paperprivateer's reviews
1454 reviews

I have mixed feelings about this one. It offers an interesting approach to grief and bringing the dead back to life, but it didn’t have the emotional weight I would expect from a book that covers those topics.

It’s tricky to combine magic with a character who loves science and the scientific method. Juniper eventually says it’s fine because magic is just a science we don’t understand, but some interactions between these two things are still a little weird sometimes. Overall, combining science and magic in a real-world setting is an interesting way to talk about grief and life, and I loved this interpretation of magic.

My main complaint with this book was it felt more shallow than it should have. It should have had a lot of emotional depth considering the amount of grief to the point where she’s trying to bring the dead back to life, or even with how she processes her magical powers, but it fell flat. 

Juniper as a character is somewhat lacking. She loves science to the detriment of almost everything else. She does irresponsible and dangerous things in the name of science, but it seems like someone so in love with the scientific method would be a little more cautious about some of the things she does. There’s not much depth to her character other than us being constantly told that she loves science. I never felt her love for her sister or even that she missed her that much, even though we’re told she does because It’s necessary for that plot.

I did like the interpretation of how we and other people change and how our memories of the people we love may not capture everything about who that person is. Unfortunately, some of the implementation of this doesn’t work as well as it should have, as the explanation we’re given doesn’t match what’s actually happening (being vague to avoid spoilers, but it has to do with how Juniper realizes something is strange about her sister). The ending is unsatisfying because of how the main plot points are resolved and we’re supposed to accept that Juniper has gone through growth to accept this reality, but she hasn’t in the book's text.

Overall, this book has some beautiful elements and interesting ideas, but the execution was a little lacking in a way that took away from both the creative elements and my overall enjoyment of the book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy. 

 

DNF’d around 45%. 

 

The characters seemed to act far too young for the age, and they don’t seem to mind that they were kidnapped and then rescued. They’re like emotionless, hollow shells of characters. There were also some world-related vocabulary words that were too hard to keep track of to be able to understand what was going on. That, combined with the constant “telling” of things instead of showing anything finally sent me to the point where I was no longer interested in finishing. 

 

Icon and Inferno is everything fans of the first book would hope for in a sequel. It’s fast-paced with plenty of romantic tension and that will they, won’t they in both romance and survival that made the first book fun. 

 

The story continues in a slow burn way, but the pining doesn’t get annoying, and the characters around them keep things interesting instead of the two of them having more internal conflicts preventing them from being together. 

 

This story continues with it feeling more like an action book with spies than a romance, which worked well for the characters and settings. This one also feels like it has more stakes because of some of the losses and because of the point they are both at in their careers. The mystery is a little weak, but the characters continued to be strong. 

 

It’s another fun book in the series, and I’m hoping for a third. 

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy. 

I saw later that this book was supposed to give Bridgerton vibes with some added Phantom of the Opera feeling. I didn’t pick up on either of those while reading it, but if you like those elements of opera, intrigue, and romance, then this book may appeal to you.

The magic system in this book is likely to appeal to many YA fantasy readers. The blood magic and gift elements are reminiscent of other works, but it has uniqueness that makes the book as a whole feel fresh. The setting also had familiar elements, and the details of things like opera performers fighting for parts and fame made the side characters and setting come to life. There’s an almost dizzying amount of description of both opulence and desperation that make reading the book feel enchanting. I do wish there was more context on talents and how people survive without them since it’s such a major part of the story, but I only had those questions after I finished, not during it.

The main character, Cleo, is an interesting one, as she is somewhat naive and world-weary at the same time. She’s been used to loss and disappointment, and she’s desperate to change her life and her sister’s. Because of that, she doesn’t always fully think through the consequences of doing something or the emotional response she has to something. She makes several bad decisions and gets in with the wrong people. However, I liked how in the end, she’s given the chance to make things right and is allowed to change and grow. She doesn’t get off lightly, but there is an understanding of the nuance and complexity that she’s had to navigate.

Cleo’s frequent battles are both frustrating and endearing, making reading the book fun for me. They demonstrate how people in desperate circumstances sometimes make desperate decisions, but it’s never done in a way that makes me get too frustrated with her or the book to continue. In a nutshell, she feels very human.

There’s something of a love triangle, but this one didn’t feel annoying. The choices were so different, representing different wants, needs, and things Cleo is trying to discover about herself. It’s less of a love triangle for the sake of one and more a reflection on the complexity Cleo is facing in trying to determine who she wants to be and what she wants her life to look like. I did wish the lesbian side of the relationship read as a little less exotic and potentially stereotypical that way, but the fact that there are other LGBTQ characters in society helps take away some of the annoyance of that. I did REALLY want Cleo to take a second to think about something other than her female love interest's body for a change though, especially considering how little she seems to think about the male interest’s physical appearance. It occasionally seemed imbalanced, but it feels like it ends with the right mix and decision.

There’s a lot about this book that feels almost seductive. It’s full of wonder, glitz, glam, passion and romance, desperation, mystery, loyalty, friendship, enchanting characters, and enough ties to the real world to feel grounded. While not a perfect book, there’s a lot to enjoy here, and I can see romantasy readers and YA fiction lovers alike enjoying this.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy.

 I don’t usually do well with spooky things, so I had to read this is one sitting so I didn’t get too scared. The suspense and mystery kept me reading long past my bedtime to make sure everything turned out okay in the end. 

 

There are a lot of gothic elements. The manor is crumbling and covered in occult symbols and the forest is creepy and mysterious. There’s rumors of witchcraft, mysterious ravens, signs of the occult, and people who might not be trustworthy around every corner. It’s difficult to know who is trustworthy. Even the main character is mysterious, making us wonder who she really is and how she got herself in this situation. 

 

Some elements of the story are predictable, but there’s enough tension that the predictability doesn’t take away from the overall story. Some of it drags a little, and the reveals aren’t paced as well as they perhaps could have. However, the way the tension builds over time lends well to the creepy, mysterious setting. It all builds to a satisfactory ending. 

 

The cast of characters are interesting and mysterious. I particularly enjoyed Bran, but I do wish I’d been able to get to know our two main characters a little bit better. Some of the characterization seemed to be lost in the challenge to keep things mysterious. 

 

Overall, I enjoyed this book, and it’s a great read for “spooky season” or when you want more atmospheric tension in a romantic story. 

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy. 

 

I hadn't read the other two books in the series before I read this one. After I finished it, I went back and read the other two and I think that changed my opinions on this one. The fact that I went back and read the first two after reading this meant that I enjoyed it. However, I thought less of it after I finished the first two. 

 

There’s a lot about the world I was picking up on without reading the first books, so I assumed those would fill in when I read the other books. That’s true to an extent. Because a few years have passed since the events of the first two books, there’s a lot that has happened that wasn’t in the other books. There’s a lot of background that we don’t fully get explained. Why is Misha Brie’s best friend, for example, and has he really liked Jas for a while? And if he liked Jas and trained her closely, why wouldn’t he notice that the girl he was with wasn’t her? There’s a lot of unanswered questions and it feels like being thrown into something without a lot of information. 

 

This book is also darker than the others, with a lot of mentions of PTSD and torture. Because of her trauma, sometimes Jas doesn’t make a lot of sense. She’s somehow both trusting and naive and absolutely hates everything about the fae. While Brie has a lot of hatred for the fae in the first book and the reasons for both of their feelings make sense, but it’s frustrating. Jas is so reluctant to change her mind about things — even with her own sister being a fae and living around fae for the last few years — that she’s making decisions that have horrific consequences. It makes it hard to like her or root for her, even as traumatized as she is. I also found myself frequently frustrated with Hale, especially when we learn more about his motivations. 

 

Because of this, I like Felicity a lot better, even though I had a difficult time understanding her backstory and felt like there was a lot that was left out. I also found myself rooting for her relationship with Misha a lot more than I cared about Jas and Hale. 

 

The big reveals were… disappointing. The biggest problem was it felt like the characters all should have realized these things a lot sooner, and I found myself frustrated with everyone. 

 

After reading the other two books, I started to have a few additional complaints. It seems like all the male love interests are essentially the same. They’re obsessed with the female main characters (sometimes for very unclear reasons) and are somehow always perfectly understanding, lovely, snarky, and flirting. There’s not a ton of variety between them. 

 

The book ends in a cliffhanger, or even a double cliffhanger for both POV characters. I don’t mind cliffhangers if it feels like a plot wraps up to some level as a book. This I didn’t feel like that was satisfactory, so I found the cliffhanger more annoying than a reason to read the next one. 

 

I will gladly read the next one when it comes out because I did enjoy the overall experience and I want to see what happens with the characters, but I do think there are a lot of things about the book that aren’t as strong as they could have been. 

 

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for my honest review. The opinions are my own and were not influenced by receiving a copy.