unlikelyplaces's reviews
265 reviews

🌿 The Beautiful Ones - Silvia Moreno-Garcia 🌿 

📱 

⭐ - 3.25

Ok so this book was not really for me but I think lots of people will love it. 

To describe this book I would say it’s like the historical, romantic messiness of Bridgerton but it’s closed-door and with a little dash of fantasy. There’s like multiple love triangles going on here, it’s got all the scandal and gossip elements and I think a lot of people will think that it’s a lot of fun. So if that sounds interesting to you then I’d definitely give it a go. 

For me personally, I struggled because my mood changed like half way through and then I was bored for a lot of this and I really wanted there to be more of the fantasy element. As it was, the magic felt a bit unnecessary to me so it was really just a historical romance except they can do magic. 

As tends to be the case with 3 star reads, I really don’t have too much to say. It was fine and, as I say, I think a lot of people will enjoy this more than I did. Definitely a good one for those of you who have just finished Bridgerton and want more of those vibes. If you find characters making dumb decisions and being generally toxic to be frustrating though, maybe skip this one… 😂 

This is my second book by this author and they’ve both been a bit meh for me so I’m thinking they might just not be for me but if there’s one that you think I really must try, let me know! 

‼️ Content warnings: there’s just a couple of comments made by characters that relate to self harm and domestic abuse 

Rhythm of War - Brandon Sanderson 

📖 

⭐ - 5 

Ok so obviously I can’t say too much about this as it’s a 4th book and I don’t want to spoil anything so I’ll do my best. I will mention characters names though so if you’re particularly sensitive to knowing who’s alive at this point etc then just be warned. 

Despite the fact that this book took me 3 months to read, I actually did really love it. I think starting this around the same time as Baldur’s Gate was my mistake but we got there in the end. 

So I think this is probably my second favourite book in this series after Way of Kings. Kaladin and Navani are my two favourite characters in Stormlight and we got to spend lots of time with them in this book so that made me happy. Navani’s plotline in this book was definitely my favourite, I loved every part of it. Hers might be my favourite character arc in the whole series actually. 

The way that this book opens up the world is wild and I really wish that I was better at keeping track of things. I kind of want to go back and reread some of the Cosmere books that I read a while ago now that I have a better understanding of things but there’s just so many books I still need to read that I might need to wait a bit for that. 

My main issue with this was that I really didn’t care about the flashback scenes. Now, to be fair, I struggle with flashback and vision scenes in general and the flashbacks have been my main struggle with this entire series. But the flashbacks in this book were a particular struggle for me, I really didn’t care at all. I do like that character in the main storyline but their flashbacks just felt unnecessary to me. It obviously didn’t ruin the book for me though. 

🌿 The Daydreams - Laura Hankin🌿 

⭐️ - 4.75 

🎧 

Ok so just to caveat this, a lot of the reviews for this book are not that great so maybe take this with a pinch of salt but I really loved this book. 

I have been in such a reading slump for the past couple of months really but I literally listened to this whole audiobook in two days (which is extremely fast for me). I found this so addictive, I couldn’t put it down. 

The Daydreams follows the cast of a 2000’s teen show as they return for a reunion years later. It is clearly inspired by the stories of Disney/Nickelodeon child stars that have come out in recent years. To me, this story is primarily an exploration of the way that these stars (particularly the young women) are treated by the media. It does touch on other themes but that was definitely the one that stood out to me. 

It did a really great job of making me constantly question how I felt about each of the characters which I think was intentional. And as I said, I literally just couldn’t stop listening to this. There was one aspect of the ending of this that I’m not sure I liked but that didn’t ruin the book for me. 

I think I was just in exactly the right mood for this right now and now I’m at a bit of a loss of what audiobook to read next. 

‼️Content warnings: predatory men, body image issues, eating disorder, addiction, parent death

Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Release date: 28 May 2024

⭐️ - 4

📱

This was a good, old-fashioned dragon adventure and a great time.

The Fireborne Blade follows Maddileh, a knight on a quest to steal a legendary blade from the lair of the infamous dragon, the White Lady. It’s a very classic set up but there are some unique worldbuilding elements in this that kept it from feeling stale.

I love classic fantasy quest stories, they just feel really nostalgic to me, so that was great for me. The characters were fun to follow and the magical elements were very cool.

My main criticism of this was that I think it was just too short! Maybe it’s because I’m used to like Tolkien and Sanderson but this just felt a bit rushed to me. There was a lot of really interesting stuff happening but I felt like we didn’t have time to fully explore it or get to know the characters enough for it to have the full impact. I just wanted more!

That said, I think this would work really well for anyone who generally reads YA fantasy and wants to give some adult fantasy a go.

I also want mention that I’ve seen a lot in the marketing for this about the romance but there’s not really a romance at all in this. I know it’s planned to be a series so maybe there will be more in future books but in this first book there’s like nothing but a few longing glances, just in case that’s something you were specifically looking for.

So, I think this book would work great for anyone who wants a fun, classic fantasy adventure with a bit more of a modern twist. It could be a good pallet cleanser in between heavier reads as well. I had a great time with this and I will definitely be picking up a physical copy because that cover 😍

How have these people made it so far in life without learning any basic communication skills? This is the most dysfunctional group of people to ever exist… 

Dead Silence - S.A. Barnes 

⭐ - 3 

🎧 

I was just looking back at my Q1 reads and realised that I’ve had such an underwhelming reading year so far and this book continues that trend… I have really mixed feelings about this. 

Dead Silence follows a crew out in the depths of space who stumble across The Aurora, a luxury space cruise that mysteriously disappeared over 20 years ago. When the crew decide to investigate, they find unspeakable horrors inside. 

Ok so I really don’t read a lot of horror/thriller but, when I do, I like it to be sort of equal parts tension and mystery. I need some element of “trying to figure it out” to keep me interested and this book almost had that. 

I absolutely love this concept, I always think that space is a great setting for something like this because of the claustrophobic nature of it. I also, for the most part, really liked the protagonist, Claire. She reminded me a lot of Ripley from Alien if she had a bit more backstory (which I love). She did, however, keep making stupid decisions but I could forgive that if that was my only issue with this book. 

My problem with this was mostly the pacing. If we were to split the book into thirds, I really loved the beginning third, and I would have loved the last third if I hadn’t been so bored for the whole middle section. I honestly don’t know how you make such an interesting concept so boring but it felt like the characters had mostly figured out what was going on pretty quickly and then it was just gory description after gory description with no real purpose and you just kind of get desensitised to them. From about 30% until about 70% of the way through I just wanted the book to end and I almost DNF’ed it but I enjoyed the beginning so much that did care enough to see what the ending was. 

So, I feel quite conflicted about this… if the description sounds interesting to you and you like horror for the gore rather than the mystery then you might like this. For me, it had the set up to be a high 4 star but just dropped off so much in the middle so I levelled it out to a 3. 

Content warnings: Extreme gore, v!olence, parent d3ath, su!c!de, self h@rm, pandemic