brii_brii's reviews
1993 reviews

 

This book was so much fun from start to finish. I can't begin to explain how many times I burst out laughing, or found myself just giggling or smiling because of these characters. 

The four Prince Charmings are paired together so perfectly, and compliment each other so well. Their banter is to die for. Who knew that reading about these four Princes bumbling along for over 400 pages would have me sitting there having the time of my life every night for 45 minutes. 

My 9 year old loved it maybe a little bit less than I did, but even then, she's super excited to go on to the next one (with a secret hope of more princesses than princes).

 

 

11/21/2021 ★★★★☆

10/29/2024 ★★★★☆

Okay. Right off the bat I can say that this installment of the series follows exactly what I said in the first. Not a whole bunch happens plot wise (excluding Malina, of course) but I am still SO devoted to this story and its characters. 

I am usually so drawn to a fast paced, action packed plot, and this… really isn't that. I feel like, so far, this story has been largely character driven and I am all the way here for it. I was so very very happy to see Auren come into herself and her origins. 

There is also something huge to be said here about the side characters. They added so much to this story and I really looked forward to seeing more of each of them. And Rip. Ohhh Rip. I know he's supposed to be our morally gray love interest here, but isn't he just coming off as a swoony hero right now? 

Secondary shout out to Malina, who is, in her own way, also a badass woman that I am secretly cheering for on the sidelines, no matter how much she might hate Auren.

 

 

11/19/2021 ★★★★☆
10/28/2024 ★★★★☆

I stand by my original rating after this re-read. That’s not entirely true… My original rating on Goodreads looks like it was 4 stars, but elsewhere I have it down as 5. I’m not sure if I changed it here after thinking about it for a few days or what happened, but, either way, I’m sticking with 4 stars.

This story really does just suck you in from the get go. It’s such an interesting twist on Midas, and even though not a TON really happens in this book, I found myself still unable to put it down and flying though it. I love Auren. I can’t exactly tell you why though. She’s so naive it hurts. Which could be because I’m on the outside looking in. My heart hurts for her for this entire story, maybe that’s why I find myself so attached. I also just want to grind Midas under my shoe to be quite honest with you.

I have some issues with how over the top everyone is. It’s a little bit much, and I do find myself rolling my eyes every now and then as it feels extremely unreal and melodramatic. I definitely found myself disassociating in a few parts and had to bring myself back to the story.

But, I love the politics that were introduced at the end, and I was so excited to see this story take a step away from the “saddles” and toward a bit deeper of a story line. Also, looking forward to the development with Rip, because let's be real, we all know where that’s going.

 

 

The sequel, hands down, is so much better than the first book. Wayfarer was a step beyond Passenger, by far. I loved this book. It is so action packed, it has such a strong plot and the characters are all so well developed and have such in-depth personalities. Truly, I had so much fun, flew through it. 

I don’t look for romance in my books, and one of the biggest issues with book one was that I felt that our two MCs had no chemistry together and while I liked each person individually, I didn’t enjoy them together. I stand by this, ten fold. I struggled through the first book, and found it to be pretty meh by the end. But separate Etta and Nicholas, and boom, the entire story flourished for me. 

I was so, so excited to see Julian, and he lived up to every expectation that I have. I am such a sucker for the comedic relief character. My heart instantly attached itself to them and I get so invested I just can't let go. Julian was 100% without a doubt that character for me. I also loved seeing Henry and Etta develop their relationship. And super special shout out to Sophia and her personal growth, here. 

The only pieces of this novel that I didn’t find myself loving were all the miscommunication moments that were sprinkled throughout. It’s my most disliked trope in my defense. Honestly, just talk to each other. Work together. Do we have to keep going down the same road with EVERY single character? I also wanted more history and insight into the Shadows. I found myself a little bit confused every once in a while and I think I filled some of those holes with just my own ideas just to muddle through. 

Really though, I did not think I was going to enjoy this as much as I did after the first, so I am extremely happy. 

 

 

Is it bad to say that I think I was a little bit happy to see Silver separated from her love interests? I think I found the romance to be really shallow and I didnt find that it really added anything to the story. I’m happy that she kind of went off in her own direction, as heartbreaking as it was. She has really come into herself and I love seeing her being kick ass and amazing. I really and truly feel like we wouldn't have seen this part of her like this if she had the guys around still, there was too much emphasis placed on them and not enough on her to move the story forward. 

This installment started off pretty choppy for me, and my hopes slowly dwindled with all of my expectations. But we came back, and we came back strong. This book is action packed, super fast paced and keeps you on your toes. I love a good quest, and this fits that bill perfectly. 

 

 

I liked this, possibly even more than I liked the first book of the first trilogy. I’m not sure what’s different for me here, but it just seems like it's working better, whatever it is. 

I find Silver to be really endearing. Her naivety is such a cute part of her and I really, really enjoyed watching her come into herself once she's on her own(ish) outside from Underhill and away from her “mother”.

I think I was a little caught off guard with the two love interests, at first I was sure there was going to be a love triangle (which I hate), so I was pleasantly surprised when it didn’t turn out to be, and she was just into both of them, yaaay!

It’s always fun to see old characters come back into new stories (even if you didnt 100% completely loooove those stories), so that was also a fun little addition to this book.

All in all, I’m looking forward to the next one, which… is more than I could say when I was stepping into this one. 

 

I hit 40% and realized I was stinking bored. 

This book tried so hard to create alternate paths to try and confuse you, but in the same breath gave you these giant clues that pointed directly to the person responsible for harassing Lauren. 

I spent so much time reading boring filler in this book because the author was trying to create a twist and shock me. I was truly disappointed when I guessed it before the halfway point. 

It's not a terrible book, but it is a pretty simplistic whodunit, with a very slow paced plot. I spent too much time bored, hating Adam and getting extremely frustrated with Lauren.

 

After 12 hours of trying to put my notes together in this review, I still can’t pinpoint exactly how I feel about this book.

 Honestly, there were so many pieces to it that I loved. Like.. TIME TRAVEL, come on! Not only that, the way that the time travel is laid out, and the “doors” that they use, and not really being able to choose when and where they end up, just a phenomenal idea. I ate it up. The Ironwoods basically controlling the world through timelines and time travel. Also, amazing, give me more. These were such big aspects of the book that I absolutely loved, and couldn't get enough of. They were so well done and developed.

But… here’s the thing. I walked out of this book feeling very… meh about the whole thing. With such an amazing premise, and the plot actually taking us to so many different times and places, I just didn’t fall in love. 

Etta’s was kind of boring. She didn’t have this grand history that came along with Nicholas. She didn’t have a simmering resentment and desire for revenge like Sohpia. She’s just kinda of, woe is me, whiny whine about her mom. I know she spent the entire book time jumping. There was some really good character development that happened with her, so at least we can say that. I just feel like her personality was lacking. I’ll say that, and then leave it at that. I wanted a bit more from her character. 

Also. There is like. No chemistry between her and Nicholas. Like, yeah, okay there's some moments? But there's no sparks for me. I like him a lot, I really dig his character but the way they’re so wishy washy one second and making out the next kind of irks me. And also, I still feel no chemistry. 

Anyway. I did like this book. After all of my ramble up there. I did enjoy it. I’m actually really excited to go into the next one to see what happens now that Etta and Nick have been separated, and Rose is back in the picture. I’m kind of hoping we get more of a pick me up in the plot with maybe a bit more kick to it. 

 

 

I’m starting to think I just didn’t like this trilogy enough to actually give it my full attention. There is no way that a series that messed with my brain this much got such high star reviews from so many people. The only explanation I have is that I just didn’t give it the attention that it needed to make sense…

I got 100% lost at the need for balance crap and still, after sitting on this for an entire day, I’m not even sure how the balance balance out. All I know is Alli had to give up some shit and that’s that. 

The redeeming parts of this series was the action, and some of the politics that actually made sense and worked. The world building wasn’t great, but, it eluded enough to my world that I could build it myself. The bad guy was just too freaking obvious for me, and really wasn't prevalent enough. He also wasn't really even that evil, which made it hard to hate him, which made it hard to have an actual reason to read a book about defeating him. He kind of felt like a mid series scapegoat that just snowballed and they had to keep adding new and random crap to his story line to try and make it make sense.

I digress, I can’t keep ranting about the confusing nature of this book. There were some redeeming factors for me, but not nearly enough. 

I’m going to read the next trilogy for the pure fact that I already bought it… As I mentioned in my review for book 1, I was super excited for these books…

 

 

Am I the only one who ran into this book looking for some bloody answers and just ended up… well, rather confused. This whole Underhill is a person but isn’t but there's a doorway, but there isn’t, but is place but is also just pretending to be a place… thing… Man. Man oh man. Not to mention the heroes and villains switch and trade vocations with each bloody breath I take. I cannot keep up. 

I also can't deal with this “quirky” attitude crap. It really makes me hate Kallik rather than find her cute and endearing. And I will never, NEVER, take her seriously as a queen. 

Really though, even the romance fell flat. I’m pretty disappointed in this series… I won’t lie to you. I’m hoping for a huge flash band finale here. Begging for it.