By Your Side

by Kasie West

My rating: 3 stars

Source: eARC provided for review, thank you!

Goodreads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

When Autumn Collins finds herself accidentally locked in the library for an entire weekend, she doesn’t think things could get any worse. But that’s before she realizes that Dax Miller is locked in with her. Autumn doesn’t know much about Dax except that he’s trouble. Between the rumors about the fight he was in (and that brief stint in juvie that followed it) and his reputation as a loner, he’s not exactly the ideal person to be stuck with. Still, she just keeps reminding herself that it is only a matter of time before Jeff, her almost-boyfriend, realizes he left her in the library and comes to rescue her.

Only he doesn’t come. No one does.

Instead it becomes clear that Autumn is going to have to spend the next couple of days living off vending-machine food and making conversation with a boy who clearly wants nothing to do with her. Except there is more to Dax than meets the eye. As he and Autumn first grudgingly, and then not so grudgingly, open up to each other, Autumn is struck by their surprising connection. But can their feelings for each other survive once the weekend is over and Autumn’s old life, and old love interest, threaten to pull her from Dax’s side?

***

I’m a huge fan of Kasie West. I’ve loved all of her books, ALL OF THEM. That’s why when I got the chance to read By Your Side I did it right away.

Sadly, I didn’t love this book as much as the previous ones. I liked it, yes, because it’s a Kasie West book and Kasie West characters. They were cute, the dialogues were fun and the family dynamic was lovely.

But… aside from the other Kasie West books I felt like By Your Side was a little cliché.

For starters, I was really disappointed that this wasn’t a bookish romance. I know this is my fault because I assumed it was, since Autumn and Dax were trapped in a library. But most of the time they were there, they only talked, watched TV… I don’t remember if they did more than that. But no love for those poor books.

I liked Autumn and Dax, they were good characters and I think their struggles were realistic and well portrayed (I don’t know for real, I just can compare with other books I’ve read).

My problem, however, was not with the characters. I don’t know how to explain it, I just didn’t feel the emotional connection I felt when I read her other books.

I didn’t like the cliché of the rich girl and the loner bad boy. I didn’t like Autumn friends, or the almost-love-triangle. And to be honest, I found it a little boring.

Now I have to say that I read P.S. I Like You as soon as I finished By Your Side. I LOVED P.S. I Like You, I loved the cute and fun plot and every one of the characters. Sadly I can’t say the same about By Your Side.

I’m not saying this book is bad, because it isn’t. It just wasn’t for me.  If you love Kasie West and her books you’re probably going to love this one.

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ARC Review: How to Make Out by Brianna Shrum

How to Make Out

by Brianna R. Shrum.

Source: eARC provided by publisher.

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Renley needs three thousand dollars for the math club’s trip to New York City, and she knows exactly how to get it: she’s going to start a how-to blog where people pay for answers to all of life’s questions from a “certified expert.” The only problems: 1) She doesn’t know how to do anything but long division and calculus. 2) She’s totally invisible to people at school. And not in a cool Gossip Girl kind of way.

So, she decides to learn to do . . . well . . . everything. When her anonymous blog shifts in a more scandalous direction and the questions (and money) start rolling in, she has to learn not just how to do waterfall braids and cat-eye makeup, but a few other things, like how to cure a hangover, how to flirt, and how to make out (something her very experienced, and very in-love-with-her neighbor, Drew, is more than willing to help with).

As her blog’s reputation skyrockets, so does “new and improved” Renley’s popularity. She’s not only nabbed the attention of the entire school, but also the eye of Seth Levine, the hot culinary wizard she’s admired from across the home-ec classroom all year.

Soon, caught up in the thrill of popularity both in and out of cyberspace, her secrets start to spiral, and she finds that she’s forgotten the most important how-to: how to be herself. When her online and real lives converge, Renley will have to make a choice: lose everything she loves in her new life, or everyone she loves in the life she left behind.

***

How to Make Out by Brianna R. Shrum is a fast-paced read about self discovery and overcoming your fears.

I have to confess I downloaded the galley of this book because I was looking for a light and funny read, and the summary of How to Make Out sounds exactly like that. But there are some parent issues I was not expecting.

This is the story of Renley, your average smart girl who wants to travel with her math club. The problem is she doesn’t have the money. So, she decides to open up a blog with “how to” posts and people have to pay for the answers.

This was a brilliant idea except for the fact that it didn’t seem that realistic. Her blog becomes too popular too fast and even though no one knows the person behind that blog is her, she also becomes very popular in real life.

Renley makes a lot of mistakes throughout the book, but I have to highlight that she’s still a likable character. She’s funny and… I don’t know, just really likable.

My big problem with this book was the love triangle.

And it wasn’t because I hate love triangles; it was because I didn’t feel anything about it. In one hand, there’s Drew, Renley’s best friend. It’s very clear since the beginning that he’s in love with her, but he sleeps with different girls every night and Renley doesn’t seem to love him.

In the other hand, there’s Seth, Renley’s hot crush. He’s the popular good boy.

Renley makes out with both of them, and I didn’t see a difference between her feelings for them. She liked them both. So, it was weird that I almost reached the end of the book and I had no idea who was the real love interest.

I didn’t hate or loved this book. It was enjoyable and fast paced. I liked how things ended, but I couldn’t connect because somehow I felt she deserved everything that happened and worse.

Yes, it had a good message about self discovery and overcoming your fears, but the whole plot and characters were meh. It could’ve been better.

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ARC Review: Seven Black Diamonds by Melissa Marr

Seven Black Diamonds 

by Melissa Marr

Source: Huge thanks to Harper Teen and Edelweiss

My Rating: 3 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Lilywhite Abernathy is a criminal—she’s half human, half fae, and since the time before she was born, a war has been raging between humans and faeries. The Queen of Blood and Rage, ruler of the fae courts, wants to avenge the tragic death of her heir due to the actions of reckless humans.

Lily’s father has always shielded her, but when she’s sent to the prestigious St. Columba’s school, she’s delivered straight into the arms of a fae sleeper cell—the Black Diamonds. The Diamonds are planted in the human world as the sons and daughters of the most influential families and tasked with destroying it from within. Against her will, Lilywhite’s been chosen to join them...and even the romantic attention of the fae rock singer Creed Morrison isn’t enough to keep Lily from wanting to run back to the familiar world she knows.

***

I’m a huge fan of Marissa Marr. Wicked Lovely was the first books about faeries that I read.  I read the next books in the series years after that and I still loved them. I also adored Made For You, Melissa’s contemporary thrilled.

So, of course I was excited to know she was writing more faeries books.

Sadly, I didn’t love Seven Black Diamonds as much as I hoped.

Let me tell you why.

The book started with Eilidh’s POV. An introduction to The Queen of Blood and Rage (I love that title), the Sleepers (terrorist killing humans for the Queen, aka: the Seven Black Diamonds) and how the Courts are working.

But in the second chapter we are introduced to Lily, the main character, and it was bad. She’s the daughter of a crime lord, and half fae. In that chapter, it’s her birthday party, where she meets a famous singer, Creed Morrison. She’s a huge fan of him because he’s a half fae, like her. And when they meet, it’s almost like love at first sight. They only meet for one night, a few hours but they already talk about a connection. But… I wasn’t able to find even 1 remarkable thing about him.

In the next two or three chapters, there’s a new change of POV, and that was absolutely confusing. The narrators start throwing a lot of names, like if I already knew them all, and I kept wondering: “Wait? So, they already know her?”

It felt chaotic, and the worst what that I was loving the other narrators, except for Lily, and she’s like the center of everything. Add to that the fact that there’s some kind of love triangle. I was about to DNF.

But I don’t DNF ARC’s that I request. So, I kept on reading.

I disliked a lot of things, but while I continued reading, I found some things that I loved. Like the politics of the Hidden Lands, the war between humans and fae, the mentions of The Queen… and a few twists I wasn’t expecting.

Zephyr, the leader of the Sleepers wasn’t that bad. He’s the other one involved in the love triangle. And even though he’s loyal to the Queen I found him better than the others.

So, yes, my favorite character was The Queen of Blood and Rage, and yes, I liked the faeries a lot more than the Seven Black Diamonds.

Marissa Marr’s writing and descriptions are gorgeous and magical, but my problem was that I didn’t care about Lily, and like I said before, even if there are more narrators, she’s the center of everything.

While I don’t think I’ll read the next books in the series, I recommend this book to everyone who loves “bad” faeries. They’re tricky, and beautiful and cruel.

And there might be a chance you also love the Sleepers. 

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ARC Review: Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Dangerous Lies 

by Becca Fitzpatrick

Souce: ARC provided by the publisher, Thank You!

My Rating: 3 stars

GoodReads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

Stella Gordon is not her real name. Thunder Basin, Nebraska, is not her real home. This is not her real life.

After witnessing a lethal crime, Stella Gordon is sent to the middle of nowhere for her own safety before she testifies against the man she saw kill her mother’s drug dealer.

But Stella was about to start her senior year with the boyfriend she loves. How can she be pulled away from the only life she knows and expected to start a new one in Nebraska? Stella chafes at her protection and is rude to everyone she meets. She’s not planning on staying long, so why be friendly? Then she meets Chet Falconer and it becomes harder to keep her guard up, even as her guilt about having to lie to him grows.

As Stella starts to feel safer, the real threat to her life increases—because her enemies are actually closer than she thinks…

***

Dangerous Lies was exactly what I expected from a Becca Fitzpatrick book. It has an awesome cover, a great synopsis, a fast-passed writing and a sexy romance.

Sadly, as I expected, it had a very predictable twist, too. And it didn’t feel like a thriller at all.

I first read an ARC of this book, but I waited until I had the final copy to re-read it and see if the things I didn’t like in the ARC changed anyhow in the finish book… but they didn’t. It makes me sad to say that this will be my last book by Becca that I read. I haven’t been impressed with her books since I read Silence, and that’s three books in which I feel like I wasted my money. 

The only good thing about Dangerous Lies is the character development, while Stella was annoying and bitchy most of the book; in the end I came to like her.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of Becca Fitzpatrick you should give this book a chance, just don’t expect too much.

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