Reviews That Aren't Worth Reading

So I did a post similar to this before, except then I called it a mini reviews post. Honestly, these reviews aren't even that short, I mean some of them are, but that's not why they're not getting their own separate posts. It's honestly just because none of these reviews are particularly worth reading, but I mean if you want to read them, here they are. These are from a while ago, these are all books that are out so if you actually feel the need to read any of these after reading my reviews then you can.

Our Dark Star

Synopsis:

While she sleeps, the whole universe changes.

Princess Talia Starchaser has it all. Wealth. Status. Adoring citizens. But on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, she’s forced to publicly betray her best friend, a companion mock she’s had since birth, setting events into motion that lead to the destruction of the humans, and the princess floating through space, a remnant of a time when humans ruled over droids.

One hundred years later, half-mock captain Will Perrault and his ragtag crew discover a device floating in space. When a very human Talia emerges from its depths, Will suspects she’s the key to buying his way back into the regiment he once commanded against the last remaining rebel humans—and the ruling mock queen’s good graces.

Both Talia and Will would rather get space-tossed than trust one another, but with the queen’s forces chasing them across the galaxy and the fate of both worlds hanging in the balance, they’ll forge the unlikeliest of alliances to survive.

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 4 stars. I actually read this one fairly quickly, I wanted to burn through a few books and this one is being released soon so I figured I would get on that one. 

This book revealed to me a new trope that I found utterly frustrating. A female character who is privileged that is a spoiled brat, yet somehow still a doormat. I’ve noticed this a lot, there is this girl a lot of the time the daughter of someone really important and they think they’re better than everyone, but “not really” and they like bossing people around. Then the moment their parent or higher up tells them they have to do something, usually horrible, they jump to do what they want. I just don’t get it. 

Now Talia did have some good qualities, she actually had a lot of skills that helped her out. She wasn’t completely useless when they were all fighting, but she did have a lot of character flaws that were just plain annoying.

I wish the authors had given us more background on the world and what exactly happened. We don’t really find out what happened between our current time and theirs. We can make obvious inferences, but that’s all we have, we don’t have any fact. 

I think I would recommend this to those YA sci-fi lovers out there.

The Big Bad Wolf

Synopsis:

Kensey Deaton comes from an elite werewolf lineage, but just because her family is royalty, doesn't mean she'll fall in line like some perfect little princess. She has plans and they don't include an arranged marriage!

Slade McAlister has his own family drama. His Alpha father happens to be the most reviled wolf on the eastern seaboard, and it's a stigma he can't escape. So when his neighbor Kensey--the girl of his dreams and his nightmares--proposes a solution to solve *both* of their problems, he sees an opportunity he can’t ignore.

Kensey and Slade aren't only from opposite sides of the tracks, they're from opposite sides of the war. But if they can sell their 'relationship', they might just make it out of this with their freedom.

You know, as long as all that fake PDA doesn't turn into more...

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 3 stars. It was a good book, well written, the problem lies in the fact that I don’t think it’s going to be memorable. It’s too much like all those other YA paranormal romances. In a week or two I probably won’t remember what happened. 

It was well written, the flow was gorgeous, it’s more of the contents that were lacking. The rhythm of the story was smooth and if the story itself had been more engaging I could have really loved it.

The characters were not the best. Some of the characters were just so stubborn and set in their ways that it was truly frustrating at times. I also didn’t feel like the two leads had that much chemistry. I felt like these two characters just clashed too much in the wrong way that I couldn’t really get behind it.

It’s really hard to write a review for this one because I don’t feel like I have enough to say about it to really give you the full picture.

Siren

Synopsis:

Nothing in life is ever monochrome.

I discovered that a long time ago,

And with all such lessons, 

I learned it the hard way.

Dark cannot exist without light.

Night can’t occur without day.

Despair can’t flourish without hope.

I couldn’t live without her,

She can’t survive without me.

She was meant to be my protector.

It was us against the world.

Allies. Partners. 

Instead, she became my worst fear.

I allowed that despair to grow and fester.

I let it mar me, then, almost destroy me.

I realized something had to give.

This time, there is no turning back. 

When the siren calls to you,

You unwillingly answer.

Question is… Would I survive the fall?

My Thoughts:

I received a copy for an honest review

I gave this book 4 stars. I’m not sure if that is the best rating for this book. I will probably change it later as I’ve only just finished the book and do feel a little too close to it at the moment. 

However, this book was amazing. It was a bit slow in the beginning as we were getting to know the characters, but as we got deeper into the plot of the story it was something I could just not put down. I know because I did try to put it down so I could process and I could not.

The best way I could explain this book to you without actually spoiling anything is by comparing it to Fight Club. I won’t tell you how they are similar, just that there is one huge aspect that is very similar. I wish I saw it more in fiction as it’s really interesting.

This novel follows our protagonist Sage and her being at odds with her twin sister, Siren, and her falling in love with a man named Jake. The story is told from three points of view, Sage, Jake, and Siren. Nothing about this book is what you expect.

There were definitely parts of this book I found a bit hard to get through, but in the end it was a bit mind-blowing. I would highly suggest giving this book a read. 

My Name is Victoria

Synopsis:

By turns thrilling, dramatic, and touching, this is the story of Queen Victoria’s childhood as you’ve never heard it before.

Miss V. Conroy is good at keeping secrets. She likes to sit as quiet as a mouse, neat and discreet. But when her father sends her to Kensington Palace to become the companion to Princess Victoria, Miss V soon finds that she can no longer remain in the shadows. Her father is Sir John Conroy, confidant and financial advisor to Victoria’s mother, and he has devised a strict set of rules for the young princess that he calls the Kensington System. It governs Princess Victoria’s behavior and keeps her locked away from the world. Sir John says it’s for the princess’s safety, but Victoria herself is convinced that it’s to keep her lonely and unhappy. Torn between loyalty to her father and her growing friendship with the willful and passionate princess, Miss V has a decision to make: continue in silence or speak out. In an engaging, immersive tale, Lucy Worsley spins one of England’s best-known periods into a fresh and surprising story that will delight both young readers of historical fiction and fans of the television show featuring Victoria. 

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 4.5 stars. It's surprisingly not as gloomy as I expected it to be. It's actually a really light hopeful fiction of one of history's favorite queens.

This novel follows our protagonist, Miss V. Conroy as she befriends a young Princess Victoria, soon to become one of the most famous queens in history.

Going into this book, I really didn’t know much about Queen Victoria other than she was loved by the people and a fashion icon. I felt like I learned so much from this book, not large things, but small details that I hadn’t known before such as her family tree, her last name, I didn’t even know what the Kensington System was before reading this. This book is educational, but still fun to read. I thought I was going to read this and just get some sort of drama that didn’t have much factual depth to it, but I was wrong. 

There was definitely a plot twist that happens in the third part of this book, but I think everyone can see it coming. From the title of the book, it’s evident what is going to happen.

The writing was easy to understand without being completely dumbed down. I think this novel would be really good for anyone interested in finding out more about Queen Victoria and just younger readers in general.

I love how the story ends off with an epilogue from the author. She gives us a rundown on the actual history behind her work of fiction. Giving us actual facts and telling us why she wrote what she did.

Wild Poppy

Synopsis:

The daughter of a renown media mogul, Poppy Koslowski has her life turned upside down overnight when her father is indicted for a massive fraud that leads to the loss of her family’s fortune. In the wake of the scandal, Poppy moves to Paris at the behest of her aunt, the Countess Domel, who, unbeknownst to Poppy, intends to find a wealthy husband for her niece in order to ensure her future. Poppy, however, has her own dreams of finishing school and realizing her goal of becoming an award-winning journalist. When she meets Henri Olin, the passionate and seductive illegitimate son of one of France’s most powerful politicians, his political and social ideology introduces Poppy to a world very different from her own. Yet, Poppy ultimately learns that everything comes at a price, even love. After suffering a devastating loss, Poppy finds herself alone and virtually penniless, and is forced to make her way back to America to piece together the remnants of her life in New York City. There, she rediscovers her passion once again, only to be confronted with yet another life choice, one that will forever shape her destiny.

My Thoughts:

I received a copy through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 3 stars. 100% could have been better, but there were definitely things I enjoyed about this book.

I’ve had a copy that I got from Netgalley for over a year and I’ve always felt so guilty over not having read it. Every time I would try it just didn’t feel right and I would put it down again. It just didn’t grab my attention enough in the initial few chapters. Now I’m wondering why I wasn’t reading it this whole time.

I’m really angry about the ending of this book. It was supposed to work out as a stand-alone and instead, I got a cliffhanger. Which by the way, has not been released and considering Wild Poppy came out about two years ago I think it’s safe to say this sequel probably won’t be coming out any time soon.

There were just so many sex scenes in this book, it got to the point where I skipped over them to get to the actual story. 

I felt a bit ripped off, there were just so many things that weren’t concluded. I wanted to know more about why Henri did what he did. He was absolutely in love with her and then suddenly he wasn’t anymore? It really makes no sense to me. 

The entire story could have just used more expansion. I also felt a bit cheated because we were being led up to this scene at the end, and it just cut off before we could get it. It’s very frustrating.

The Boy and His Ribbon

Synopsis:

“What do you do when you meet your soul mate? No wait…that’s too easy. What do you do when you meet your soul mate and have to spend a lifetime loving him in secret? 

I’ll tell you what you do.

You lie.”

REN

Ren was eight when he learned that love doesn’t exist—that the one person who was supposed to adore him only cared how much he was worth. 

His mother sold him and for two years, he lived in terror.

But then…he ran.

He thought he’d run on his own. Turned out, he took something of theirs by accident and it became the one thing he never wanted and the only thing he ever needed. 

DELLA

I was young when I fell in love with him, when he switched from my world to my everything. 

My parents bought him for cheap labour, just like they had with many other kids, and he had the scars to prove it. 

At the start, he hated me, and I could understand why.

For years he was my worst enemy, fiercest protector, and dearest friend.

But by the end…he loved me.

The only problem was, he loved me in an entirely different way to the way I loved him.

And slowly, my secret drove us apart. 

My Thoughts:

I received an ARC through Netgalley for an honest review

I finally settled on giving this book 4.5 stars. I may change my mind later on, but, for now, I think that’s a good rating for it.

I was physically shaking when I finished this book. I don’t know if it was sleep deprivation, or possibly the adrenaline, but I felt a bit out of control. I also finished right before I went to bed which I definitely should not have done. My mind was racing till 3 am which is bad because I had to get up at 7. I really need to start checking to see if books are standalone before finishing them right before bed. 

In a lot of ways, this book reminded me of Wolfsong. There is definitely the element of us having to wait for one of the characters to grow up before the romance can begin.

I’ve had pretty much a whole day to think about this one and I realized I really don’t want to think about it. This story makes me so anxious and I honestly wish I had waited to read it when the second books comes out because I need to know what happens next, just for the sake of my mental health. I would suggest that if you do plan on reading this book to just wait for the second book to come out before you commit because once you start you won’t stop. A lot of the time when I say I read a book in one sitting, it was actually two because I probably had to go do something, but with this book, I was completely incapable of doing anything until I finished it. 

This is a very character driven book. There isn’t much going on plot-wise, it’s all about the characters pasts and their inner struggles. There really is no straight line and I can’t tell you exactly what this book is about other than it’s about a boy and a girl who are very close.  The boy, Ren, accidentally took a baby, Della, when he was ten years old and has been taking care of her ever since. 

There’s lots of drama and we don’t really get into the romance in this book, it’s more of the foundation for the next book. I would definitely recommend this book, but I would also suggest you wait till you can also read the second book so you can read them back to back.

The Hundredth Queen

Synopsis:

He wanted a warrior queen. He got a revolutionary.

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple.

But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik.

Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her.

My Thoughts:

I received a copy through Netgalley for an honest review

I gave this book 2.5 stars. Honestly, I have read way better. I appreciate the attempt at diversity, but this book was severely lacking in many different ways.

This book had a pretty big element of romance. Sadly, I could not have cared less about the romance in this book. There was a love triangle that was just frustrating so it was best to just not care what happened with that. 

The plot itself was much more engaging anyway, however, it’s pretty overused. Do you have any idea how many books I’ve read that have tournaments? To name a few there’s the Hunger Games, Divergent, Olympian Challenger, Throne of Glass, and The Goblet of Fire. There are just too many books like that out there for this to be an original story. I loved the fact that there was a unique setting in a sort of eastern inspired fantasy. 

I just could not get into this book. Nothing about the characters really spoke to me. I didn’t care about Kalinda at all. She was a pretty flat character. And of the millions of other characters in this book, I can honestly say I didn’t like a single one of them. They just weren’t interesting or dynamic at all. 

I also hate the thing that happens in so many books where someone will tell the protagonist that she just has to deal with something because others have it worse and she’s just got it so much better than them. It honestly pisses me off every single time it happens. These people act like they know so much about the protagonist but they don’t. You shouldn’t tell someone that they have to deal with something they are having a hard time with it’s honestly so stupid to me.

Overall, I know for a fact I will never read this book again or read any of the sequels because I’m just not that into it.

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