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North Queen by Nicola Tyche [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“The Return of a Lost Heir …
The kingdom of Mercia has been at war with the Shadow King and his dark army for ten years. To escape the seer’s vision of her capture, Mercia’s heir to the throne, Princess Norah Andell, is secreted away by her father to keep her safe. But when he dies in battle, so too dies the knowledge of where she’s hidden. She’s lost to the world—until three years later, when she’s found with no memory of who she is or the kingdom that now rests on her shoulders.

A Conflicted Duty …
Loyal and fearless commander of the Mercian army, Alexander Rhemus, has protected the realm against the threat of the Shadow King, awaiting Norah’s return. Not only does she hold the fate of the kingdom, but also his heart. However, when she’s found, he discovers she has no memory of him, or what was once between them. With war still looming, Norah is expected to wed and secure an alliance—one Mercia desperately needs to stand against the Shadow King. Now, with Mercia’s future at stake, Alexander finds himself torn between his duty and his heart.

A Twisted Fate …
Norah is thrust into a world she doesn’t know, in a role she’s unprepared for, to save a kingdom she doesn’t remember. Under the hardship of winter and a dark enemy against them, Mercia is on the verge of breaking. As things start to unravel, the Shadow King draws Norah down a path of twisted fate—and it could cost her everything.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So I happened to stumble upon these series because @tata.lifepages posted a reel about it. Wow, wow, wow! I was not ready for this book at all. This is the second time I’ve been incredibly surprised by a recommendation on bookstagram. The last one was when @triologyofromance shared about the book The Predator by Runyx. Now about this book, was it ever a page turner! I literally devoured it in one day and was reading it on my e-reader while  my family watched television.

You want enemy to lover? This got you!

This was the perfect enemy to lover book. It was kind of a slow burn for the first few hundred pages or so that I didn’t really know how it was going to ultimately go. I wasn’t sure who Norah would end up with, what would happen or if it was actually going to turn into romance in book 1. This is a series with at least 3 books (not sure if there will be any more as I am not reading up on the series until I’m done!). So you got lots of books to read through to see how the story progresses.

A loveable and hate-able enemy.

Ugh, the Shadow King! I sometimes wanted to smack him (thank you for helping me out Norah) and then was very much in love with him. He was a good character that I felt had a nice duality of being the firm bad guy to the lover that you started to fall in love with. I was certainly interested to see how Norah and his relationship would progress and until the last page you were guessing. Guess that’s why there’s a whole series because their relationship is certainly not a clean one!

A strong FMC!

You know me, I need a strong FMC. I don’t love when women are written as demure and gentle. I like when they have fire, will fight for themselves and will give other characters (especially men) a run for their money. Norah definitely did fit that bill. I enjoyed to see her relationship progress, her personality change and the internal struggle that she was having with the situation she was thrust into.

Parts of the story felt a little unfinished?

Maybe it’s because I have not finished the whole series yet but it did feel that there are parts of the story that were a little unfinished or maybe rushed. When Norah was attacked (no spoilers!) I felt that was just out of left field and wasn’t fully expecting it. I also felt the whole memory loss thing went from being a big part of the story to suddenly not being anymore but hauled back out at the very end. It was a little confusing but I don’t think it detracted from the story. I am sure the later books will begin to unravel it so as I complete them I will update this review accordingly.

Overall this was a highly enjoyable read. I just kept wanting to read it. It was a simple story but the characters drew you in, I did feel decently transported into that universe and certainly did enjoy the book. I read this as an ebook but depending on how the series goes, I may get myself a physical copy too! Definitely recommend.

I give this a solid 4/5 stars!

Happy Reading!

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting blockbuster novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

This is the next book being read for the book club I’m in and I’m not sure if I would have stumbled across this book without them. I absolutely devoured this book in about 2 days, and it only took that long because I was busy and I needed some time to digest what I was reading. This story was utterly unique in my opinion and was filled with some interesting lessons about what could be a very complicated subject, but ultimately boiled it down to something simple. While this book did address themes of suicide and death, I would say that it was so gentle and eloquently done no trigger warnings would be needed, however, if that is a theme you do not like do be aware of that.

A world between worlds – The Midnight Library!

The Midnight Library was essentially like purgatory in a way. A place between heaven and hell when you die that allows you to try other lives to possibly not die. The library is filled with an infinite number of books which represent all the lives out there across all the universes. Some of these lives are parallel and some are perpendicular. Someone who is crossing over could experience other lives and, if the universe deemed it so, would allow them to live in that life and carry on if they fit. If no life was chosen, the root life (or the life of the person dying who arrived in the library ) would cease to exist. This honestly was such a beautiful way to describe this kind of in-between.

A journey to find what is wanted in life, or what isn’t. Nothing is perfect.

This book followed Nora to travel through hundreds and thousands of different lives to find a meaning to live. In the beginning of the book (not a spoiler) she ultimately committed suicide because she felt completely and utterly alone. She felt that she was pretty much a waste of space because everything was going wrong in her life – or that is what she perceived. Arriving in the library, she got to try all these various lives based on what she thought would be the perfect life and make her happy. She was wealthy, she lived abroad, she had a career she wanted and every other permeation. And in almost all of them she wasn’t what she would describe as happy. In all those lives there was something that she didn’t like – a worse relationship with her brother, being with someone that she couldn’t stand or just the general life style. Nora seemed to be searching for this textbook perfect life.

When she did find one she did like – a life that was honestly very beautiful – she wanted to stay but couldn’t. The narrator librarian, Mrs. Elm, seemed to express that she couldn’t find one because she wanted to live in her own root life and the universe couldn’t let her take over another life when she wanted to live. She ultimately fell back into her root life and from all the lives she lived, took those experiences and was able to make something positive in her new one.

A story of healing and self-awareness.

The story really showed how insularly we sometimes view our lives and that every small thing that happens is because of us. Through this book, Nora got to see how potentially fortunate she was  and also become aware of some poor choices. She also was able to erase some of her regrets which seemed to weigh her down. As she was able to experience regrets in other lives she was able to see that she wasn’t missing out on anything. This removed a weight from her and allowed her to see the world in a new light.

Was just a little confused a few times.

The story itself is simple but there were moments that I was maybe slightly confused or felt maybe it was a little like…huh? The idea that a person can slide into another persons life felt a bit creepy to me to be honest. That you could juts slide into someone else’s consciousness and not only live through them for a bit but take over. That did feel like the root life was the most important life which kind of diminished the other lives in my opinion. I know this is super small but that just bothered me deep down. Just thinking about it from big picture but in a weird way, it also pulled at the idea mentioned in the beginning by Nora. Essentially that having a choice in life (depending on what you believe) can be an illusion. So this is a weird point to bring up. But I just kept feeling that as she’d slide into lives and take over the consciousness of someone else.

An absolutely beautiful story of challenges and gaining new perspectives.

This book was honestly beautiful! I absolutely loved it from the first page until the last one. It had so many good lessons, so many interesting things to share and just the idea of presenting it this way was creative. I felt Haig crafted a beautiful story that will stick with you and a beautiful library to journey through the story.

I will absolutely be reading this again over the years because it does feel like a story that you will take different things from it depending on where you are in your life. That is just the nature of this kind of story.

I give this a 5 out of 5 stars! An absolutely wonderful read and one I would recommend to others!

There’s some interesting other reviews on it like over at NPR and The New York Times.

Happy Reading!

 

Are Honest Book Reviews a Thing of the Past?

 in Books by

The internet has brought many amazing things but it has also brought many bad things. One of these is the online Bookstagram/Booktok community. Before you run off and be like “how dare she”, hear me out! This is my super, on fire, hot take.

 

Answer this question to yourself: How many books have you seen all over it, hyped up so much, and when you read it felt it was pretty bad of a book?

 

I honestly feel like I’ve read a few of these. Fourth Wing was one, Mexican Gothic was another. I felt like as a book they were okay but as hyped as they were they really didn’t meet the mark.

 

Now, I will recognize that these are my opinions! However, I will also note I’ve seen similar comments made on these books and others that I had these feelings about too. So I’m not alone in this.

So what is going on??

We all know on social media, there is a heard mentality. I mean that happens in life too. You see someone doing something, and then another, and suddenly you get FOMO and you have to read it. If everyone has loved something, you need to as well right? Society creates a bit of a fear from swimming against the current and saying “you know…this wasn’t that good.” Unfortunately this just then adds more to the hype and it keeps snowballing!

 

Before you know it a book has taken over social media and EVERYONE absolutely loved it.

 

There’s also a fear of leaving a bad review. Social media, modern day and everything else has told us we are all perfect. We can do no wrong. But sometimes…a book is just really bad. The writing may be atrocious, the story may go nowhere, it may have just been a waste of your time. I am all for supporting authors and indie authors, but if a book is bad be honest. There’s a way to provide negative feedback in a positive way without saying “you’re a terrible author, don’t write again”. But giving a book 5 stars when it really only deserved 3, or less, is a disservice to the author and to other readers.

 

There’s an oversaturation of books on the market with the ability to public ebooks and self publish now. And I’ll say it loudly – there are a lot of terrible books out there. Just because you can publish and have the ability to string a sentence together does not always mean you should.

 

There’s a difference between writing for yourself to be creative and writing to publish and make serious money. 

 

 

Heck, I love writing stories and have so many being written. Would I ever publish them to make money? Not in a million years because I am not a writer and I know it wouldn’t do well.

 

Additionally, there is a bit of a fear about giving a bad review when you’re asked to review a book.  Support those authors, read their ARCs, give them the support they need. But be honest. I know it can be awkward because the author asked you read their review (in ARC cases) but honesty is the best policy. This is why I’d never take money to review a book because then you have this weird want to not speak negatively.

 

This leads to the next point – paid reviews can result in questionable reviews. I never trust a paid review for anything. A reviewer can say it is their personal opinion, however there was money involved which will of course have subconsciously altered their thoughts. They may not even know it. You also may have a fear about being honest in reviews since there was a financial transaction. I don’t count reviewing a book for free as financial benefits. I’m talking where they send the book and pay to have the book reviewed. That’s a big no no to me.

 

Finally, I no longer trust a book blindly that states that it was on the NY Times Best Seller List. With all the information above, the payment of promotions for books to get people to buy them and lots of other factors, a book on that list doesn’t necessarily mean it is an amazing book. It just means that it sold a lot of copies – which is not an indicator of how good a book is!

 

Ultimately, I have started a policy of no longer jumping on the bandwagon and reading a book when I see it all over Bookstagram, Book Twitter or any other place. Reviews will always influence our decision to read a book and that is not going to change. What can change is peoples honesty in reviewing the books to not waste time. I have wasted so much time on bad books because of questionable reviews. If I read a bad book by my choice that’s my decision. If I read it because it had a 4.8 average because of “false” reviews, that’s when I become a little annoyed.

via GIPHY

I absolutely recognize that this is not easy to change but I do feel that something needs to change. I’m personally a little bored of reading books that weren’t worth it because they took over for some strange reason. Will it change? Who knows but we can hope.

 

This is certainly one of my pet peeves and hot take opinions.

 

What are your thoughts on this? I’d love to hear some other view points in the comments!

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros [Book Review]

 in Book Reviews / Books by

Summary

“Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Yarros

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away…because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.

She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.

Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom’s protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.

Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die.”

-From Amazon.com

Review

So this review is honestly going to be a bit of a hot take. I’ll be up front and say that I really didn’t enjoy this book. With all the hype around it and then all the positive things I had seen about it, I had high expectations. I even got this for myself as a birthday gift and honestly….I regret it. Please keep in mind these are my personal opinions.

 

More than half the book didn’t really go anywhere.

Honestly I felt like a lot of the book didn’t really go anywhere. It was just about Violet training and having this weird verbal sparring match with Xaden and this odd sexual tension that was constantly a will they/won’t they feeling. I was waiting for something to actually happen and then that was thrown at you at the very end like…what? I mean I don’t mind books set in academies or something, but I just felt this kept rehashing the same thing over and over again in the book.

I felt the story could have progressed at a much faster pace and cut down on some of the pages. There was plenty in this book, in my opinion, that I felt did not add to the story at all. It was just there to read.

 

Um…dragons….where you at?

Considering the academy had dragons, I didn’t really feel you got to connect with the dragons. They are a big part of the academy where Violet was and I just didn’t feel that they were a major part of the story. I didn’t get to really imagine the dragons or connect with them. A lot of the dragon interactions, for the most part, was through their mental communications so you kind of had this weird disconnect so I wasn’t able to imagine them or really realize they were dragons. Kind of a let down as I love dragons.

via GIPHY

What spice are you even talking about?

Now I know that this is technically a YA book so spice can only be so much (although that is a whole other conversation right there), I felt all the spice in this book was pretty lame. Admittedly I have read a lot of spice books so this didn’t feel like spice. For a new spice reader, this would have possibly been a decent bit. But for what people were saying with “Oh Xaden *bats eye lashes*” I honestly didn’t see it. Xaden annoyed the heck out of me for the most part and he wouldn’t really be ranked in like my top 50 of bookish boyfriends. I’d give this like a 2/5 on the spice scale.

 

Violet – weakling or dragoness in disguise??

If you’ve been here for a hot second you know I love a strong MC, especially when they’re a female. But Violet just wasn’t it. Sure she progressed from this little weak girl but I just felt there was a lot of babying her and even through her little journey to find herself she didn’t come as far as I would have though. I just didn’t connect with her at all, her character progression was a little lacking and I just felt that with the story and the world, what she became just wasn’t it. Admittedly she is against Xaden who is this arrogant thing with a pretty large ego, but I just still wasn’t feeling it.

 

A little inconsistent and some holes in the story.

I did feel the story was missing things. Like things touches on and missed, things suddenly happening with little explanation, bits of the story being very rushed. It felt some areas that didn’t need as much got more focus than others that needed more attention given.

 

However, ultimately, an enjoyable single read.

With all that criticism above, it is still worth a peek if you have time maybe. This is the kind of the book that I would say is a book to put on the back burner and maybe read when you are in a reading slump or don’t have anything else. I doubt I will be reading it again which kind of says a lot to me. I regret buying it but I don’t fully regret reading it. It had so much potential with the story and the idea and that is why I was interested. But I just felt, sadly, it underdelivered with all the hype.

 

I’d give this a 2.75/5 star rating.

What are your thoughts on this book? Do you agree? Do you feel that it was slightly overhyped?

Happy Reading!

Eclipse of the Eternal: The Odyssey of Valerian Kross by Joseph Farr [Book Review]

 in Adult / Books / Fiction by

This book was requested by the author to be reviewed. I did not receive any financial compensation for this review. All thoughts in this review are my own.

Summary

“In a world where the lines between right and wrong are blurred by war, Valerian’s journey is not just one of physical battles but also an internal struggle with faith, duty, and morality. The novel masterfully combines historical accuracy with a rich, imaginative narrative, bringing to life the brutal realities of medieval warfare and the complexities of human nature.

Joseph Farr’s skillful storytelling immerses readers in a vividly depicted era, making “Eclipse of the Eternal” a must-read for fans of historical fiction and dark fantasy. The book is a testament to the timeless themes of courage, honor, and the enduring human spirit.”

–Amazon.com

Review

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a review at the request of a newer author but when I saw dark romance, I was pretty excited! The summary had me incredibly intrigued and some of the reviews on Amazon gave me even more curiosity. I’m definitely glad that I found the time to give this a read.

First, I absolutely devoured this book! It was like 520 pages (PDF/Kindle edition) and it felt a little daunting when you think a lot of romance books are 200-300 pages. I was like, “What the heck is going to happen for that many pages?” Well, a lot!

Additionally, this was a FFM book for the most part and while I usually can’t stand those kinds, this one worked because it was vampires and the kind of dynamic going on so if that’s not your thing, don’t let that immediately turn you off!

A slow start into a page turner!

So with how the book started, I’m not going to lie I was worried it was going to a really slow book. It really was setting the scene with Valerian, who he was and what made him into who he was. I want to clarify by what I mean slow here. When you think a romance book, they really do move and get through the story because the purpose is…well…the smut. This book to me felt more like dark fantasy with some dark erotic romance mixed in so the slow start absolutely worked because the story was a lot more than just smut.

Think a little bit Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter books where there is absolutely that good stuff, but there is such a deep story that some massive chunks have nothing but story progression. This is kind of what was going on here! I just had to recalibrate my mind after a few of my reads recently.

A story of fighting your true nature to be something more.

Because of the set up with who Valerian was, the rest of the story once he turned into a made sense. The story really followed him through his beginning years in the vampire world. It wasn’t like other vampire books I’ve read as it seems the rules of existence and changing into a vampire were different, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Because of what Valerian was as a human, with all the honor, he didn’t like what he had become and wanted to find another way. The book  followed him through lust, death, betrayal, anger and a personal journey. I truly enjoyed reading his journey and how intricate it was and it constantly kept you guessing! It was a different kind of take on a vampire story.

The smut was good!

So, I want to also directly call this out because I know when people hear erotic romance and a male author they are like 👀. I mean I absolutely get it based on some of the books I’ve read, but I’ve also read so many male authors who have done an amazing job too. But I do feel some posts on Instagram and such have perpetuated a bit of a negative stereotype. But I will say I was very impressed and Joseph did an incredible job. All that stuff really did feel hypnotic and highly sensual. I felt that Joseph was able to accurately portray those kind of relations for vampires – sensual, violent, intense!

He was eloquent in his words, how he described things and generally the progression of scenes so I’d give them a solid 4 out of 5 star and a good 3 out of 5 on the spice level! Only giving it a 3 and not a 4 because the story was so much more than that. The spices scenes were a good 4 out of 5, but since there was a lot more to the book, overall the book spice was 3/5. But gotdaymnnnn – that nun scene. I was NOT ready! I’d say this was absolutely dark romance – vampire does adult stuff with a person and person ends up dead. But compared to some other books out there, this was fairly tame by far as a lot of those scenes were pretty “tame”.

The writing was eloquent & unexpected.

Joseph’s writing was quite unexpected. He used very eloquent words that was reminiscent of some more classic literature I felt and he creatively described and set the scenes.  He really tried to capture the time period that the book was set, around the 1200’s, through the journal entries of Valerian at the end of chapters, kind of summing up what happened in the characters own POV. Additionally, he also was able to quite decently make you feel like you transported to the wars during this time period and help you connect with Valerian, understand him and then better connect with his journey.

Additionally, the dynamics that he created between the three main characters kept you guessing. You were really unsure until towards the end who was going to do what, and what could happen.

Overall a very enjoyable vampire romance that transports you to the past.

I thoroughly enjoyed Eclipse of the Eternal. Once I got over the initial concern that it was going to be a slow read, and once Valerian changed, the book was a page turner. I was curious what was going to happen, what his journey was going to be, and what the two females in his sphere who were constantly going back and forth through jealously and vying for his attention would do next! Joseph very creatively set the scene and it was a unique story telling the transition of a vampire who had a moral compass like a true arrow.

I give this a solid 4/5 stars and if you’re looking for a slightly different read, this is worth your time!

 

About the Author

Joseph Farr, renowned as a virtuoso in Dark Fantasy and Historical Fiction, has enthralled audiences with his groundbreaking debut, “Eclipse of the Eternal.” This success was further amplified in his “Ebon Blade Saga,” a quartet of fantasy novels set in the richly conceived World of Mythas.

Originating from a quaint town in West Virginia, Joseph’s formative years in the 1970s and 80s were deeply immersed in the legendary tales of King Arthur, the galactic odyssey of Star Wars, and the transformative theories of Joseph Campbell. These eclectic inspirations kindled a fire in his imagination, propelling him toward the fantastical realms of popular role-playing games and the art of weaving stories.

Joseph’s academic endeavors in history, theology, psychology, comparative mythology, and sociology have profoundly shaped his literary craft. His adept fusion of these varied disciplines enables him to forge narratives that are not only richly imaginative and engaging but also resonate with the complexities of the human spirit. His works are a testament to his skill in interlacing the strands of historical lore and fantastical elements, creating enthralling worlds where history and fantasy intermingle seamlessly.

Presently settled in the peaceful countryside of West Virginia, Joseph pursues his literary aspirations alongside his daughter and their devoted dog, Deogee. He delves into the more
obscure facets of fantasy and historical fiction in this idyllic haven. His creations transcend mere storytelling; they are profound explorations of the human psyche, venturing into the intricate layers of psychology and the elusive shadows lurking within the human soul. Joseph Farr is more than a raconteur; he is a masterful architect of imaginary worlds, crafting tales that captivate, challenge, and stimulate introspection, etching an indelible mark on the consciousness of his readers.