bellebookcorner's reviews
1233 reviews

Januaries: Stories of Love, Magic & Betrayal by Olivie Blake

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Januaries has 12 different stories inside divided by four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

I don’t know how to review this book, I have mixed feelings for each story.
I find some of the stories quite interesting
Some are too short that I wished they are developed into a full length novel instead
Some are very thought-provoking
But some are also confusing and too long….

Out of 12 stories, there are only a few that I like such as The Wished Bridge, The Animation Games, To Make a Man, Chaos Theory, The Audit

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: Death, violence, sexual content, grief, mental illness

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

Content Warnings

Storm of Ink and Blood by Nisha J. Tuli

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adventurous emotional 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? Yes

4.0

Storm of Ink and Blood continue right after the ending of the previous book, Rabin’s betrayal toward Zarya drove her and Yasen to her mother's kingdom and find themselves joining a secret rebellion.

Not as action-packed as the previous book, but there’s a lot of things going on as the story delves more into the political state of the kingdom and focuses more on Zarya herself which comes with a new set characters and a new place to explore.

Zarya has to explore more about her forbidden magic and how to control it. We also get to see her thoughts about the prophecy that's meant to be about her while nursing her broken heart from Rabin’s betrayal…

Despite all that hardship, I'm so glad to know she has Yasen – the perfect supportive best friend anyone can ask for to be with her.

As for the romance, I love watching Rabin grovel his way through Zarya’s heart to earn her trust again. I adore the spark between them – the intense, complicated, burning connection between them is just perfect!

Overall, this is a well-written story with epic world building and wonderful characters.

The storyline is a bit complicated but it's still enjoyable to read.

I’m excited to know what happens next after that ending, I’m very curious to know what role Zarya’s father will play in the next book…..

I received an advanced review copy for free from the author, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

Wished by Sarah Ready

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious 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

The fourth book in Ghosted series, Wished comes with another mysterious and magical love story!

I was really excited to see how Max would get his happy ending after reading the previous book, Fated.

I really like the storyline, it was very interesting when Anna’s wish came true and it wasn’t what she expected. I really enjoy the time Anna spend with Max in Paris, the atmosphere of the city of love is perfect for both of them.

While I like most part of this story, I wasn’t a huge fan of how quickly Max change his attitude towards Anna after being such an annoying and mean person, he’s changed into this thoughtful and charming self….

Nevertheless, it was a very entertaining read. I really enjoy reading about Max and Anna love story! It seems to be the last book in the series, but who knows if there’ll be new characters in the next book so I'll keep an eye out for it.

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

Content Warnings

The Restaurant of Lost Recipes by Hisashi Kashiwai

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

“Food is never just about flavour.
It’s something we feel – and in different ways, depending on where we are in life.”

I didn’t know this was a sequel when I read it, but I can read this just fine even though there are some information I think I should’ve known before if I read the first book.
So I would definitely recommend reading the 1st book.

Set in Kyoto, there’s a small restaurant owned by father and daughter who offer a service as ‘food detectives’.
I absolutely love the food detectives idea and the fact that food is never just something you need to live. Food can bring back lost memories and even give us closures which is what the father and daughter do for their customers who seeks their service.

While a few parts gets slightly repetitive after a while, I still thoroughly enjoy getting to know the hidden reasons behind each dishes the customer requests and how the chef will begin investigating to re-create the exact taste.

Overall, it’s a very heart-warming story and would be one of my comfort read!
I would advise to never read this book in the middle of the night cause you’ll be craving all these foods as soon as you do!
I’m really looking forward to read the next book in this series!

I received an advanced review copy for free through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Huge thank you to the author and publisher!

Content Warnings

The Useless Witch by Savannah Lee

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.0

If you’re looking for a quick and simple fantasy romance with Found Family, ‘Who did this to you’, ‘Touch her and you die’ tropes then I think you’ll like this one.

Although, the book has some parts that might be sensitive to some readers cause it can be quite graphic so please read the trigger warning below.

What I like the most out of this story is the main character, Saoirse. She’s surprisingly relatable, she’s strong in a different way. I really enjoy following her journey of finding herself.

I feel so bad for her and I feel so satisfied to know how she stands up for herself at the end, it was a beautiful and powerful scene right there.

I love getting to know the world building as the story goes, learning different type of powers for each kingdoms as well as learning the history of the gods and goddess.

I’m hoping we'll see a lot more in the next book.

Overall, it’s a very enjoyable read. I was hooked right from the beginning, the short chapters, lovely characters and easy to read writing style made me kept flipping the pages until I didn’t realize I was already halfway through.

I’m really looking forward to see what happens next after that particularly interesting cliff-hanger at the end!

Thank you to Book of Matches Media and the author for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

A Tribute of Fire by Sariah Wilson

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful 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? No

4.5

I would recommend this book to fantasy romance who love badass FMC, found family, epic world building and comes with a swoony romance!

This storyline is very well-written, I was hooked right from the beginning of the story.

The plot flows smoothly as it introduced the characters and the world building, I really enjoy following Lia’s journey in saving her homeland.

I admire Lia’s character, she’s very determined, caring and fierce as well.

I love seeing the friendship that Lia form with the sisters she found at the temple, despite knowing them in such a short time they already feel like family and always has each other’s back.

As for the romance, there’s a little bit of insta-love/ attraction between Lia and the love interest, Jason. I wasn’t a huge fan of it at first, but their relationship is slightly different than I expected and I find myself rooting for them nonetheless.

I’m hoping there will be more explanation regarding their connection to one another in the next book.

Overall, this is a lovely and enjoyable read with shocking twists and ended with a HUGE CLIFF-HANGER so be prepared for that!

I will definitely keep an eye out for the sequel as soon as it comes out!

I received an advanced review copy for free from the author, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

A Curse of Shadows by Heather Renee

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

If you’re looking for a simple and spicy fantasy romance about found family, fated mates, alpha males who will only look at the FMC, wolf shifter and reincarnation then this one might be for you!

This story is told from dual POV, our main characters - Asher and Isla. The writing style is easy to read and the plot has a beauty and the beast vibes at the beginning.
I really like the world building with the portal between Lunara and Earth as well as the four different kingdoms. I wish there’s more explanation regarding how the magic of the portal works.

While the pacing is a bit slow, but I really find the mystery of the curse and reincarnation very intriguing. It kept me interested from the beginning until the big reveal.

As for the romance, at the beginning Asher and Isla didn’t exactly get along which I kinda wish last a little longer, I would love to see more bantering between them before eventually getting to know each other again.
The spicy parts are well written and not too much as it doesn’t take over the main plot.

Overall, this is an enjoyable read – it’s simple and not too complicated with unique world building and lovely characters.
I’m looking forward to read the next book about King Theo and Estee!

Thank you to Book of Matches Media and the author for giving me an e-ARC of the book and for having me on this book tour. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

Nothing Ever Happens Here: A Thriller by Seraphina Nova Glass

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This is my first book by this author so I’m quite excited to start reading this after hearing good things about the author’s previous books.

Told from multiple POVs of Shelby, Mack and Florence – we get to see different side of how the investigation unfold. So many characters means a lot of suspects as well.

I admit it was hard to guess the culprit so I was totally surprised when I read the big reveal.

It took me a while to get hooked into the story cause there’s a lot of characters that I need to keep track of which sometimes confuse me cause I can't remember them fast enough.

But, after I finally remember the key players it was easy to enjoy the flow of the story.

The last few chapters are quite intense and it also where the last unexpected twist takes place. I was really surprised with how this book ends, I didn’t see it coming at all.

Overall, it's a very good cozy small town mystery.

This book won’t be the last time I read by this author, I’m looking forward to read more books by this author in the future.

⚠️ 𝐓𝐖: stalking, kidnapping, death, murder,

Thank you to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse, Netgalley, author and publisher for giving me an e-ARC of the book. I’m leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

Blood of the Sands by

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“You don’t need to be fixed. You just need to be loved.”

If you’re looking for fantasy romance with epic world building, morally grey character and spicy slow burn romance then grab this book asap!

The storyline is very interesting, I really like the dessert which portrayed as a living magical being along with a unique magic that our main characters has.

The first few chapters is a little bit slow as the author wanted to introduced the characters and the world building but I was intrigued by the background story of Kelvadan city and the truth of the Dessert itself..

I admire Keera, the FMC – she’s grown so much throughout this book from an exile to a fierce warrior participating in a deadly tournament.

I also enjoy the slow burn romance between her and Erix, I really like the second part of the story where they started to open up to each other and Keera started to realize Erix is not as evil as she thought he'd be.

The last few chapters were quite intense and action-packed, I can’t wait to see what happens next after that cliff-hanger!

Overall, this is a very enjoyable, entertaining and fun romantasy!

Loveable characters and great writing style makes this book quite hard to put down.

I’m really looking forward to read the sequel once it came out!

I received an advanced review copy for free from the author, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

Silver and Bone by Claudia Cain

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“You’re not damned when you become a vampire.
You’re not damned by what you are.
It’s what you do that determines, whether you’re damned or not, if Hell even exist."

I’ve never read a paranormal detective story so this one really intrigue me right from the premise!

The storyline is pretty unique where our FMC – Jennifer Jones is a vampire detective who works to solve supernatural cases.

I really enjoy my time getting to know Jennifer Jones throughout the story along with following the investigation of a serial killer. There’s no info dumping and I can follow the plot easily, although there are quite a lot of characters to keep track of, not to mention there’s two different timelines as well.

The last few chapters are quite intense and I was slightly heart-broken by the ending, but I’m curious to see what happens next, what kind of cases will Jennifer and her friends solve next time….

Overall, for a debut novel this was pretty good and enjoyable.

It’s a good start for a series and has the potential to be one of my favorite series, but we’ll see..

I’m looking forward to read the sequel of this trilogy soon!

I received an advanced review copy for free from the author, and I am leaving this review voluntarily!

Content Warnings

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bellebookcorner's reviews 1233 reviews

bellebookcorner's reviews
1233 reviews