pagesplotsandpints's reviews
2066 reviews

Read Completed 1/24/25 | 3.75 - 4 stars | Book #7 of 2025

I was nervous about starting this because I've really grown out of enjoying enemies-to-lovers, and the last Sarah Adams book I read with this concept was... not my cup of tea. This definitely went much better, but I still feel like this trope prevents me from experiencing the feelings right off the bat. 

I did appreciate how Sarah Adams worked in some affection while the two were still insisting they were arch rivals. We get snippets of emails back and forth in between some chapters and we get to see that Emily & Jack did have some feelings for each other, but started off on a terrible foot and just kept carrying it on and on. 

I did enjoy their relationship and chemistry! Maybe not as much as I would have liked immediately, but this was back to some great Sarah Adams feels later on and I connected much more to everything in the second half of the book. 

I would have rated this 3.5 stars, but I was very impressed with the ending of the book! I LOVE when an author is able to insert a 3rd act conflict without a 3rd act break-up. Something happens here where both characters need a little time and space, but it wasn't about a miscommunication, misunderstanding, or something someone else did. They're both growing and learning how to be in a relationship, especially while still maintaining their own personalities and desires. I was highly impressed and it really gave me fond feelings for the book overall! 

I don't think this is still the most memorable of her books for me, but I did enjoy the read. I haven't read a romance book in a few months (October! Whoa.) so this was quite a mood shift.

Read Competed 1/23/25 | 3.25 stars | Book #6 of 2025 

This was just okay! I've read better from Leah Konen... but I've also read worse. This was a pretty standard thriller that was a little mix of slasher movie vibes blended with a little psychological head games. I wasn't super into this book at any point and it felt pretty surface level. Sadly, it felt like such average writing that I'm surprised seeing this from her being her 4th or 5th adult thriller. I wish her writing would keep growing, at least it didn't feel like it was for me, and even just the way things played out felt a little mediocre. 

We got hit with a lot of female psych thriller tropes: alcoholic, failed attempts at having a child, betraying a best friend. It was a little tiresome, but still made for a decent thriller. I guess that's why it's done so often! There were quite a few things that I think the author could have used in the plot a little bit more to make the story more exciting and twisty OR to further character development but they fell flat: the property war, the failed rounds of IVF, any development of friendship between any of the main female characters. 

This felt pretty blah for me. I did like the snowy, winter setting as I usually like in books, and actually reading it in the winter makes it a fun setting. We could have creeped up the motel a bit more, made the neighbors a little creepier rather than just having an inappropriate rich guy who likes S&M and throwing in a sexual relationship with a minor for literally no reason that did not further the story. 

This fell fairly flat, and yet it was still readable. I don't think any of this will be memorable to me and I'm pretty disappointed about that, but it could be a fine read for someone else.

Read Completed 1/21/25 | 3.5 stars | Book #5 of 2025
This was a fun read! I forgot what the synopsis *actually* said and I thought Rosie was going to be guided/possessed by the old wife's heart, hence why she was going after the husband... but that was not the case 😂 That would be horror, not thriller. Anyway, that didn't affect my read, but I'd read that horror novel, too... 

This was an easy, fun thriller that was a breeze to fly through! I really enjoyed the read, and it had one REALLY good twist that knocked me off my feet, but that was the book's sole shining glory. I do have to hand it to the author for me not seeing that coming! 

If the ending had been a little catchier for me, I think I could have given it 4 stars, but it wrapped up in a little bit of a typical thriller fashion, which isn't a bad thing but also not something to really amp up the rating! A solid book and I can see readers enjoying it!

Read Completed 1/20/25 | 3.25 stars | Book #4 of 2025
Megan Lally's debut, THAT'S NOT MY NAME, was my favorite book of 2024, so needless to say, I had really high hopes for this one. I did get to see seem reviews that put my expectations in place before I read it, so that definitely helped my enjoyment, though. 

This was an easy read, much more young adult in terms of.... reading level? It was much simpler and less complex than THAT'S NOT MY NAME. I didn't enjoy it as much, but it was easy to breeze through and I really did like the ending! It had a little bit more of a slasher vibe than psychological thriller, which can still be fun but usually doesn't blow me away. 

The beginning took a little too long for my tastes, since it's a shorter book. By 20%, I'm hoping to really be into the heart-pounding thriller aspects and we were still setting up high school parties -- in the present and in the past. I wished there was a little more sinister of a feeling to the flashbacks. It took a while to really get dark! 

I liked a lot about the ending and I could have given it 3.5, but part of the believability took me back down. It was still a fun read, but much less gripping than TNMN, in my opinion!

Read Completed 1/19/25 | 3.75 - 4 stars
I did it! I made it! I did an entire Stormlight reread before this and whew, it was a long journey. Let's see if I can gather some thoughts about WIND AND TRUTH. 

Firstly, I always enjoy every Cosmere book. I don't think I've rated any Cosmere book under 4 stars (some non-related books of his, yes) so while I have some *thoughts* on WIND AND TRUTH. Also ** there will be spoilers** so you've been warned. 

Yes, I did enjoy it but I also felt like it was really choppy. I don't know if it's a fact, but it felt like the amount of time we spend with each character before jumping to another one felt very fast and short. I just wanted to spend large amounts of time with some of them, even if it wasn't chronologically correct according to what was going on. Especially spending time in places like Shadesmar, or spending time learning about Rosharan history -- things I really wanted to give my time and attention to. 

The book also spent a LOT of time with side that I didn't like as much and it felt like there wasn't a good enough reason to spend so much time with them. I never really connected with Venli as much as I wanted to and I think most of it was because she shows up later and we don't know enough about the Singers for me to immediately connect. I WANTED to know more but I always found it difficult. I don't think her POV added ENOUGH to this story line to be a secondary character POV over just an interlude. There was also a ton of time learning Szeth's history, which was important, but maybe it was a little TOO much time. He was important to the ending, but flipping back and forth to his history really kept bringing the momentum down. 

I also felt like this was the book with the least amount of character growth. Some characters make HUGE shifts in their futures, but I think the really hit the peak of their growth in RHYTHM OF WAR and made the final choices here. I would have loved to see a little bit more character in personality, which is why I loved Adolin's perspective in this book. He brought a lightness and a genuine attitude when everyone else was saving the end of the world. 

This is the end of the *arc*, not the end of the series, so there's still a lot more to come. I don't know exactly if everyone will be returning, but I also felt like considering the consequences, Sanderson could have put a lot more people in mortal peril. I would have liked to see some more high stakes consequences, because everyone kind of coming out okay didn't really hit me in the emotions like I was expecting. YES, there is some really serious shit that goes down, but I also expected/hoped for more. 

I also felt like some of the ending did a disservice to the series. The rushed history of the Heralds, the fracturing of shards, etc -- why couldn't we have gotten more of this throughout the series instead of just the last quarter of this book? I could legit use a whole "novella" (I say "novella" because Sanderson's short books are still 300+ pages) about Adonalsium, Shards, Splinters, the humans coming to Roshar, etc. I would have liked to read this -- like Edgedancer and Dawnshard -- before this installment. ALSO speaking of Dawnshards, more happened there and I still don't understand it? I guess that's going to be a part of Arc #2, but why not go into it more here? There were still a lot of unanswered questions. I guess to get us to come back to Arc 2 after however many years it's going to take, but I'm a little disappointed some things didn't get wrapped up. 

During my reread, I realized how much I kind of got lost in the Shadesmar parts and I equally got lost in the Spiritual Realm here. I think we spent too much time there. The Spiritual realm really kind of has no rules. People get sucked in to memories and visions all the time and nothing is real, but it is. I wanted more order, and I get if that's not the place for it, but I think it dragged on and on when we didn't need to have 125 different visions. Maybe cut it down. 

Kaladin being a damn therapist -- and literally using that term -- was cringe-worthy. I don't mind him working through that and taking up that calling to help others, but it felt too forced and too 21st century Earth. I actually really appreciate the mental health reps in these books, but I feel like we were just hit over the head here multiple times. We can understand what's happening without being told about THERAPY. You could have just as easily said counselor and that would have 100% been okay. 

I'm disappointed in the lack of closure with the Ghostbloods. Again, it seems like that's going to be a HUGE part of Arc 2 (and probably Mistborn Era 3), but also again, it would be nice to have a semi-closure there. I liked that Shallan got left in Shadesmar, though. I like the messing with time. I liked Dalinar's sacrifice, but wanted to spend more time with Wit working through what all of it MEANT. The really interesting stuff -- to me -- came all with the Sanderlanche in the last 10%, but why couldn't we have had MORE MORE MORE of it throughout the whole book!?! There were still some really good things but too much got saved for the end. 

TL;DR: I think this just had too much ... I wouldn't fall it fluff or filler... but while things were constantly moving, it was like moving laterally for a long time. A LONG time. We could have had some other BIG world-building reveals throughout the book that really would have had me amazed, but it was all saved until the end, and by then, I felt a little deflated. I rated this 4 stars, but my gut tells me to knock some points off. We'll see how I feel after sitting with it and talking about it with others.

Read Completed 1/2/25 | 3.5 stars
I listened to an advanced review copy of this audiobook. Thank you to Macmillan Audio via Netgalley for this opportunity.

Ah, the curse of the first book of the year. I can never love it, can I? 

WHAT LIES IN THE WOODS, Kate Alice Marshall's adult debut, remains one of my favorite thrillers, but her subsequent adult thrillers just haven't done it for me lately. For some reason, I just really never got into this book and I had such a hard time connecting to any of the characters. Theo was just very mid-level, and hard to get to know with a mysterious past and missing memories. There was a lot of focus on her past, but we didn't get to KNOW her NOW. She didn't have much personality, nor did anyone else in the book. Everyone was just a character and no one felt like a real person. 

There were also a few too many characters here for me. Usually it's not an issue but since the characters weren't super memorable, half of the men just kind of blended together which really didn't help things once accusations started flying around. I just didn't care about them enough and they didn't stand out enough for me to really set each one of them in their place. 

I was also disappointed in Connor's involvement. He was a pretty boring character, and I supposed he didn't have be to someone so outstanding, but I wanted more personality from him too. He existed just to pull Theo into the story and really served no other purpose. 

The plot was just fine for me. The story was engaging enough and there were a couple times that I was allllmost really into it. It's still well put-together, even if I didn't love the structure of it. I really didn't like the moments in the past going back to third person, switching from the book's first person POV. I get that it's to distance yourself from what's going on, but it felt awkward every time it popped in. I think I would have liked a bigger reveal closer to the end that having it peppered in the whole book. 

I don't know! This one just didn't do it for me. I felt disconnected the whole time. Maybe I read it at the wrong time, taking a break during my fantasy reads to get a couple of "regular sized" books in before I dive back into to 1000+ page books, but I just didn't connect with this really at all. Maybe I hyped myself up too much, or maybe it just wasn't the story for me. I don't connect with every single book from a thriller author and it's rare that I do. I saw so much potential in this but this just didn't pull me in. 

AUDIOBOOK THOUGHTS: I'm also really tiring of Karissa Vacker's narration. I really hated it here for some reason. She was my favorite narrator for a really long time and I still think she does a nice job, but I just didn't like her voice for this story. I wanted someone new, gritty, tough. She's too soft.

Read Completed 12/31/24 | 2 stars
This was just okay, but the ending was a little silly for me, and a little too far-fetched. 

Read Completed 12/30/24 | 3 stars
This was just okay! There really wasn't anything wrong with it but it was very "typical thriller" that didn't really bring anything new to the plate and included plots that I've seen many times before. I do think that the author wrote a good story, though! While it wasn't something that will be memorable for me, it was an enjoyable read and I really got to know both characters. I wish we had gotten a little more depth to the main characters and the middle had a few lulls where it got a little repetitive, but I was satisfied with the read and it was an easy thriller that flew by!

This was really, really fun and exactly what I needed! It shocked me a few times and I really loved what was happening. Sadly it turned a little too popcorn thriller in the ending, going a little overboard. The audiobook was also great with new narrators for each new POV. Loved the full cast.

Read Completed 11/29/24 | 2 stars

1 | Every Heart a Doorway ★★★★☆
2 | Down Among the Sticks and Bones ★★★★☆
3 | Beneath the Sugar Sky ★★★★☆
4 | In an Absent Dream ★★★★☆
5 | Come Tumbling Down ★★★☆☆
6 | Across the Green Grass Fields ★★★★☆
7 | Where the Drowned Girls Go ★★☆☆☆
8 | Lost in the Moment and Found ★★★☆☆
9 | Mislaid in Parts Half-Known ★★★☆☆
10 | Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear ★★☆☆☆

I'm just not sure why I'm not connecting with these anymore. I found this installment entirely boring and couldn't get any interested in this world. I think I really don't like the worlds that are more folklore & fairy tale with animals as a MAIN part of the world. I have a really hard time with it not feeling like just a nursery rhyme -- which could also entirely be the point. 

I really, really didn't like the concept of Nadya's prothesis. In the beginning, when it's her adoptive parents making the decision for her, it's a terrible thing that she's never consulted or asked if it's what she wants to do... but then when she magically gets a prosthesis in the underwater world, it's totally okay. So is it what she wanted all along and that's why magic grants it to her? I thought it would be more lovely if she didn't have that because she kept saying how she was perfect the way she was born. I thought it would make more sense for her to perfectly adept for this world that welcomed her without adding something like that -- that would be better suited for continuing the concept that she was perfect the way she was. 

I keep getting disappointed in this series, but I loved the early installments so I keep trying. I think the origin stories are more difficult because they're so separate from the *plot*. I know that's not the point of a lot of these origin stories, but something just feels a little empty at times. 

This was just a miss for me because of what the world was and it wasn't something I enjoyed, but there were also elements that I just didn't enjoy and some writing choices I didn't love. I'll keep trying a few more, but if they keep going like this, I may have to abandon this series.