brii_brii's reviews
1836 reviews

I think I could have liked this book. The plot was kind of there, but it just didn't pull me in. Every time I put this book down, I really struggled to pick it back up. It felt like a book I should have enjoyed more, but I just don't think any of it had enough depth. 

We barely got to know the characters more than a quick mention about their pasts. Everything happened so quickly that there really wasn't much development. 

Mostly, I was bored. I just couldn't get invested.

I couldn't tell you why I continued on in this series, as I hated book 2 more than I could ever express, but I'm glad that I did. 

Cora's story was cute and wonderful, and I loved the romance of it. Tor is also the first mmc in this series that I've actually liked and enjoyed having around, so there's something to be said about that as well. 

This is also the first book that we've really spent time in this side of the parallel universe and when it happened, I wasn't all that excited for it, and I like my fantasy books to be in fantasy worlds, but it really worked. 

It was fun watching Tor be dropped into this world and meeting her family and her friend. Tor meeting Tor was the epitome of amazing, I laughed so hard. 

This one was fun, and I'm glad I made it here, but I'm not planning on holding out hope for the rest of the series carrying forward like this book did. 

This book did a really great job at capturing my attention, but I struggled to stay interested after the first few chapters. 

There was no real introduction into the story, you kind of just got thrown in right off the bat, and while there wasn't really any in depth world building, I think it was there just enough to create a world that wasn't confusing. That being said, there wasn't enough to make me care about the world at all. 

However, I could have done with a lot of detail on how the magic system worked, a lot more detail on how the political hierarchy worked, and a lot more development into ANY of the relationships that Briar made in this book. 

It was okay. The idea was there, but there wasn't enough detail in any part of the story for me. It just scratched the surface of the relationships, and the queen and the trials. It just didn't feel fleshed out enough for me, and I needed more. 

This book was all kinds of fun. I read it to my 9 year old, and there were times I thought, maybe I shouldn't be but she also thought this book was all kinds of fun, so we're going to read the next in the series as well.

This book had the perfect amount of humor and gore and adventure. There was never a dull moment.

Hansel and Gretel were great characters, and I loved reading their adventures and meeting people from a handful of different stories on their way.

I like Finnie. I think she's super cute and really fun and I really enjoyed reading about her. I liked the intersection between the parallel worlds, and I thought that was great. I even enjoyed Frey (most of the time). 

But here's the thing, this alpha male, women are lesser attitude that this book had, sucked. It really brought it down for me. I'd be sitting there, having the time of my life, loving the book, and then boom. Frey would make some asshole LIFE CHANGING decision for Finnie without even consulting her. She'd lose her mind for a page or two and then make excuses for him and accept everything he does because it's “out of love and this is how he shows it”. 

No. It's bullshit and absolutely deplorable. 

Anyway. I did enjoy a lot of this book. Finnie makes it entirely worth reading. And the romance parts I liked, I did like. What little there was to do with politics was interesting. So. 3 stars. But please note, this just barely made it to stars. 

This book ended up being very… meh for me. 

There were parts I really got into, but for the most part, I really felt like it dragged. 

I needed more Gothic atmosphere, more of the whole “house will protect you” vibes,  and a lot more of the ghosts. 

Honestly, I also just needed actual closure to Deidre's story. This whole book could have been about her, and I think I would have been happier. 

After her story ended, the rest of the plot really slowed down, and it was a bit of a chore to get through it. The ideas were there, I think it was just way too slow.  

This is exactly what the series deserved as a conclusion. It was absolutely perfect. 

There's so much action compared to the rest of the series, and it was so fast-paced that I really felt like I could not put the book down. My heart was just going throughout. 

I hated Camella a bit less through this one than the last, and I loved, absolutely loved, having everyone together again, it makes such a big difference for me, the characters just all work so well together, and not so much apart. 

This series was wonderful, I had so much fun with the characters, and I'm really sad to say goodbye. My heart will forever live with Lawrence.

I think this book was a lot more serious in terms of character development. I love the wit and the banter that we've been seeing between everyone, but now that we've gotten down to the nitty gritty of everything, some of that has gone away. 

It was heartbreaking watching Lawrence try and win Clover over. 

To be really blunt here, I despise Camellia's character. She's entirely immature, and I hate that we spent so much time around her in this one. 

Overall, this one added a lot to the overall plot, but it didn't work as well for me as the other two in this series. 

There's not much of a review here, I don't have anything good to say, so I won't stay here long. 

I did make it all the way through this book, but I shouldn't have. It just got worse and worse and worse. Hoooolay. 

I thought there were issues with the mmc in the first freaking book, but boy, that was bloody nothing. 

I'll limit this to 3 points. 

Holy. Forking. Rape. There's so much rape. There's so much on the page rape. There's TOO much fucking rape. Oh, and then falling in love with your rapist. Because they all fucking do.

“this is just the way they are” “this is just the way of their people” “they are savage”. They spent half this book in tents. Burn it all. Honestly, if they can make excuses for all the males, and then turn around and teach their sons to do it to the next generation, burn it all. 

Because all that rape wasnt enough, let's add in some physical and verbal 
abuse. Round it all out quite nicely. 

Brutal. Just brutal. 

This finale really brought its everything to the plate, and I was so here for it. My daughter wasn't. But that's beside the point. She wasn't ready for it to end, and when it did, I think she was a bit let down, but insure wasn't. 

It was entirely out there, and crazy and over the top. 100% it was, but really, was there any other way for it to go? 

I think I connected with Ridley the least of the kids in the magic misfits. She frustrated me the most throughout the series, and I wasn't looking forward to reading this one from her point of view. 

It ended up being okay. I liked seeing the growth from Ridley, and her realizing that she needed to work on herself was really nice for my daughter to see in a book. But I didn't really like how nothing about her family life was ever really addressed, especially surrounding her Dad. The book brought up so many issues but didn't really resolve any of them. 

Focusing on the magic portion though, I loved the fast pace of this book and I think the mystery of it all was really nicely tied up, even if we didn't learn about Carter's parents, who we've been reminded, yet again, are missing, not dead. 

Shout out to the Other Mr. Vernon for being the ONLY realistic adult in this entire series.