REVIEWS OF THE WEEK!

Books I’ve read so far in 2022!

Friend me on Goodreads here to follow my more up to date reading journey for the year!

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217. Blood Like Fate by Liselle Sambury–⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I received a copy from the publisher. This did not affect my rating in any way.

I was curious about how this book would go because I will admit that I was a little overwhelmed by the first book. I just remember thinking that there was a lot going on and that the story could use a little trimming.

BUT.

Although it took me a little bit to get into this one because it had been a while since I’d read the first book, I grew to really appreciate where Sambury took this book. There were some instances where I wanted to punch some characters in the face because that good old empathy for the MC was coming in hot, but I, like her, grew to understand the MC’s personal growth and how she was viewed by the other characters affected by her actions and decisions.

I think that this is a really good portrayal of what it might look like when someone so young is given so much unwanted responsibility. Also, how it looks when that wariness for said responsibility is constantly being reinforced by the adults around the young person. Instead of offering support, judgment was the MC’s keeper. Although, in retrospect, she DID make some very bad choices in book one and this book was essentially a “you reap what you sow” type of situation.

There were also some really sad twists in this that took me by surprise and genuinely had me with my jaw dropping.

This was a great conclusion to this duology because we DID get some conclusions to the multiple storylines introduced to the first book. I did think the climax of the story was a little too soft and there were definitely things that could have been trimmed down, but to be honest, for a debut? This was pretty impressive and a big story to write.

I’d recommend this duology to anyone who loves a fantasy set in Toronto, and for anyone who likes seeing some serious character growth!

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218. A Proposal They Can’t Refuse by Natalie Caña–⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

This popped up on my radar earlier this year and I was immediately intrigued, especially because it is Latine rep! Plus, enemies to lovers childhood friends? Yes, please. AND fake relationships?! Extra yes, please!!

I listened to this one during an overnight I had to do for work and it went by incredibly quickly. It was interesting and pulled me in right from the beginning, although I could see where it was going from the moment a hint of the final climactic situation popped up.

While I loved the rep in this and the Spanish (so glad the voice narrator did justice to the Spanish accents), I was immediately reminded of this post I saw once where you could tell the difference between a book written with the white reader’s gaze in mind and not necessarily with the Latine reader’s gaze. This book explained every single instance where Spanish or Spanish food was introduced. I’m talking a translating sentence for every Spanish one spoken. I absolutely disliked that because it felt so…redundant for me and I can only imagine that it might also feel redundant for others who speak Spanish. I get why it’s done, but also…let people translate sentences themselves because doing so every time is jarring and immediately pulled me out of the story.

Anyway, 3.5 for the story and angst and enemies to lovers, but not higher because the translating and white-explaining of everything was annoying.

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219. Because of Low by Abbi Glines–⭐️⭐️

RE-READ August 2022

This book was so cringe. I updated my rating.

This had the whole “Innocent girl is sexy” thing and it kind of creeped me out tbh. Especially when the female MC asked the love interest what he was doing and he said that he was watching her sleep and she said something along the lines of, “He was always so sweet to me.” I just remember stopping and laughing because wtf.

Anyway, yeah, this was no bueno and just eh. So much worse than the first book tbh. But I also get that this was a regular theme and trope in the early 2010s when it came to new adult romance–where the beautiful, white (usually blonde or redhead) was put on a pedestal because she’s this symbol of beautiful purity that didn’t know she was beautiful until the hot (usually rich) white dude came in and saved her. Which, in retrospect is a trope in another book of Glines’ that I love but you know, I am willing to turn a blind eye sometimes when the book drama is too yummy to look away from.

But this was dull and just, *shrug*.

Anyway, yay. Throwback. LOL. Also, I read this for the first time NINE years ago. Wow, my mentality has hella changed, which begs the question: How will readers the same age as I was the year I read this think of their current obsessions with romances involving borderline psychotic or stalkerish love interests?

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220. Hot for Teacher by Whitley Cox–⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this on vacation so I will just do a bullet point type of review based on my notes:

1. Loved the mother/daughter relationship
2. Loved that they both respected the mother/daughter relationship (the female MC and the love interest)
3. Loved the anticipation of the spice and the drama.
4. Didn’t love how wishy-washy the female MC was, even though I understand her situation.
5. The perfect start to a series that I now really want to continue!

I’d recommend this for anyone who wants a 3.5/5 spice level romance between a widowed young mother and a nerdy but surprisingly sexy teacher who was once the female MC’s very young teacher in high school. Also, if you love dual perspective narratives!

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221. The Sweetest Oblivion by Danielle Lori–⭐️⭐️⭐️

I get the appeal of this but…it wasn’t my favourite. I read this on vacation, so I will do a bullet form type of review from my notes:

1. Mob romances are always intriguing to me because the romance is a different but enticing level of dark. The kind you would never want for yourself, but you find spicy because of the separation of fiction and real life.
2. The male MC had a great character arc. I think he changed and grew a lot more than the female MC.
3. The female MC was a bit stagnant–she was the classic “great and innocent beauty…or is she?” trope. And I am still on the fence how I feel about that trope. Sometimes I love it, but usually I find it annoying.
4. This had a miscommunication trope as the main conflict and I hated that so much.
5. This book felt like it would never end. It felt so LONG and sorry, but also kind of boring.
6. This was a lot more of a slowburn than I thought it would be–which I normally love, but I found it boring in this instance.
7. There WAS some good spice in this, but not as much as I was expecting.

I don’t think I’m going to be reading the next book. I don’t know if this author is for me.

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222. Blind Side by Kandi Steiner–⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this on vacation, so here is a simple review:

1. Loved the fake dating trope.
2. The spice was incredible.
3. Love that the female MC was a romance lover because the tropes were met with the irony (like the moment where a guy mentioned that she was “not like other girls” and she cringed because she hated that trope.)
4. Ran a little long in some instances, but then we didn’t get to see some scenes that I would have loved to see. Main reason for the lost star in the rating is because we were told of these scenes rather than shown them.
5. Not my favourite sports romance, but it was overall enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it. Especially if you love fake dating, friends to lovers, and very very spicy moments.

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Have you read any of these? Would you recommend them?

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Happy reading!

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Confessions of a Book Addict

silvaris:

Duchess Anna Amalia Library I by Dirk Seifert

(via booklover)

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Confessions of a Book Addict