Sunday, May 31, 2020

May reads

I'm just going to go ahead and make a list and my rating of the books I read in May.

Unmentioned book which I refuse to actually rate....

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Skip Beat! Volumes 1 through 43

The Mall by Megan McCafferty

Bone Crier's Moon by Kathryn Purdie

From Ash and Blood by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Of the Blood by Cameo Renae

Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George

Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen

Wow.... I think I read 12 books this month... and 43 manga... which I didn't up counting in my goodreads goal... which my update is 69/75. I'm very ahead of my goals so I updated my goal to 100 books this year.

My favorite read this month was probably Dark Shores/Dark Skies. My least favorite is the one I'm not mentioning, and honestly most of the middle grade I read this month were for an event that I participated in on facebook. They were also mostly rereads of my favorite books from growing up!

My Dad Reads

In the Cold Dark Ground (Logan McRae, #10)
His favorite read this month.
I'm back with another issue of my dad reads! He's read a lot of books recently. Here are the books he's read recently with his thoughts. Getting him to articulate in depth opinions is like pulling teeth by the way. So in a Nutshell he loved 

In the Cold Dark Ground by Stuart MacBride 4.5/5
Dad really liked this book, he said it was very intriguing, and well written. It appealed to him in some way that he couldn't explain without giving me all the spoilers...


He also read Little Disasters by Sarah Vaughan 2.5/5 which he said "wasn't bad but boring." Which honestly I think was just him trying to be nice.

He also read I'll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara 4/5 He thought this one was really good, well written, well researched, and very informative. It was just plain good.

Finally he read Shadow Garden by Alexandra Burt 2/5 and he didn't even pretend to like it, he said "didn't enjoy hardly, it was all over the place, no consistency, too much jumping back and forth, the whole thing was boring." End Quote.

I am my father's supplier of riveting literature and apparently also of bad books that are suddenly taken off of my tbr after listening and writing of his findings....

Sunday, May 24, 2020

Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen

Cover image for Dark Skies
I recieved a free e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for a review.


Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen was sooooo good. I enjoyed Dark Shores, I gave it 4/5 stars but this book I'm giving 5/5 stars! I loved it, and I love Lydia and I'm so anxious about the characters and all the things that still need to happen in the books and I don't know where this is going! Please send help and send me book titles to read that are this good! 

Dark shores follows the timeline of Marcus and Teriana, and their travels. Whereas Dark Skies takes place during the exact same time period as Dark Shores but it follows two other characters, so while Marcus and Teriana are figuring shit out, Lydia and Killian are figuring other shit out. I can't wait to see hw these two stories connect to each other. Also how are these ya? The political intrigue and badassery going on are just wild.


So I thought I loved Marcus and Teriana but MOVE aside I love Lydia and Killian. Welcome new book boyfriends into the world because these two are my jems. I'm so so sad that the next one isn't out yet. I love everything about these now, consider me obsessed and take my money! 

For real I don't have anything bad to say, I just really liked it.

Friday, May 22, 2020

I finished two books last night

Dark Shores (Dark Shores, #1)

From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash, #1)
Last night was my ideal night, BBQ at mom and dad's(the only people I've seen during social distancing) and than I had a bath and finished From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout (whom I recently discovered I love after reading White Hot Kiss and Storm and Fury...). And than in bed I finished Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen on my kindle because I was struggling to sleep... or I was too busy reading to fall asleep... one of the two for sure.

From Blood and Ash is all political intrigue, mystery and I expect great things like war and whatnot to be happening in the next book. I don't really know how to describe this book, it's adult fantasy and just really good. I don't know how the author does it but this story was slow moving and not very exciting but it was dark and delicious. 

I hesitate to give more detail because honestly it was better not knowing what I was getting into as I was reading it. The characters were kind of stereotypical(this author definitely does this in every book) but she's good at writing, and even though they are simple girl who is also badass in every book I've read by her so far, they are also just well written. Sorry for the obscene run on sentence but I digress, Poppy was fun to follow around, she's spunky and sassy and really starts growing as a character. She starts off as the generic heroine but really learns. She lost me a bit at the end of the book with a few of her decisions, but I can't blame a girl for her feelings. 

I gave this book 4/5 stars because there are books out there that I liked better but my only real complaint was how much it felt like I was holding a brick as I was reading.

The next book I finished was Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen. It was also a 4/5 star read for me. I loved it, I didn't think I would for whatever reason but it was awesome. It was very different than  I thought it would be and I loved how it was inspired by the Roman Empire. My classicist heart soared, obviously because it's fantasy first I didn't expect the Roman stuff to be so obvious but it was and it was crazy. I don't know if teenagers would enjoy this book as much as I did though. It's marketed as a ya but it was also much more technical than I thought it was going to be. A lot of crazy war stuff and political stuff happened and I'm not convinced the average teen will love this book. But I'm diving right in to the next one so I can get my review out there and plus I need...NEED to read Lydia's point of view.




Of the Blood by Cameo Renae

Of the Blood (Heir of Blood and Fire, #1)
I received a copy of Of The Blood by Cameo Renae this e-arc via netgalley for an honest review. 


I dnf'd this book at 94% to be honest, I just didn't have the urge to finish... 2/5 stars


Calla's story starts on her birthday when a mysterious stranger visits her and tells her that her life is in danger. To keep things brood and without spoiling much for readers Calla becomes the "chosen one" trope in her own adventure story. Overall I felt like her character was a little bland, she was likeable but only because she doesn't have much defining characteristics about her. She's generic, but the other characters in the story are awesome, they are strong, clever and fun. I really liked them, more than I liked Calla unfortunately. I loved the politics but Calla's story and specialness felt a little forced, it happened quick and there wasn't really any lead up for the reader to learn things in advance, and i would have enjoyed a typical "chosen girl" story with more lead up, she got thrust about the whole book and I was a little tired of that. Maybe this book would have been better for me if the author had written from multiple perspectives from the characters I loved *cough*Kylan*cough*Melania*cough*Brone*cough*Sabine* I do think there's a lot of room for me to change my feelings on Calla and the story. Normally I love books which are stereotypical quiet girl attracts hottest guy ever and gets thrown into quest and power, etc... but lately I've reading really powerful books with strong female characters and Calla just isn't that. 

I know a lot of book reviewers review based on characters, world building and story. I enjoyed the world building a lot! I thought it was modern but also medieval in feel and it just super appealed to me. I also mostly enjoyed the plot, besides the things relating to Calla, I loved the politics between kingdoms.

I do think that this book was enjoyable and maybe I'll give it a finish or reread when I'm in a different mood. 

#netgalley #oftheblood #cameorenae #bookreview

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

The Mall by Megan McCafferty

Cover image for Mall
I received a free e-arc of this from Netgalley for review purposes. 

The Mall
by Megan McCafferty  takes place in 1991 at the height of a girl's transition from high school to university. Cassie (recently recovered from mono), has a plan. A great plan to spend the summer working with her boyfriend at World's Best Cookie but as we readers know, plans in books never work out. After a few changes to Cassie's plan she ends up on a mall treasure hunt. She meets tons of new people and grows a lot before her great escape to university.

This book was very cute, I was born in '91 so I definitely did not get all the references but I got enough of them that the ones I didn't get did not affect my reading experience. Sorry my grammar is all wrong on this but it's been two very VERY long weeks, and this book really helped me relax. I loved Cassie, she was sassy and fierce and really grew on me, even though I myself am completely different from this character. I really enjoyed Cassie's romps through the mall, each clue was fun and unique. It felt very real, and I loved every single character, both good and bad, they felt very real. The descriptions of the mall made it easy to imagine and I really hope they put a map in the beginning of the mall, I think that'd be so cute in the final version. The story lost my interest  a bit in the middle but after another chapter or two it picked up again. 

Overall this story is a solid 3/5 stars for me. 

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

May TBR down the drain (already?!) Rambles

TBR's (to be read) can be really important to people and honestly I like it a lot when I can follow my tbr. So far this month (even though it's only been 5 days), is kind of a let down for my tbr. I read one book, which I didn't like that I got courtesy of NetGalley, and honestly I'm taking part of 2 group reads, 2 reading challenges, and 1 buddy read(which I'm going to start today). Now normally I can read a book that would help me in these, but honestly I already feel behind. It's probably just my personal life getting in the way and I'm feeling kind of book slumpy so I'm going to post a few tricks and talk to you guys about my reading.

First I can say that I'm going to start House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas today, I've been putting it off because Maas is kind of a hit or miss author for me. I do think this book will be different and enjoyable though and so I hope it helps gets me out of slump mode. I'm also reading Nimona, and graphic novels also help me get out of slumps. Finally, applying for books on NetGalley and getting approved will help my motivation to read more. I was accepted for an E-ARC of Dark Skies so I'm powering through Dark Shores right now, I generally really enjoy Danielle Jensen's books.

It's also middle-grade May so I'm supposed to be reading middle grade books this month, which I have yet to start but I think that will both improve my mood and make things easier on me to read. I have a huge stack set aside for the challenge, so I feel like I've never wanted to read more than I do this month!

I was trying my best to read Ninth House but it's a bit slow going so I'm at a stand still, I think picking up something a little more action packed will help me out.

Any advice for book slumps?! What helps you?

My Dad Reads



I got my book habits from my parents, both of them. My tastes coincide with my mom's taste perfectly while I get my actual habits from my father, he got me into reading in the bath tub. He'll use a bath bomb at super heat and sit there, read and relax. Heavenly. 

My dad has a special place in his heart for Dean Koontz and murder mystery thrillers. He does enjoy horror but prefers thrillers. He also dabbles in reading true crime which are things I also enjoy but my big genre is fantasy. I did get both my mom and dad to read Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames though and he said it was a fun read. My mom loved it as well and if you like fun, D&D romps than you'll love this author's work.

He's a man of few words but I give him books to read all the time and boy does he read. Recently he's read

The Distant Dead by Heather Young

Death in the Family by Tessa Wegert
Find You In The Dark
And I honestly can't remember what he said about them, so honestly they must've been pretty whatever to him.


His short review for Find You in the Dark by Nathan Ripley was 3.5 or 4 out of 5 stars. He said he liked the mystery and the writing. He recommended I read it so it must've been better than some of the other books he's read. So I guess I read it.

#dadreads #nathanripley #findyouinthedark #inheritedreading

Friday, May 1, 2020

From mean and nasty reviews to socially not hurtful reviews

Last night I read a book, it was fairly short and it was an e-arc given to me by Netgalley. I was definitely declined a lot of the bigger, more popular titles which I had really, really, really wanted to read. When I first made an account I requested things I didn't actually want to read I just wanted arcs and free books, that was 2-3 years ago and I hadn't really requested anything since. So my reviewer score is a measly 65% so I'm trying to increase that number by reading the things I want to read and actually getting my score up. I want to do better, but as I realized that I also realized I had to make my way through a few books that aren't necessarily brilliant.... Which is why I think this blog post is important. The book I read last night, was in reality a 0 stars, I hated it. There was nothing good about it, and I felt bad... very bad... I started to type out my review for netgalley and kept thinking how I wouldn't post it on social media or goodreads because it was too mean. I also didn't want to author to read it because I have nothing but respect for her, it takes a lot of guts to write and publish a novel, guts which I'm severely lacking.

So here is my first version of the review, I changed the names because I don't want to diss the author, so this book will be a mystery for you guys so please respect that it's probably not a book you know.


I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. She didn't even feel bad for shooting John twice?! There was no character growth in her character throughout the book, she's treated as perfect  even though she really doesn't care for logic. She had many opportunities to learn and grow and she ignores them all but people still love her? Overall, all the characters are stereotypical and I don't think I could suffer through what everyone is wearing everyday for clothes. Especially when the author felt the need to make a character description list in the beginning of the book(which I skipped reading because I felt it unnecessarily boring). I didn't like the chapter headings because I didn't understand the need to over complicate the simplest story I've read. Were the meanings of the chapter headings in that over complicated beginning that we're expected to remember? Also what time period is this in? I'm confused, they don't seem to have modern conveniences she uses words like tunic and tavern but also guns, and hospitals? The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand. I don't even know. The author killed my favorite character but I think I only liked him because he didn't love Jane blindly like the rest of the characters. Also what was the curse? Was that the story? Was it the main plot because I'm not convinced there even needed to be a curse it was that unimportant.  There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I won't be reading. 

Obviously I had some pretty strong feelings that weren't constructive to the author but flat out mean. So I reworked it to sound more professional, and I got rid of all the information that was actually unnecessary. Here's the second draft:

I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. None of the characters had any character growth, they stayed 1 dimensional throughout the entire book. I didn't feel like the character descriptions and glossary in the beginning of the book was necessary, it was overly complicated and boring.  The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand it. There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I won't be reading. 

And because I still felt like it was overly harsh and my spouse thought it was important to mention the lack of character growth, I added that part back in but I also tried my best to add in some positive. And after reflecting on this whole process, I realized I would be willing to give this author another shot in the sequel even I only gave their book a 1/5 stars. I did mange to have two nice things to say and I feel like even though my review still isn't nice, per se.... it's better than it was. And I don't feel like a shit human for this last one.

I read this book in one sitting and wasn't very impressed to be honest. It was sort of worth reading but it felt very religious, focusing on Christianity with a smattering of beauty and the beast retelling. I loved John as a character but I don't why he fell in love with Jane? Jane, the main character is horrible, she's judgmental and brash and she doesn't get better. None of the characters had any character growth, they stayed 1 dimensional throughout the entire book. I didn't feel like the character descriptions and glossary in the beginning of the book was necessary, it was overly complicated and boring.  The world building wasn't fleshed out enough for me to understand it. There really was no plot for this book. Any plot introduced in this book, is obviously getting saved for another book which I would consider reading to give this author another chance to grow. This author's style obviously just wasn't for me but maybe read this if you want to support debut authors and enjoy Beauty and the Beast retellings where women can be badass.

#review #reviewer #bookreview #bookreviewing