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roksyreads's reviews
301 reviews
How We End by L.M. Juniper
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
With a focus on queer representation, found family, and resilience, How We End is an action-packed and intensely heartfelt addition to the zombie apocalypse genre, with a truly diverse main cast of BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ characters. Set in the UK, it's a refreshing change to the oft-USA focused stories that permeate much of the genre.
MMC Jake is a Trans Asian man and a thug-looking cinnamon roll who is deeply engaging, relatable, and well-defined. His first-person present-tense narration is the highlight of the story, and I felt a true connection to him throughout his emotional and physical journey. His growth felt entirely natural, and I believe he will ultimately be one of my favourite characters of 2024.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Liv from either a character or stylistic perspective. Whilst Liv made some good headway in development by the end, it was very much too little, too late; even now, I feel indifferent towards her as a character.For perspective, Noah, who starts off as a posh, stick-up-the-arse know-it-all at the beginning of the story was more engaging and felt better developed than Liv, whose perspective guided ~50% of the novel. It was jarring to switch to limited third-person past tense for her chapters, and having little to no insight into why she believes she is such a horrid person until the last quarter of the book made her near-insufferable. I understand the challenges of intense mental health issues personally and I tried very hard to sympathise with her, but being forced to spend ~200 pages with her constant, often repetitive self-pitying and "look at me, I'm such a cunt, aren't I?" attitude was extremely draining. It also made the romance between Jake and Liv, vague as it was, feel forced.
Overall, this is a solid story for zombie horror and apocalypse scenarios readers. It wraps up nicely and could easily be a standalone, however I do believe it is intended to be part of a longer series. Whether or not we'll return to this group will remain to be seen, but I would certainly enjoy reading about them and this particular version of the apocalypse further.
MMC Jake is a Trans Asian man and a thug-looking cinnamon roll who is deeply engaging, relatable, and well-defined. His first-person present-tense narration is the highlight of the story, and I felt a true connection to him throughout his emotional and physical journey. His growth felt entirely natural, and I believe he will ultimately be one of my favourite characters of 2024.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same about Liv from either a character or stylistic perspective. Whilst Liv made some good headway in development by the end, it was very much too little, too late; even now, I feel indifferent towards her as a character.
Overall, this is a solid story for zombie horror and apocalypse scenarios readers. It wraps up nicely and could easily be a standalone, however I do believe it is intended to be part of a longer series. Whether or not we'll return to this group will remain to be seen, but I would certainly enjoy reading about them and this particular version of the apocalypse further.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Death, Child death, Drug abuse, Gore, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Cursing
Minor: Deadnaming, Transphobia, and Terminal illness
Dragon King of New York by Thea Masen
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I so enjoyed the first novel I read by the author (Stiff) that I was looking forward to reading this. I've enjoyed numerous urban fantasy romances over the years, and I think it's a genre with so much potential. Certainly, I love the concept of this novel, and I have no doubt that it is/will be a good read for many people. Unfortunately, I am not one of them; whilst I often find plenty of positives in stories I don't vibe with, I admit I almost DNF'd this because I found the execution disappointing on so many levels.
Tropes are an excellent way to start a foundation for a novel and market it. I love tropes, including ones that are relevant to this book, but they're not what makes a story good. I've seen this author write well, so it was disappointing to see awkward, poorly edited, and at times lazy writing, which relied heavily on tropes alone to carry it. The plot, what little there was, was rushed in the extreme. I am happy to suspend a heck of a lot of disbelief for multiple orgasms and a HEA, but I cannot suspend all of my disbelief to go along with such a heavily rushed "romance" even for "fated mates" that was throwing more red flags than a matador. The characters undergo little to no development and have minimal personality outside of the two to three adjectives assigned to them, and I grew very tired of reading the phrase "I'm not normally the kind of girl who..." or similar every other page. Finally, as a lover of ultra spicy erotica, I do enjoy plenty of spice, but quality is always better than quantity. Lots of meh spice doesn't add up to good spice.Also, some of the spice was also a big nope: the MMC told the FMC that he wanted her to think about his cock filling her up everywhere (tits, mouth, pussy, arse) when they have dinner with the FMCs 17-year-old sister! Like, what the fuck?
Tropes are an excellent way to start a foundation for a novel and market it. I love tropes, including ones that are relevant to this book, but they're not what makes a story good. I've seen this author write well, so it was disappointing to see awkward, poorly edited, and at times lazy writing, which relied heavily on tropes alone to carry it. The plot, what little there was, was rushed in the extreme. I am happy to suspend a heck of a lot of disbelief for multiple orgasms and a HEA, but I cannot suspend all of my disbelief to go along with such a heavily rushed "romance" even for "fated mates" that was throwing more red flags than a matador. The characters undergo little to no development and have minimal personality outside of the two to three adjectives assigned to them, and I grew very tired of reading the phrase "I'm not normally the kind of girl who..." or similar every other page. Finally, as a lover of ultra spicy erotica, I do enjoy plenty of spice, but quality is always better than quantity. Lots of meh spice doesn't add up to good spice.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
What Feasts at Night by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Final Days by Jasper T. Scott, Nathan Hystad
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Ensnared by Tiffany Roberts
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Who knew an arachnophobe could fall in love with a spider man?
This is not my first foray into monster romance, but it is my most adventurous! Ivy and Ketahn are fascinating characters in their own right; they have great chemistry and their developing relationship feels natural. Surprisingly sweet and detailed, I enjoyed learning about this alien world and the beings that call it home. I'll definitely be continuing with the trilogy.
This is not my first foray into monster romance, but it is my most adventurous! Ivy and Ketahn are fascinating characters in their own right; they have great chemistry and their developing relationship feels natural. Surprisingly sweet and detailed, I enjoyed learning about this alien world and the beings that call it home. I'll definitely be continuing with the trilogy.
This Is the Way the World Ends: an Oral History of the Zombie War by Keith Taylor
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I stumbled upon this book when searching for new horror/thriller story. Given my appreciation for World War Z, it seemed a good fit for my interests. It's unfortunately not possible to avoid direct comparisons to Brooks' work, given that Taylor advises it was directly inspired by Brooks' novel and that he hoped to capture that same essence. The stories Taylor "records" from survivors of his version of the zombie war are engaging and thrilling. It comes close at times to capturing the magic that is World War Z, though it does fall short of it's inspiration; in part, this is due to the overwhelming number of characters and brevity of the stories, many of which were written simply for shock and awe and lacking any true emotional depth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Child death, Death, Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Cannibalism, and War
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, Sexism, Racism, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Gun violence
Minor: Vomit
Stand and Defend by Sloane St. James
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Stand and Defend is the final book in the Lakes Hockey series, and it's by far the best. I was impressed by how much the writing improved within just a handful of novels.
Strong and Wild by Sloane St. James
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Before We Came by Sloane St. James
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book really surprised me. I've never read a sports romance before, and I'm not normally one for contemporary fiction of any kind, but I picked this up on a whim through KU and thought I'd give it a go. Less than 24 hours later, I'm glad I gave it a chance. The writing isn't groundbreaking, but it's easy and enjoyable to read. The core cast of characters are genuinely loveable and they grow a lot throughout. There's plenty of plot both overarching and sub, and the romance is steamy AF as well as being genuinely emotional.
One thing that did bother me is that this is repeatedly called a second-chance romance; it's listed as one of the main tropes, but it doesn't really fit. The FMC and MMC are childhood friends and are 7 and 8 when circumstances force them apart: they're literally children. So if you're looking for a story of where the FMC/MMC have a relationship that broke down for x, y, or z reason and then they come back together, this won't be it. However, there's still plenty of angst, mutual pining, and chemistry, partnered with a thrilling mystery and forced proximity.
One thing that did bother me is that this is repeatedly called a second-chance romance; it's listed as one of the main tropes, but it doesn't really fit. The FMC and MMC are childhood friends and are 7 and 8 when circumstances force them apart: they're literally children. So if you're looking for a story of where the FMC/MMC have a relationship that broke down for x, y, or z reason and then they come back together, this won't be it. However, there's still plenty of angst, mutual pining, and chemistry, partnered with a thrilling mystery and forced proximity.
Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was my favourite IPB story so far. I loved the dynamic between the FMC and MMC and how natural their romance felt. Each FMC has been unique in how they've tackled the challenges of their new lives, and Lila is no exception; it was rewarding to see her embrace her identity and ultimately thrive.