bookishlysimsy's reviews
241 reviews

Disclaimer: I was provided a digital ARC by the author in return for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.

I Dare You is a book that has both satisfied me and left me wanting more. From new author Regena Mercy, readers are thrust into an emotional, fun, and evoking sapphic romance between a figure skater and hockey player.

The plot and storyline of I Dare You captured my attention immediately within the early chapters. Althea and Jonesy are both flawed characters who come with their own individual backstories and reasons for acting and deciding on the decisions they make throughout the book. What starts off as a light and fun game of truth or dare turns into yearning, that then turns into a relationship with the inevitable third act break-up. But in between all of that is alluring characterization and intriguing storytelling.

I had a few takeaways from the story, however. As much as I loved Althea and Jonesy's characters, I do feel that their relationship was rushed. When the originally met, I thought we'd have a bit of yearning, maybe some chasing. It took off quicker than I had expected, though, and it took away from my expectations.

Similarly, when there were major points of contention, I noticed there were a few points of the story that seemed to directly go against what had happened earlier in the book. As one example, and a slight bit of a spoiler,

Jonesy continuously accuses Althea of having said she'd told her parents she was a lesbian, when she hadn't. While the arc of this is true, Althea hadn't told her parents, she'd never outright *said* that she'd told her parents. She just didn't confirm or deny it, what I would call withholding the truth but not lying.

As another example of note, and another slight spoiler,

Althea claims to have not known that Jonesy loved her. But earlier in the book, there was a scene in which the "love" word was nearly mentioned. And while it was decided on that it wasn't the right moment, Althea had still noticed it and decided to just sit in the moment instead of openly stating she felt similarly/the same.

I truly resonated with Althea's hesitancy to tell her parents she was a lesbian. They are funding her college and figure skating career, and that's not something to take lightly if they were to react poorly to her coming out. There's a point in time where I disagreed with people expecting Althea to come out "sooner" to her parents, but I also understood why they wanted that from her. That's the beauty of being the reader, you see and understand the perspectives even when you don't necessarily agree with them.

Lastly, I love how the author didn't leave everything wrapped in a neat, shiny bow. Life is messy, and in some ways, unexpected. There were parts of the conclusion to the story in which things turned out poorly, but for the majority, things turned in a more positive direction for the main characters, enough so for them to feel safe and happy to live as they are. That's something I truly enjoy seeing, and it was special in the reading moment.

Overall, I really did enjoy this book, and I had a great time reading it. My eyes have been glued to these pages for two weeks, and I'm so glad I took my time with it. For that, I rate it 3.5 stars. It was so worth the rear, and I do recommend it to all my fellow sapphic romance readers and lovers. As this is my first book from Regena Mercy, I have been entirely swayed into not only continuing any further books that come from the Maybanks U series, but also any further books she may release in the future.

The Bookshop Sisterhood has an interesting and promising premise that delivered in some parts and fell short in others. What I had hoped would be a new favorite became more of a time-passing read.

Final Rating: Not Starred

I am not well, I am not okay. Tiffany D. Jackson wrote such a beautifully heartbreaking book. I felt this loss.

Final Rating: Starred

This was a cute addition the previous Hunted story. I enjoyed seeing a new side to the two main characters, and the small addition of a new character at the end was very interesting.

Final Rating: Starred

I really enjoyed this one! It was a fun time, and I liked the character dynamics. I do wish we got a bit more development in the beginning, and I think I would have liked to see a little more time given to the story overall. But it was really fun, and I'm excited to see what might come next!

Final Rating: Starred (recommended)



I did want to make mention of this after my review (because this will not affect my review rating): I purchased a physical copy of the book. I do think this was formatted more so for a digital copy because there were text messages that printed incredibly small (so small, I could not read them). In addition, there were several spelling errors that left me with some confusion when I came across them. These are minor, though, and they did not affect my rating, as I said.

Rating: Starred

A fun, sexy book! Had me giggling at times and blushing at others. I wasn't a huge fan of calling climaxes a "nut," but that's more a personal nitpick than anything. Great, short read! Will definitely be picking up more from this author.

Disclaimer: I was provided a digital galley by the publisher in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.

Rating: Starred

Furia was everything I expected it to be and more. Yamile Saied Méndez takes readers on an emotional journey of connections and heart-tugging lessons built into the story and its characters. This is one book readers will not want to miss.

Check out my full review, available on my blog Belle's Archive now!

Disclaimer: I was provided a digital galley and finished physical copy by the publisher and Colored Pages Book Tours in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion.

Rating: Starred

This Dark Descent is a whirlwind fantasy reminiscent of The Hunger Games and Peaky Blinders with Jewish folklore. An attractive first book in a new series, readers are in for a treat.

Check out my full review, available on my blog Belle's Archive now!