sassypantsreading's reviews
798 reviews

Captivating by Bella Matthews

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medium-paced

3.0

So I just finished Captivating, and honestly, it was a so-so read for me. I’m not quite sure what, specifically, about this series doesn’t do it for me. Right off the bat, the vibes were much more NA than contemporary, and I didn’t love that. Lilah seemed insanely immature. I also felt like she and Noah would have had much more lives experience than they appeared to. I was picturing Lilah almost like a Taylor Swift, but the book was all, girl next door. Killian was cool, but a bit too possessive for me. I don’t know, as I get older, I get more and more annoyed with the FMC who is all “oh no, I hate you so much, you ruined my life, but you’re hot and *slightly* nice to me, so whoops! There go my clothes, but I hate you for making me want you with your magic peen voodoo power, but can we do it again and now I love you?” It feels so tired to me. Last, I don’t get this friend group. I said it with the last book as well: the friend group feels incestuous. It was a little better in this book because Noah and Lilah are twins, but it’s still a lot. I’ve never met twins who “drop a kiss on my head, brush my hip against his, lay my head on his should, etc.” In fact, I’ve never met siblings like that either. I can’t tell if authors do this because it’s how they think family and friends should interact, or if they’ve actually encountered this in the wild. It’s just so weird to me. I don’t go around calling my cousins “cousin,” or my sister “baby sister” or “little sister.” What even is that? So I guess I didn’t like this book as much as I thought lol. 
Lucky Shot by K. Bromberg

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emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I really enjoyed Lucky Shot. The book was a bit more emotional than I was expecting. As someone who had a soccer career-ending knee injury my senior year of high school, I really felt for Whitney. I loved that this book was about soccer, but set in America; we don’t often get that. Hardy was super hot and so sweet, even though he thoroughly annoyed me at the beginning of the book. Whitney wasn’t my favorite because of her running, but I know it was a trauma response. My only real complaint would be with the author’s writing style. I felt like the book was often wordy and points could’ve been made in a less roundabout and more direct way. There were quite a few times that I had to reread a sentence or paragraph to make sure I wasn’t missing something because of the wording. I did read an ARC, so hopefully some of that is caught in final edits. 

Beltane by Jena Doyle

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Whew! Ok, Beltane. I dragged my feet a bit on this book, but I think it’s because I read the whole series in a handful of days and burnt myself out on it. I love the direction the series took and how everything ended. I realized throughout the series that poly (other than RH) is just not my jam, but I’m not here to yuck anyone’s yum. I still enjoyed the book(s) and appreciate that I learned something about myself. I’m very much looking forward to Kit and Edward’s story.

I received a copy of Beltane from BookSirens and I am leaving my review voluntarily.
Solstice by Jena Doyle

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challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Samhain by Jena Doyle

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challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Midsummer by Jena Doyle

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challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m not sure how I feel about Midsummer. It’s my first poly book, and I’m still on the fence about if I like it. But I just don’t know if I like the characters in this book. Once the magic started, I think I started to enjoy it more, and I’m definitely going to read the next book to see what happens, but I’m skeptical that I can get through all four books at this point. 
Saved By My Three Bears by Kayla Brooks

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fast-paced

3.0

I never thought there would be a time in my life where a book called Saved By My Three Bears would make me emotional, but here we are. All I could think was, Poor Bernard! Barrett was absolutely awful toward him, like borderline emotionally abusive (especially considering his role in Bernard’s life) and that moment of defeat for Bernard, after the fight with Bryce and Barrett? Heartbreaking! The title and description of the book are slightly misleading, because only two bears saved and had anything to do with Aurelia. Barrett literally only gave her nasty looks twice, and that was the extent of their interaction. This book definitely would have benefited from being a bit longer. I know it’s a novella, but I would’ve liked a bit more, all around.

I received a copy of Saved By My Three Bears from BookSirens. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Fall of Ruin and Wrath by Jennifer L. Armentrout

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Charmed by the Alien Warrior by Michelle Nova

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medium-paced

4.0

I really enjoyed Charmed By The Alien Warrior! I thought Mara and Sorrin were a great couple. Sorrin had a great personality and more depth than I was expecting. Mara also had a lot of depth, which played out in her trauma-response personality. Watching the two of them get to know each other was exciting. I also really like the political drama happening on the planet; it’s a great overarching plot to link all the books. I didn’t read the first book in the series, but I was able to catch on pretty quickly.

Parts of the book were repetitive. I went back a few times to see if anything was legitimately repeated, but it was all just very similar. And this might be a me problem, but crash landing on a planet with big blue aliens had me thinking I had read this book or the series starter before, but I had not. It’s easy to get the book mixed up with certain Ice Planet books.

I’m looking forward to Emily’s book next. I likely won’t go back and read the series starter, but only because I don’t feel like I’m missing any crucial information.

I received a copy of Charmed By The Alien Warrior from BookSirens. I am leaving this review voluntarily.
A Goddess Unraveled by Morgan Rider

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I really enjoyed A Goddess Unraveled, but there were definitely some areas that could’ve been tightened up a bit. I love Greek mythology retellings, especially Hades and Persephone retellings, but this is not your typical story of those two. Morgan Rider did a wonderful job of world-building and I thought the characters were fairly well-developed. I did think the beginning of the book was a bit confusing; there were a lot of characters introduced and I was having trouble following who everyone was or what purpose they served. Once I was about a third of the way in, the story flowed a bit easier. Some things were left unclear to me (why was Luke there, other than being curious about “this one”) and some things I just flat out didn’t understand (why Lexi was ok with basically being the other woman). I realize this will be a trilogy and I’m sure those things will be answered, but it left me wanting a bit with this book. 

I would also classify this book as YA (if the steamy scenes were toned down slightly) or NA; Lexi is very immature and it was weird to me how much she was under the thumb of her parents and godfather. Even knowing what I know about WHY they were so overprotective, it didn’t make sense to me that she was an adult but still acted so childishly. 

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I am looking forward to the next books in the trilogy.

I received a copy of A Goddess Unraveled from Edelweiss and I am reviewing it voluntarily.