delightfulmayhem's reviews
79 reviews

 SJM has an excellent way of balancing things from the get-go, such as the characters, plot, and pacing. Her plot is so intricate and purposeful. There are layers upon layers upon layers within this book. I love that she creates characters that are very loveable and are very easy to connect to on a deep level. 

I will say there is not a ton of world building in this one. The plot devices used in this book, which are the trials Celaena goes through to become the Kings Champion, are not super well thought out. The trials were not that interesting, and it felt like it was just an easy plot device that was used. However, one thing that SJM does really, really well, is putting a big finale on something. The story is a steady stream of intense mystery and action, which all lead up to the ultimate ending. 

 I'm not rating this book based on the style of writing or the disappointments I found in this book. I can definitely understand how some people did not like this one and gave it a low rating. 

I do love this series, so I am rating this book based on my emotions and how I felt while reading this book. The rollercoaster of emotions this book took me on and the anxiety I felt in this book was absolutely next level. 

I wasn't feeling Bryce in this book for a variety of reasons. I loved her in the first book, but she really annoyed me in this one just by the way she was treating her mate after all that he went through for her. I did come around to love them again in the end. I love how their story wrapped up. 

Some areas of the book started lulling for me, and there were a couple of boring chapters. There were a lot of little side character stories that fizzled out. However, I did love the immense character growth that came from them. 

Despite some of the things that disappointed me, I absolutely loved this book. This series will forever have a special place in my heart. 

 J.R. Wards' writing style remains consistent with the series delivering vivid descriptions and intense emotional exchanges. The themes of love, sacrifice, and redemption are explored with a new intensity reflecting the stakes involved in Nala's choices. Her character is beautifully developed, showcasing her internal conflict and desire for independence. While the novel is a strong addition to the series, some people may find the pacing uneven, with certain sections delving too deeply into introspection. However, the action sequences and romantic developments balance these moments. Overall, The Beloved is a must-read for BDB fans. It offers a fresh perspective on the Brotherhood's world through the eyes of a new generation promising more thrilling adventures to come.

Favorite Quotes:

• "Dreams are even harder to give up on than any reality. What we want, what we imagine in our heads, is a fiction that lives and breathes even though it doesn’t actually exist. When we recognize that it’s not real and we have to let it go? We give up a tender part of ourselves along with the fantasy. It hurts."

• "The instant they come into your life, whether they’re born to you, or adopted by you, or somehow their paths cross yours, it’s too late. No going back. A piece of your fucking heart is out in the world running into things, getting run over, falling off heights, getting sick, falling in love with the wrong person. And you can’t stop them from living. So I guess you just have to suck it up, I don’t know. I really don’t."

• "A woman like you needs to be worshipped."

• "—and how fucking weird was it that, for a split second, he wondered if they weren’t soul mates: They’d both opened attacks by slitting the throats of their enemies. If that wasn’t compatibility, what was? " 

 Boy Toy is disturbing and enticing at the same time. I highly recommend this book because it covers a very controversial subject. Lyga's dynamic writing style weaves together a painful confession and an ambiguous ending. The story is emotionally wrenching and haunting as Barry Lyga probes the depths of what abuse can do to a person's mind and psyche. 

Favorite Quotes:

• "We can know what love is. It´s adults who have forgotten, so they cling to their poor substitute and yell at kids who dare to live with real love. Pure Love. Love without compromise or distraction."

• "Here’s what amuses me about the whole “predator” angle: Predation is a part of the natural world order. You don’t get pissed at a lion for eating a gazelle; that’s just what lions do. They prey. So by calling Eve a “sexual predator,” aren’t we saying that she’s doing something that’s part of the natural order?"

• "See, forgiveness doesn’t happen all at once. It’s not an event—it’s a process. Forgiveness happens while you’re asleep, while you’re dreaming, while you’re in line at the coffee shop, while you’re showering, eating, farting, jerking off. It happens in the back of your mind, and then one day you realize that you don’t hate the person anymore, that your anger has gone away somewhere. And you understand. You’ve forgiven them. You don’t know how or why. It sneaked up on you. It happened in the small spaces between thoughts and in the seconds between ideas and blinks. That’s where forgiveness happens."

Edit Review 

 Patrick Lencioni brilliantly highlights five dysfunctions that plague teams. His storytelling is engaging, and he successfully transforms complex ideas into practical, relatable situations. What I love most is his focus on emotional and relational aspects of team dynamics. He knows that a Tema success is built of strong relationships and team trust. He emphasizes that building a cohesive team is hard work and requires consistent effort. This book covers common but overlooked problems and provides practical solutions. 

Favorite Quotes: 

• "Great teams do not hold back with one another. They are unafraid to air their dirty laundry. They admit their mistakes, their weaknesses, and their concerns without fear of reprisal."

• "Politics is when people choose their words and actions based on how they want others to react rather than based on what they really think."

• "Trust is knowing that when a team member does push you, they're doing it because they care about the team."

• "The ultimate test of a great team is results. And considering that tens of thousands of people escaped from the World Trade Center towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., there can be no doubt that the teams who risked, and lost, their lives to save them were extraordinary." 

 This book is the follow-up book to Peterson's first book, "12 Rules for Life." What is noteworthy about this book compared to the former is the emphasis on suffering. One of Jordan's greatest strengths as a speaker is his ability to present commonly understood ideas from a completely different perspective. I recommend taking the time to read this book. It took me a while to finish because it took me time to digest the information. If you're interested in reading about philosophy and psychology, as well as a lot of other topics, I definitely recommend this book.

Favorite Quotes: 

• “That which you most need to find will be found where you least wish to look.”

• “Humility: It is better to presume ignorance and invite learning than to assume sufficient knowledge and risk the consequent blindness.” 

• “You do not choose what interests you. It chooses you. Something manifests itself out of the darkness as compelling, as worth living for. Following that, something moves us further down the road to the next meaningful manifestation. And so it goes as we continue to seek, develop, grow, and thrive. It is a perilous journey, but it is also the adventure of our lives.”

• “When you are tightly boxed in or cornered—all too often by your own stubborn and fixed adherence to some unconsciously worshipped assumptions—all there is to help you is what you have not yet learned.” 

 I loved this book. The plot in this one is more magical. There's a lot more build-up and hints throughout the story. This was just such a satisfying sequel. There is so much action, mystery, and death. The character development stuck out to me the most, and I'm looking forward to seeing where they go throughout this series. This book is all over the place in the best way possible. 

Favorite Quotes:

• “I worry because I care. Gods help me, I know I shouldn't, but I do. So I will always tell you to be careful, because I will always care what happens.” 

• “Some things you hear with your ears. Others, you hear with your heart.”

• “But he had no idea what sort of darkness lurked inside her or what sort of monster she was willing to become in order to make things right.” 

• “The kiss obliterated her. It was like coming home or being born or suddenly finding an entire half of herself that had been missing.” 

 This was the first western book I've read, and I was surprised at how much it got under my skin. 

The story centers around a cattle drive that journeys all the way from the bottom of Texas up to Canada. You wouldn't think a cattle drive would be all that fun to read about however, in this story we've got cowboys, ranchers, cooks, farmers, horse thieves, Native Americans, sherrifs, and gunslingers. The cast of characters is diverse in both race and gender and everyone gets a good amount of screen time. This book is like a medieval fantasy quest novel set in the Old West. Larry McMurty does a phenomenal job at describing what living life during this time is like, and it was not a good time or place to live. It was nasty. He gets into the grittiness, the despair, and the drama of it so well. 

The characters have so much depth. I loved the chemistry between the two main characters, Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae. These guys just don't get along, and yet they love each other and get along in the end. I loved every bit of dialogue between these two. 

The only thing I did not like so much is the negativity toward Native Americans in the story and how they are branded as thieves and murderers. It made me wonder if Larry McMurty was a hater of Native Americans and Mexicans. 

Keep in mind this book is rated R and does contain some content that may be triggering to some including sexual assault, misogyny, rape, death, injury detail, kidnapping, racial slurs, murder, torture, and gun violence. 

Favorite Quotes: 

• “If you want one thing too much it’s likely to be a disappointment. The healthy way is to learn to like the everyday things, like soft beds and buttermilk—and feisty gentlemen.” 

• “If you only come face-to-face with your own mistakes once or twice in your life it’s bound to be extra painful. I face mine every day—that way, they ain’t usually much worse than a dry shave.” 

• "My main skills are talking and cooking biscuits. And getting drunk on the porch." 

• “You’re the only man I know whose brain don’t work unless it’s in the shade.” 

• " The first difference Newt noticed about being grown up was that time didn’t pass as slow." 

• “The eastern sky was red as coals in a forge, lighting up the flats along the river. Dew had wet the million needles of the chaparral, and when the rim of the sun edged over the horizon, the chaparral seemed to be spotted with diamonds. A bush in the backyard was filled with little rainbows as the sun touched the dew." 

 The witty banter in this book alone brought me such joy. This book is so fun. The writing is solid and moves at a break-neck pace. The characters are very well rounded, relatable, and likable. There are enough twists to keep you reading. I haven't read anything else by Emily Henry, but it's clear that she has a very good understanding of this genre. The only thing that stops me from giving this book 5 stars, which doesn't have anything to do with the book or the story. It was just a very fluffy read for me. Again, it's not a bad thing. I enjoyed the read, I just didn't feel connected with it on a deeper level. That being said, this book does encourage me to explore Emily Henry's other works.  

 Favorite Quotes: 

• “Maybe love shouldn’t be built on a foundation of compromises, but maybe it can’t exist without them either. Not the kind that forces two people into shapes they don’t fit in, but the kind that loosens their grips, always leaves room to grow. Compromises that say there will be a you-shaped space in my heart, and if your shape changes, I will adapt. No matter where we go, our love will stretch out to hold us, and that makes me feel like … like everything will be okay.” 

• "That's the thing about women. There's no good way to be one. Wear your emotions on your sleeve, and you're hysterical. Keep them tucked away where your boyfriend doesn't have to tend to them and you're a heartless bitch." 

• “The last-page ache. The deep breath in after you’ve set the book aside.” 

• “I read once that sunflowers always orient themselves to face the sun. That’s what being near Charlie Lastra is like for me. There could be a raging wildfire racing toward me from the west and I’d still be straining eastward toward his warmth.” 

• “A reminder that there are things in life so valuable that you must risk the pain of losing them for the joy of briefly having them.” 

• “A good bookstore,” Charlie says, “is like an airport where you don’t have to take your shoes off.” 

 As much as I love the BDB series, I did not particularly enjoy this [Christmas Special] novella as much as the other books. I'm glad that we got a good wrap-up to this couples story that was so tragic in their earlier book. However, I was just not moved by this book. The concept of their romance is beautiful, but the way it was executed was dull. There was more dialogue that seemed to drone on rather than any actual events happening. Nonetheless, it was still a nice read knowing that Trez got his happy ending.