jenni_elyse's reviews
500 reviews

I’ve been wanting to read FOURTH WING for a little over a year. I put it on hold at my library, sadly to be informed that my turn wouldn’t come for several months. I waited patiently and then when my turn was only two weeks away, my friend told me I could borrow her physical copies of both FOURTH WING and IRON FLAME. Needless to say, I jumped at the offer.

I’m so glad I finally read FOURTH WING. It was everything I wanted in a romantasy and more. There’s so much hype surrounding this and I get it. When I was reading it, I didn’t want to put it down and I couldn’t stop thinking about it in between reads. I stayed up until 2am on Wednesday night finishing it because I was that invested in the characters and the story.

I adored the characters, especially Violet and Xaden. I could feel the sexual tension between them from the very beginning and I loved it. I loved that there was no instalove. FOURTH WING is a slow-burn romance. that leaves you wanting for more. The secondary characters were amazing too. Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Liam were my favorite.

I loved the world in which FOURTH WING takes place. Rebecca Yarros built a beautiful world based on folktales, lore, war, power, and political drama, which is my recipe for a fantastic story. I loved the Gaelic feel to FOURTH WING thanks to the names of some of the characters, most of the dragons, and lot of the places. I also loved that riders are bonded to their dragon so we can hear their voices and get to know their personalities.

Finally, I adored the mythology of FOURTH WING. It was fascinating. The magical system with signets was fun to read about and experience.

Anyway, FOURTH WING has earned a spot as one of my favorite books. I’m glad my friend let me borrow IRON FLAME too because I need to read it now.

I found out WHEN I’M DEAD, one of my Book of the Month (BOTM) books, is the third book in the Black Harbor series. I wanted to read it this month so I decided to check out the first (HELLO, TRANSCRIBER) and second (THE WIDOWMAKER) books from my library.

I’m glad I decided to read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER. It was a captivating romantic thriller. Thanks to Morrissey’s beautifully descriptive prose, I zipped right through it by staying up all night listening to the audiobook. It hooked me right from the beginning and has left me thinking about the characters and their relationships.

HELLO, TRANSCRIBER is more than a thriller with romantic fluff. It’s also a thought-provoking story that deals with hard subjects like spousal abuse, depression and suicidal ideation, homo- and transphobia, and drug use in minors.

As I read HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, I could see the big twist at the end. Knowing about the twist didn’t ruin the suspense or story for me, though, because I still wanted to know how everything would play out. View Spoiler »

Before I started reading HELLO, TRANSCRIBER, I thought the series was a classic series with the same characters in each novel. However, I’ve since learned that the sequels are companion novels with different characters that take place in Black Harbor. Despite this, I look forward to reading both sequels and any others Morrissey writes.

I loved SUNRUNNER'S FIRE and I love Melanie Rawn's writing. I love the epic fantasy-ness of this series thanks to the awesome world building, characters, relationships, political intrigue, and the ethical/moral issues the books explore.

While DRAGON PRINCE is my favorite book in the series because I adore Rohan and Sioned, I loved SUNRUNNER'S FIRE because it’s the end of the trilogy and most of the events that had been brewing from the beginning came to an end.

One of my favorite aspects of the trilogy is the <em>farahd’im</em> (Sunrunners) and <em>diarmahd’im</em> (Sorcerers). People who are born with <em>faradhi</em> gifts are sent to Goddess Keep to be trained in the sunrunning arts of weaving light using the power of the sun and moon, call fire and wind, and conjure images of the future. The <em>diarmahd’im</em> have been in hiding for hundreds of years because of their differences with the <em>farahd’im</em>. They also weave light, call fire and wind AND earth and water, and produce conjurings, using the forbidden power of the stars.

I loved that the Sorcerers had a more central role in SUNRUNNER'S FIRE. We didn't know much about them before this book so I loved learning more about their powers and finding out why they hate Sunrunners as much as they do.

I'm really glad I reread this trilogy and I hope to start reading the Dragon Star trilogy (sister trilogy to Dragon Prince trilogy) within the next couple of months. I’m excited to find out what happens.

My IRL book club has done a memoir-of-choice-month in July for the last three or four years. This year I chose to read CHOOSE YOUR OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY by Neil Patrick Harris (NPH).

I have been a fan of NPH for a while. I loved him as Barney Stinson in the sitcom HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER and as Dr. Horrible in Joss Whedon’s DR. HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG. And, I thought it would be fun to read his memoir.

CHOOSE YOUR OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY is written in the style of the choose your own adventure novels. This style lends mostly to true stories about NPH with the occasional “if you want to listen to your own horrible death, keep listening” anecdotes. Like most celebrity memoirs, NPH narrates his own audiobook. I really enjoyed listening to him recount his own story. I also really loved when he broke out into song. Despite the choose your own adventure style which would’ve worked better in book form, the audiobook’s definitely the way to go.

I really loved a lot of the over-the-top parts. I especially loved listening to the sometimes true, sometimes comedic notes from his friends. However, my favorite parts were the stories of his life with his husband, David Burtka, and their twins, Gideon and Harper. When he talked about his family, I saw a regular person instead of a celebrity.

NPH’s memoir’s the first one I’ve read that focuses on the author’s entire life instead of some challenge he had to deal with. CHOOSE YOUR OWN AUTOBIOGRAPHY is just about NPH as a whole and gives him a chance to be funny. Because of this, I didn’t feel really feel inspired like I have with other memoirs.

Even thought I didn’t feel inspired or like I got a lot out of NPH’s memoir, it was fun to listen to in an entertaining way and I’m glad I read it. I’d definitely read another memoir by him if he ever decides to write one.

Amazing memoir. It was fascinating to read about the life of a mixed person's life growing up during the apartheid. It was also interesting to read about Trevor Noah's life since he's one of my favorite comedians. The first time I read Born a Crime, I read the ebook, so I decided to listen to the audiobook this time around. If you have a choice between reading it or listening to it, I highly recommend listening to it as Noah reads it himself. He reads each of the African languages and he has a knack for accents so it makes each language and person more real.

My IRL book club chose to read REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES for our January book. I’m so glad we chose it. Otherwise, I might never have read it and I absolutely adored this book.

As soon as I started reading REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, I could tell it was going to suck me right in. I laughed, I cried, and I mostly smiled as I read this heart-warming story of love, loss, grief, and resilience.

REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES is mostly told in a third-person limited POV and a charming first-person POV from Marcellus, the octopus, the star of the book. Marcellus is smart, snarky, a little bit cranky, and a delightful narrator. I especially loved his friendship with Tova, the main human character. Their friendship reminds us, not in a preachy way, that animals know more than they let on and they each have feelings and deserve our kindness and respect.

Besides Marcellus, I loved the cast of characters in REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES. Tova is such a likable person despite being a bit closed off because of her grief. She reminded me a bit of my own grandmother whose family, like Tova’s, immigrated to the US while she was very young.

When I finished REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES, I promptly rated it 5 stars on Goodreads. I’m still in awe that this is Van Pelt’s debut and I think her next book has a lot to live up to. I’ll keep a look out for it, though, and make sure it goes straight to the top of my TBR.

My IRL book club chose to read BOOK LOVERS for our February book. I’m glad we did because I loved it.

The enemies-to-lovers and forced proximity tropes are two of my favorites and BOOK LOVERS didn’t disappoint. The execution of the enemies-to-lovers trope was excellently written, producing a spicy slow-burn romance with some of the best bantering I’ve ever read. The sexual tension between Nora and Charlie is palpable and leaves you wanting for more.

In her author’s note, Emily Henry mentions that she loves watching Hallmark movies. Most of the movies were about some kind of rich, cold business man who leaves the big city to shut down a struggling small business and turn it into a profitable chain location. While the business man’s there, he meets a small-town girl that helps him realize life isn’t all about work or money. He falls in love and decides to stay there, dumping his equally heartless girlfriend in the big city. She said BOOK LOVERS is about her question of does the seemingly heartless ex-girlfriend get her happily ever after?

I love concept of BOOK LOVERS. I love that Nora was successful as a book agent and that she loved living in New York. I love that she loved her authors and worked hard for them. And, I especially love that she didn’t have to compromise her dreams for her happily ever after.

BOOK LOVERS isn’t just a heart-warming romance, it’s also a story with some meat to it. It explores complicated familial relationships, feelings of not fitting in, extreme anxiety, different types of love, loss, and healing. It hit very close to home and is as if Emily Henry wrote about my own feelings of struggling after my mom’s passing. (This isn’t a spoiler as you learn that Nora’s and Libby’s mom passed away in the first chapter.)

I honestly don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to give anything away. Just know that BOOK LOVERS may be a fun contemporary romance AND it’s so much more! It’s my second 5-star read of the year and I look forward to reading more books by Emily Henry.

I wanted to read THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES before the movie came out last year. Unfortunately, my reading mojo wasn’t where it normally is so I committed the cardinal sin of watching the movie before reading the book. I liked the movie so much I finally decided to start listening to the audio book.

I thought THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES was really fascinating and a fantastic prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy. I especially loved learning about Panem after the first war between the Capitol and the districts. I thought it was interesting to see how the Hunger Games operated before they became what they were in the 74th Hunger Games.

I loved the characters in THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. Lucy Gray was my favorite, of course. I love how much she loves life, her defiant spirit, her go-with-the-flow personality, and her when-life-gives-you-lemons-make-lemonade outlook. I felt sorry for Sejanus, having to leave his beloved District 2 and become a citizen of the Capitol. I loved learning more about Tigris and I’m curious why and when she and Coriolanus had a falling out.

Watching Coriolanus Snow’s life unfold in THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES is a lot like watching Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequels. You keep hoping it won’t happen, but know there’s no hope. I thought it was interesting to be in his head, to hear the conflict of remaining loyal to the Capitol and regaining his status and wealth or siding with the districts and Lucy Gray.

Overall, I really enjoyed THE BALLAD OF SONGBIRDS AND SNAKES. However, I’m only rating it 4 stars because I thought Coriolanus’ transition to the “Dark Side” was a little abrupt, especially how fast he and Lucy Gray turned on one another.

I also thought the audiobook was awesome. I loved Santino Fontana’s deep voice. I just wished he sang all the songs in the book, like Jim Dale does in the Harry Potter audio books.

I really enjoy reading horror, but I don’t read it very often because fantasy and romance have my heart. When I read a friend’s ARC review of THE INVOCATIONS, I knew I had to read it right away. I immediately put it on hold at the library and waited for its release and my turn.

I finished reading THE INVOCATIONS last night and I’m so glad I decided to read it right away. I was not disappointed in the least. I loved the idea of witches and witch hunters, and the use of invocations to grant women borrowed power from demons for a small piece of their soul. The story was dark, tense, mysterious, and full of paranormal goodness. It reminded me of an episode of Netflix’s THE CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, which is what I think Krystal Sutherland was going for since she mentioned the show a couple of times in the story.

I loved the three main characters in THE INVOCATIONS. Zara Jones is smart, determined, and grieving the loss of her sister. Jude Wolf is trying to find a way, any way, back into the good graces of her billionaire father’s heart, if he has one, and the life of luxury that represents. Emer Byrne is simply trying to exist without being tracked by those who want witches dead. Together they make an unstoppable team.

I really enjoyed THE INVOCATIONS. It gave me exactly what I was looking for. It ends in a way that doesn’t demand a sequel, but open enough if Sutherland wants to return to this world.

For my 2024 challenges, I decided to focus on reading my Book of the Month books because I’m sorely behind. To help me with this focus, I used BOTM books that have been on my TBR for over a year to create my Trim Your TBR Challenge list. The number for THIS SPELLS LOVE was picked for January and I’m so glad because I absolutely adored it.

I zipped right through THIS SPELLS LOVE because I couldn’t put it down. When I wasn’t reading it, I wanted to be reading it. It hooked me right from the beginning and has left me thinking of the characters and their relationships long after I finished reading.

I adored everything about THIS SPELLS LOVE. I loved Gemma Wilde, her sister, kooky aunt, and her best friend Daxon McGuire. I loved the setting of Hamilton, Canada, just outside Toronto. The description of the people, shops, pubs, curling lanes, and the waterfront of Lake Ontario had me ready to book a plane ticket so I could experience it first hand.

Friends-to-lovers is hands down my favorite romantic trope and THIS SPELLS LOVE didn’t disappoint. Kate Robb’s execution was excellently written, producing a steamy fast-paced romance. The sexual tension between Gemma and Dax is amazing and leaves you wanting for more.

I also loved the lit bit of paranormal, in the form of a love-cleansing spell in THIS SPELLS LOVE. It was fun to see it flip Gemma’s world on its head, causing her to figure out what was truly important to her.

When I finished THIS SPELLS LOVE, I waffled over rating it 4- or 5-stars. It didn’t take me long to realize that there was nothing about it that I didn’t love. Robb’s debut has a lot to live up to, but I’m definitely looking forward to reading more books written by her.