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Book Review: Androne

Rating: 1 star

In one terrifying event called the Ninety-Nine, all major military installations on earth were eviscerated. But by whom? Foreign powers, AIs, ETs? Every conceivable adversary was ruled out. Reeling from massive casualties and amid hundreds of conspiracy theories, humanity creates Andrones: bipedal android drones piloted remotely by soldiers who will never again need to be on the field of battle. Newly minted Androne pilot Sergeant Paxton Arés has now been deployed into a fight against an enemy no one understands or has ever seen.

Passing mostly uneventful days patrolling an unidentified desert, Paxton spends time communicating with his pregnant girlfriend back home and reflecting on his impending fatherhood. But as he is drawn deeper into military camaraderie and begins quickly rising up the ranks on the strength of his father’s military legacy, Paxton starts to question the swirling rumors about the nature of the conflict. What he’s encountered in the shifting dunes—something inexplicable, indomitable—fills him with the fear that whatever is out there is destined to win.

Whether it’s curiosity, ambition, or a newfound paternal instinct, Paxton has a driving need to understand the dangerous truths of this strange, invisible war. And the choices he must make have the power to change everything.

So to be honest here, Androne is a read I wasn’t able to finish. I’d gotten about one-hundred pages away from completing it when I decided I could no longer trek through this book. Since I hadn’t finished it, I was unsure whether I should review it or not. But I figured why not talk about this book so I can explain why I couldn’t complete it?

So to start off, what caught my attention about this book and made me want to read it to begin with was the description of the plot. You have a story that takes place after a huge event called the Ninety-Nine that affected everyone around the world. You also have the military who has soldiers trained to pilot andrones whose mission is to go out and find out who caused this major event to take place. Basically, the premise of this book sounded interesting enough to me to want to give it a read. I loved the idea of military personnel no longer having to go out in the field but using andrones in battle. It was a science fiction scenario that sounded promising to me and that I felt like would hold a lot of amazing possibilities.

And it started off intriguing enough for me to continue reading to see what would happen next. But as I continued reading Androne, I found myself starting to lose interest in what I was reading. It didn’t help that the main character of the story Paxton is one of the most boring characters I’ve encountered in science fiction but also didn’t particularly care for any of the other characters in this book either. I feel like as a reader, this made this book even harder for me to read because I didn’t care for anyone in the story, so I felt like I was just continuing to read this book for the plot.

But there were issues with the plot in this book too. In particular, when as a reader you do find out the truth behind the cause of the Ninety-Nine, it doesn’t make any sense. At all. If anything, it’s the leading cause of the issues this book had for me that resulted in me deciding not to finish it. Because Paxton gets told by one of his superiors who the enemy is here. He doesn’t pilot his androne and discover the truth on his own or do anything at all that warrants him finding out the truth on his own. Nope, someone he works with knows who they’re fighting and decides to tell him even though she doesn’t have the authority to do so. There’s also no real explanation given either as to how they discovered who the enemy is or anything. And somehow Paxton is involved in it too besides being told the truth and that doesn’t get explained here either. This all annoyed me and made this book difficult for me to continue with because I felt like there needed to be an explanation for what was going on instead of the story progressing the way it did.

I had such a difficult time reading this book that every time I was looking to read, I was contemplating back and forth between whether I wanted to continue reading this or not. Until I decided I gave as much time trying to read this book that I could give and want to read something else instead that won’t make me feel the way this book did anytime I wanted to pick it back up. Overall, Androne sounded like an interesting book to me, but I just got to a point where I couldn’t continue with it anymore as I’ve gotten to the point with it where I just don’t care anymore what happens.

Don’t hesitate to leave a comment if you have any books recently that you haven’t finished that you’d like to talk about as I’m curious to see what books others have read that they couldn’t complete.

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Book Review: The Lightning Circle

Rating: 4 stars

An intimate coming-of age novel for teens, told in verse with delicate line art, chronicling the beauty, magic and transformative power of summer camp, for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Judy Blume.

After having her heart broken, seventeen-year-old Nora Nichols decides to escape her hometown and take a summer job as an arts and crafts counsellor at an all-girls’ camp in the mountains of West Virginia. There, she meets girls and women from all walks of life with their own heartaches and triumphs.

Immersed in this new camp experience, trying to form bonds with her fellow counselors while learning to be a trusted adviser for her campers, Nora distracts herself from her feelings, even during the intimate conversations around the nightly campfires. But when a letter from home comes bearing unexpected news, Nora finds inner strength in her devastation with the healing power of female friendship. Presented as Nora’s camp journal, including Nora’s sketches of camp life, scraps of letters, and spare poems, The Lightning Circle is an intimate coming-of-age portrait.

I received a digital copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review.

From beginning to end, I enjoyed reading The Lightning Circle. It was a simple coming of age story about a young girl’s first experience at a summer camp while recovering from a broken heart. Told in verses, the story chronicles what its like as a young teenager during the summer while away at camp.

What I enjoyed about this read was the lyrical style and illustrations. The verses were simple and easy enough as a reader for you to understand what was going on. And the illustrations were simple and went really well with the verses. It felt exactly like I would expect a journal of a young girl to feel like and gave me a good idea of Nora’s thoughts while she was at this camp.

What I also enjoyed about The Lightning Circle was the topics discussed. A lot of this story was told in a way for girls way younger than me to understand, but in a way that you knew what was being talked about without the author having to go into too much detail. The best example that comes to mind for me is whenever one of the young girls Nora is responsible for experiences her period for the first time. When it happened, I knew exactly what was going on without more needing to be said and felt like anyone else reading this book would also know as well.

I also enjoyed seeing these female friendships forming and getting to experience camp life through Nora’s eyes. The way these young girls come together in this story is wonderfully done and I enjoyed getting to read about it. I especially enjoyed the lightning circle moments because that’s when as a reader you see their friendships with each other strengthen and they realize how much they care about each other. I also enjoyed getting to experience camp life through Nora because I myself never went to summer camp, so it was nice to see what it was like for Nora since it was her first time there. It was nice to see it all from her perspective as well because you as the reader can see how her time there changed her.  

If I had to choose anything about this book I didn’t enjoy it would have to be that it felt too short to me. I felt like the story itself was wonderfully done and enjoyed the verse style and the illustrations. However, I wish there had been more in it as I felt like as a reader I didn’t learn all that much about Nora, the other counsellors she met and the girls she was watching over during her time there. Yes, I found out some details about all these characters, but I still wanted more than what I read. I don’t know if its because this book felt like too quick of a read to me or because I didn’t get to see any of how this summer camp experience changed Nora’s life when she returned home. I just know it felt too short to me at times and wish there was more in the story.

But overall, I enjoyed reading The Lightning Circle. It’s a wonderful coming of age story that I recommend to anyone with young children getting close to becoming teenagers who want to read stories about people close to their age. Or to anyone who enjoys reading young adult stories that talk about experiences you’ve had before. The Lightning Circle is coming out on March 26, 2024, for those who would be interested in giving this book a read.    

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Book Review: What Never Happened

Rating: 3 stars

Colette “Coco” Weber has relocated to her Catalina Island home, where, twenty years before, she was the sole survivor of a deadly home invasion. All Coco wants is to see her aunt Gwen, get as far away from her ex as possible, and get back to her craft—writing obituaries. Thankfully, her college best friend, Maddy, owns the local paper and has a job sure to keep Coco busy, considering the number of elderly folks who are dying on the island.

But as Coco learns more about these deaths, she quickly realizes that the circumstances surrounding them are remarkably similar…and not natural. Then Coco receives a sinister threat in the mail: her own obituary.

As Coco begins to draw connections between a serial killer’s crimes and her own family tragedy, she fears that the secrets on Catalina Island might be too deep to survive. Because whoever is watching her is hell-bent on finally putting her past to rest.

What makes What Never Happened an enjoyable read to me is the amount of mystery and suspense within its pages. Coco returns to a place she hasn’t been to since she was a teenager and lost everything. But the peaceful island where her aunt lives is still far from peaceful when the elderly start dying and Coco gets threatening messages, including her own obituary. I enjoyed these aspects of the story because they made me sympathize with her. But also made me invested in the story too as I wanted to know who was responsible for what happened to her family all those years ago and who was responsible for causing the deaths of these elderly people Coco was writing obituaries for. Seeing Coco be the person to investigate since nobody else was taking all these deaths seriously felt fitting due to her past and being a journalist so I was really interested to see how it would all unfold.

Another aspect of this book I enjoyed was the themes covered. Rachel Hall doesn’t hesitate when it comes to depicting all of the racism Coco experiences throughout her life. Especially when she returns to Catalina Island through the threatening messages she receives and how she gets treated when she tries to get help after receiving these threatening messages. Let’s also not forget how they tried to erase her family’s existence from ever being on this island to begin with by never really talking about their murders when they took place, which I found to be messed up. I also felt like I saw racism depicted too with regards to her friendship with her best friend Maddy who helped get her a job at the local paper on Catalina Island. Just with the way Maddy treated Coco throughout this book was terrible, from being the one to get the job working for the Times even though Coco was the better writer because her father knew someone there to taking all the credit for the story Coco wanted to write about the deaths of the elderly on the island and having Coco barely mentioned in the article. I felt like their whole friendship was Maddy being around Coco so that she could say she had a black friend, even though all she did was treat Coco terribly and take advantage of her. I know as a white person myself, I’ll never ever begin to understand all the struggles people of color go through, which is why I appreciate when reading books like this one because they allow me to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a person of color. And I feel like the way racism is covered through what Coco experiences in What Never Happened is wonderfully done from the threats she receives once there to her terrible friendship with Maddy.

Another theme covered that I saw and appreciated was trauma and anxiety. I felt like I saw a lot of this especially with Coco’s character once she gets back onto the island. As the reader, I felt like I saw this through the observations she’d make whenever she would notice a door wasn’t locked or whenever Hall showed her having panic attacks and she’d have to take deep breaths to get through them. I feel like I haven’t seen these topics covered in a book before like this and I appreciated the way it was done here.  

I also enjoyed getting to read the obituaries Coco writes about the elderly characters in the story who died. I felt like they were all wonderful tributes to the people being described and helped show me as a reader what makes her character such a wonderful writer. It was also nice because I was able to read about characters I didn’t get to really meet in this story and find out what they were truly like. The obituaries just felt like a nice addition to have in this book to help remind me of these characters and how they lived their lives. 

However, there’s a lot with this book I didn’t enjoy as well. For starters, once the reader finds out who’s responsible for all these deaths, I feel like there’s still a lot of unanswered questions that the epilogue does nothing to truly answer. I also felt like the reveal itself regarding who killed her family and who was responsible for the deaths of members of the elderly wasn’t all that surprising. Yes, I had a different idea as to who I thought was involved and am glad I was incorrect but wasn’t surprised by who was involved or the reason as well. Considering the threatening obituaries about herself Coco was receiving, it didn’t surprise me too much that these characters were involved. There’s so much buildup until the climax only for the reveal to be characters I never liked to begin with, and I felt pretty disappointed by how it was handled. Especially because the motivation for it all was pretty predictable too. Way too predictable for me and I absolutely hated it.

What I also disliked about What Never Happened was the characters themselves. Yes, I felt sympathetic to Coco and everything she went through, but I felt like her character at times embodied the trauma she went through when she was a teenager. It felt like that was the only aspect of her character I truly saw throughout the book even when events were unfolding in the story, and I wasn’t fond of it because I felt like there could’ve been more to her than we could see. Even her aunt Gwen I wasn’t really all too fond of either along with her best friend Maddy who I felt like was in the story just to be the villain. I felt like a lot of the characters in this book were one dimensional with very little to their personalities. I also didn’t like how the one character I actually did end up liking, Noah, Hall gave him an ulterior motive when it came to his relationship with Coco. I wasn’t fond of that because I found the dynamic of their relationship refreshing and felt like that ruined what could’ve potentially been a good relationship for Coco to have when she didn’t have that many.

I overall enjoyed reading What Never Happened because it did a wonderful job of keeping me in suspense, felt like it had some themes that needed to be covered and enjoyed reading the obituaries of the characters we didn’t get to meet. However, I was disappointed by the reveal of what happened and why as it wasn’t all that surprising, and I found all of the characters very one dimensional. So while I enjoyed the story in this book, I was disappointed by its conclusion.  

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Book Review: A Curse of Shadows and Ice

Rating: 3.5 stars

From USA Today Bestselling Author Catharina Maura comes a Beauty and the Beast retelling featuring a cursed emperor, a princess who possesses forbidden magic, and a marriage that could save them all.

Princess Arabella of Althea is left no choice when Felix Osiris, the Shadow Emperor, threatens to overthrow her country unless she agrees to marry him.

When she learns his empire is cursed and she’s destined to set them free, they come to an agreement: help him minimize the curse’s effect on his people, and he’ll let her go.

As Felix teaches Arabella how to control her forbidden and volatile magic, her feelings for him turn from hatred to passion… and she realizes that she must break the curse, or she’ll lose him forever.

Anyone who knows me very well knows Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairytales. So anytime I hear about a retelling of that tale, it piques my interest and I find myself wanting to read it to see what it’s like. A Curse of Shadows and Ice was an enjoyable and simple retelling of this classic where instead of Felix being cursed by an enchantress, his own mother curses him and his people.

What I enjoyed about this retelling is the storyline in this book. I feel like it follows the overall story of the fairytale but is also different enough to be a story of its own. What makes it unique from the fairytale is both of the main character’s ability to use magic. I especially enjoyed the way magic is incorporated in this book as the main elements and how we learn alongside Arabella whenever she comes into her abilities and realizes her powers aren’t something she should fear. I also enjoyed seeing her character go through a lot of development through her powers and her realizing that what she was raised to think made her cursed actually was more a gift when given the chance to actually master her powers.  

I also enjoyed with A Curse of Shadows and Ice how similar it is to Beauty and the Beast as well. But at the same time, there are still some differences within the similarities too. The similarities I read that I enjoyed seeing had to do with the curse itself. In particular, Felix’s home was enchanted to get those who inhabited it anything they needed even when they didn’t have that particular need at the time. Also how the curse impacted the inhabitants of those who lived in his kingdom and Felix himself. While I definitely felt for them, it was nice to see how much Felix cared about those who are a part of his kingdom and see him doing what he can to minimize the curse’s effects on them. What I enjoyed about seeing how the curse impacted Felix was how he wasn’t physically turned into a beast accept whenever he was away from his kingdom for too long. It was also interesting to see how using magic to protect themselves from the curses’ effects worked.

Another aspect to this retelling I enjoyed was the chapters being from the perspectives of both Felix and Arabella and seeing their relationship with each other develop. What I enjoyed about having these two points of view was getting the chance to understand both of these characters and seeing their perspectives on what was going on. I especially enjoyed the chapters from Felix’s point of view because I could see how much this curse weighed heavily on him and how badly he wanted to break it. What I also loved about these two perspectives is seeing how much both these characters started to slowly develop feelings for each other. I especially enjoyed that they both mutually agreed to give each other a chance instead of it being where they right away developed feelings for each other. Then once they decided to work with each other, I felt like things fell into place with them both realizing how much they really cared about the other person. I feel like a big part of it was Arabella realizing that everything she heard about Felix prior to their marriage wasn’t true and that there was more to him than she expected. And just seeing how their relationship throughout the book developed was wonderful.

If I had any criticisms for A Curse of Shadows and Ice it would be the pacing of the book and the ending. While I did enjoy reading this retelling, there were definitely times where the pacing of the book felt off. It started off intriguing me but there were also a lot of slow moments with the plot when there wasn’t a whole lot happening with the characters. Then it picked up again close to the end of the book when things with the curse started going wrong and Arabella had no choice but to leave. While I enjoyed what I was reading and didn’t mind it too much, it definitely made me at times feel like there needed to be more with the story that wasn’t there. I feel like this also goes hand in hand with the ending because it kind’ve felt predictable to me. I felt like I had a pretty good idea how the curse was going to be broken, but it felt almost too neat to me how it happened. And like there were some loose ends that weren’t tied up as well. I don’t know if its because I wanted more in the story with the ending than I received, such as finding out once the curse was broken how Arabella’s people in Althea reacted when told the truth about Felix the Shadow Emperor.

Despite these criticisms, however, I enjoyed reading A Curse of Shadows and Ice. It was an enjoyable retelling of Beauty and the Beast to me. I highly recommend it to anyone else who also enjoys retellings of that fairytale along with anyone who enjoys stories with elements of fantasy and romance.   

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Book Review: In the Likely Event

Rating: 3 stars

When Izzy Astor gets on a plane to go home, she isn’t expecting much. It’s the usual holiday travel experience: busy, crowded, stressful.

Then she spots her seatmate, who is anything but ordinary. Nate Phelan sports dark hair, blue eyes, and a deliciously rugged charm that Izzy can’t resist. Their connection is undeniable. Izzy never believed in destiny before, but she does now.

Just ninety seconds after takeoff, their plane goes down in the Missouri River.

Their lives change. They change. Nate goes on to a career in the military while Izzy finds her way into politics. Despite a few chance encounters over the years, the timing never feels right.

Then comes a high-stakes reunion in Afghanistan, where Nate is tasked with protecting Izzy’s life.

He’ll do anything to keep her safe. And everything to win her heart.

With this being my first Rebecca Yarros read as I have yet to read Fourth Wing, which is on my TBR list, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was… okay. I admit I thought I really liked it at first. But as I think more and more about the storyline and romance, I realize it was actually just an okay read for me overall.

So what I enjoyed about In the Likely Event was the idea of meeting someone, forming a connection, then running into said person throughout points in life. Which is basically what happened to Izzy and Nate throughout this book’s storyline. There’s just something about that idea that appealed to me and seeing it happen with these two characters was interesting considering their different backgrounds. Like these two characters were destined/fated to meet each other because of the connection that becomes apparent to me when they meet on their flight. That concept is what intrigued me into giving this book a read and what made me continue reading to see what would happen next.

What I also liked about this book was seeing the chapter’s switch between these two characters and from present to past. Seeing Nate and Izzy’s interactions with each other in the past verses present was interesting. As a reader, seeing them in the present was especially interesting because you don’t yet have the full story of what happened to cause the two of them to be acting the way they did ten years after first meeting each other. I feel like you get some clues whenever they both interact with each other, but you don’t know the complete story until you read the last chapter from the past. However, if I had to choose which chapters I liked better, it would have to be the chapters focused on the past as I learned more about these characters and found out how everything unfolded between the two of them over the years.

What I also enjoyed with this book was some of the topics discussed. Mostly with regards to Nate who’s in the military but also has a rough home life/past due to his abusive father. I feel like as a reader, there isn’t a lot we know but it becomes apparent that he develops PTSD from his time serving. I enjoyed how this was showcased throughout because I saw how his years of serving was impacting his everyday life and it made me feel for him as I read this book.

However, I have several criticisms for In the Likely Event too. My biggest one being the characters themselves throughout this book. There were a lot of times when reading this book where I didn’t see any character development with Izzy and Nate along with these characters annoying me. I feel like for this book, both of these things are one in the same just because of the way these characters interacted with each other throughout this book but also because I didn’t really see much change with either of these characters in the story either. I saw their connection when they first met but felt like at times their relationship fizzled out. I don’t know if it’s because they weren’t willing to give their connection a chance because Nate was always deploying, and he wanted Izzy to have the chance to live her life without waiting on him. And that annoyed me a lot because you could see how much Izzy and Nate cared about each other. But they were never truly together because of Nate always being away when I feel like they should’ve given themselves a chance to be together. This annoyed me in the book because it made me feel like they actually didn’t want to be together even though it becomes apparent that being with anyone else didn’t work out for either of them.

Another criticism of this book that I have is the storylines for the past and present. While I did enjoy them because it was interesting to see Izzy and Nate in the past and present, I felt like there were details in the story that were missing to me. It felt like the overall storyline of their relationship was rushed, including how they both met, which was one of my favorite moments in the story. I especially disliked the present storyline because of how unrealistic it felt to me. Not only because of Izzy going to the exact same country Nate happened to be deployed in because of her sister, but also because of what all happened while she was there. I felt like she didn’t do much in the way of helping and felt like there was no real reason for her to even be there. If anything, I felt like she was just there for Nate to continuously save her from dangerous situations so the two of them could actually be together. And it annoyed me because I felt like she shouldn’t have been there to begin with anyway.

What I also disliked with this book was I felt like with the story there was more telling about what happened verses showing the reader. Like I knew there was a connection between Nate and Izzy from their interaction with each other on the plane. But I felt like from there, I was told there was a connection instead of the characters showing how they felt about each other in the story. The best example that comes to mind for me is what happens that ends up ruining what could’ve been a good relationship. We get told what one of the characters did very early on before we actually get the chapter in the past that shows it unfold. Another instance of this to me is how when both of them try to date other people, it never works out. But I feel like we get told this more instead of seeing either of these characters interacting with someone else and it not working out.

Overall, I did like reading In the Likely Event because the story’s concept interested me and enjoyed the way the themes in this book were covered. But because of the reasons I’ve listed, I felt like there was a lot about the book that could’ve been better that would’ve made it a more enjoyable read for me. This won’t stop me, however, from reading other books by this author as I might possibly enjoy them more than this one.

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Book Review: Role Playing

Rating: 4 stars

Maggie is an unapologetically grumpy forty-eight-year-old hermit. But when her college-aged son makes her a deal―he’ll be more social if she does the same―she can’t refuse. She joins a new online gaming guild led by a friendly healer named Otter. So that nobody gets the wrong idea, she calls herself Bogwitch.

Otter is Aiden, a fifty-year-old optimist using the guild as an emotional outlet from his family drama caring for his aging mother while his brother plays house with Aiden’s ex-fiancée.

Bogwitch and Otter become fast virtual friends, but there’s a catch. Bogwitch thinks Otter is a college student. Otter assumes Bogwitch is an octogenarian.

When they finally meet face to face―after a rocky, shocking start―the unlikely pair of sunshine and stormy personalities grow tentatively closer. But Maggie’s previous relationships have left her bitter, and Aiden’s got a complicated past of his own. Everything’s easier online. Can they make it work in real life?

After the series I’ve been reading, Role Playing was the perfect read for me to pick up. It featured two protagonists I felt I could relate to on a personal level, had romance, and was overall a fantastic read. What I find relatable about both these protagonists in this book is how big of introverts they are and their love for online gaming. As an introvert myself, it was nice seeing two people connect through online gaming and for that to help spark into a romantic relationship.

What I also enjoyed when reading this book was how the author went into serious topics, such as sexuality. We quickly find out why both these characters have issues in relationships and discover with Aiden that he’s not only bisexual but demisexual as well. And it was nice to see LGBTQ representation in this book, especially in a way I felt like I could relate to. As someone myself who’s only been in relationships with people who I could connect to on an emotional level, it was nice to read about a character with similar experiences. I also love that this was used as a learning opportunity for characters in the story. It not only showed the characters learning but felt to me like a good point for anyone reading this book that didn’t know what demisexual is to go look it up and find out for themselves and I really loved seeing that in this book.   

What I also liked about Role Playing was that the two protagonists in the story, Maggie and Aiden, were both older characters. It isn’t very often that I’ve read romance books that featured older characters. So it was nice seeing two older people fall in love with each other and was eager to find out how their relationship would continue to grow.

If I had to choose anything to criticize with this book it would have to be Aiden’s family. From the beginning, I wasn’t all that fond of them anyway. But as the book went on and they repeatedly made him out to be a bad person no matter what he did, I found myself disliking them more and more. I especially disliked his mother and Sheryl because they both treated him terribly. But when the truth comes out as to why they act the way they do towards him, I find myself disliking them both even more and am happy to see Maggie calling them both out on their shit in this book because they both deserved it. I wasn’t too fond of Aiden’s brother either, but I felt like out of the members of the family, he was more open to accepting Aiden so that made him slightly better to me.

Another criticism I have for this book was the romance itself. While this book felt like a cozy read to me and I enjoyed that aspect of it, I felt like the romance between Maggie and Aiden moved almost too slowly. I felt like I kept waiting for it to pick up the pace, but it never did. I also felt like there just wasn’t enough of it either because I don’t feel like I truly saw their relationship fully develop throughout the story. Even with the epilogue, I felt like I didn’t fully get to see their relationship and see what the two of them being together was like. Yes, I like both of their characters and they went through quite a bit together throughout the story because of Aiden’s family, but I just felt like there was something missing with their romance that as a reader I didn’t see.

However, I overall enjoyed reading Role Playing. It was a cozy read, with introverted protagonists I could relate to despite their age difference to me. I really enjoyed the representation of a bisexual and demisexual character and I liked that the romance in this story was between two older characters as that’s something I haven’t seen very often in romance books. I highly recommend this romance story to any introvert who enjoys video games as much as I do, anyone in the LGBTQ community and anyone who’d enjoy reading a romance between two older characters.

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Book Review: Beyond the Veil (Zodiac Academy #8.5)

Rating: 3.5 stars

The stars called us.

The Veil closed at our backs.

And now death holds us in its clutches.

We were torn from life before our time, a Savage King, his queen, a betrayed son, a wronged brother, a scorned wife and so many more. We watch those we left behind as they struggle against the grip of the stars, the answers to so many of their questions within our grasp and yet out of their reach.

But what if we could find a way to answer their pleas? What if we could find a way to help them from this side of the divide? And what price would such a thing come at?

*This is a bridging book which takes place beyond The Veil (in the land of the dead) during the events of book 8 in the Zodiac Academy series. It should be read after book 8 to avoid spoilers for that book and holds the answer to what takes place for the characters who are held within the clutches of death by this point in the story, as well as vital clues to the conclusion of this epic series.*

This bridge book in the Zodiac Academy series was released on June 30th, and since I’ve been enjoying reading this series, I knew I’d be reading it. And I’m glad to say I did. Beyond the Veil takes place in tangent with its predecessor Sorrow and Starlight, but to me does a much better job at storytelling the events that take place.

What I enjoyed about reading this book was getting introduced to some characters from the series we never would’ve met if this book hadn’t been written. I enjoyed getting introduced to characters who were already dead that we’d heard about from the series and getting to see them watch their loved ones that are still alive. I enjoyed it because I found it interesting, getting to see their relationships with each other and seeing how they reacted to their family member’s choices as well as seeing them trying to help their loved ones even after death. Seeing Darius and Hail’s relationship, for example, was something I didn’t know I needed until I read this book, but I loved every second of their banter with each other.   

What I also enjoyed about Beyond the Veil was getting story/information we didn’t get from its predecessor that would’ve been helpful to know. I’m referring to the story with regard to the Guild Stones that get mentioned in the series, but that we didn’t know too much about. I felt like in this book we learned a lot more about them, and enjoyed the narrative I received talking about them as I felt like I was given information that helped explain a plot point in Sorrow and Starlight that I feel like wasn’t thoroughly explained.

Another component to this bridge book I enjoyed was seeing character’s reactions to events that took place in the eighth book. I especially loved the chapters with Darius when Tory is looking to bring him back from death and some of the things she does to get the information she needs to make it possible. I also enjoyed seeing Darius witness a moment during Caleb and Seth’s relationship because I found it really amusing. Along with those moments with Darius, I loved seeing Hail and Merissa when watching over Darcy and Gabriel because you can see how much love they have for their children and see how much they want to help them even when unable to. 

While I did enjoy reading this book, there were some things about it I didn’t enjoy as well. What I wasn’t fond of here was that I felt like a lot of the book was just its predecessor, just told from the perspectives of those who were already dead. Besides the Guild Stones information, there wasn’t too much here story wise that added to what I already read in the eighth book in the series. Yes, there was some information I didn’t know, like discovering how those beyond the Veil attempted to help their loved ones whenever something went horribly wrong but other than that, this book was pretty much the same as Sorrow and Starlight, just not as long and drawn out. I honestly feel like the authors could’ve combined the eighth book and this bridge book but taken out the unnecessary point of views and kept the story and content we needed instead of writing two separate books that are the same, minus points of view and content we didn’t get from the eighth book.

I think another thing I don’t like with this book (though this is probably more a gripe with the series itself, not just this book in it) is that we aren’t closer to a conclusion in this series. Yes, I’ve been enjoying reading this series and the world of Solaria. But I think I’m starting to get to the point where I’m ready to see how this series is going to end. While this series is interesting and I love the characters and magic in it, I feel like its also starting to drag on a lot longer than it needs to and am ready to see how the next book, which is supposed to be the last book in the series, ties everything together.  

Overall, I did enjoy reading Beyond the Veil because it was interesting to read from the perspective of characters who had already passed on. I found the characters we hadn’t met before enjoyable to get to know and I loved learning more about the Guild Stones because I feel like they are definitely going to play a vital role in the conclusion to this series. I also enjoyed seeing these character’s reactions to events that took place in Sorrow and Starlight because you can see how much they support those they’ve left behind. My biggest gripe is just that this book wasn’t necessarily needed, even though I enjoyed reading it and that I feel like I’m getting to the point where I’m ready to see the conclusion to the Zodiac Academy series despite how much I’ve been enjoying reading these books. So good read, but ready to see how the authors are going to tie everything together in the next book whenever it releases.

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Book Review: Feral Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary #3)

Rating: 3 stars

A morte e ritorno. My family’s motto circles in my mind as I look this problem dead on and try to figure it out. I’ve faced worse than this. Survived worse odds than this. I won’t let this failure break me.

We have 72 hours to turn this around. 72 hours to make a new plan out of the dregs of the old. 72 hours until all hope is lost.

This task is impossible, but I still like my chances. I have an ace in my pocket and his name is Mason Cain. He might not want to help me, but I don’t plan on giving him a choice in the matter.

My name is Rosalie Oscura. And I refuse to let anything beat me.

This series is set in the world of Solaria five years after Zodiac Academy and ten years after Dark Fae and book one was previously published as Darkmore Penitentiary. There is some character crossover but all series can be read independent of each other without spoilers. The female lead will end up with more than one love interest.

In comparison to the rest of the books in this series, Feral Wolf felt like a slow read to me. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed what I read, but the pacing of it just didn’t fit in to me like its predecessors.

What I did enjoy about this book though was seeing how these characters would now deal with the current obstacle that stood in their way: time. All of Rosalie’s plans to get out of Darkmore Penitentiary were now ruined and time was of the essence if she wanted to get out of the prison along with those who she promised to take with her. And it was interesting to see how all of these characters would come together to make what seemed almost impossible possible.

What I also enjoyed about Feral Wolf was continuing to see Rosalie’s relationships with the guys continue to develop. I was glad to finally see both Ethan and Roary do what they should’ve done when it came to their relationship with Rosalie since the beginning. I also enjoyed seeing her relationships with all of these guys and how they all seemed like they were finally starting to accept that she needed all of them in her life. And I especially enjoyed getting a little more backstory into Cain’s dark past as I feel like we did get some snippets in the previous books, but what gets discovered here I feel like helped me understand his character even better.

While I wasn’t overall a fan of the way this book ends, I knew that there had to be more to what was going on in Psych that was going to play a role in these books. So when the ending takes the turn it does, even though I hate it, I also found myself intrigued by it. I knew that there would be more involved with it than this book originally made me believe. So while I’m overall displeased with the way this book has ended, I’m also intrigued to see where things will go in the next book in this series when it comes out.

However, there is quite a lot about this book that I didn’t enjoy as much as the rest of the books in this series. I love Sin Wilder’s character because he’s very different from the rest of the characters in this series, and I can see how much he cares about Rosalie which is something even he wasn’t expecting. But I feel like I can agree with the rest of the characters in this series in that he doesn’t always make the best decisions that help Rosalie with her plans to help him escape. I feel like there’s something in each of the books in this series so far that he’s done that’s caused her more trouble than its worth. And what he did in this book in comparison to the others I wasn’t at all pleased about. So while I do like his character and he has developed quite a bit since Rosalie first met him, his antics in this book struck a nerve with me more so than the other books in this series. I still love his character though so I’m hoping this is just a fluke for me with regards to this book.

What I also didn’t enjoy in Feral Wolf was the overall pacing of this book. Rosalie and her crew only had a short amount of time to get out of Darkmore Penitentiary. But I felt like most of the book was spent with her and the guys screwing around instead of coming up with another plan to get out of the prison. Yes, I know things were made complicated by what happened in this book so she and everyone else had to figure out how to work around the obstacles that were now in their way. But at the same time, I don’t feel like they moved forward in coming up with a plan until close to the end of the book when things were only getting worse, and they were completely out of time to escape. And that bothered me because it almost felt like she was going to rely on whatever plan their group came up with at the last minute as their overall plan instead of trying to come up with multiple plans beforehand just in case.

I also wasn’t a fan of some of the points of views they decided to include in this book that weren’t in the other two books in this series. I don’t understand why Officer Hastings had to have a couple chapters devoted to his perspective. Yes, I like his character overall in the story, but I feel like he doesn’t play an important role in the story in any way. I see him as a minor character in this series more than anything else. I also didn’t really see the point of having a chapter told from Leon’s perspective either. Yes, I like his character and I know him, and Dante are involved in helping Rosalie and the others escape. But I felt like the chapter we had from him was something we could’ve had during one of Rosalie’s chapters in this book as it didn’t add anything to the story to me from what I could see.

Lastly, I also wasn’t a fan of how this book ended in comparison to the rest of the books in this series. I know I mentioned earlier about being intrigued about what was going on in the Psych unit and that I knew it would definitely play a role in this series. But the character who ends up getting hurt like those in the Psych unit had been makes me sad because I feel like he went through a lot in this book and that he didn’t deserve to go through this too. I also didn’t like the ending because I feel like I know what Rosalie is going to do since things didn’t go at all the way she had hoped. Yes, its interesting because it means there’s more going on in the prison that needs to be resolved. But I feel like the authors could handle it differently too by including more of that aspect of the story into this series instead of giving us little bits of it.

But overall, I did enjoy reading Feral Wolf, the third book in this series. Its not my favorite out of the books in this series, but it left enough for me to continue reading the series to see how things will play out for Rosalie and the guys once the next book is actually released.   

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Book Review: Alpha Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary #2)

Rating: 4 stars

I came here with a single goal in mind. An aim. A purpose. I will break out of Darkmore Penitentiary. But I was a fool to think that it would be so simple.

And now with more and more Fae relying on me to get them out of this slice of hell, I find myself unable to do a damn thing. Mason Cain stabbed me in the back and left me to rot in the dark. So now I have another goal in mind before I escape this place, because no one messes with the Queen of the Oscura Clan and lives to tell the tale. The moment I get out of here, my sights will be set on him.

Between the four alpha males luring me in, the psychopaths trying to kill me and the monster roaming the halls at night, I have my hands full in here.

But one thing is for sure. I’m not throwing my life away in this place. So I’ll do whatever it takes to escape.

This is a dark, hot paranormal romance series where the main character will end up with more than one male love interest. The series is set in the same world as Zodiac Academy and Dark Fae, with some character cross-over but each series can be read without having read the other series.

Alpha Wolf was quite the read from beginning to end. It kept me on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what would happen next with Rosalie and the rest of the characters in this series. With the way this book started out due to how Caged Wolf ended, I was interested to see how Rosalie would get herself out of the predicament she found herself in.

What I was also interested in seeing with this book was how her plan to escape this prison would come together. In some aspects, the story itself moved along slowly, such as with the character development of some of Rosalie’s love interests. The guys that come to mind for me who had slower character development are Ethan and Roary, both of whom I feel like are in denial about their feelings towards her. There are certain points in this series where they admit their feelings, but they both seem to act so stubborn and hard headed about letting her know the truth about how they feel about her almost to the detriment of their relationship with her. In others, such as her plans to escape Darkmore Penitentiary, the story moved along quicker than I expected. I know some time was lost for her because of how events transpired in Caged Wolf, but I feel like things came together almost too quickly by the time she decided it was time to make her plans come to fruition. To where I was almost not at all surprised by how things transpired even though I was kept on the edge of my seat to see how everything would turn out for them. In comparison to the other series by these authors, I feel like so far the character development in this series is more of a slow burn than Zodiac Academy and Ruthless Boys of the Zodiac, but the story moves along at a much quicker pace, which I find myself not minding here as I feel like I’m still learning about these characters without it taking up the entirety of the story.

What I also enjoyed about Alpha Wolf was seeing more of Rosalie’s Moon Wolf abilities. There isn’t much given to us so far in these books about being a Moon Wolf, but every time Rosalie ends up using her abilities, I find myself interested in learning more about them and wanting to see how they affect her and those around her. I was particularly interested in learning more about what she did to Cain and appreciated that he actually looked into what she did and how to try and break it. I know she doesn’t seem to know all that much about her Moon Wolf abilities, I still find them fascinating and hope as this series progresses we find out more about these abilities along with Rosalie.

I also enjoyed reading this book from Cain and Sin’s point of view. What I enjoyed from Cain’s perspective was him finding out what’s going on in Psych to the inmates who get sent down there. I have a feeling that’s going to end up playing a big role in this series even though I don’t particularly know how yet, and I was excited to see Cain actually trusting Rosalie on this and investigating it. And what I enjoyed from reading Sin’s chapters was seeing his relationship with Rosalie continuing to develop. But I also enjoyed seeing his relationship with Ethan in this book because while they aren’t the best of friends, I feel like I’m starting to see a friendship develop between the two of them and I’m completely here for it.

In comparison to Caged Wolf, I actually enjoyed the ending of this book. Yes, I knew Rosalie’s plans to escape weren’t going to go according to plan. But I enjoyed seeing the way they went wrong and how everyone reacted here when things went bad for them. I also enjoyed with the ending seeing everyone coming together to help Rosalie with this escape. Yes, Sin was annoying here in that he actually made things a lot harder for all of them, but him, Roary and Ethan working together to help Rosalie was wonderful and I can’t wait to see more moments like that as this series continues.

If I had to choose a criticism for Alpha Wolf, it would have to be Rosalie’s relationships with Ethan and Roary. So, I overall like both of these characters as I find them both interesting guys and wanting to learn more about them as the series continues. My problem with them with regards to Rosalie is how obvious both these guys like her but keep trying to be in denial of their feelings for her. While I get it as when the chapters are from their perspective, they do a good job explaining their thoughts when it comes to her and their feelings. But I still find myself annoyed with them both because I know how much they both care about her, they are just letting other things get in the way of admitting their feelings. Especially as these are things they both can work through with her instead of letting them ruin what they have with her.

Overall though, I enjoyed reading Alpha Wolf and can’t wait to see what happens in the next book in this series Feral Wolf as I’m sure it won’t disappoint. Even though it’s currently the last book out in this series as the fourth book is yet to be published, I’m still looking forward to reading it.  

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