brimelick's reviews
347 reviews

Who wants to start a "Basil Hallward and Sibyl Vane deserved better" club?
*Audiobooked* Weirdly enough, the man who voiced Dorian Gray was older, and that may sound odd for the beginning of the book; it felt perfect as Dorian began to age, he stayed young-looking, but the voice matched his actual age.

Victoria Aveyard has created a world that I want to visit as soon as possible. At the end of War Storm, I had many questions and wanted more. Broken Throne is a collection of short stories with sections of journals that tell the story of the Continent and specifics about the kingdoms and politics. So I'll talk about them separately.

The Journal Entries: Julian Jacos has dedicated so much of his life to researching the history of their world and how it got to the present. He also writes about politics, geography, and the Silver families and royals. During these journal entries, we realize that he is putting this book together for Tiberius Calore, Cal for short, who is supposed to become the next king.

Queen Song: This story focuses on the back story of Coriane Jacos, who ends up marrying the Prince of Norta and becomes the mother of Tiberias Calore. She is a silver of low rank, and no one expected much from her family. The Prince did away with the traditional challenge that would typically be Silver women vying for his hand in favor of marrying Coriane. This angered another Silver woman, Elara, and she began tormenting Coriane to the point of her death. This brought such a rich view of her story as she is mentioned many times, and people talk about her but not about her rise and fall.

Steel Scars: This story focuses on Diana Farley before the beginning of the Red Queen event. It focuses on two of her missions for the Scarlet Guard and gives a great view into the relationship (or lack thereof?) that Diana has with her father, a high-ranking general in the Scarlet Guard. Again, this gives a great view into her character and why she is what she is during Red Queen. We also get to see the beginnings of Diana and Shade's relationship and the beginning of the Newbloods.

World Behind: A Story of Ashe, a red-blooded captain, and Lyrisa, a silver-blooded, high-ranking woman on the run from the rebellion and a forced marriage. This was an unexpected story for me, but it added so much more information to the readers as to what the rest of the countries are doing during the series' events. It also showed that Reds and Silvers can work together in ways other than just a revolution.

Iron Heart: A story focusing on Evangeline and Elane and what is going on in their lives after the events of War Storm. Evangeline has always been such a strong character, but we learn what is going on in her mind regarding trauma from the war. It focuses on Evangeline and her brother Ptolemy abdicating from their thrones to help Tiberius Calore and their alliance restore the country. This is the first short story that begins to feel like a sequel to the series rather than a prequel.

Fire Light: THE STORY I WAS WAITING FOR. Mare and Tiberius (Cal) finally reunite, and of course, Kilorn also comes back into the light. Like anyone else in her position, Mare needed a break from everything after the events of War Storm. This story picks up two months after War Storm when Mare is finally making her way back into the fray, and as such, she is going back to Cal on her terms. I would call this story the happier one. Families are back together, frenemie relationships are back, and we are starting to see the world come back together.

Altogether, I loved the book and only rated it 4 stars rather than 5. The main reason: I need more Ashe and Lyrisa, I need more Diana and Shade, I need more Evangaline and Elane, and DEAR GOD, I NEED MORE MARE AND CAL. Thanks for reading this all, y'all are great.

Okay, I am not a thriller or mystery reader. A friend read this and liked it, so I saw it on Spotify and thought, why not?
DO IT. If you are feeling the same way, DO IT, READ IT. It's quick, and it's worth it, I promise. I will be reading more about this author.

Character-wise, I thought Ethan was shallow and hiding a dark side (IYKYK), and I liked Trish, but if she *sigh* "My husband is so charming/handsome/strong," I would smack her. I loved Adrienne Hale; she was exactly what I thought she would be when people described her.

Plot-wise, the idea of a snowed-in manor house of a therapist that famously disappeared? Insane, I love it, give me more. I need more. Secret rooms? OMG, please give me more.

Listening to the audio recording of the patient files was fascinating, especially towards the end. Speaking of the end, if you are an avid thriller/mystery reader, this might not be anything to write home about. However, as long as it's enjoyable, I am new to the genre and elementary when it comes to books. The twists I did not see, granted, I came up with were nothing close.

Absolutely gut-wrenching, I finished this in two days which is not common for me as I like to draw out books in order to feel connected. Not this one, nope, I had to tear myself away from this book. Emily Henry is an insta-buy for me and when reading the synopsis I did not think I would enjoy it as much as I had her others, it now sits as one of my favorites of hers. Harriet, Sabrina, and Cleo's relationship remind me so much of my friendships with my two college best friends and the fear of moving away and lives going on, that the friendship would end. It was a huge fear, so I can only imagine how many other people in the same situation felt when reading it. The relationship between Harriet and Wyn frustrated me at times but it was still clear to me that they held feelings for each other but had a lot of work to do on themselves before they could truly be together. The way Henry was able to show that was impeccable. At first I did not like Harriet's parents, her mother especially until the very last chapter where we find out she just doesn't want her daughter to make the same sacrifices for her own life to be with a man, she just didn't know how to communicate that in a positive manner. To me this was Henry's 'realist' books, I mean that in a way that I could picture all of this actually happening in a real life situation and while that may have to do with me sharing multiple similarities to Harriet, it will sit in my top five books for this year for sure. I encourage anyone (especially young women) who have just graduated from college to read this book, you just might find something of yourself within.

I read this with a book club, and while it was slow getting started, I did begin to enjoy it once the main characters met. It had the instant attraction that I sometimes get tired of, but I liked how the author gave it more depth. I wish there were more character development of the main characters separately than together, especially for Rae. I was far more invested in the small-town curse plotline than the relationship between the characters. Also spicy, very spicy.

Abelaum is a tiny town where everyone knows everyone, like where I grew up. I was able to relate a lot to that. Being from a woodsy area, the setting was clear to me from the beginning. I also love a college setting. The small town is central to a mystery of murder, disappearing students, and a sketchy mine accident. It turns out there's a whole cult. I loved it!

I'm ready for Zane's story after reading the second book.

Okay, this was the perfect addition to the world of Abelaum. I love seeing separate stories that intertwine an overarching storyline, and the characters interact with each other. When I read the first book, I only saw a few scenes with Zane and Juniper; there is more talk of them than page time. All you know of her from the first book is that she is the original sacrifice that got away.

The book opens with Juniper with Victoria and Jeremiah, and things are a bit sketchy; things take a turn for the worse when she realizes she is in danger. I don't want to give too much away, but it was mentioned that she is the first to sacrifice the generations-old curse on the town. Her survival sparks the interest of all these old monsters and demons, like our friend Leon from the first book and his best demon buddy, Zane. Zane, to his detriment, finds he is drawn to Juniper and keeps an eye on her in the years after her attempted sacrifice. He runs into her, and they create an exciting dynamic of "I hate you, but we need each other to survive." Juniper gives her soul to Zane in return for his help in taking down the cult and taking her revenge. While this is all happening, our lovely, tortured main characters are just so in love but won't admit it to each other, so we have some fantastic moments of them almost admitting it but saying some pretty emotional stuff instead. I loved the dynamic between the two, and I loved the way the author discussed trauma and what can happen to a person after going through something as traumatic as an almost sacrifice and then being hunted non-stop for years after. Also, the spice is pretty great, and everything that happens on Halloween night is a gift to the readers.

I needed a day to compile my thoughts, and the conclusion was that this series would stick with me for a while. What I thought in the first book was just a baseless cult, but I learned more as I read. It was a genuinely horrifying fictional account of the dangers of certain people in power and what it can do to people who follow, especially for Juniper and Everly, the trauma of what these cults can be like. Except for Abelaum, the cult is not created out of nowhere; it is based on a genuine god who is hellbent on world domination. Seeing the acts through the eyes of these three women and their (very hot and whipped) demon men was insane, and I loved every minute of it. There is a minimal amount of Everly and Callum for the first two books, as they are background characters and spend most of the time off the page, and you have no idea what they are doing. The answer is that Everly found a super cool house in the woods that her family owned, doubling as a home for a witch's coven. She spends the book learning more about who she is and her magic, with the help of her grandmother's spirit, who talks through a radio (I mean, I need one of these).

I won't spoil it, but this couple is pure giddiness. Yes, the book is spicy; it needs to be, and the spice is delicious. However, I want to show that it was refreshing to see both of these characters as switches. It's not something I expect to see in these New Adult books, at least not the ones I have read. Also, I never thought I'd say this, but Hell is pretty cool, and they seem to have fantastic cocktails and saunas.

Before I say anything, I want to thank Willa Layne for graciously allowing me to receive an ARC of Silver Lies. It has been a privilege to read this work before publication.

Here we go; first thoughts: This book did NOT have the right to be that good. Now, onto the details.

The world of Silver Lies is the post-apocalyptic fantastical Kingdom of Norvum. The population is left in tatters generations after a virus wipes out those with blonde hair, and to this point, no one knows why. Our main female character is Ash, who lives with Nan and Pop, who found her in the woods when she was young. She is a bit of an outcast and kept away from the town most times, and for excellent reason, she may have brown hair, but it's dyed to hide her blonde hair. There is one kid in town who offers his friendship to Ash. Diesel is the son of a close friend and helps make sure they have what they need. Ash and Diesel have a strong friendship and bond over hunting; all this gave me was the nostalgic vibes from the 2010s, the great time of post-apocalyptic Young Adult novels and movies.

The trials and tribulations during one fateful hunting trip expose secrets from Ash and Diesel and their world, threatening their friendship as it becomes more serious. Occasionally during my read, I made internal comments to myself about Diesal's actions towards Ash; he is very much a "Touch her, and you'll die" and "I would kill for her," vines which don't get me wrong, I love that in a fictional man. It turned into a very possessive behavior, and it boils to a point for Ash that she feels suffocated. However, it's all for a reason, I promise you. I am known for not seeing a twist even if it slapped me, but out of all the things I thought could happen, I did NOT expect that ending. I would've thrown the Kindle at the wall if I wasn't renting this apartment. I fell head-first into this world and did not want to leave. I need more of these characters; the cliffhanger was just too good.

One thing I have to commend Willa on is that I read a lot of Romance, Rom-Com, Romantasy, and Spicy Romance, and it takes a person with a STRONG grasp of chemistry to write a book and have the characters turn the readers into mush when they read them, and let me tell you, I was scrunched into my blanket awing at this couple with no shame. Lastly, if there is one thing I will end with, WHEN IS BOOK 2 COMING??

I read this book with one of my book clubs, and it did not disappoint. It says it is a Nutcracker retelling, but I don't know if I would consider it a retelling, just a take on an idea. Even so, it was a fun read!
The world of Fairie is exciting and unbelievable (in the best ways), and it was intriguing to learn more about it. Our main female characters are sisters, and each has very distinct personalities. Clara, the artist, is very cautious but knows how to have fun. Her sister, Louisa, is very confident in her sexuality and knows how to use it. The girls find their match in fairies, Finias and Lin, respectively. This was a delightful read with a curse to break, candy that acts as spells, a rat king, and a boatload of spice and sarcasm.

2024 Reread: I still love this book, a lot, however, I find myself not as big a fan of Poppy as I was in the first read. This may be due to not agreeing with how she handled things at the end of the story. Still four stars!

One word, Yes. I can say that it was completely different than what I expected. I loved it, I will probably end up reading the rest of the series only because I am now dedicated to the Bell family and I wanna see the brothers find love. It is very spicy, and it's all very good spice. Not for the faint of heart, it does include a priest having sex in a church so, just be aware before you go in if that is something you are not going to like.