This year I was determined to set one goal for myself that would be easy or exciting to achieve that goal by the end of the year.
One of my goals was to read at least one book a month this year. My life is kind of busy with three kids, my small business shop, being a wife and stahm and my blog. But I still wanted to fit in reading, one of my favorite things that just makes me feel so relaxed.
Its the end of March and I am so happy that I’ve read three books so far and am working on my fourth. While they weren’t that good, I pushed myself to finish them and find out the ending without skipping ahead to the end.
Which I’m proud of only doing once since I fell in love with reading in the fourth grade, and now my own teen, Alycia, has fallen in love with reading. Friday Barnes and the Dork Diaries being among her top favorites.
So far I’ve read Beautiful Disaster, The Beautiful, and A court of Thorns and Roses. I am almost half way through Serpent and Dove.
Beautiful Disaster, I have this book a 5.
Book summary
Intense. Dangerous. Addictive. Meet your next obsession… Abby Abernathy doesn’t drink or swear and she works hard. Abby believes she has created enough distance between her and the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college, her dreams of a new beginning are quickly challenged by the university’s walking one-night stand. Bad Boy Travis Maddox, handsome, built, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby needs – and wants – to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight club, and his days as the notorious college Lothario. A disaster waiting to happen… Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his charms, Travis tricks her into his life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain celibate for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’ apartment for the same amount of time. Or the start of something beautiful? Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. Or that this is the start of an obsessive, intense relationship that will lead them both into unimaginable territory…
I really enjoyed this book. It was romantic but kind of cheesy and silly that was a nice turn as it wasn’t taking itself too seriously. The book wasn’t heavy on smut which was nice, it had its moments with the romance, the teasing and flirting that kept it light but serious in certain moments.
The book also had enough drama that you weren’t feeling like it was too much or not enough to keep you involved in the story. Though their is some fighting, aggression, jealousy, cussing, and passive aggressiveness. Yes their are some scenes where it can be considered crossing the line, into too much aggression and stalker territory depending on how you feel. Travis is quite jealous and possessive of Abby, its cute and romantic in its own way, as every woman wants a man who will support them, fight for them and defend them.
Abby, The female lead, was quite annoying at times, as was Travis, the male lead. But I found them to be good for one another and balanced one another out. They annoy one another, fight, argue, hate one another but in that same breath they will fight for one another, love one another and defend one another till the end. That’s the kind of relationship anyone wants.
The story contains a pretty dysfunctional relationship that I would not condone any of the characters behavior in real life. That’s the beauty of fiction – to read about experiences that you would never be exposed to otherwise. I think as long as the reader is aware of unhealthy behavior and relationships, there shouldn’t be an issue reading about it. I think its when people cant distinguish fiction from reality, that’s when it becomes dangerous. But for me, I loved all the drama and possessiveness and passion and angst.
Remember this is a story and nothing is depicted in the story is real, nor does the author claim that such behavior is ok.
This book does have a movie and the sequel that has come out this year.
The Beautiful. I gave this book a rating of about 2.
Book Summery
In 1872, New Orleans is a city ruled by the dead. But to seventeen-year-old Celine Rousseau, New Orleans provides her a refuge after she’s forced to flee her life as a dressmaker in Paris. Taken in by the sisters of the Ursuline convent along with six other girls, Celine quickly becomes enamored with the vibrant city from the music to the food to the soirées and—especially—to the danger. She soon becomes embroiled in the city’s glitzy underworld, known as La Cour des Lions, after catching the eye of the group’s leader, the enigmatic Sébastien Saint Germain. When the body of one of the girls from the convent is found in the lair of La Cour des Lions, Celine battles her attraction to him and suspicions about Sébastien’s guilt along with the shame of her own horrible secret.
When more bodies are discovered, each crime more gruesome than the last, Celine and New Orleans become gripped by the terror of a serial killer on the loose—one Celine is sure has set her in his sights . . . and who may even be the young man who has stolen her heart. As the murders continue to go unsolved, Celine takes matters into her own hands and soon uncovers something even more shocking: an age-old feud from the darkest creatures of the underworld reveals a truth about Celine she always suspected simmered just beneath the surface.
The idea and story for the book is a fun one to write about, who doesn’t want to write about vampires and humans falling in love and this is exactly what this book was about. I didn’t hate the book, but I also didn’t enjoy it that much, though I realized it was more for teens and I’m long past that stage. lol
The story idea was a good and creative one but I didn’t really feel like they did the story justice through the amount of detail they offered. The story is about a human who falls in love with a vampire, but the story is set in the 1800’s of New Orleans, split between a young girl who is running away from her home in Parish and a man that we don’t know anything about. But the Author did not provide enough detail through their clothes, the setting, the buildings, or behavior to really show you the world. Everything came from it just being in New Orleans itself and a tiny touch here and there of her being from Paris.
The jarring comments made from the characters make it really difficult to believe this was 150 years ago. Celine herself thinks and talks like a modern girl who has time travelled back to the 19th century, and the early mentions of the sexism and racism of the time seem to have no real bearing on the story. La Cour des Lions appears to treat men and women, people of colour, and LGBTQ people equally.
There is also quite a bit of repetition. Not all of it is convincing. Take Bastien. The first time Celine compared Bastien to the devil, it was quite sexy. By the fiftieth time, I was kind of sick and tired of hearing him referred to as “the devil”, “Lucifer”, or “devilish”. Not only was it tiring to read, but after a while I found myself wondering just what Bastien had done to earn such a moniker, let alone he had hardly been in the woman’s presence long enough or done anything to her for her to treat him like this. He’s so baaddd, apparently, but she incredibly infatuated with him and he spends most of the book being nothing more than a mild-mannered young guy who smirks a lot.
The other repetition was about Celine’s “inner creature” and, my god, I was getting serious Fifty Shades of Grey “inner goddess” flashbacks. I’m all for characters talking to themselves, or their inner thoughs questioning them. but this “inner creature” was too much.
Also, why is the lead police detective basically a teenager? And a gorgeous one at that? thought I can guess, the answer. It’s most likely so we can have some kind of faux-love triangle in the next book, isn’t it? And I say “faux” because who actually wants her to be with Michael??
I personally enjoy split POV books, as Its nice to see the other side of the story and what is going on for them, their feelings, their thoughts and how life got them to that point.
But the man perspective just wasn’t there. it was very short, offered very little detail or info about who the character was and what they’re purpose to the story. If they were taken out it wouldn’t have made the book better but it came across as his scenes weren’t necessary.
I could have used more detail to really set the scene and picture what the world looked like. The detail was sufficient but still a little lacking.
The story does include a murder mystery along side the small amount of romance between the two main character, which was interesting.
But I probably wont read the sequel to this. I may but I have a lot more books on my list I’d rather read than this one. Though I’ll probably get the book and read it so I can have a complete collection series. I hate not having all the books in a series.
When nineteen-year-old huntress Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, a terrifying creature arrives to demand retribution. Dragged to a treacherous magical land she knows about only from legends, Feyre discovers that her captor is not truly a beast, but one of the lethal, immortal faeries who once ruled her world.
At least, he’s not a beast all the time.
As she adapts to her new home, her feelings for the faerie, Tamlin, transform from icy hostility into a fiery passion that burns through every lie she’s been told about the beautiful, dangerous world of the Fae. But something is not right in the faerie lands. An ancient, wicked shadow is growing, and Feyre must find a way to stop it, or doom Tamlin—and his world—forever.
I gave this book a 3.
I love when an Author ads in a lot of detail, or enough that I can picture the place so much that its almost as if I’m there. Too little detail and you have a hard time getting through the story as you dont know what the world looks like, how rooms are oriented and where people would be moving about in rooms, buildings, outside.
The story lacked detail to give you a nice idea of the world the main character was in.
The story is a very slow burn romance, so much that their isn’t really any romance in the story that it almost feels like it comes out of nowhere. It was also so short that you kind of left wondering what in the world happened. Their is some flirtatious comments, bickering, teasing, and just plain flirting. but still your left wondering when did she fall in love because I didn’t really see it. So when she went through her trials, it seemed so odd as the way the story was written, she wasn’t in love with him enough to deal with it all.
Overall, the story was just ok. It wasn’t amazing but not horrible either. This is one that I had actually started reading last year then gave up because it was so slow. But I pushed myself to finish it for my book club and while I’m glad I read it, I probably wouldn’t read it again any time soon.
Wicked wish. I would give this book a 2.
I mostly gave this book such a low score, because the main character continuously said, “Fates” “Oh my fates” “thank the fates” or some other variation of “fates”. The author used the fates about fifty times in each chapter. It became repetitive and annoying by the third chapter. I couldn’t stand reading the book any more but pushed through to see how the book would end.
I most likely wont read the sequel because of the whole “thank the fates” thing. Though maybe later in the year or next year i’ll give the sequel a try.
Book Summery
I work for the Order of Magica, the supernatural version of the FBI. Sounds fun, right? Except I spend my days chained to my desk, writing reports, and wishing that I was out solving crimes.
Well, be careful what you wish for.
When my best friend is abducted, my life in Chicago turns upside down.
I’ll do anything to get her back—even work with Damian Malek, a wanted criminal, notorious crime lord, and dangerous fallen angel. He’s hot, lethal, and he’s the only one who can help me master my dangerous powers. I don’t want anyone to know about my magic, but I have no choice if I want to save my friend.
Here’s the catch: if the Order finds out that I’m working with Damian, I’ll get canned. Maybe even hunted for what I am. But if I don’t give him what he wants, he’ll reveal my secret to the world.
The book starts with Chicago as the setting, Nevaeh uses British idiomatic English. When she is hungry, she is “famished”. When she is tired, she is “bushed”. When she sees a nice office, she describes it as “posh”.
Despite acting as the introduction to a multi-book series, the authors don’t bother having Nevaeh learn anything or struggle with anything that happens. She is instantaneously an expert in all things the moment she tries for the first time. She is able to locate a specialised book and cast a spell from it in the midst of a massive fight. Even though she has only ever realm-walked once in her life, she reads about it in a book and simply does it. She doesn’t need to think about it, or practise, and she is able to take Malek along with her without a hitch. Then she quickly learns how to fly, wield magic, fight giant ice monsters, and tame a dragon – none of it phasing her in the slightest. The only thing that makes her blink is a dream that she has about Malek.
she makes mentions of current or past movies or books, food or restaurants. which doesn’t really make sense as she would have grown up in a magic world that was devoid of all those things. Their is a lot of filler writing without any context or substance that makes it feel needed, as they offer up little detail to make the reader insert themselves into the story and imagine it in their own mind.
The names were hard to get used to or say as you were reading, with a lot of filler content, little world building and details of the world. The book was quite boring and one I kept putting down and then forced myself to read.
Aprils book is “In the Hall with the Knife”. I cant wait to read this one, I’ve heard so many good things about this book and so far its been pretty interesting.
