Mini Reviews #2

*smells the list of all the books we have yet to review* Ahh, doesn’t that sound wonderful? The sound of our tbr creaking as we add yet another book to the list? The sounds of your laptop screaming at you because it knows you have +10 reviews to write but you’re currently rewatching your favourite show and mouthing along to the dialogue. I’m sorry, I’ll stop calling us out.

Yes, one of these reviews is actually a dnf, but I review my dnfs.

 

Broadcast

Liam Brown

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Legends Press

Genre: Science Fiction

Stars: 3 and a half

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from Legend Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

The image used for the post header is my own. All links in the post link to the books’ respective Goodreads page. Quotes given in this review might not add up to quotes given in the published version.

The idea of another reality, whether it be virtual, alternative, or augmented has always ensnared me. Maybe its because of augmented reality – well, not really the glasses that go with it because they’re always bulky and fit uncomfortably over my glasses (I actually have to hold the AR glasses otherwise it’ll make my normal glasses cut into my nose) – but what you can see with the glasses amaze me – roller coasters, haunted houses, shark cage diving, that’s super cool.

I liked the concept of Broadcast – the whole thing of a person’s thoughts being broadcasted – which would be a nightmare for me because my ADD just brings about 2000 thoughts and they’re all over the place.

Even though I thought I wouldn’t like David when starting out, I actually do like him. I mostly didn’t like him because of his attitude, which I think is exacerbated by his celebrity status. But think about it. If they gave us someone unknown or relatively unknown, we would’ve liked them straight away; but instead we get David; a pompous elitist celebrity. But it works. Because even though I didn’t like him at the beginning, I began to root for him when everything started going wrong for him.

The story pulls the reader in, sucks you in, and makes you focus on the main character and his main plot so much that you don’t really notice the actual plot of the story – which is very sneaky and well-done.

Oh and something I had in my mind throughout the novel – is the moral of the story to always read the terms and conditions?

Quotes:

But the main reason, I believe, or at least the most important reason people still read, is because books are the only opportunity we ever get to experience true empathy with another human being. To see the world through their eyes. To walk in their shoes. Even celebrity crap like I churn out, when it’s done well, offers a unique insight, a new perspective. The chance to get inside someone else’s head.

 

 

Scorpio Hates Virgo #2

Anyta Sunday

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Anyta Sunday

Genre: Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+ ~ New Adult ~ Humour

Stars: 4

I received this e-arc from Netgalley and Anyta Sunday in exchange for my free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Leo Loves Aries Review (#1) ~ Gemini Keeps Capricorn Review (#3)

I love how Anyta writes characters – I fall in love with them the second they appear on a page or open their mouth – and I love it when I fall in love with the character within the first chapter. It allows the reader to root for the character from the get-go. Not that rooting for the character/loving the character in the middle of the book or near the end is anything less than loving the character from the beginning, but you get what I mean, right? Yes, no, carry on? Okay.

The plot sounds simple – Percy Freedman returns to his aunt’s house to sell it (after she passes away) but sees his ‘nemesis’, (like extreme extraness, tell me more tell me more) Callaghan Glover, (I mean we all know why the enemies-to-lovers trope exists and I am here for all of it – it exists because the characters don’t actually hate each other, they’re just ‘nemeses’ – please note the quotation marks) and because his aunt used to live in a cul-de-sac where the neighbours are super friendly, the result is a game that I don’t fully understand? Like do they just allow their neighbours to go into each other’s houses?

I think I loved Cal more than I loved Percy (Cal likes dinosaurs, I like dinosaurs – it just makes sense). Anyta also writes characters who are family-orientated – they have loving relationships with their families and I love this!

P.S. I thought what’s really funny is that even though Percy claims Cal is his nemesis, Cal really isn’t? So, it’s even funnier because Percy’s trying to maintain the fact that he dislikes Cal when it’s actually him (Percy) just trying not to give into his insane crush on Cal – which just makes it so much better.

 

 

Gemini Keeps Capricorn #3

Anyta Sunday

Year published: 2017

Publisher: Anyta Sunday

Genre: Contemporary Romance ~ LGBT+ ~ New Adult ~ Humour

Stars: 4

I received this e-arc from A Novel Take PR and Anyta Sunday in exchange for my free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Leo Loves Aries Review (#1) ~ Scorpio Hates Virgo Review (#2)

Like all good readers, I love witty banter. Nearly all the characters in this series are so full of witty banter they’re bursting at the seams. The more sarcastic the characters are the happier I am. Though if you’re a reader who’s not so fond of witty banter, don’t worry, you’re also a good reader, there are many types of good readers.

Wesley Hidaka is a relatable character. He studies with his textbook without really studying. He focuses his mind on several other tasks rather than studying. And Lloyd Reynolds – well, first of all, he studies Mathematics, which I don’t get because Maths makes my brain hurt and then I need to hunt down chocolate – but he also really likes coffee, so he’s all right in my book.

The plot keeps on bringing up the fact that the two main characters are undoubtedly attracted to each other but can’t, (due to Lloyd being the RA) and so of course the attraction between them just grows, which is just absolutely fantastic.

Amidst all the drama and slow-burn romance, which is inevitable in a Sunday novel, there’s also the fantastic chapter headings – in this book it’s to do with coffee.

 

 

Song of Blood and Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles Book #1

L. Penelope

Year published: 2018

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Genre: Young Adult ~ Fantasy ~ New Adult ~ Romance

Stars: Dnf’ed at 50%. Wasn’t interesting me enough. But for the most part – it was a 2 star read.

Someone said on Goodreads that the book was self-published in 2015 and then was picked up by a publishing company. But since I received the book through Netgalley – I’m choosing the details of the ‘newly’ published over the self-published detais

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press in exchange for a free and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. Please note that as this as I read an arc I have no way of knowing that if the scene shows up in the published version.

Warning: There’s illusions towards rape and also an attempt at rape.  

So, I wanted to like this book. It looked good – had magic and mentioned a land at war and I really like those things. But then it all fell apart. The book wasn’t interesting enough. I tried to keep on – that’s why I kept reading until 50% – thought it was maybe a slow read – and it was a slow read, but it didn’t pick up for me.

The characters were a bit boring to me. I liked Jasminda, though, she was strong, but her story confused me a lot. I could never keep up with which side of the land her dad comes from and which side her mom comes from and what’s the story behind both – it all confused me so much. And Jack, yeah, it’s not that he was too intense, it’s just that he instantly fell in love with Jasminda and that’s not really in my interests.

The plot, while decent, had too much going on and too much time spent highlighting subplots to allow the main plot to thrive. The plot had the chance and ability to grow, it just didn’t – and that upset me a bit.

 

So Long and Thanks For All the Fish!