the_castle_library's reviews
72 reviews

Kingdom of Feathers: A Retelling of The Wild Swans by Deborah Grace White

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This is book 4 of The Kingdom Tales. I had never heard of "The Wild Swans" fairytale before, but I really liked the storyline. 

This was a mix between intensity and sweetness with feelings of being on edge and at ease in a continuous rollercoaster. I thoroughly enjoyed it in its entirety as I have with the previous 3 stories in this series. I'm giving it πŸ’–πŸ’– for romance.

β€’ Enemies to lovers
β€’ Forced proximity 
β€’ Forbidden feelings 
β€’ Traitors Among Us
Magnolia House by Kathryn Trattner, Kathryn Trattner

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

This book was creepy and suspenseful. There were so many twists and turns throughout this book that kept me wanting to read more and find out how it ended, though I was a bit disappointed with the ending. It was well written with a lot of imagery and personification. It lost a star because of the abrupt ending and some grammatical errors and name flubs. Despite these flaws, I look forward to reading more books by Kathryn Trattner.
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Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

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emotional lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

This was a cute read, but was pretty slow. It just didn't meet the expe tations I had for it. Romance was πŸ’– to πŸ’–πŸ’–.
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Harley Quinn: Redemption by Rachael Allen

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

My ratings for romance and action are πŸ’–πŸ’–/πŸ‘ŠπŸ‘Š

⚠️Warning: Dollmaker abducts kids and young adults (mostly females) and there are some gory scene descriptions from The Mad Hatter's role⚠️

My girl, Harley freaking Quinn is back to make amends, stop bad guys (Anton aka Dollmaker and Jervis Tetch aka The Looking Glass Killer aka The Mad Hatter), find a cure to kiss Ivy, and figure out what she wants to do for the rest of her life as she's torn between psychiatry and vigilantism. This is another beautiful LGBTQ+ book and series.
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Kingdom of Cinders: A Retelling of Cinderella by Deborah Grace White

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adventurous emotional hopeful fast-paced

5.0

I give πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’– for romance. This is such a refreshing take on "Cinderella". I really like this whole universe that Deborah Grace White has created.
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

My overall rating for romance is πŸ’–πŸ’– This is an adorable Summer coming of age with a mix of romance. I didn't want to put it down, even in the heaviest parts because I needed to know what happened next. Some parts were pretty predictable though.

β€’ Friends to lovers
β€’ Lost love
β€’ Family secrets 
β€’ Summer romance 
β€’ Summer trip
β€’ Self-discovery
β€’ Unexpected feelings 
β€’ Family by choice
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Love & Luck by Jenna Evans Welch

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adventurous challenging emotional funny tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I didn't find it quite as good as the first one, but I like that it involved characters from the previous story. I didn't so much like that I thought it was going to be about Addie and Lina and was instead about Addie and Ian. I give it πŸ’– for romance.
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The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

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3.0

It had some adventure and backstory to the creation of Narnia, but the important parts seem like they could have been a prologue. 
The Summer Love Strategy by Ray Stoeve

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emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

5.0

Definitely the PERFECT June book on honor of PRIDE. πŸ₯°πŸ³οΈβ€πŸŒˆπŸ³οΈβ€βš§οΈ This was such a cute LGBTQ+ story and incorporated a lot of the different categories. It has friendship, heartache, self acceptance, romance, self discovery, and talks about anxiety around being queer. I give it πŸ’–πŸ’–πŸ’– for romance.
Kingdom of Slumber: A Retelling of Sleeping Beauty by Deborah Grace White

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

5.0

This had originality, twists, self discovery, trial and error, magic (of course), love, betrayal, triumph, and failure. I had fun listening to it from beginning to end, just as I did with book 1: "Kingdom of Beauty". My rating for romance is πŸ’–πŸ’–