unusablebooklore's reviews
322 reviews

SciFi - Human Romance
All of the Rep
#MiddleLifeRomance 

OHEMMGEE I wish this was dual POV. I’m desperate to know more about Ezra and know what he’s thinking. 
 
I’m finding the abruptness of Denver (Xe/Xem) 100% suits but I don’t 100% understand Ezra’s (He/Him). He WILD swings between calm/empathetic and breaking down. Perhaps there is a deeper reason for this, if it was explained I missed it. 
 
These two had TERRIBLE communication, it almost felt like no sentence between them gets to finish. They only hear half of what the other person is saying, the other half of what is actually going on between them, interpersonally, is just made up fluff in their heads. 
 
Over all the this novel is exciting and filled with turns I didn’t really see coming. The varied representation and clear use of pronouns was seamlessly woven into the book and never felt like they were shoehorned in. 

Single POV
Enemies to lovers 

Super diverse cast 

Very finger on the pulse in terms of language use.
Fade to black

This was such a good sports (adjacent) romance. It was fun not to read pages of game description. 

I really felt for the characters, they felt like we had grown up together, as an elder millennial they felt like they had similar experiences to me. Touched on a lot of modern topics, but still felt like it wasn't 100% set in this decade (perhaps the book is meant to feel like its set in the 2000's?). 

The whole thing felt comfortable. I really enjoyed it and found myself finishing the best part of it in a day. 

 

TW: non-consensual outing 

 

Kris Ripper has such a good story telling style. 

The narrator Pete Cross is really good. He really brought the characters to life.

Soooo cute.
#MiddleLifeRomance 
Middle life age gap 25/39

Very insta lovey, not fated mate kind, but the trauma bond kind. 
It was short and sweet. It really gave me a taste of the authors story telling, as I've been interested in the other books in this series for a while. I'm now 100% going to give them a read ASAP.

Pretty heavy book, HUGE TW’s for SA and the aftermath. The emotions felt real and while this book didn’t make me cry (Thank you JJ - I wasn’t up for that) I found this book wholly consuming. I didn’t want to put it down. While the subject and emotions in this book heavy, there is a lightness and sensitivity that really added to the readability for me. 

 

Throughout the first book in this series I struggled with the voices of the MC’s - Luke and Max had totally distinct voices which was perfect. I adored them both. 

 

I’m incredibly eager for the 3rd book. The Author has yet to confirm who the MC’s will be but I have a sneaky suspicion. 

 

Side thoughts: 

 

Luke 100% is in my head re: invisibility. There is ZERO non sinister reason for that super power. 

 

“The Queer Revolution” - Perhaps better than the Gay Hockey Universe (…other sports included) 

First J.J. Mulder book I’ve read; people RAVE about them. To be honest, people weren’t lying, it was good. I really liked it. 

 

Demi rep 

Bi rep 

Roommates to lovers 

Hockey 

 

Around 22% I felt that the characters did’t feel like they had distinctive voices. It wasn’t a problem but that didn’t really change. It made the book feel a little flat. 

 

The author did a really good job of dealing with bad, kinda unwanted, consensual seggs. The character doesn’t seem to realise saying 'no' and that leaving was an option. I feel like this is more common in real life than is usually discussed and I really like that it was woven into a story that really focused on pleasure and feelings rather than lust. 

 

For a new adult book I never really felt that the MC’s were overly mature for their 21 years and I really appreciated it. They had some BIG life changes and managed them in a believable way 

 

From what I gather the second book in this series in going to be pretty heavy. 

 

Also, Vas is apparently German. The author has 100% never met a German. 

Rivals to lovers 

Only one bed 
Buxom babe

Work trip 

Leaf peeping 
He fell over a decade ago...

 

Does he fall first? As in, has he ALWAYS been in like like with her? Sam’s first chapter kinda implies that he thinks she’s pretty and REALLY enjoys poking the bear (extends fights on purpose 😱). Pretty quickly it becomes clear that Sam is so far gone for this girl. 

 

Oooo Iris thinks Sam’s a BABE and he makes her comfortable. She compared him to a well worn shoe…this book had be cackling...

 

So cute and good, I almost wish it was longer. The happy ever after didn’t feel stretched out enough for me…perhaps it needed an extra epilogue. This is the second Elise Kennedy book and I adore her style. I cannot wait for Iris' sisters book. 

The conclusion of this series. 

Heavy on the spice, and moderate on plot; all of the books were fun. This was as super light hearted series that honestly I think I would have read as a full novel if the plot had been made the priority. Personally, by book 4 I found the spice a little repetitive, but I'm squarely in the story > spice camp.

This book touched on the relationship between two of the MMC's; however, it was just glossed over. It felt unnecessary; like it was something the FMC found hot, which it pretty surface level considering these dude have had a years long situationship going on. 

4.5 MASSIVE stars

Hyde and Teresa compliment each other SO WELL. 
 
Early on I was so interested, although slightly overwhelmed with the world building, this is likely why I don’t read a lot of fantastical set books. 
 
Hyde and Teresa were lovely MCs for a cozy, no stakes, no spicy mystery. I would recommend this book to absolutely anyone I thought would even slightly enjoy it. Super, anxiety and autism rep, both are dealt with in a compassionate way with MCs that are learning to know their limits and a community that supports them. 
 
Filled with a super diverse cast in a magical Scottish village, this book felt like a perfect rainy day read. I cannot wait to read the next book in the series. 
 
It really goes to show how much an author can grow and develop over years. Last year I read one of this authors books published in 2016. I hated it. I’m still not sure I would give the early works of this author another try. But this recent stuff, top notch. 

I’ve been so excited for this Audio. I LOVE Simon Goldhill. I LOVE these books. 

 

Like book 2 in this series this is far spicier that the first book. 

I adored the pull these two had. They fed off each other both personally and professionally. They made an excellent team. 

 

Elements of hurt/comfort, forced proximity, workplace. This book hit a bunch of marks for me (it’s about actors…see what I did there?). 

 

It has a little overlap with book 2, and it will help reading it to know who's who. All the best characters from books 1 and 2 make an appearance. 

Too many images, that can’t be zoomed on phone perhaps I should have read it on a projector...regardless SUPER annoying.

Love that these dudes are IG pals and have no idea what they look like. Excellent setup. 

However, at 28% - they have met in person. Literally they said “Hi, I’m XXX”, had instantaneous feelings, and kissed. It’s weird and I’m not sure it’s for me. The author barely describes their appearance and what is thought by the MCs. It's essentially a walk-by kissing. I feel like at least a page was edited out…it was the wrong page, we need that page back. This all seems deeply out of character for Dev. Also Bryce is acting like instant hookups aren’t his thing, but he quite literally planned a hookup for earlier in the evening.

Bryce seems really concerned with changing his “reputation” but doesn’t seem to be trying too hard in practice. He literally has a new “trick” to consider every day. It just doesn’t feel realistic, and feels forced. Doesn’t the guy ever read a book, or watch TV? I feel like eating a meal might interfere with his social life. 

The whole thing is descriptive in a way I didn’t vibe with. It felt clunky and as if you were being told things that didn’t quite match, Bryce has all these complex thoughts, yada yada yada, but Bryce acts as deep as a thimble. 

Also, the time off-set of the characters is a little weird. Most of chapters start by going back past over what we’ve already read but from the opposite characters perspective and I'm not talking a scene I'm talking an in book day… for example Dev spends a day furthering the story. The next chapter we spend the same day shopping with Bryce…doing NOTHING for the story. 

There are also massive oversights in the story, It feels like it was originally written differently. I felt like when an author changes a name in edits and ctrl+f's the name and misses one. So out of no where, the character let's call her Pamela is called Courtney. In this case Bryce's BIL is golfing with the boys? How does he know anyone in the town across the country Bryce has moved to. Also "the kids" run off with money for ride tickets. THEY ARE 4 and 6. No they don't. 

Whole hotel name is used 47x. It's 4 words long...

Skimmed the last 20% for the gist and don't feel as if I missed a single thing. With better editing this could have been great.