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booksalacarte's reviews
659 reviews
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 22%.
Book club pick. I’m unfamiliar with the actress or her work… I’m sure her story is interesting and sad… I’m just not interested.
The Fiancé Dilemma by Elena Armas
funny
hopeful
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5⭐️3🌶️
Contemporary romance
Romcom
Second book
Fake engagement
Small town girl
MMC with glasses
Family issues
Celebrity family
That was the follow up book to The Long Game and I found it to be way better than the first book in this series. Way better.
The characters were the side characters from the first book. Manic and flawed, but fun. I wish that there was a little of the introduction from book 1 added to this book. I think because so much was riding on the sister relationship and best friendship, but then not getting to see the characters interact until almost the end made the disconnect from book 1 even more pronounced. I knew who I was supposed to be reading about, I just felt like I was dumped into the middle instead of being introduced to the new couple.
The tension and banter was really good. I found myself laughing multiple times.
Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Beneath These Cursed Stars by Lexi Ryan
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
4⭐️ 2.75🌶️
Spin-off
YA Romantasy
Dual POV
Parallel Storylines
Morally Grey FMC
Destiny
Forbidden Love
Forced proximity
Secrets
Shifter
Revenge
Betrayal
There wasn’t much world-building. The author definitely counts on the reader having read the duology prior to this book. Many characters from the duology play fairly significant roles in this story. There was enough space where she could have given us a little more background and world-building. this was an interesting want to change things up in a genre and micro genre to make the story set apart. I appreciate that more than I expected to.
Some repetitive moments. The pacing was slow to start, I think due to the dual storyline needing so much attention, and then the double romance on top of it.
Jas wasn’t my favorite FMC, I definitely
Preferred Felicity’s storyline… I wonder if it was battle to remain fairly even in splitting the story.
The cliffhanger was good and I’m excited to read the next book!
***2.75🌶️ means there was sexual intimacy implied off page or there was physical intimacy just short of an open door romance.
Thank you NetGalley and HarperColins Children’s Books for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
A Monsoon Rising by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
5⭐️ 3🌶️
Second book
High fantasy
Light/dark magic
War
Marriage of convenience
Enemies to lovers
Rebellion
A Monsoon Rising starts immediately after the ending of The Hurricane Wars. Basically, within the same conversation. I think that if it has been a little between reading the first and starting the second, it was a decent way to get back into the world and magic system.
I loved the development of the role of the dragons!
The character development was really well done. This is definitely a more romance focused sequel, solidifying the main couple and showing the push and pull of duty vs their confused feelings. I thoroughly enjoyed that it was paced as it was, making it easy to see how this will be a 3+ book series. Balancing of being each other’s consorts is such an interesting take on political relationships… I love it!
This was so much easier to get lost in, I think because book 1 did all the heavy lifting when it came to world-building.
I am HIGHLY anticipating the next book, if only to witness the soul wrecking devastation that is coming from that cliffhanger!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Votager for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
The Hurricane wars 4.75⭐️ 2.75🌶️
High Fantasy
Dual POV
Intricate magic system
Orphan FMC
Dragons
Light/dark magic
War
Matriarchal rulers
The start of this book you are dropped into the middle of some very intricate world building. I felt overwhelmed, but excited. I wish there had been a little more descriptions when it came to the fighting vessels. I had no idea what I was trying to picture and it made things really confusing for a while. Mainly because I’m taking the Star Wars similarities and changing it to maritime air instead of space… but there isn’t a point of comparison. We only know they are wooden ships. It’s a big leap, and one that my brain had a hard time with due to the lack of descriptions…
The banter was good, the characters feel really solid.
I wonder if this will be a duology or a series. With how intricate the world-building was, I’m sure a series… but my world-building fatigue only wants 2 books.
High Fantasy
Dual POV
Intricate magic system
Orphan FMC
Dragons
Light/dark magic
War
Matriarchal rulers
The start of this book you are dropped into the middle of some very intricate world building. I felt overwhelmed, but excited. I wish there had been a little more descriptions when it came to the fighting vessels. I had no idea what I was trying to picture and it made things really confusing for a while. Mainly because I’m taking the Star Wars similarities and changing it to maritime air instead of space… but there isn’t a point of comparison. We only know they are wooden ships. It’s a big leap, and one that my brain had a hard time with due to the lack of descriptions…
The banter was good, the characters feel really solid.
I wonder if this will be a duology or a series. With how intricate the world-building was, I’m sure a series… but my world-building fatigue only wants 2 books.
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
4.5⭐️ 1🌶️
YA dystopian Fantasy
Thief FMC
Special powers
War centered society
Forced labor class system
Politics
Rebellion
Training
Secrets
I have no idea why I didn’t read this series sooner. I’m so glad I finally am. The writing style was definitely YA, but I wouldn’t skate it as middle grade. I’m in my 30’s and I was thoroughly entertained, just not surprised by much.
The worldbuilding and magic system were set up really well. It was an info dump, but put forth while there was the action of a fight going on, so it made it more palatable.
A lot is inspired by the hunger games. The love triangle. The dystopian America, the rebellion, the videotaping everything. It’s very close, but not in an upsetting way… just in a way that is standard now since The Hunger Games went Mainstream and anything remotely similar is compared to it.
The foreshadowing was a little heavy handed. I guessed a lot of the main plot tools ahead of time, but the manner of which they played out was interesting enough that I wasn’t mad about being right.
Very specific things that annoyed me:
-If someone with flame powers heated up a sword, it would have cauterized as it cut. There shouldn’t have been blood pooling like that.
-Silent Stone. Really? And all we got about it was “don’t ask me to explain it, I don’t have the energy.” What a world-building cop out!!!
-they meet and throw out a shoddy plan that people admit is t a great one… then use the plan the very next day?! No wonder things went the way they did… please, make it make sense.
But I’m excited and will be finishing the series!
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
3.75⭐️
Celebrity Memoir
That was such a heartbreaking look into the experiences of Britney Spears as she went through childhood pressure, teen celebrity and the hardships of her family in her conservatorship.
Some times I was floored by what she was revealing. Other times I think about how poorly this book was written with tons of repetitive phrases and thoughts.
Michelle Williams did an amazing job narrating this book
Celebrity Memoir
That was such a heartbreaking look into the experiences of Britney Spears as she went through childhood pressure, teen celebrity and the hardships of her family in her conservatorship.
Some times I was floored by what she was revealing. Other times I think about how poorly this book was written with tons of repetitive phrases and thoughts.
Michelle Williams did an amazing job narrating this book
The Darkness Within Us by Tricia Levenseller
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
The Darkness Within Us 3.5⭐️ 2🌶️
Second Book
NA Fantasy Romance
Closed door romance
Morally grey FMC
🏳️🌈 normative society
Forced proximity
Slow burn
This book was terribly predictable, just like the first… but I still enjoyed myself while reading it. I rolled my eyes so hard so many times.
The writing structure was strictly YA. With minimal emotional maturity and introspective moments. So much detail was paid to clothing and food descriptions and not enough to the characters development.
But for all these annoyances…. I still had fun reading it.
I don’t know, I don’t make the rules.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan children’s publishing group| Feiwel & Friends for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Second Book
NA Fantasy Romance
Closed door romance
Morally grey FMC
🏳️🌈 normative society
Forced proximity
Slow burn
This book was terribly predictable, just like the first… but I still enjoyed myself while reading it. I rolled my eyes so hard so many times.
The writing structure was strictly YA. With minimal emotional maturity and introspective moments. So much detail was paid to clothing and food descriptions and not enough to the characters development.
But for all these annoyances…. I still had fun reading it.
I don’t know, I don’t make the rules.
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan children’s publishing group| Feiwel & Friends for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
3.25⭐️2🌶️
NA Fantasy Romance
Morally grey FMC
Shadow daddy powers
Fake dating
Closed door romance
🏳️🌈 normative society
🏳️🌈side characters
Murder mystery
This book was terribly predictable… but I still liked reading it. I rolled my eyes so hard so many times.
The writing structure was strictly YA, with every outfit described in detail as well as every meal.
The FMC was very bla. She loved “daring” fashion, sex, and power. and she was going to have that in her inner monologues over and over again. I found her refreshing because she was a murder and that definitely set her apart from other FMC’s. But so many plot points came up and then were tied up with nice bows and handed to us.
As far as a murder mystery goes… it also wasn’t great.
But for all these annoyances…. I still had fun reading it.
I don’t know, I don’t make the rules.
Just Playing House by Farah Heron
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Just playing house 3.25⭐️ 2.5🌶️
Contemporary Romance
Dual POV
Second Chance Romance
Celebrity Romance
Forced Proximity
🏳️🌈 Main Character
He falls first
Caretaking
Low spice
Toronto setting
Tw: cancer, cancer gene, mastectomy, body dysmorphia, micro and macro aggressions
I love the representation in this book! Seeing South Asian MC’s was great and is so important to the romance genre. It was so great to see the minuscule details being the cultures of the mc’s to life. The food, the family dynamics, the struggles. I adore that the book had recipes in the back!!
This was a character central plot based mostly on the trama of the BRCA-1 gene and the FMC getting a mastectomy. The procedure was easily the main character of this book, and because of that I would call this women’s lit, more than a romance.
I feel like separately, the main characters were really well established, with real issues and flaws. But together, I found the romance to be lukewarm. But I loved how mature they were in their communication, for the most part.
The side characters were a little less established and less focused. The ADHD representation was not well done, making the hyperactivity the only personality trait of the character. This also happened with other characters singularly representing depression, criminal, narcissism. It’s almost like you could have taken their names away and just called them by their diagnosis and it would have served the plot just fine. The side characters were too flighty within the plot to for any real love for anyone… maybe this was on purpose due to the struggles of the FMC, but I would have preferred seeing that on the page rather than being told about it in an internal monologue.
I’m not a huge fan of pop culture references. With this having a celebrity as a MC, it’s more understandable… but it’s still not my favorite.
Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Punlishing) for a eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Gaslighting