wendeedeedee36's reviews
217 reviews

So many feelings after this book! The ending was a whirlwind of disappointment, betrayal, sisterhood, surprise, and a hint of hope. I’m definitely interested in reading The Mirror of Beasts now and I admit I wasn’t sure I was going to be. I’m not as used to YA stories anymore and following a younger FMC was a little rough. Tamsin grew on me for the most part, but man teens are tough 😆 The mystery of the plot was really intriguing though and I never managed to guess anything before it happened. I’m excited to see where this goes, and simultaneously glad it is a biology and not a longer series because I’m not sure how much I will like what will likely be an urban fantasy in Mirror of Beasts. I realize this all sounds like a negative review but it really isn’t. I liked this book and what I discussed above is why I’m surprised by how much I liked it. So yea, I recommend it even if it isn’t your normal genre. 

I love this series! It’s somehow dark yet uplifting. I love the Vikings vibes and the crazy creatures lurking in the wild. This is also one of those semi-rare occasions where the sequel somehow manages to outdo the first book….and I REALLY like The Road of Bones. I think Kingdom of Claw does a great job of showcasing Silla’s timidity (which is refreshingly rare in fantasy), but also her determination to help and protect those she cares about. She has so much growth in the book physically, mentally, and emotionally, and I absolutely loved it. Throw in her chemistry with Rey and all their delicious tension and you have a recipe for greatness. Yet, that’s only half the plot in Kingdom of Claws. This book also brings us Saga’s POV and what she has been living through as a “ward” in Sunnavik. Her story is so incredibly unique. Much like with Silla, Demi Winter’s portrays Saga as softer than the standard “badass FMC” you usually see. Yet these characters are strong in their own ways, and I find I really like this deviation from the norm. Saga deals with the daily life of being a glorified prisoner while also managing her agoraphobia, thus making escape difficult. In spite of that, she’s stubborn and curious and takes chances to try to help her sister. Her relationship with Rurik is fun and a bit mysterious. I very much hope to get snippets of his POV in the following book(s). Which brings me to my final point: that ending!…I’m dead. I need more asap. How am I supposed to survive until book 3?! 

P.S. ~ Jonas is a kunta 

I have such mixed feelings about this story. I think it was really interesting and I LOVE that it was inspired by Finnish folklore. It’s such a unique topic and definitely under appreciated. That said, most people are not as familiar with the old Finnish gods and therefore those can be A LOT of information, and similar sounding names, to take in. It’s me. I’m most people. I really liked having the glossaries at the beginning to refer to for this reason, and again, found it really interesting. 

Siiri was a really fun character! I liked her strength of spirit and devotion to Ainna. Her story/chapters really caught my attention and had me eager for more. I loved her relationship with Väinämöinen, and his backstory as well. 

Ainna was a little tough for me, and where the mixed feelings came in. I was probably most invested in her story because I’m a sucker for “he falls first” type love stories and was therefore very drawn to Tuoni…but I don’t think I was supposed to be? I’m pretty sure that relationship is a little toxic - and slightly instalove - but damn if I wasn’t wanting more. This naturally, made the ending a little hard for me, although I think it was very sweet and poetic in its own way. I’m not sure I would label this as quite a sapphic romance so much as a tale of friendship, love, and devotion. That doesn’t mean I don’t think it was romantic, because it absolutely was. Ainna really says it best:

Khaya Fraites does a really good job with the narration. As someone who has studied Finnish in the past, I can say the pronunciation is really tough, and I think Khaya does well and makes it sound very smooth/natural. She also did a good job making characters sound fairly distinct, and she did especially well with emotions and voicing the tones of the story. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the story. I cannot say I’m quite eager for a sequel, but I also cannot say I wouldn’t read it. 

The Legend of Meneka is a fun retelling of Hindu mythology. I am not as familiar with that topic and there is a lot of information to take in, but they also give you a glossary, which was incredibly helpful. It’s a great story about finding the magic within yourself and I think it made a lot of great statements. The found family aspect with the friends Meneka makes at the hermitage was really nice and I enjoyed those charactets a lot. Meneka herself was a very good FMC for the story. She was stubborn and self assured, but also open minded enough to realize she should be questioning certain things she has been taught to believe. Kaushika was an odd character for me. He was a little stiff and I wish we could have gotten to delve into his character and growth more. I also don’t feel like we quite got the romance I would expect from a book listed as Romantasy, but that might just be a personal opinion.
I really wanted to like this book more than I did, but it ultimately fell a little short for me. It wasn’t bad, and I would absolutely recommend people read it; it just wasn’t quite my thing. The prose was a little too flowery and descriptive for me. It felt like it took a long time for the plot to actually pick up. I will say, it got much more interesting about halfway through, which is why I bumped this up to a 3.5 rating. I have high hopes that the sequel will have more action and romance.

I literally listened to the entire audiobook in one sitting, and while I know how many hours that entails, it really didn’t feel like it. I think this is a great introduction to the series. The world building you enough about the history and the character backgrounds/interactions get you invested in them and wanting more. Overall, this put down a really solid foundation and I think book 2 is bound to get very exciting and possibly intense because of it. The enemies to lovers trope is really hitting and I love it. After the ending of this book I am exciting to see how that develops. But I think I’m most looking forward to learning more about Lorian’s cohort as we continue. 

Well that sure was intense! Saw the final spoiler coming right before it happened but the rest of it all caught me completely off guard. Violet annoyed me for a good portion of this book but not to the point where I couldn’t tolerate her BS. The “side characters” are so awesome in this book though. I love them all and I need them all to survive the series but I’m going to admit I’m scared that won’t happen. 
Probably going to jump right into Onyx Storm now because apparently I like to torture myself.

I’m pretty sure anything written by Helen Sheuerer is basically a guaranteed 5 Stars at this point. I always get caught up and end up binging the book. This was of course the case for Iron & Embers. I had a special situation where I ended up with both the ebook and audiobook ARCs, so I was able to do a “tandem read” of sorts. It made this a really immersive read for me because I was able to get lost on Matt Haynes & Emilia Bauer’s narrations while also following along and annotating/highlighting. The audiobook was great! Matt & Emilia both did a wonderful job of bringing the characters to life, and I really like both of their voices. 
The story itself is amazing. I loved how Wren and Torj’s relationship deteriorated right away, and then redeveloped (slowly!) as the story progressed. They definitely had the enemies to lovers/love to hate you vibes in my opinion. This book actually reminds me a bit of A Court of Silver Flame, which was perfect for me since that’s my favorite ACOTAF book. I feel like Wren and Nesta have similarly magnificent character arcs and the same reluctance to accept their feelings for the MMF. I could write paragraphs about the similarities and why this is really a great thing in terms of character development, but suffice it to say I loved every page of this book…even when I wanted to shake Wren a bit. The ending absolutely killed me but also has me really excited for the next book!

I’ve said it at least 100 times now and I’m sure I’ll say it at least another thousand times yet: I LOVE THE PRICKLY ISLAND ZOO. I’ve been so eager for Dove’s story because she’s been my favorite sibling throughout the first 3 books (which is impressive since I really like all of the siblings). I was not disappointed. 

This story had a little less of the tension on whether Dove and Deacon would get together because you could totally tell they were mutually pining for each other from the start and Dove was just in denial. So for me, it was really a matter of when and what was going to cause a 3rd act breakup. That said, it wasn’t a bad thing at all. I actually loved their dynamic and the fact that Deacon was smitten from before they even reunited in this book. You also got fun interactions with the rest of the Lachlans again, and I loved their dynamic with Deacon. I also think we were given a hint at which sibling is next and I’m pretty excited for it. 

The only downside I can even come up with for Crocodile Tears is that it was more centered on the Hollywood/spotlight aspect of their lives so the zoo was more of almost an incidental setting….and that’s just me being a nit-picky animal nerd😆

Alexandra Vasti has done it again! The Belvoir series is only 2 books in so far, and yet it is already one of my favorite historical romance series. You get the nice cozy feels of a good regency romance, but also a modern touch and some action. 

In Earl Crush, we get to watch two adorable and intelligent humans with very poor self esteem come together and raise each other up. I ADORE Arthur and the fact that he does his best to protect Lydia without actually sheltering her. He appreciates her mind and ability to know what she can and cannot handle. I also love the he falls first trope and Arthur fell HARD 🫠 Lydia herself is fun to watch develop from an anxious wallflower into someone who finds a way to do what needs to be done, even if it isn’t spectacular. That in itself makes this book feel so realistic. 

We also get some espionage and conspiracy action in this book, which was super exciting. Lastly, Huw and his menagerie of abused animals stole my heart. I love it. I cannot wait to see where we go next and I hope we get a story for Georgiana at some point. I also wouldn’t mind more Hope-Wallace brother appearances. 

My goodness! I freaking LOVE this series. It’s so insanely good and Shadow & Storms was the perfect ending to a perfect series. There was action, drama, devastation, joy, hope, and toe curling romance. I love Thea and Wilder. They are amazing both together and as individuals. They both deal with self doubt even though they’re insanely strong, and I love that. Kipp and Cal yet again make me happy anytime they’re in a scene. Tori has continue to be a great guy as well and I love his openness regarding his desires for love and interested in Wren. I already know Iron & Embers is going to be fantastic. Wren grew so quickly in this series and I can only imagine how much better she will be in the story to come.