kitvaria_sarene's reviews
2228 reviews

Read for SPFBO, this is only my personal opinion, group verdict might differ widely! 🔥

Embargo of Hope by Justin Doyle is a blend of sci-fi and fantasy, that felt skewered towards sci-fi to me.

I was intrigued by the world and easily drawn in, but sadly the farther I read, the less engaged I was. I can't really exactly point out what the problem was, mostly I didn't care for the characters enough to be fully invested in their fate I think.

It's a pretty epic scale, so you need to pay attention to follow, but it's not a hard read.

Death's Emissary by Emily Devereux is a really promising debut.

It'll appeal to fans of YA fantasy, mythology and everyone who just loves Death as a character, like I do.

I was so happy there didn't seem to be a romance at first, but alas, with almost any female lead YA stories, it was to come after all.

I especially liked the start, the training and learning about the world. While it had quite some of the tropes, it was engaging and interesting and easily held my attention.

The second half felt a bit disjointed at times, and the action sequences didn't always grab me as much as they should.

The world building and voice kept me reading and entertained to the end though.

While I really enjoyed Death's Beating Heart by Rob J. Hayes, for me it was the weakest book in the series.

Don't get me wrong, I love Eska. I would read stories from her view all day long, every day if I could. So by no means was this a bad book. There's all the emotional torture and and action I was expecting, and we get to see a lot of well known faces again.

However it felt like this book didn't really add as much to the story / world / character development as previous books have.

It felt more like an add on, than the epic conclusion I was expecting. I'm still happy I got to spend more time with these characters I have grown to love so much, so it's well worth the read!

Read for SPFBO, this is only my personal opinion, group verdict might differ widely! 🔥

Hallowed by Y.R. Liu shows a lot of promise!
While there are plenty of tropes, and quite some flaws, the overall tone and voice kept me well entertained all the way through.

I enjoyed the main character. A somewhat naive girl who is definitely more passive and following along than having agency is usually not my type, but it was organically written and really fit her backstory. She is quite brave, and for once we have a young heroine, who does not have a love interest!

The side characters were a bit stereotypical, with the cold hearted assassin and so on, but there were a few nice surprises! Like a prince who is actually kind, and aman on power who is definitely on the spectrum. He's not a major character, but I enjoyed reading about someone who needs a clear rhythm to their day!

This book could have been quite a bit shorter, if you took out detailed descriptions of people who are only minor aide characters and such, and could be amazing if you instead added a bit more depth to characters and world building.

But even as is, this is a very enjoyable read that I breezed through in no time at all! While some bits are pretty predictable, it did catch me by surprise a few times, which is rather rare these days!

Even more impressive, seeing the author only has two books listed so far.

Read for SPFBO, this is only my personal opinion, group verdict might differ widely? 🔥

Hidden Worlds by Kit Campbell is a very cute fantasy that will probably appeal mostly to people with some interest in writing.

A teen girl who gets mocked for her stories finds a secret hideout for all the writerly folk pit there.

There are a lot of little jokes and nudges about tropes or inconsistencies, which are quirky and fun.

Some of the banter and dialogue just felt a bit too easy and shallow for me to really love this, but it was super easy and entertaining, which is what it is meant to be. If you're looking for something deep and thoughtful, this is definitely not it. If you're looking for a light breeze that you can devour in one go, this can be a great choice!

imPerfect Blades by C.N. Rowan is the 8th book on this series, and the pure fact that I'm still reading will show you how much I enjoy them!

It's still a fun and action packed adventure, with plenty of humour, banter and wit. Not all yeh humour always pays off completely for me, but I do get some good chuckles along the way, and I have no idea how the author manages to come up with all those wisecracks along the way. I'm glad he does though!

The absolute strongest bits of these books are the friendships and found family though. I just love how close they are, and that each would willingly sacrifice themselves to save the rest of the team. 

I can't wait to see where the rest is going, just one more novel to go, though I'll try and read the two novellas first, so I have the finale as a crowning finish!

imPerfect Blood by CN Rowan is the 7th book in the series, and the start to a whole new story arc. While there is a bit of a "what happened so far" included, I definitely don't think you can ever this world here, and enjoy it nearly as much as you would otherwise. You'll miss crucial information as well as the emotional attachment to the characters. 

This book has an extra plus for me - a dog! Ok, it might be a doberman who is actually the earthly vessel for a demon, but who ever said demons always have to be the bad guys? How racist? Specist? Mythologist? Anyway, I really enjoyed this new addition to the cast, as well as his best mate and roommate.

Apart from this, we get the now well known and expected mix of banter, action, violence, humour, mystery and some jokes so groanworthy, they are actually fun again!

imPerfect Gods by C.N. Rowan is the last book in the first arc, and a very good conclusion!
Don't let that fool you into thinking this is a satisfying ending though, oh no, it is the start to a whole new slew of problems...
This is definitely not an eve, just the break in between acts!

Things change quite a bit, and I did not see some of these twists coming at all. 

Coming this with more of the typical Paul and crew snark, plenty of action, and a lot of the characters from previous books, and it makes for quite the story!l

I'm currently binging this series, so while I'm reviewing book 5 I've already started book 8! Why do I tell you this? Because for me personally imPerfect Hunt by C.N. Rowan was the weakest book in the series so far, while book 6 & 7 are back to my usual enjoyment!

Why? It just feels there is no progression throughout the story at all. Three steps forward, four steps back, and at the end we were basically back to where we started - it at least that's how it felt to me.

Don't get me wrong, I still breezed through it. The tone is as sarcastic and engaging as always, so Paul managed to keep me hooked yet again. While the humour doesn't always work perfectly, I'm very well entertained by his antics, and in awe of all the little jokes and fun remarks the author can come up with!

If I had rated this on its own, it might have been a 4* read. But comparing it to the earlier and later books, it gets judged a bit harder by me.

Reviews for the next two coming soon, I'm still playing catch up after a few weeks of just being too worn out to post anything...

Unfamiliared by JE Hannaford is one super cute cosy fantasy, with so many animals!

The premise of the story is a small town, due to host a magical contest, but someone steals all their familiars right beforehand.
Now they don't just have to get them back, they also need to muddle their way through various events, but hiding the fact they lost their magic along with the familiars.

I was quickly drawn in by the voice of the main character, who came into her magic very late. She's a bit timid, but still manages to get things done, and I found her so very relatable!

The plot itself is cute and fun, and I especially enjoyed the friendships, and how the whole town came together. It's exactly what I like in my cosy books, it just making me happy.
Not everyone in the town is extra friendly, which made it a bit more realistic, while the overwhelming feeling is still comforting.

There's a really tiny slow burn romance, which rounded the story up, without ever taking center stage. I'm usually not a fan of romance at all, but a cute and slowly developing one like in Legends and Lattes I can actually enjoy, and this was a similar amount. Just a small dash of it to add flavour.

I'm surprised just how different this book is from JE Hannaford’s other books, and how well she manages to pull off something completely new!