booksarethenewblack's reviews
1443 reviews

 

I have thoroughly enjoyed my re-read of All Systems Red. I listened to a full cast & sound effect audio. It has elevated my reading experience! Listening to Murderbot’s inner dialogue is much funnier now. I got his nuances and sarcasm so much quicker. It comes across in the books but is more pronounced in the audio. I found myself laughing out loud several times.

One of my favorite things about this re-read was getting to know our core group again. I remember how they were so mistrusting, and I can’t blame them. There are so many layers to what Murderbot is, and no one knows how he’s “malfunctioning.” It was nice getting to see how their relationship starts in this book. There is still a lot of sci-fi jargon, but I understood it so much more this time.

I highly recommend reading this via a full-cast audiobook! Especially if you struggle with sci-fi as a genre.

Oh, Murderbot! He can’t help himself from helping out humans. I love how he tries so hard to think he doesn’t care, but he does. He ends up helping some new humans who hire him. Since it is the same place he wants to go, he decides to help them. I love how quickly we get attached to all these characters. Murderbot gets attached too and does everything he can to save them.

He still isn’t sure what he wants to do or be. He meets ART in this one and makes this book even better. I love their banter, but the way their relationship grows throughout the book is the best. We learn about past events that have happened, and it’s so sad. Murderbot’s dry humor helped with some of the darker/tense moments.
I still highly recommend reading along with the full-cast audio!! It makes the reading experience so much better!

Thank you, Tor Books and tordotcom, for these print review copies of the brand-new omnibus editions! All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

This one might be my favorite Wayward Children book yet! Oh my goodness!! This is probably one of my favorite covers.


Nadya was born with a missing arm and lives in an orphanage. She’s adopted out, but she never really feels at home. Her parents want to “fix” her when she doesn’t think she needs it. It was so heartbreaking reading this. I get both sides, but these parents were so wrong. Love the child as you adopted her, and that’s all. Nadya is one that I connected with right away, and I wanted nothing but the best for her. She eventually finds what she’s looking for. I had to keep reminding myself, “this is the Wayward Children series,” and things are sometimes very dark. Her life under the lake was so beautiful and so lovely. I thought it was such a beautifully created world and enjoyed it so much. Then Seanan McGuire had to go and break my heart in the end!!


I adored this one and got through the whole book in one sitting. I have had my favorite and not-so-favorites in this series. I believe this might have just climbed to the top!!


Thank you, Tor/tordotcom, for the e-arc through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 All I knew about this book was that it was a retelling of Cinderella. Most of the time, it’s hard to surprise with a retelling, but this one surprised me! This story took me down a different path, and I had so much fun figuring out where it was going. Just a heads up: there are some dark parts to the story.

Ell is still an orphan and under her stepmother/sister’s thumb. She hates her life and would love to get away. One day, a prince shows up with a glass slipper. There’s no way it would fit anyone, but it fits Ell. She is now living a life of luxury as the next princess. The only problem is that it was not her slipper. She has never met the prince before and is living a lie. It sets her down a path of trying to keep her lie under cover and agonizing over what the right thing to do is.

It was fun seeing how the parts of Cinderella’s original story are in this retelling. I enjoyed how it was so different than the original story. I adored many of the characters. There are times that I think we could have delved into character development. I wanted to know much more about Bayard and Maxim’s past. The relationship between Ell and Bayard was so sweet and caring. I wish we could have had more time with Maxim to get to know him better. The women were the stand-out characters in this story. I don’t want to say too much, but she’s got quite the girl gang.

There are a lot of things that I would have loved to know more about. This could easily have been a couple more books. I do appreciate the standalone story. With that being said, I would have loved to know what happened to certain characters and more about the magical creatures. There’s potential for some great novellas to come out of this story.

Overall, I thought this was a great book! I read through it rather quickly because I had to know what happened next. Some things could have been expanded on, but it didn’t take from my enjoyment. I enjoyed this one and look forward to what Calella writes next!

Many thanks to TBR and Beyond Tours, the publisher and Netgalley for the e-arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

 I listened to this one on audio! I was lucky to have been low on the hold list and got this through the library quick. I love Adrienne Young so much! I have read almost all of her books. She takes up a bunch of space on my bookshelves. I have been enjoying her adult books and this one was no exception! It was a bit slower than her others. It took me a little longer to get sucked into this story. It's more of a murder mystery, and I appreciate her dipping her toes in different types of writing. With that being said, this was such an atmospheric story. I felt for so many of the characters. There are so many secrets and James is uprooting them all. There's so much history in her hometown and much of it isn't great. Once we get going in the story and things start unraveling, it's hard to stop. The only other issue I had, was the ending. It all was so rushed and I felt like it was a bit of whiplash. Overall, this isn't my favorite by her, but I still enjoyed it. I am sad because now I have to wait even longer to read her next book! :) 

 

This book is my first Chloe Liese novel, and I adored it! I do need to grab the other two in the series. I read this out of order, but it didn’t hinder anything or give big spoilers for the previous books.

I adored Juliet’s story. She’s trying to recover from a toxic relationship and learning to navigate her new health issues. I loved how she takes her journey seriously and doesn’t just throw everything away when she meets a handsome guy. I am sure I missed a lot with the previous books, but that’s okay. I’m going to get there eventually. I loved her family so much! I love the Sunday dinners and how they cared for her. I know she felt smothered at times, but she’s so lucky.

Then we have Will. He’s a huge cinnamon roll type of guy. He’s also neurodivergent, with a lot of anxiety on top of that. I loved how he always has these inner thoughts that come out so fast and become “talking thoughts.” I loved how he was with all the people around him, especially his sisters and nieces. He gave a lot of big green flags throughout this whole book.

When he runs into Juliet twice, it seems like fate. I adored getting his POV throughout the whole book. You see how he is completely smitten with her from the get-go. Their relationship was so sweet and beautiful to watch. A good friends-to-lovers relationship! They were so open with each other and very respectful of each other’s feelings/difficulties. I have seen some things about how this was just too sweet. They have a point, but I found it so refreshing! It was nice to see this friendship blossom into a romance. There are several angsty moments throughout their pact.

Overall, I enjoyed this one a lot! I cannot wait to go back and read the other two books. I loved all the friendships, banter, families, and this sweet romance. I have heard a lot of praise for Chloe Liese, and now I understand why! I can’t wait to read more from her!

Thank you, Berkley (and Netgalley), for the e-ARC and the blog tour opportunity!! All thoughts and opinions are my own! 🙂 

 

What a debut! This book is full of vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, and others!

It did take me a while to get into this book. The pacing at the beginning is a little off with all the information. There are many different politics and feuds going on, which is hard to keep track of. It made it convoluted and slowed my reading way down. I saw a few reviews where people gave up at 20%. I’m sorry you did that because it was worth the slow pace in the beginning.

Now, after I got to about 30% and the characters started to form their rebel group, it was hard to put down. There are many amazing characters in this book. I loved how we had one of each group/leader/class coming together. The way they formed a bond was just so beautiful. The bookworm and sorcerer and their knowledge were so fun to read about. It’s truly showing you how knowledge is power. I adored the relationships between each of them and all together. Jacob was a character that seemed so weak and annoying. I ended up feeling for him and rooting for him in the end! Sam is one of the characters with the most beautiful character arc! I loved watching her journey, even if it’s heartbreaking at times. Humorous moments break up some of the darker moments.

The magic and politics are intriguing and unique. Just a heads up, there are several brutal moments in this book. While the book starts off as a murder investigation, it quickly turns into a lot more. Characters realize that they might be in over their head. Deep secrets are coming to light and entrenched in the world created for them.

Overall, I enjoyed this debut! You do have to put in some slow-paced reading effort, but it is worth it. There is so much potential here! By the end, I was obsessed with these characters. I cannot wait for book two!!

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for the e-arc (thanks Netgalley) and finished copy!! All thoughts and opinions are my own! 

 You can see all my reviews here: Books Are The New Black

It's been a long time since I've read Nora Roberts. The Inheritance was all over the place last year. The cover and synopsis really caught my attention. I've also had many bloggers recommend it. I enjoyed it and was excited to get my hands on The Mirror.

The Mirror picks up right where we left off in The Inheritance. I appreciate that because I know what to look forward to in the next book! The mystery and the ghosts are my favorite aspects of this book. She does a great job of keeping it from getting too scary, for chickens like me. Haha! I'm not sure how this curse will be broken, but I'm anxious to find out. I'm so used to Robert's using each book on a different love story. This series has some additional love interests in this book, but it's mostly just a continuation of the first book. I like how she's just adding to it and expanding, like many other series. It feels a lot different than some of her past trilogies.

The characters are great and I love the friendships. I do think there are times that it can get a little cheesy, but I expect that with Roberts. I also think many things are predictable when it comes to the characters, but the overall story is not. I have no idea how they are going to overcome the curse. I like seeing the glimpses of the past in this book. They are truly heartbreaking, and I hope there's a way to get rid of the evil in this house!

Overall, I have enjoyed this series. I can't wait for the third book! No worries, if you don't like creepy stories, this isn't too bad. There are some spooky elements from the ghostly things going on, but it's not scary. I think the mystery and the lineage curse that's going on are interesting.

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for an e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! 

 

Wow, I am a huge M.L. Wang fan! Her previous book, The Sword of Kaigen, is one of my all-time favorite books. This book is going to be up there. The way that Wang writes is just truly amazing. The things she makes you feel and how she makes you question things are impressive.


Sciona is a character that I will think about for a long time. She was orphaned when she was young and lives with her aunt. She’s an up-and-coming in the world of magic. Her mentor is sure she can enter the High Magistry, where she would be the first woman. It’s a male-dominated field, and they do not respect or allow women. She’s powerful, smart, and skilled. She’s constantly treated unfairly and grossly. She doesn’t seem to care too much. She has this way of letting things roll off of her and focus on her work. Then we have Thomil, a Kwen, enter the picture and unravel her world.

Wang’s writing was captivating from the very beginning. She’s brilliant at writing such dark themes but making you understand the lesson. Her characters are fantastic and so well-developed. Even some of the side characters added so much to this story. I didn’t realize this was a standalone until about halfway. I think this would appeal to so many! There’s the magic, the dark academia, and the many important themes. It’s not a happy book, but it’s such an important read.

Overall, this was a fantastic read. I had high expectations, and it did not disappoint. I have purchased a physical copy because it’s also stunning. Wang is an author that does not fear going there. This book is sometimes brutal, but there’s also love and hope. I highly recommend reading this one. I will be impatiently waiting for the next thing Wang writes!

Thanks to Del Rey and Netgalley for an e-ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own!