whatsmacksaid's reviews
1288 reviews

This story was a little uneven, mostly due to some odd assumptions that served as the foundation for its worldbuilding. The world of dragon shifters lost all of its previous knowledge of itself three hundred years ago, but the FMC is 350 years old. In their society, she's "spinster old," but there are many other people older than her who would be able (and presumably encouraged) to record or at least *share* everything they know about life before the loss of societal and communal knowledge. I didn't see any evidence that everyone forgot what life was like before the knowledge demolition, either. 

Basically, my main critique was "what about oral traditions??"

However, the story was enjoyable, I squealed over the stealth queerness, and I did fly through it all in one sitting. 

Thanks very much to the author for an ARC! 

I'm always impressed by how much story Lynning packs into a novella--there was a lot going on, but for the most part the story didn't feel rushed. The antagonist felt a little less than fully fleshed out, but Scarlette and Ranulf were lovely and I enjoyed watching their relationship develop. (And how quickly miscommunications were put to rest!) I'm looking forward to reading other stories in this world (definitely need one about Ranulf's sister!).

The worldbuilding in this was so impressive! I loved the drips and hints we got about the larger world, and the original but very digestible take on magic, spells, and curses. The main characters were great, too, despite their sort of uneven emotional arc. 

Overall, I think the story could have benefited from one more developmental edit, but it was still plenty of fun to read. 

Didn't enjoy this one as much as the previous, but I'll keep reading them. 

It was fine, but nothing particularly to write home about. 

Highly enjoyable. I liked the mysteries, loved the characters, and will be starting the sequel in the morning.

I know this one is marked as #0.5 of the Kat Holloway mysteries, but I genuinely wouldn't recommend starting the Below Stairs series anywhere but here. It's a novella, which I'm sure made it impossible to market as the first book of a series of novels, but it really sets the stage far better than "Death Below Stairs" does on its own.

DNF at page 77. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, just felt a bit overwritten and failed to hold my attention.

This was a phenomenal read and I loved every moment of it. It reminded me of A.K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name even though Larkwood's book isn't strictly a romance because both it and Caught in the Basilisk's Gaze have similar plot styles: there are clusters of high action, and then the heroes move to (or are forced to) a different setting. They grow familiar with the new setting, and then things get complicated and exciting again without things becoming repetitive--the emotional arcs are perfectly calibrated to continue their forward momentum. 

I loved Danica and Vaduin and how they both had to work through their baggage before coming together. I was skeptical of the novel's length, but it was the exact number of pages needed for them to heal and then meet each other on the same level. I also loved how respectful they were of each other, and of the faith they each put in the other. 

Oh, right, and it's hot af, too.

My only critique is the unsteady worldbuilding at the beginning of the book--when Danica first mentioned she was from Los Angeles I nearly dropped my ereader on my face, and then spent the next couple hundred pages wondering if I would better understand how humans ended up in Faery if I'd read the earlier books in the series. (I still don't know, but I intend to read them all and find out.) I didn't let it bother me overmuch, because it's all explained in drips and drabs throughout the rest of the book. It's just the initial worldbuilding that tripped me up. 

Overall, I can't recommend this one enough.