pastelwriter's reviews
1099 reviews

I had such a great time reading this! I feel like a dummy for taking so long to pick this up!

This was exactly the cozy read I needed after dealing with some difficult shit that happened this month. It made me feel warm and happy. It was a delight to follow Asiri and Dario as they fell in love. 

As a huge animal lover, I’m an absolute sucker for character who also love all kinds of animals, but in the case of Asiri also have the ability to talk to them as well! It was so funny how different the  animals were from one another. They each had a unique voice that made them interesting additions to the narrative. 

The only sad thing was how Dario kept misinterpreting Asiri because she kept getting annoyed at the animals talking to her, and he thought she was getting annoyed at him. My ADHD sweetheart of a man did not deserve that kind of stress 😔 At least ultimately that all gets cleared up as Asiri doesn’t find it annoying at all how excited Dario gets when talking about animal facts. We love to see it 🙏🏻

Now I just desperately need the sequel 😩👌🏻

This is my first mid read from McGinnis, and I’m so sad 😭 This just didn’t hit the way I thought it would. 

Overall, I don’t think the book is bad. I think it’s a perfectly okay book, which is why it’s standing at a 3🌟 rating. The truth of the matter is that I’m used to McGinnis’ books being a little more deranged, and this one was just missing that edge I’ve come to love when reading her works. 

I would say that the only reason I continued on with this story was because I liked Lydia and Bristal. Their dynamic was super engaging, and they left me wishing they’d been plopped into the plot of a different novel. This one was a little too slow for them. It needed more urgency to keep up with two very strong-willed characters. 

And that’s ultimately my main complaint about this novel. I felt no urgency. Since the characters were basically, from the get-go, only trying to solve a cold case… It didn’t feel imperative for them to solve it. The stakes of them needing their history credit and Lydia having an extra edge to get into college just simply weren’t enough. I think it would’ve worked out better if there had been a recent murder, and that’s what unlocked interest and impetus into digging into a 30 year old case. 

As it was, the only thing I genuinely enjoyed about this book was the characters. The plot was lackluster, and it took way too long for the characters to  do something truly unexpected and grasp my attention fully. 

All in all, this will certainly not stop me from reading more books by McGinnis, but I’m sad to say it wasn’t another definitive win as the other four books I’ve read by her have been 😔

Well this was…definitely darker than the first installment in this series. 

I must admit I enjoyed this less because the degradation here was more intense.

My guy literally has a sexual encounter with a demon taking the visage of his old bishop…which he wasn’t sexually attracted to…but was attracted to his power I guess. It was a mess, and I wasn’t into it. 

For the most part I was fine with the other major sexual encounter Alessandro has in here…but I didn’t need the part where he’s bloated with semen and has to basically shit it out 💀

Not appealing. Must confess that wasn’t enjoyable to read at all. 

Still. I understand why this second novella pushed the boundaries further as that’s the whole point. Alessandro must leave behind his faith and self-hatred in order to be worthy of Asmodeus’ time… but this didn’t change how unpleasant certain moments in this were. 

Still. I plan to read the sequel 🤷🏻‍♀️ I want to know what happens next 👀

I had a wonderful time reading this novella! It was exactly what I needed it to be: short, smutty, and blasphemous 💁🏻‍♀️✨


There’s not much to say about this, however, because it’s so short. Still, I enjoyed myself with it despite the fact that usually I’m not into darker erotica with submissive characters who like being degraded. 

Some of the stuff I did like was the fact that this had blood play. I’m always down for that because of my vampire brain rot problems 😂 In addition, I’m also definitely into the idea of a priest falling for temptation and succumbing to the sin of lust. Therefore, I was very pleased with how, once the demon was summoned, Asmodeus was basically throwing Alessandro around and demanding he be clear about what he wanted. 

It was great! I look forward to reading the sequel ✌🏻

This was…fine. To be honest, I enjoyed myself throughout most of it. However, I don’t feel compelled to give it more than 3🌟 😅

My main complaint is that this book didn’t need to be this long. I was never bored, per se, but I was keenly aware of its length as I kept listening to the audiobook. The pacing was a bit too slow. 

In general, though, I liked Aspeth and Hawk. I enjoyed following their relationship as they got closer and fell in love. It was sweet following them, and definitely steamy. I was genuinely impressed, though, that it took so long for the cave fucking to happen 😂 Truly the conquest moon took ages to happen. Regardless. The restraint (to an extent) was surprising. 

I also absolutely adored Lark and Meridan (?). They were so cuuuteee!!! I absolutely need more of them! 💖😭💖 I beg and plead. If I’m honest, I will only continue reading the series if the sequel follows them. This is my truth 😔

P. S. How the hell does a slitherskin look? I was imagining some sort of snake/frog/turtle hybrid, but I’m still perplexed. 

If I’m being honest, I prefer the anime. I think the anime has more of a cozy feel because it’s in color. I also think the narrative flow is better in the anime because we can “sit” in certain scenes for longer than in the manga. 

So, the manga itself isn’t terrible. I just don’t think I would’ve fallen in love with the story if I’d first encountered it in this format. 

However, if I do appreciate something, it is being able to read about my beloved Chilchuck 💖 No regrets there. I adore him with everything in my heart and soul ✨

I don’t even know what to rate this 🧍🏻‍♀️ I was having a lovely time…and then a bucket of angst was dumped on me. I’m speechless. 

I started this series for a silly little time, despite the “dangerous” aspect of the narrative, and I definitely did not have a silly little time in this volume. What happens between Eui-joon and Gunwoo genuinely shook me. I was not expecting Eui-joon to come face to face with the coldest side of Gunwoo, and that fucking up everything. Eui-joon had finally been fully comfortable admitting his feelings to Gunwoo, and then everything went to shit. 

How can I live laugh love under these conditions? I despair. I need this shit to be fixed ASAP 😭

I had fun reading this volume. My goal is to read the entire series before maybe committing to getting a tattoo of it 👀 I fell in love with the anime over the summer, but don’t want to make such a huge commitment without knowing more. 

Anyway. The best part of this was reading about my beloved Chilchuck 🙏🏻 He is an absolute nag, and I love it. I live for when he scolds the other members of his team. His whole rant to Senshi when Senshi was being reckless around traps? Incredible. Amazing. Iconic. I would love to have him be a pain in my ass 💖 He’s everything to me. 

Senshi still continues to have the other part of my heart. He is a dear and so sweet. I love how he’s always concerned with making sure he’s feeding the team proper hearty meals. What a dear! 

Laios continues to be a freak in my eyes 😂 His hard-on for eating monsters is too much for me. He’s got way too much of a one-track mind. He needs to chill. Fast. 

Anyway. I look forward to continuing the series ✌🏻

I had so much fun reading this! I wasn’t sure if I would love this, but I absolutely did!

First of all, Jaeyoung is absolute chaos, and I adore him. His determination to annoy , at first, was deranged. Absolute stalker behavior from Jaeyoung. Just because Sangwoo is easy to stalk doesn’t mean that Jaeyoung isn’t a stalker. Still. I found it all so amusing. He learned all the little ways to annoy the shit outta Sangwoo, and I have to admire the dedication. Plus, when he flips to wanting to be charming and nice? Be still my heart! He’s so fucking pretty. I love seeing him in his evil mode, but his nice mode is even more heart-melting.

Second of all, Sangwoo has never done anything wrong in his life. Ever. And I will stand by that. My guy just cannot stand by people getting credit for work they didn’t do, and I have to respect that. Truly I relate so much to his clear-cut view of life, and his need for routine. The narrative went out of its way to clarify he’s not neurodivergent…but I beg to differ. The absolute need for routine and the way it fucks up his whole day if it’s messed with is not neurotypical. It just ain’t 🤷🏻‍♀️ Still. It’s his way of being that makes me love him 💖 So relatable and real of him to be a pain to others when he just wants to live his life and not have anyone bother him. I only wish for him to be able to return to fully being an Unbothered King 🙏🏻

Third of all, I’m so excited to continue this series! I already feel so invested! I need to see how their relationship develops, and I also want to see the friendship between Sangwoo and Jihye develop. She was truly so helpful to him in this volume, and my beloved deserves a friend 💖

I’m finally free of the shackles of this book 🙏🏻 Much like Trent, I felt trapped by this book. I can finally live again having reached the conclusion. 

For about 60-75% of this book, it was sitting at a comfortable 3🌟 I neither hated it nor loved it. I could see what it was trying to accomplish, but I wasn’t exactly impressed by the execution. This was especially the case as I found the writing unnecessarily confusing in a way that was frustrating versus mentally stimulating. Trust me when I say I can handle ambiguity and confusion. This book just took it a step too far for me. 

Once we started reaching the resolution, however, that’s when I began to loathe this book. It was an absolute WASTE of my time. If we consider the “heart” of this narrative being about white cis hetero men inevitably falling into cycles of misogyny (with the need to be providers for their nuclear family, being “strong” role models to keep the home together, all to be trapped into a specific framework of masculinity), the ending was mind-boggling. Let’s get into it. 

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There is no reason for this to end with Rita deciding to spare Trent from being sacrificed to The Entity in the basement and allowing The Entity free reign of the world. First of all, it doesn’t make sense, and it doesn’t feel earned for her to give enough of a shit (one way or another) to even make the choice to save Trent. She didn’t even like that man! And if she was unhappy with how The Entity was warping the pact made with her ancestors, well she’s a damn lawyer! She. Can. Make. A. Goddamned. New. Pact. USE YOUR BRAIN, RITA! 

To me the ending felt reminiscent of Eve and Adam. Eve falls for temptation, so we’re all damned to suffer because of the actions of a woman. Same here. Rita chooses to “save” Trent, so now all must deal with the shit consequences of that. If we’re trying to break cycles of misogyny and white cis hetero male thinking and living, we sure went back to square fucking one with that choice!  

All of this would’ve been so much better if it had exclusively focused on Trent, and we saw how slowly but surely The Entity spread its influence among all the men close and far from Trent. That could’ve been the horror of it all! It being inevitable and inescapable. Instead, we muddle and further fuck up the narrative by trying to incorporate both Rita and Milo being negatively impacted by the house, and it’s just a shitshow. The message would’ve been clearer and sharper if it had just been from the unreliable perspective of Trent. 

 

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A book truly hasn’t wasted my time quite like this one for a while. I guess I was overdue 🙄 Truly the only reason it didn’t become a DNF was because for most of it I was fine with it. It was a buddy read with my friend Steff, and I was fine going through the motions for the sake of discussing it with her. By the 2/3 mark, I was in deep enough that I Knew I wouldn’t be satisfied just with Steff telling me what happened in the end. I needed to read it for myself to then be able to fully explain why it was not only mildly a pain to get through but was also poorly executed in the end.