breabooks's reviews
172 reviews

Another amazing tale by Elise Kova 👏 

Based very loosely on Orpheus and Eurydice and the Little Mermaid, the story begins with Victoria making a deal with a siren Duke, Ilryth, to escape her very unfortunate circumstances. Any more explanation would be somewhat spoilery, but it is an epic story of love, redemption, and life after trauma. 

I cannot stress enough Kova’s mastery of, well, story telling. No stone is unturned in Victoria’s journey to learn how to be loved. Her backstory, and subsequent ptsd, is handled well. Every feeling is explored fully, but in such a way that it wasn’t repetitive or boring. The love story was perfect. Kova’s writing is beautiful, but this story had me kicking my feet, sweating with concern, and literally crying. Not to mention the world building is always great- I love how she handled all the aspects of being a siren (mermaid). 

This has turned out to be one of my favorite in the interconnected standalones. The story was really complex and the characters were wonderful. I’ll stop gushing now 😭

I listened to the audiobook with a full cast- all of the actors were great. I like how they handled the singing without actually having much song.

I received an eARC and all opinions are honest and my own. The last third of the book was amazing- I couldn’t put it down! I can’t wait for the next book. This book has it all- animal companions, strong FMC, broody MMC, fae, witches, magic, and dragons. 

The story builds slowly- We join Ailia in her epic quest to find her sister, Elideh, who has probably found the mythical land of Elflaine in Scotland. She joined by Reed, a witch from her past. It was… very slow until Callum shows up. Callum really makes the whole book, in my opinion.

The writing improved throughout the book, but I can tell this is a debut novel with the quality of writing. The first half of the book is written very simply, which is fine, but a little frustrating as I’m used to epic fantasies having a certain amount of flourish. The first half of the book was very repetitive. I’m not a writer myself and commend ANYONE who writes a book because I could never. It’s a huge feat. That being said, the line writing for the first half was very simple. I was begging to get frustrated with the amount of sentences that used “and.” Breaking the sentences up would have made the flow so much better. As I said, the writing significantly improved throughout the story. 

Now the story! I enjoyed the modern day setting with a very believable jump into fantasy. I feel like this first book was mostly character and world building. Don’t get me wrong, the world building and character building was great! Reed was possessive but *just* tolerable enough to like. Ailia is, well, a wonderful heroine. Callum… I just love Callum. I can’t say much without spoilers. The real nitty gritty of a unique plot with twists and turns only really occurred in the last 100 pages.

I would definitely suggest this book to anyone wanting to dip their toes into epic fantasy.

I loved the story but had a lot of issues with it. 

First, let me say the world Garcia created was top-notch. Beautiful, dark, complex, and she even included a glossary with pronunciation guides at the very beginning. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it when authors include this, especially at the beginning of the book. The world consists of 6 witch covens, with each coven inheriting one of 3 possible powers from the god over that coven. The Harvest is a competition that occurs every ten years to determine the new elder. Elders earn the power of all 6 covens and protect the land from humans, who persecute witches. The Harvest draws a lot of parallels to the Hunger Games, but is different enough that I didn’t feel like it was a stolen concept. 

The writing was beautiful. I was afraid I wouldn’t like the two POV’s in first person, but it worked. Sometimes descriptions would get a bit carried away- would anyone really describe themselves in such detail? But overall, I enjoyed the writing style.

The story was good, although somewhat predictable. I enjoyed the messiness that was the ending (it was MESSY), but I saw certain things coming from a mile away. Plus the 🌶️ was not built up enough- it just happened because of course a romantasy needs spice, right? I was disappointed because it made me really want to put the book down. I had to start skimming until it wasn’t awkward again. It was like hey I’m kinda attracted to you but I don’t know why and now I know the other person isn’t an option, so let’s bang. The characters really needed more development, especially the main characters and their relationship with each other. It took so long to get to that point and then it felt rushed. 

I enjoyed the book and will be recommending it to others, but I wasn’t blown away. I want to see the mess get untangled, so I’m looking forward to the next book. 

Thank you Rebecca Garcia for the eARC 💕

Well, that was a pleasant surprise! How on earth can a book with an amazing plot and beautiful writing be so unserious and humorous? The fourth wall is occasionally broken, but it does not pull you from the story- instead it adds to the overall hilarity of this epic fantasy romcom. 

Our villain, aptly named Damien, is half-demon, half-human and evil incarnate. Well, supposedly. The story building around his realm is intricate but absolutely ridiculous with names like “Zagadoth the Tempestuous, Ninth Lord of the Infernal Darkness and Abyssal Tyrant of the Sanguine Throne” and a cultist named “Eternal Crud.” You can’t help but laugh while being sucked into the wild demon filled world. Damien is on a mission to save his demon father from his banishment. 

In an unfortunate turn of events, Damien runs into the incessant ray of sunshine that is Amma. He hates her. He can’t kill her for various reasons but is forced to bring her along on the journey. Damien calls upon an overly eager imp (Kaz) to join them. Throughout their journey we see Amma’s innate goodness start to affect Damien’s villainy. She even points out his “resting villain face.”

This is the ultimate grumpy/sunshine book, with a very very slow burn. It’s romantasy with lots of comedy, all tied up in a very unique world with a distinct magic system. The author pokes fun at the gravity of serious situations with chapter titles like, “The Futility of Finding Humor in Every Chapter of a Romantic Comedy.” Even being so silly, the characters are very well developed within a captivating story. I was laughing, kicking my feet, giggling, and frantically trying to figure out what was next in the serious parts. I would highly recommend this book to, well, everyone! I can’t wait to dive into the second book.

Like where is this going? I don’t see a why. Yes, he’s trying to see Baba Jaga, but why? Very slow and I’m not invested in the characters. 

I haven’t read a book that’s left me shaking, crying, and screaming at the ending in a good while. This did all of that. I want to throw it across the room. I need the fourth book immediately. 

Fate of the Sun King continues the epic journey of Lor and Nadir. I am absolutely consumed by their story!!

The book is once again multiple POV, oscillating from first person of 3 different characters and multiple times from a third person omniscient. While I think she struggled to make this work in the Aurora King, this time it worked beautifully. Each character has a distinct voice, one in particular’s snarky banter being much needed comedic relief. 

Tuli’s character development is spot on in this third book. While I don’t want to feel anything but hate for certain characters, I still can see how their flaws make them either redeemable or at least worthy of some empathy. I really appreciate finally seeing more development of Gabrielle.

The world building continues to be amazing. I wasnt sure it was possible to have more of a backstory to Ouranos, but boy was I wrong. These flashback chapters, much like in book two, provided much needed knowledge of the world’s history- but slowly, and not giving away too much too soon.

The ending. The freaking ending. This book ripped my heart out multiple times. When I thought I was all was ok, it was not. The ending will destroy you. 

My one complaint is how I knew it wasn’t going to end on a very happy note. The characters were obviously too happy and content halfway through the book. Any reader of romantasy knows that can’t stay throughout. 

Overall, I loved this book. Tuli created a magical story with woven with magic, hope, heartbreak, and deception.

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC. RIP my sanity until the 4th book.