davinareads's reviews
818 reviews

This review is going to be me fangirling hard. Let’s begin.

You know when you pick up a book by an author you love, and you just know you're in for a fun read? The Grandest Game was that book for me. I knew it would be great, and it did not disappoint.

It’s amazing how Jennifer planned so far in advance, not only creating The Inheritance Games series but also tying pieces from that series into this one. The connections were unfathomable, and I loved it. It’s one thing to think so far ahead, and another to make all the pieces fit seamlessly.

Some books make you love the characters so much that all review considerations go out the window. Wherever the Hawthorne brothers and Avery are involved, my heart leads. I love them, and that has not diminished. Grayson, I’m ready for your story to keep unfolding!

In The Grandest Game, we’re introduced to new characters alongside familiar ones, and they were all well written. Each has their quirks, and the chemistry between them was excellent.

Told from three different POVs, we’re tossed into puzzles and riddles with the main characters, and it was fun trying to solve them. The puzzles kept me engaged throughout.

I enjoyed the references to Jennifer's previous books and felt giddy throughout the read. I always appreciate a YA novel that’s a shorter read, and while this one has high stakes, it still felt relatively light.

Overall, I love this book. It was adventurous, creative, and fun. Jennifer makes all three POVs feel urgent, pulling me to read faster because I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. I reunited with some of my favorite characters and met new ones. The tension and mystery were perfect, and the pacing was spot on. A perfect read.

The Wedding People by Alison Espach was a total cover buy for me, and I'm thrilled to say that the story inside was just as delightful as the packaging promised.

First off, the characters, plot, and pacing were all spot-on. I was completely absorbed, feeling like I was right there with the characters, experiencing every event alongside them. Espach did an incredible job of making everything feel so vivid and real. It was fun to watch our main character grow into a confident and independent woman and I loved the vulnerability she showed through the whole process. I will say, don't expect our main character to be a bride just based off of the title, she's very far away from that but you'll see how the story unfolds if you decide to give this a read.

Now, I can't decide if comparing a book to a Hallmark movie is a compliment or not, but for this one, it absolutely is! I could totally see this story playing out on screen, and I'd watch it. The book is a funny, contemporary read that delivers meaningful themes, including mental health and suicide, which are handled with a surprising lightness that doesn’t detract from their importance. In a way, it was a strange book but really enjoyable.

And the ending was perfect. The only way I can compare it to is that bittersweet feeling you get at the end of a vacation when you’ve spent time with strangers, bonded, and then have to say goodbye. The book nailed that emotional moment beautifully and I think it wrapped it up nicely that way.

By the end of this book, I was satisfied with this book and very happy with the ending our main character recieved.

Red Rising is an adventurous, dark and tense book that follows a similar plot you would expect in a dystopian read. You have essentially your chosen one, a plot for overthrowing an unfair system, and an epic journey to basically infiltrating the higher ups to fight for freedom.

While that is the basic plot, what Red Rising did that elevated the generic timeline is by being very well-written and thought out. The strategy and layers behind the actions of our main character is memorable. The details written into this book made it come to life. The sharp and blunt sentences used really punches you emotional to the point where you now become invested. 

There's always a point in the book where it fully catches your attention and the end of the first section did it for me. As the story progresses, it got better and better. At the end I was silently screaming at no one because I was stressed out for our main character. Great world and character building.

The only thing where I was struggling a bit was the quick info dump in the beginning of the book. It took me a while to get into it as well and I was worried that I may end up disliking it. I am glad to say, that was not the case.

It has been a while where I've read a Dystopian sci-fi series and Red Rising has so far hit the spot. I can't wait to read Golden Son because I had so many of you tell me that  that was your favorite one out of the entire series. I'm very excited.

Sometimes, a book cover catches your eye, and you hope the story inside lives up to it. Weyward by Emilia Hart does exactly that—delivering an extraordinary tale that matches its stunning cover.

What really stood out to me was how beautifully the three different points of view intertwined. We follow three generations of women, each facing their own challenges and connections to nature. The way these stories come together is both satisfying and powerful.

The atmosphere Emilia creates is vivid and immersive, pulling you into the world of these women. The character growth is also strong; you can really feel the transformation each one undergoes as the story progresses. And there’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of seeing everyone get exactly what they deserve by the end.

That said, it did take me a while to get fully into the book. There were some parts where I found myself feeling frustrated—mostly because the writing was so strong that it really made me feel for the characters and their struggles.

Overall, Weyward is a beautifully crafted story that’s well worth the read, especially if you appreciate deep character development and a touch of magic in your fiction.

It's been a while where I've read a thriller and suspense kind of book and Satellite Image hit the spot.

Satellite Image by Michelle Berry comes out October 15, 2024 and I think if you're looking for a descriptive book that may make you a little jumpy when you go out into your own backyard in the middle of the night, then I highly recommend giving this a read. 

From the start, it was a very strong opening. Michelle crafted a really detailed scene that I was able to picture everything clearly and from that moment on, I was hooked. I think it's an impressive skillset to be able to create such unease through words. When I let my dog out for his last potty break of the night, I did find myself encouraging him to come in faster so I could keep the darkness out 😂 extremely well written.

Because of how descriptive it is, I think it was successful in creating the suspense through the book. Every time a section ended, there was just enough for me keep up my interest. It made me want more. With this, the ending wrapped up nicely but I always feel like with thriller/suspense reads I'll never be fully satisfied but this came close.

Whenever I see those reactions to how a horror or thriller book can "scare" the reader, I think this would be a great example. With strong writing and details, this book managed to create a mental picture of events that made me feel nervous throughout the read. And when I did end up closing the book, that unease continued to follow me because that nervous feeling was memorable and applicable to my surroundings.

In summary, a great thriller and suspense read.

Widow Fantasies by Hollay Ghadery is a captivating collection of short stories that grabbed my attention right from the start. The first story hooked me instantly, making it impossible to put down—I ended up devouring the entire book in one sitting. Ghadery's writing style is incredibly engaging, and I found the pacing of the short stories just right. Each tale brings a unique perspective, showcasing a wonderful diversity of characters and experiences.

The stories blend humor and deep emotion seamlessly, delving into the lives of girls and women facing various obstacles. However, one minor struggle I had was keeping track of all the characters, especially when names were introduced quickly in some stories. This occasionally took away from the narrative flow, albeit only momentarily.

Overall, Widow Fantasies is a well-crafted collection that left me wanting more. Ghadery's ability to capture complex human experiences in such concise yet powerful narratives is truly commendable. It's a book I would enthusiastically recommend to anyone looking for compelling and thought-provoking short fiction.

I'm a strong believer that all books are someone's book and just because I didn't like it, doesn't make it a bad book.

That's the case with Sugaring Off. Before I go in my rambling review, I do want to promote this story to the right audience because every book, especially books from indie authors, deserves a chance to be recognized and found by those who would love this story.

I think individuals who enjoy a book that explores the slow unraveling of a relationship in a unique third person view would find this to be a powerful read. We went from what was perceived as a strong and solid relationship to a quiet but noticeable downfall resulting in our main characters to act selfishly, discarding the effect it may have on others.

While that may be the generic theme of the book, I do feel like I may have missed out on the deeper meaning. As I like to say, it's too deep for my not too deep soul. So here's my personal thoughts on Sugaring Off.

What I liked from this book that it is well-written. It had a strong and captivating voice and tone that made this read enjoyable. From time to time, I don't mind mundane reads where it's a slow down paced. The synopsis was what attracted me to this read in the first place but unfortunately for me, it wasn’t what I was expecting.

While the presence of the writer is strong, there were too many run on sentences that was very long winded taking away from the book. From a story perspective, nothing really stood out to me as memorable. 

The characters I couldn't get myself to like, especially Adam. Perhaps this was the authors intent as the layers of these individuals were striped off following the incident. However, I didn't really like them from the start so it didn't do anything for me.

As I reached the end, I was expecting some sort on conclusion but left the book feeling confused as I'm not certain what the ending is supposed to convey.

Overall, I can see Sugaring Off being successful for a certian set of readers. I'm just not one of them. I do still encourage you to check it out because again, it may be something that interests you.

The only way I can describe this book is whimsical. It's a book for the ones who grew up with Narnia and forgot about it. Or as C.S. Lewis wrote it perfectly, "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."

And people! Meg Shaffer has an uncanny ability to drag me back to this nostalgic time in my childhood where my parents and teachers would read books to me about kids running into wardrobes to end up in a magical world, flying out of the windows to fight pirates or simply clicking ruby red shoes three times to return to Kansas. The Lost Story gave me that childhood feeling again that I didn't know I missed until it was given to me.

If I was sticking to the typical way I review books, a star would have been dropped because the writing wasn't the strongest. In a weird way, the writing felt like when you’re laying in bed at night and making up scenarios with not the best dialogue but you don't really care because you got a plot to go through. The age of the characters and the dialogue felt off in a sense where it was almost childlike and kind of edging towards YA to the middle school range where the intended target audience is for adults.

I point this out as the only thing that felt a bit odd to me but the crazy thing about this was, I didn't care. The story and the ideas was there and that took me on an incredible adventure where magic is still a thing.

From the prologue, I knew that this will be as an enjoyable read as Meg's first book The Wishing Game and I wasn't disappointed. The prologue gave me goosebumps from the start and the characters were easily loveable. I love the world of Shanandoah and the story created was light but filled with emotion.

Overall, if you're looking for a book that can bring you back to a sliver of your childhood, I'd recommend The Lost Story. Again, I would advise that the writing isn't the most solid but I think you'll find yourself in a fairytale where the writing didn't matter that much because you're enjoying the story.

The Name She Gave me is simply a beautiful YA contemporary book that made me sad and happy at the same time. I loved it.

Before you think of poems being complex to understand, this is not the case with this novel.  I'm not sure what style of writing this is but it's essentially telling a full story in short poetry form and it was extremely well done.

I think it's a skill to tell such an emotional story in so little words and a great example that a short read can still leave an impact on the reader. In 400 pages, I felt joy, sadness, anger and the bittersweet moments for Rynn as she goes on her journey to find her birthmother which eventually leads her to discovering that she has a sister as well.

I loved how Betty managed to not only capture me emotionally, but I think she did a fantastic job in describing the endless summer vibe in a small country town. From the start, I knew this was going to be a good read but I wasn't expecting to love it this much.

If you're looking into a short novel, I highly recommend checking The Name She Gave Me. It can easily be read in a day or if you're like me, you'll take a slow down pace to get through it in a couple of days to appreciate every single word that made it in this novel.

I think because of the previous books I've read - The Book Thief, We, the Drowned - I couldn’t find myself getting into this read because I landed myself in reading slump alley. This book's pacing and writing style wasn't strong enough to catch my attention to drag me out. 

Middlesex is a 500 some page read that felt long for numerous reasons. One of them being the writing style. I couldn't get myself into it because it felt very dry and emotionless. It was easy to read, but it felt monotone in delivering its story.

Around 50 pages in, I wasn't sure if I wanted to countinue and perhaps that may have been my sign to stop. However, because this was a longer read and very highly rated by others, I decided to stick with it for a little while longer to the point where I was too many pages in to DNF it.

While the plot moved in a slow but relatively seamless timeline, I didn't see the need to jump back to the present from time to time with who Cal is now and what's he up to. There felt like there was no real need for it and I felt like it didn't add much to the book. The events that took place was written in a way that it was being told to me - in a style where it went "this happened and then this, and then this"- rathed than adding descriptions to make me feel like I was there with our main characters.

With all of this said, the thing that I liked most would be part 4 of this book. That is what I wanted but it was too short and too late having been the last part of the story. I felt like here was what I came. I think while it was good to include parts of the previous sections, I felt like they were too long and perhaps not everything was as relevant as it needed to be.

If you're looking for a book that spans three generations and has true girth and emotion, I would suggest checking out We, the Drowned over this. This comparison may not be overly fair considering We, The Drowned is an adventure book while this is more on the literature side. I just feel like We, The Drowned did a much better job at incorporating three generations of story into a cohesive and meaningful read over what was done here. 

However, if you love the pacing and writing style of The Goldfinch (which I also didn't enjoy as much as others), this book may be for you. The pacing felt similar and it's a character based story as well.

Overall, this story wasn't for me because I didn't feel as emotional or invested in it as I have been with other books I've read so far this year.