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2097 reviews
<b>Read Completed 9/16/24 |</b> 3.5 stars, rounded down
<I>Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Audio for the audiobook review copy. This did not affect my review in any way.</I>
I've been craving some horror stories recently and this was a good, solid read! I knew I recognized Mina Hardy's name and I actually didn't like her previous book, which was a thriller. This went much better for me in a fast-paced, disturbing horror novel. This dealt with possession and a demon, which isn't something I read a lot of, and I really liked how the author wrote this story. It's the story of the relationship between a mother and her daughter, the daughter now grown and having to care for her abusive mother after she gets kicked out of her retirement home when weird things begin to happen.
I really appreciated how layered this became in the end and all of the things that came to light. There's some truly creepy and disturbing things that happen here that gave me some serious chills, and I liked that there was a constant back and forth between is it or isn't it supernatural. Is her mother just this abusive, or is there something worse at play? Was her house haunted, or was it just her mother?
I'm glad I read this! A "level amount" of creepy for me, since I much prefer a lighter horror that's a little more grounded in reality with one supernatural concept poking through. This fit.
<I>Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Audio for the audiobook review copy. This did not affect my review in any way.</I>
I've been craving some horror stories recently and this was a good, solid read! I knew I recognized Mina Hardy's name and I actually didn't like her previous book, which was a thriller. This went much better for me in a fast-paced, disturbing horror novel. This dealt with possession and a demon, which isn't something I read a lot of, and I really liked how the author wrote this story. It's the story of the relationship between a mother and her daughter, the daughter now grown and having to care for her abusive mother after she gets kicked out of her retirement home when weird things begin to happen.
I really appreciated how layered this became in the end and all of the things that came to light. There's some truly creepy and disturbing things that happen here that gave me some serious chills, and I liked that there was a constant back and forth between is it or isn't it supernatural. Is her mother just this abusive, or is there something worse at play? Was her house haunted, or was it just her mother?
I'm glad I read this! A "level amount" of creepy for me, since I much prefer a lighter horror that's a little more grounded in reality with one supernatural concept poking through. This fit.
<b>Read Completed 9/14/24 |</b> 4 stars
I'm glad I read this! This definitely will not be for everyone, and it was a little weird for me too, but it was one of those book that I just couldn't put down. Apparently book series/ TV show / movie / video game with a mysterious cult following is my new favorite micro trope and this just really hit the spot.
I just really loved the vibe here. There's a lot of mystery, folklore, conjecture, and scandal surrounding an old 90s movie simply called "Horror Movie" because it was never released. The book is told from the "last man standing" from the movie, the guy who played The Thin Kid... and I love that I noticed we never get this guy's name. Just like the creators and writers don't want anyone to know the name or face of The Thin Kid in the Horror Movie, we never find out the name of the narrator here.
The book is weird, I'll give you that. There are some times when my face was 100% grotesque listening to some of these scenes on the audiobook. There's some messed up stuff that happens in a way that was not even just gross or creepy but like... wow, this author did indeed write that. The Narrator sure is one weird dude too. In the beginning, he's just a little odd but as he tells us more of the story, and naturally, things escalate at the end. The ending is certainly something that I won't forget, but I also wanted just one more bang, somehow. I wouldn't say it was ambiguous but I don't know... there was just something missing for me.
The book was also an interesting kind of mixed media. On audio, we got a full cast since we also get pieces of the movie within the book. There's a read of the screen play by one narrator that morphs into the actors in the movie into full cast mode and it rotates back to The Narrator telling the story.
This book probably would have gotten a full five stars from me if I didn't think some parts of it were a little hard to follow. I was a tiny bit confused on some of the things happening in the movie and the choices made there, but others slotted right into that perfect nook of weird and creepy. Because of some of the pure oddity, I just felt like I was missing things that were important instead of being full immersed.
This is a funny little horror story that people will absolutely, 100% hate and other people will become a part of the book's cult following like the movie. I wish I was head-over-heels for it, but it will definitely be one of the more memorable reads of the year, even if it's not going to be a favorite.
I'm glad I read this! This definitely will not be for everyone, and it was a little weird for me too, but it was one of those book that I just couldn't put down. Apparently book series/ TV show / movie / video game with a mysterious cult following is my new favorite micro trope and this just really hit the spot.
I just really loved the vibe here. There's a lot of mystery, folklore, conjecture, and scandal surrounding an old 90s movie simply called "Horror Movie" because it was never released. The book is told from the "last man standing" from the movie, the guy who played The Thin Kid... and I love that I noticed we never get this guy's name. Just like the creators and writers don't want anyone to know the name or face of The Thin Kid in the Horror Movie, we never find out the name of the narrator here.
The book is weird, I'll give you that. There are some times when my face was 100% grotesque listening to some of these scenes on the audiobook. There's some messed up stuff that happens in a way that was not even just gross or creepy but like... wow, this author did indeed write that. The Narrator sure is one weird dude too. In the beginning, he's just a little odd but as he tells us more of the story, and naturally, things escalate at the end. The ending is certainly something that I won't forget, but I also wanted just one more bang, somehow. I wouldn't say it was ambiguous but I don't know... there was just something missing for me.
The book was also an interesting kind of mixed media. On audio, we got a full cast since we also get pieces of the movie within the book. There's a read of the screen play by one narrator that morphs into the actors in the movie into full cast mode and it rotates back to The Narrator telling the story.
This book probably would have gotten a full five stars from me if I didn't think some parts of it were a little hard to follow. I was a tiny bit confused on some of the things happening in the movie and the choices made there, but others slotted right into that perfect nook of weird and creepy. Because of some of the pure oddity, I just felt like I was missing things that were important instead of being full immersed.
This is a funny little horror story that people will absolutely, 100% hate and other people will become a part of the book's cult following like the movie. I wish I was head-over-heels for it, but it will definitely be one of the more memorable reads of the year, even if it's not going to be a favorite.
<b>Read Completed 9/13/24 | </b> 3.25 stars
I've been enjoying Rona Halsall's books this past year, but I was expecting a little bit more from THE HONEYMOON. It's definitely a thriller, but I think I wanted something a little more sinister. There was a lot going on, but some things just didn't feel like enough and others felt too over-the-top.
I guess I don't really have a ton to say about this one. It was an easy read but I just never really felt riveted.
I've been enjoying Rona Halsall's books this past year, but I was expecting a little bit more from THE HONEYMOON. It's definitely a thriller, but I think I wanted something a little more sinister. There was a lot going on, but some things just didn't feel like enough and others felt too over-the-top.
I guess I don't really have a ton to say about this one. It was an easy read but I just never really felt riveted.
<b>Read Completed 9/11/24 |</b> 3 stars
I was excited to read LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER though it turned out a little different than I had expected. This was definitely readable but I just never really got as invested as I had hoped. I always enjoy a good missing person thriller but the ending was a little bit of a let down. It was an interesting read, and definitely engaging, but it was one of those books where I kind of didn't really remember what it was about once I was finished.
I really did like the mother / daughter dynamic and enjoyed that back and forth quite a bit! I liked that they narrated their own chapters with a before and after, and the audiobook narrators are (I assume from them sharing the same last name) a mother and daughter duo as well! Super fun.
If you liked this, I highly recommend Amber Garza. She has some amazing mother/child dynamics along with some great thriller vibes.
I was excited to read LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER though it turned out a little different than I had expected. This was definitely readable but I just never really got as invested as I had hoped. I always enjoy a good missing person thriller but the ending was a little bit of a let down. It was an interesting read, and definitely engaging, but it was one of those books where I kind of didn't really remember what it was about once I was finished.
I really did like the mother / daughter dynamic and enjoyed that back and forth quite a bit! I liked that they narrated their own chapters with a before and after, and the audiobook narrators are (I assume from them sharing the same last name) a mother and daughter duo as well! Super fun.
If you liked this, I highly recommend Amber Garza. She has some amazing mother/child dynamics along with some great thriller vibes.
<b>Read Completed 9/9/24 |</b> 1.75 stars
I was SO excited for this because I'm always looking for more baseball romances, but I didn't like this in many ways.
Firstly, this is so heavily Taylor Swift coded that it's gross. I'm not a Swiftie, and honestly, even though this isn't *actually* about Taylor Swift, it made me like her less because Lacey was not a good character. I honestly understood the stress, the need to play ball with the press, how your life totally changes when you have that level of fame. I get it. But Lacey's character wasn't likable. She was boring, she was two dimensional, and she barely had a personality outside of leaning on TS similarities. It was TOO similar and I wish it the author would have created more differences so it didn't feel like fan fiction.
I liked the baseball, obviously, but I wished it was incorporated more. Lacey only went to one of Jimmy's games and it was a shitshow. She didn't even watch a game on TV, and then she barely did, and it was only to incorporate something negative after the game. We didn't even get any cute feelings of her watching him on TV or watching at a game and being proud of him or excited to see him play. NEITHER of them really cared about each other, if we're being honest here. She didn't care about baseball or seeing him in his element, and he didn't really ask her about her music. They were both boring as all hell and didn't even really seem to LIKE each other.
The baseball parts that were included were so cliche and mostly not common. Jimmy somehow hits an inside the part homerun, even though he's obviously not fast, complaining about all of his joints and how he's 37. It's not called an inside the park home run but why is he sliding into home if it was a home run? Then it happens to a player on the other team -- again!? A kid who hits it and no one can come up with it and he comes all the way home. Look, this is not a thing that happens often, okay. The only thing that happens baseball wise seems to be home runs. We could have some hits and some action outside of that. Then during the playoffs, the whole Orioles team is traveling back and forth from Baltimore to Boston, apparently. I don't think during any away series do players travel back and forth from home and to the visiting ballpark unless it's like Cubs vs Sox and you're already in Chicago. Why are they traveling back and forth before Game 5 of the playoffs to a city that's 6.5 hours away? They're not flying the whole team back every night. That's just not gonna happen.
The only thing I did like was that Jimmy was 37 and and older player. I liked breaking the mold of being young or in your 20s. Even in your early 30s is still very common but 37 is on the edge of retiring, so that was something to shake things up.
They each had a family member that struggled with addiction and Jimmy's brother even died from an overdose, and yet, they don't even really talk about it. It's one short conversation. Jimmy barely seems empathetic that her mom is an alcoholic, and we gloss over the fact that her mom was drunk driving. Aside from Lacey saying one line that she could kill someone by driving and her mom sleeping it off, that was it. Lacey didn't grow at all. She didn't cut things off with her mom or even confront her. She just continues to enable her. She says well, she TRIED to get her a car service so she wouldn't be driving. We have no emotional growth where they talk and she tells her mom how this hurts her, how she can't enable her anymore. Nope. We never come back around. Jimmy's brother only seemed to be there to make his character more sad. We have a surface level conversation about how he got addicted to opioids and how he overdosed, and how his brother was also into baseball. But we don't get to KNOW anything about Jimmy or his family.
This book also had zero romance. The only things these two did was to hook up and have sex. They didn't act romantic towards each other at all. It was all physical and very, very little emotional connection to the point where we got to the third act break-up and I thought this was going to end in a tragedy, and I honestly hoped it would. They were not right for each other at all, and I was actually disappointed to see them together in the end. These two probably both need a lot of therapy and this is a couple that will 100% break up and get into a nasty, horrible fight after this book is over. They didn't resolve any of their issues and that's just going to carry over. They were MEAN to each other when they fought and just saying sorry doesn't mean that it's not going to happen again.
I'm mad how much I hated this. I wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't gotten so far in, but at least it was quick.
I was SO excited for this because I'm always looking for more baseball romances, but I didn't like this in many ways.
Firstly, this is so heavily Taylor Swift coded that it's gross. I'm not a Swiftie, and honestly, even though this isn't *actually* about Taylor Swift, it made me like her less because Lacey was not a good character. I honestly understood the stress, the need to play ball with the press, how your life totally changes when you have that level of fame. I get it. But Lacey's character wasn't likable. She was boring, she was two dimensional, and she barely had a personality outside of leaning on TS similarities. It was TOO similar and I wish it the author would have created more differences so it didn't feel like fan fiction.
I liked the baseball, obviously, but I wished it was incorporated more. Lacey only went to one of Jimmy's games and it was a shitshow. She didn't even watch a game on TV, and then she barely did, and it was only to incorporate something negative after the game. We didn't even get any cute feelings of her watching him on TV or watching at a game and being proud of him or excited to see him play. NEITHER of them really cared about each other, if we're being honest here. She didn't care about baseball or seeing him in his element, and he didn't really ask her about her music. They were both boring as all hell and didn't even really seem to LIKE each other.
The baseball parts that were included were so cliche and mostly not common. Jimmy somehow hits an inside the part homerun, even though he's obviously not fast, complaining about all of his joints and how he's 37. It's not called an inside the park home run but why is he sliding into home if it was a home run? Then it happens to a player on the other team -- again!? A kid who hits it and no one can come up with it and he comes all the way home. Look, this is not a thing that happens often, okay. The only thing that happens baseball wise seems to be home runs. We could have some hits and some action outside of that. Then during the playoffs, the whole Orioles team is traveling back and forth from Baltimore to Boston, apparently. I don't think during any away series do players travel back and forth from home and to the visiting ballpark unless it's like Cubs vs Sox and you're already in Chicago. Why are they traveling back and forth before Game 5 of the playoffs to a city that's 6.5 hours away? They're not flying the whole team back every night. That's just not gonna happen.
The only thing I did like was that Jimmy was 37 and and older player. I liked breaking the mold of being young or in your 20s. Even in your early 30s is still very common but 37 is on the edge of retiring, so that was something to shake things up.
They each had a family member that struggled with addiction and Jimmy's brother even died from an overdose, and yet, they don't even really talk about it. It's one short conversation. Jimmy barely seems empathetic that her mom is an alcoholic, and we gloss over the fact that her mom was drunk driving. Aside from Lacey saying one line that she could kill someone by driving and her mom sleeping it off, that was it. Lacey didn't grow at all. She didn't cut things off with her mom or even confront her. She just continues to enable her. She says well, she TRIED to get her a car service so she wouldn't be driving. We have no emotional growth where they talk and she tells her mom how this hurts her, how she can't enable her anymore. Nope. We never come back around. Jimmy's brother only seemed to be there to make his character more sad. We have a surface level conversation about how he got addicted to opioids and how he overdosed, and how his brother was also into baseball. But we don't get to KNOW anything about Jimmy or his family.
This book also had zero romance. The only things these two did was to hook up and have sex. They didn't act romantic towards each other at all. It was all physical and very, very little emotional connection to the point where we got to the third act break-up and I thought this was going to end in a tragedy, and I honestly hoped it would. They were not right for each other at all, and I was actually disappointed to see them together in the end. These two probably both need a lot of therapy and this is a couple that will 100% break up and get into a nasty, horrible fight after this book is over. They didn't resolve any of their issues and that's just going to carry over. They were MEAN to each other when they fought and just saying sorry doesn't mean that it's not going to happen again.
I'm mad how much I hated this. I wouldn't have finished it if I hadn't gotten so far in, but at least it was quick.
<b>Read Completed 9/7/24 |</b> 2.5 stars
I hate that Sarah Adams is so hit-or-miss for me. It's either a 4 star or a 2 star book and the 2 stars are so disappointing! This book was just not for me.
Firstly, June was SO ANNOYING. She's incredibly immature and I absolutely hated the rivalry between her and Ryan. It was not cute -- it was stupid. They've been in love with each other since high school but ever since then and including then, they've been in a stupid hate-feud filled with pranks and telling each other how much they hate each other like they're 7 years old. It was stupid, it was annoying, and it took WAY TOO LONG for June to stop acting like a child.
June is also the sister of MMC Jake from THE MATCH and I felt like she was a cool, fun aunt in that book. She's like the total opposite here. I was excited to read her story and this was such a let-down.
Ryan was the only saving grace in this book, and without his chapters, this would have gotten a lower rating for sure. Almost entirely, I adored Ryan. There were a couple of parts where some of his decisions bothered me, but thank goodness for his POV. He wanted to drop the feud and finally admit his feelings to June.
June's determination to never get hurt again also grated on me. I absolutely get it -- what she went through is something that messes with your head and destroys your confidence -- but it was to the point of making silly rules like only ever dating the same person once. One date is all they get. It was a little too over-the-top for me. At least in the end she admitted she was self-sabotaging, but it was hard to watch sometimes.
I waited to hopefully pick up the revised & expanded edition -- I don't know if this was actually it since I borrowed it from the library... Maybe it was updated to be better in 2024 and I read the old version. But this just didn't work for me. I hated the enemies-to-lovers and it took over half the book of them to have any feelings or chemistry come on the page and not just in their heads. It was WAY too long. I want to enjoy the romance while I'm reading the book, not watching two children squabble.
The ending was also so stupid. She's trying to tell him something important and they're still playing pranks on each other even after getting married. I hate pranks. Laughing at someone else's expense, even if it's harmless, isn't cute or funny. I don't get it. So yeah, this just wasn't for me, I guess.
I hate that Sarah Adams is so hit-or-miss for me. It's either a 4 star or a 2 star book and the 2 stars are so disappointing! This book was just not for me.
Firstly, June was SO ANNOYING. She's incredibly immature and I absolutely hated the rivalry between her and Ryan. It was not cute -- it was stupid. They've been in love with each other since high school but ever since then and including then, they've been in a stupid hate-feud filled with pranks and telling each other how much they hate each other like they're 7 years old. It was stupid, it was annoying, and it took WAY TOO LONG for June to stop acting like a child.
June is also the sister of MMC Jake from THE MATCH and I felt like she was a cool, fun aunt in that book. She's like the total opposite here. I was excited to read her story and this was such a let-down.
Ryan was the only saving grace in this book, and without his chapters, this would have gotten a lower rating for sure. Almost entirely, I adored Ryan. There were a couple of parts where some of his decisions bothered me, but thank goodness for his POV. He wanted to drop the feud and finally admit his feelings to June.
June's determination to never get hurt again also grated on me. I absolutely get it -- what she went through is something that messes with your head and destroys your confidence -- but it was to the point of making silly rules like only ever dating the same person once. One date is all they get. It was a little too over-the-top for me. At least in the end she admitted she was self-sabotaging, but it was hard to watch sometimes.
I waited to hopefully pick up the revised & expanded edition -- I don't know if this was actually it since I borrowed it from the library... Maybe it was updated to be better in 2024 and I read the old version. But this just didn't work for me. I hated the enemies-to-lovers and it took over half the book of them to have any feelings or chemistry come on the page and not just in their heads. It was WAY too long. I want to enjoy the romance while I'm reading the book, not watching two children squabble.
The ending was also so stupid. She's trying to tell him something important and they're still playing pranks on each other even after getting married. I hate pranks. Laughing at someone else's expense, even if it's harmless, isn't cute or funny. I don't get it. So yeah, this just wasn't for me, I guess.
<b>Read Completed 9/5/24 |</b> 3.25 - 3.5 stars
<i>This is a companion book to THE CHEERLEADERS, but takes place 11 years after the events of that book. You do not need to read THE CHEERLEADERS in order to read THE CHAMPIONS, but they do crossover and you will have spoilers for the previous book if you don't read it first.</i>
After rereading THE CHEERLEADERS, which I liked even more the second time, I was even more excited to read THE CHAMPIONS. I really liked seeing the characters from THE CHEERLEADERS crossover and get involved in the story, even when they weren't the main characters.
I wanted to love this so badly, but I just didn't get involved the way I was with the previous book. Hadley was our main character here, but she wasn't as personally connected to everything like Monica had been. After the events of the party in the beginning that looped her in, she started to become more of a detective-style character who's a little more detached from the action. I also feel like I didn't really get to know her at all. We established that she wants to be a journalist, obviously so she can be involved in this detective plot, but I really don't feel like her character was that well-established. She doesn't have any friends, really, and has a hate-to-friend relationship with Peter (Monica's younger brother - fun!). She barely interacts with her mom, her dad is out the picture / on the peripheral because of drug abuse, but we don't really get into that a lot. I just wanted more from Hadley as a character.
This book also felt more more teen / young adult than the first book, which isn't why I'm rating it a little lower, but it just wasn't as enjoyable for me in that respect. There are still many mature / adult topic that take place here and it gets quite intense, but the inclusion of the drama around the football team just wasn't my thing. And once I was a tiny bit checked out, I couldn't keep some of the characters straight -- their names were kind of similar and when most of them were football players or students, it got confusing who was who. LogaN, DylaN, CameroN, BraydeN (think there was a Brayden...) The names aren't that similar, but it was close enough that my brain was letting them blur together. Can someone be named Matt or something? đŸ˜‚
In the end, I just wasn't connected to mystery of it all. It was very serious and very important, but since Hadley didn't even really know any of them, why should I? I just had a hard time being involved, as messed up as everything was that went down.
<i>This is a companion book to THE CHEERLEADERS, but takes place 11 years after the events of that book. You do not need to read THE CHEERLEADERS in order to read THE CHAMPIONS, but they do crossover and you will have spoilers for the previous book if you don't read it first.</i>
After rereading THE CHEERLEADERS, which I liked even more the second time, I was even more excited to read THE CHAMPIONS. I really liked seeing the characters from THE CHEERLEADERS crossover and get involved in the story, even when they weren't the main characters.
I wanted to love this so badly, but I just didn't get involved the way I was with the previous book. Hadley was our main character here, but she wasn't as personally connected to everything like Monica had been. After the events of the party in the beginning that looped her in, she started to become more of a detective-style character who's a little more detached from the action. I also feel like I didn't really get to know her at all. We established that she wants to be a journalist, obviously so she can be involved in this detective plot, but I really don't feel like her character was that well-established. She doesn't have any friends, really, and has a hate-to-friend relationship with Peter (Monica's younger brother - fun!). She barely interacts with her mom, her dad is out the picture / on the peripheral because of drug abuse, but we don't really get into that a lot. I just wanted more from Hadley as a character.
This book also felt more more teen / young adult than the first book, which isn't why I'm rating it a little lower, but it just wasn't as enjoyable for me in that respect. There are still many mature / adult topic that take place here and it gets quite intense, but the inclusion of the drama around the football team just wasn't my thing. And once I was a tiny bit checked out, I couldn't keep some of the characters straight -- their names were kind of similar and when most of them were football players or students, it got confusing who was who. LogaN, DylaN, CameroN, BraydeN (think there was a Brayden...) The names aren't that similar, but it was close enough that my brain was letting them blur together. Can someone be named Matt or something? đŸ˜‚
In the end, I just wasn't connected to mystery of it all. It was very serious and very important, but since Hadley didn't even really know any of them, why should I? I just had a hard time being involved, as messed up as everything was that went down.
<b>Read Completed 9/1/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
THE LUCKY WIDOW was an okay read! I picked this one up randomly and it was enjoyable, very readable, and a good popcorn thriller. I wasn't really wowed by anything and the ending seemed fairly obvious to me, so it wasn't a crazy twist for me. I did like how things kept expanding, though some of it was over-the-top.
THE LUCKY WIDOW was an okay read! I picked this one up randomly and it was enjoyable, very readable, and a good popcorn thriller. I wasn't really wowed by anything and the ending seemed fairly obvious to me, so it wasn't a crazy twist for me. I did like how things kept expanding, though some of it was over-the-top.
<b>Read Completed 8/30/24 |</b> 3.25 stars
I really enjoyed TO HAVE AND TO HEIST when I read it last year so I was really excited for another fun adventure with Simi and the gang! Unfortunately, right off the bat, it hit things I didn't like in sequels. I really, really, really don't like when a sequel starts off with the couple from book 1 breaking up and now they're apart. I really wanted to see Simi and Jack working together and growing their relationship, not it having already ended and her hating him and not trusting him. It was just a turn off for me and I wanted more connection.
The crew took a while to show up and they were just less vibrant than in the last book. They were always a little quirky, edging on over-the-top but it didn't make me feel that way in Book 1. This book just felt like caricatures of who they were in the first book and I feel like it just got sillier. I also don't know why Rose was totally left out of this book? I kept expecting her to show up but she never did. Maybe that's Book 3.
I really didn't like the heist this time. It was veering into Stephanie Plum territory where everything is zany and kooky and it just went too far. (Also why I stopped enjoying Finlay Donovan.) I just didn't click with the plot and I didn't like that the characters were basically ALL on the outs. I wanted the found family, the fun friendships. This wasn't it.
I'm sure I'll still read a book 3 if there is one but I was a little disappointed with this.
I really enjoyed TO HAVE AND TO HEIST when I read it last year so I was really excited for another fun adventure with Simi and the gang! Unfortunately, right off the bat, it hit things I didn't like in sequels. I really, really, really don't like when a sequel starts off with the couple from book 1 breaking up and now they're apart. I really wanted to see Simi and Jack working together and growing their relationship, not it having already ended and her hating him and not trusting him. It was just a turn off for me and I wanted more connection.
The crew took a while to show up and they were just less vibrant than in the last book. They were always a little quirky, edging on over-the-top but it didn't make me feel that way in Book 1. This book just felt like caricatures of who they were in the first book and I feel like it just got sillier. I also don't know why Rose was totally left out of this book? I kept expecting her to show up but she never did. Maybe that's Book 3.
I really didn't like the heist this time. It was veering into Stephanie Plum territory where everything is zany and kooky and it just went too far. (Also why I stopped enjoying Finlay Donovan.) I just didn't click with the plot and I didn't like that the characters were basically ALL on the outs. I wanted the found family, the fun friendships. This wasn't it.
I'm sure I'll still read a book 3 if there is one but I was a little disappointed with this.
<b>Read Completed 8/28/24 |</b> 2.5 stars
Sadly, this was a big disappointment for me. I was very excited to read it and hoped that I would finally find a new favorite fantasy book, but I just never got into it. I tried in the beginning and things felt promising but despite my eagerness towards this book, I could NOT get attached to any of the main characters.
When it comes down to it, I feel like THE SHADOW OF THE GODS is a character-driven fantasy book. That's definitely not something that keeps me from reading a book. I've read many character-driven fantasy books, some of which turned out to be my all-time favorite books ever, but I just couldn't connect to any of these characters. There was a little bit of action to kick off the book along with some character development for their introductions, but after that, it started to get a little boring.
<b>Orka</b> was my favorite POV at first and I liked getting to know her family.But that didn't last long. I really liked her husband and thought I'd get to see some good character development, but then the author kills off her husband and gets her child kidnapped and that's the end of that. Once this happened, Orka really doesn't develop as a character at all. It's a single-minded focus, and that was not terrible, but I got bored when she encountered different characters every other chapter who flitted in and out. There wasn't much to her and I couldn't have cared less about the other characters when I was already struggling to get a hold of a main character.
<b>Varg</b> was also quite and interesting character when I first met him and I really liked his introduction. He probably has the most growth and most interesting arc in the end, but his chapters also grew fairly dull as I waited for more of anything to happen.
<b>Elvar</b> was by far the most boring chapter because in half of her chapters, she's not even the main character!! She's not making decisions, things are barely happening to her. Again, already struggling to make a connection, could not care less about the minor characters. She gets into a relationship with someone and "no one commented on it" so why do I care? No feelings, no emotions.
The book (and series) is based on Norse mythology and history, which is something I know little to nothing about. Shouldn't be a big deal but I felt like a lot of it was going over my head. There are some interesting creatures in this world, but there's not a big description on what they are and what they do. Most of it is like a one or two-liner, but I feel like I was TOLD and not SHOWN. I really would have loved to spend a little more time with them to watch them in action, incorporate them into the story a bit more. The times we do see them, it's just to thrown them in and they don't really DO anything to be a part of the story, at least not that's important. Oh, and for all of you waiting for that big dragon on the cover.... don't hold your breath, because it's only a thing for the last 5% of the book.
I would have rated it a little higher but I was just soooooo bored. These characters did not draw me in and I just didn't care about them. I had moments where things got more interesting but then it waned again.
And I don't EVER want to read the words "thought-cage" again to refer to someone's mind. This would ONLY have been a good choice of words if it was related to some magic somehow, like a "thought-cage" was something more than just a person's thoughts. But it wasn't. It was a weird choice, took me out of the story every time, and didn't make sense why it was the only thing described different. Would your heart be your feelings-cage? No. I cannot read another book where that's a thing.
Sadly, this was a big disappointment for me. I was very excited to read it and hoped that I would finally find a new favorite fantasy book, but I just never got into it. I tried in the beginning and things felt promising but despite my eagerness towards this book, I could NOT get attached to any of the main characters.
When it comes down to it, I feel like THE SHADOW OF THE GODS is a character-driven fantasy book. That's definitely not something that keeps me from reading a book. I've read many character-driven fantasy books, some of which turned out to be my all-time favorite books ever, but I just couldn't connect to any of these characters. There was a little bit of action to kick off the book along with some character development for their introductions, but after that, it started to get a little boring.
<b>Orka</b> was my favorite POV at first and I liked getting to know her family.
<b>Varg</b> was also quite and interesting character when I first met him and I really liked his introduction. He probably has the most growth and most interesting arc in the end, but his chapters also grew fairly dull as I waited for more of anything to happen.
<b>Elvar</b> was by far the most boring chapter because in half of her chapters, she's not even the main character!! She's not making decisions, things are barely happening to her. Again, already struggling to make a connection, could not care less about the minor characters. She gets into a relationship with someone and "no one commented on it" so why do I care? No feelings, no emotions.
The book (and series) is based on Norse mythology and history, which is something I know little to nothing about. Shouldn't be a big deal but I felt like a lot of it was going over my head. There are some interesting creatures in this world, but there's not a big description on what they are and what they do. Most of it is like a one or two-liner, but I feel like I was TOLD and not SHOWN. I really would have loved to spend a little more time with them to watch them in action, incorporate them into the story a bit more. The times we do see them, it's just to thrown them in and they don't really DO anything to be a part of the story, at least not that's important. Oh, and for all of you waiting for that big dragon on the cover.... don't hold your breath, because it's only a thing for the last 5% of the book.
I would have rated it a little higher but I was just soooooo bored. These characters did not draw me in and I just didn't care about them. I had moments where things got more interesting but then it waned again.
And I don't EVER want to read the words "thought-cage" again to refer to someone's mind. This would ONLY have been a good choice of words if it was related to some magic somehow, like a "thought-cage" was something more than just a person's thoughts. But it wasn't. It was a weird choice, took me out of the story every time, and didn't make sense why it was the only thing described different. Would your heart be your feelings-cage? No. I cannot read another book where that's a thing.