ashleynoelle's reviews
765 reviews

“We hunt the flame, the light in the darkness, the good this world deserves.”

Zafira has spent her time disguising herself as a man and hunting to feed her people in the Arz which is a magical forest that most cannot escape once they enter. If she were to be exposed as a woman, her people would dismiss her accomplishments. Nasir is the Prince of Death, the assassin for the Sultan who also happens to be his father. War is approaching and the Arz is expanding each day, so in an effort to help their people survive it all they are sent on a mission to retrieve a magical artifact, but there is more darkness brewing than they could have anticipated. 

I know I am giving this a 2.5 but this book was so highly recommended to me that I can't help but feel like this is also one of my biggest disappointments of the year. I adored Altair and got a little sad about Deen...but otherwise I felt a whole lot of nothing for anyone else. The only reason this isn't getting a lower star rating is because I'm half interested in the world and curious about how they are going to save it all in book two, however I just didn't care about the main characters at all. Nor did I feel anything for the reveals and twists at the end. I will probably read book two just to find out how it all shakes out, but it's not going to be a priority for me to get to it

“He leans down to press our foreheads together, and then his voice sounds in my head. I have been waiting for you forever, little Bonded.”

Oli is back in the hands of her worst nightmare but this time she's not alone and she knows the people who care about her are coming for her. With everything she has learned, she is starting to wonder who her friends truly are and whether her bonds are stronger than the blood that binds them in a different way. As her power grows, she starts to learn that she just might be the monster they tried to make her, but they won't be controlling that monster. 

I'm still so freaking addicted and entertained. The writing is still mediocre but at this point I just don't care. There is some repetitiveness to the plot but we are also getting more backstory and character development which is holding my attention easily! The cliffhanger endings would be super rough if I didn't have all of these books downloaded and ready to be binged immediately!

“We crossed that bridge tonight, and there's no going back. You and me, we're endgame.”

Eurydice is ready to take back control of her life after the trauma she endured at the hands of her ex Orpheus. She's tired of being viewed as the victim in her family and is ready to move forward. Charon has always been Hades' right hand man and his loyalty has always been to the lower city but thinks it's time to take something for himself for once and he has his eyes set on the youngest of Demeter's daughters. Can he break through her barriers and heartache for her to want him back? Orpheus was traumatized himself the night he broke Eurydice's heart and will do anything to win her back, even if that means he has to share her with the one who put her back together. 

This was one of my least favorites in this series. I'm not sure entirely what it was about this one, but I just couldn't manage to feel any connection to the characters. It's still solid for the overall series plot and I enjoyed seeing the story progress. I have a really hard time with the "second chance" trope in general and this was a huge hang up for me in this one. I can't even fathom why anyone would consider a second chance after what he did which I think deterred my connection to the characters. 

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.*

“You shouldn’t ask the girl blessed by Death whom she’ll die for. You should ask her whom she’ll kill for.”

Ruying is living in a conquered world with death magic running through her veins. The invaders descended from the sky long before she was born and overtook the magic of her world with the science of theirs. She will do literally anything to keep her family safe, even if that means becoming the private assassin for the invading prince. In exchange for her gifts the prince offers to make sure her family is protected and vows that every death he orders will be for the betterment of the world. 

This was okay, and I can understand what Ruying was doing and how she thought it was the right move, but I also think she was infuriating and didn't think things through. She spent her time just accepting her situation and never thought to do her own research and figure out anything for herself. She just assumed whatever she was told was true and that is a frustrating character flaw to spend 370 pages dealing with. I also did not see any appeal in Antony at all. With that said, the plot and world was interesting enough to make me entertain the idea of reading the next one to see where it all leads. 

“We we're made from the same dying star, put on this earth to search one another out and bind ourselves together for all eternity.”

Oli's gift has come out of hiding and she has gone from being ridiculed for being powerless, to being feared and slandered for being a monster. Her bonds are fighting harder to keep her while she is still fighting to keep them at a distance. They should understand better now, why she doesn't want to become more powerful. The fear that her power will control her instead of the other way around is strong. The resistance is getting closer and it is becoming clearer that Oli doesn't know who she can trust. 

I can already tell this series is going to be an addiction. I absolutely can't stop reading it. It has it's issues for sure, but I'm loving the world, magic system and the conflicts are even entertaining. I have been shocked by some of the twists, which doesn't happen often for me anymore. After reading as many books as I have, it starts to get really difficult to surprise me. Hard to keep this review spoiler free, but just know that this is better than the first one and I am anticipating that it will just keep getting better as the series plays out. 

“We’re all a little broken, Briana. We are a mosaic. We’re made up of all those we’ve met and all the things we’ve been through. There are parts of us that are colorful and dark and jagged and beautiful. And I love every piece of you. Even the ones you wish didn’t exist.”

Briana is struggling, she's about to finalize her messy divorce, her brother is in kidney failure and desperately awaiting a transplant, and the promotion she thought was a guarantee looks to be going to Jacob who is a massive pain. Just when she is really starting to feel the workplace rivalry, Jacob sends her a letter...and it's a good one. She can't help but respond in kind and the beginnings of a friendship start to bloom. When Jacob decides to give her the best gift ever, a kidney for her brother, she starts to wonder how she will ever resist him. 

This was not only an adorable romcom but also had some really cool mental health representation in it. It's so easy to make snap judgements about people without really knowing what makes their behavior tick and this storyline did a really good job of portraying that there is usually more going on in a person's head than what is portrayed. I personally had a hard time with the conflict near the end and the way it was handled, but I also think it was written in a way that I understand the reasoning for the behavior. Overall, this was a good romance. 

“The high road is definitely not for me and walking it just might kill me.”

Olli does the unthinkable and runs from her bonded. The men who are destined to complete her soul don't understand the act and are determined to get her back. After years on the run from them, they finally catch up to her and they are all attempting to figure out how to deal with the feelings of betrayal and confusion, while Olli is just trying to figure out how to get away again, but she's doing it for their own good. Having her will only bring them misery. 

Guilty pleasure incoming! I will be frank, this is by no means a literary masterpiece, but dang if it isn't entertaining and straight up addicting! I couldn't put this down, even when the main character was annoying me and the other characters were being stupid, I had to know what happened next! Contrary to what my stats look like as to when I started this book, I actually read it in a night and immediately started on the next one, because I couldn't help myself. 

3.5/5 rounded down!

“You’re a walking contradiction, Hayden. Prim and proper one moment, wild and uninhibited the next. And the more I get to know you, the more I like what I find.”

Hayden has spent her entire life being dragged to Hockey Arenas, first as the daughter of a coach, and then as the daughter of a team owner. She quickly decided that was not the life for her, she wants stability when it comes to a relationship, which is why the one night stand she meets in a bar is only going to be for one night, no feelings to make things messy. Brody, however, disagrees. There is an intense chemistry between them that he just can't ignore and while he might be exactly what she is trying to avoid, being a pro hockey player on her dad's team, he's going to try to convince her to give him a shot at more. 

This was still a cute and fun romcom style hockey romance that Elle Kennedy has become known for and I did enjoy it. But, it's hard to give this a higher rating when she has so many other books that are far superior and so many other couples that just outshine these two. This is one that came way before Briar in her writing career as well, which you can tell upon reading, it is not her best work, but I still get enjoyment from the story she wove and getting to see how much she has grown as an author!

“But it was a screaming reminder that eventually, the whole thing really was going to go down in flames. It was only a matter of time, but instead of focusing on the downfall, I was concentrating on enjoying the ride.”

Olivia has always been the family screw up, always been the chaos that upsets the calm. So when she gets a text from a wrong number she can't help herself but respond and see where the conversation goes. Colin is annoyed when his best friend's annoying little sister moves in with them temporarily while she gets back on her feet. He likes things orderly and she is a tornado, which makes it easy for him to avoid the attraction he also feels for her. That is until he realizes that she is the anonymous number he has been flirting with after he mistakenly texted her. No he has to decide if he's going to make a move or quit the flirty banter before things get messy. 

This was a cute romcom and I enjoyed Olivia's chaos immensely! She would stress me out to no end in real life but she was a fun character to read about. While I did enjoy this for the most part, I didn't care for the conflict that was the "third act break-up" it just didn't feel valid. I read the second book in this "series" first and I think I enjoyed it more, so it could also be a progression in the authors skill as well. This one was cute though!

*Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions remain my own.*

“All books are magic. An object that can take you to another world without even leaving your room? A story written by a stranger and yet it seems they wrote it just for you or to you? Loving and hating people made out of ink and paper, not flesh and blood? Yes, books are magic. Maybe even the strongest magic there is.”

Rafe and Jeremy went missing when they were young only to show up six months later with no answers for the authorities or their families about how they survived the West Virginian forest. Years later Rafe is living alone with no memory of what happened during that time and Jeremy has become famous for his uncanny ability to find missing people, which is why Emilie knows he's the one who can help her find her sister. Jeremy remembers every magical moment of his time missing in a magical and dangerous realm, and believes that is where Emilie's sister will be found, but in order to get back there he will need Rafe's help. 

This was cute and whimsical and like her last book Shaffer brought the magic to life on the page. I absolutely love the idea of a child's story coming to life in a way to protect from a bad situation and adored the friendships that were so very real feeling in this story. There is no doubt when reading this book that the worlds and the magic are real because it draws you in so deeply you can't help but believe that there is a bit of magic out there waiting to be found.