bellebookcorner's reviews
1251 reviews

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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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! 
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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!
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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!
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Rumus Kebenaran Musim Panas - A Midsummer's Equation (Manatsu no Hoteishiki) by Keigo Higashino

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challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A Midsummer Equation (Rumus Kebenaran Musim Panas) adalah salah satu buku dari serial Detektif Galileo. 
Salah satu karakter utama cerita ini adalah Prof. Yukawa, seorang ilmuwan fisika yang muncul di buku Kesetiaan Mr.X! 
 
Prof Yukawa lagi-lagi dihadapkan dengan kasus yang menarik dan kali ini setting tempatnya di daerah pedesaan Jepang sehingga memberikan kesan yang berbeda dengan buku sebelumnya. 
 
Di cerita ini, pembaca diajak untuk berpikir siapa, mengapa dan apa motif si pelaku untuk menghilangkan nyawa korban. 
Tidak hanya fokus di sisi investigasinya saja, buku ini juga lebih mendalami karakter Prof Yukawa sendiri melalui pertemanan tak terduga yang dijalin oleh Yukawa dan Kyohei – bocah kelas 5 SD. 
 
Jujur saya, awalnya sempat bingung dan agak membosankan baca buku yang satu ini. Dikarenakan kasusnya cukup rumit dan terlalu banyak pihak yang terlibat, sehingga memberikan kesan alur cerita yang lambat. 
Tapi, cerita ini akan kembali seru ketika rahasia-rahasia yang terpendam mulai terkuak oleh para detektif.  
 
Kasusnya cukup menarik perhatianku meskipun plot twistnya cukup mudah untuk ditebak tapi, ending cerita ini dibungkus dengan rapi yang membuatku merasa cukup puas membaca buku yang satu ini. 
 
“Selalu ada jawaban untuk setiap masalah.
Tapi kita tidak selalu bisa langsung mendapatkannya. Sama dengan kehidupan manusia. Akan lebih banyak pertanyaan yang tak bisa segera kau temukan jawabannya di masa mendatang, dan itu akan mengusikmu setiap saat. Tapi tak perlu terburu-buru. 
Sering kali kau harus mengembangkan diri dulu sebelum bisa mendapatkan jawabannya. 
Itulah mengapa manusia harus belajar dan berusaha keras untuk menempat diri.” 
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You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I already know and heard this book was not gonna end happily just by reading the blurb of the book. I’ve prepared my heart but it's still manage to made me cry uncontrollably especially near the ending…. 
 
You’ve Reached Sam started with a strong opening and I was really intrigued with the phone call the main character made with her ex-boyfriend from the other side. 
I wish this phenomena was explain more about why it happens and how it works. 
 
Julie, the FMC comes a little bit annoying at first but people grieves differently and one thing I admire from her was giving Sam’s family a chance to talk to him too despite making the connection of each phone call shorter.  
 
Overall, for a debut novel this was a really well-written novel about love, loss, letting go and acceptance. It wasn’t an easy journey for Julie but I feel really satisfied at the ending.
I'm looking forward to read more books by this author in the future!
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