I wish I could have liked this more. While I sympathize with the author, the poetry was not very good initially and then got cheesy. There is probablyI wish I could have liked this more. While I sympathize with the author, the poetry was not very good initially and then got cheesy. There is probably an audience for this; I am just not part of that, it seems.
Thank you, NetGalley and Harbor Lane Books, LLC., for the chance to read and review this!...more
Thank you, NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press, for the chance to read and review Dragon Den by Kriss Dean.
Dragons are in vogue these days, or at least, posThank you, NetGalley and Yggdrasil Press, for the chance to read and review Dragon Den by Kriss Dean.
Dragons are in vogue these days, or at least, post-Fourth Wing; I'm starting to see them more and more often, which could just be because of the algorithms involved.
Dragon Den is How to Train Your Dragon meets Fast and Furious, although sometimes I wonder if How To Train Your Dragon is just thrown into these things to help trick the algorithm into marketing the book for you. What it does have in common with HTTYD is that the characters are young, learning about dragons, and the main character is a dumb dude, trying to make his dad proud, and in love with a high-achieving woman.
But that last similarity might also be the book's downfall.
Fourth Wing worked (read: sold well) because it was told from a female POV. The book itself wasn't well written; it was a fast read that you had to avoid reading too closely (the same way one watches a trashy TV show), and it had good smut told from the female POV. Regarding writing quality, Dragon Den may be in the same place, but by making the main character a dude who tells the smut from his perspective, you make it weird for female readers who are, let's face it, the primary audience for this book. You really have to force yourself to read the first few chapters; as a NetGalley reviewer, I might do that, but most people will give it up. He's also such a dumb dude. So dumb.
That being said, the plot itself is fun, especially how it progresses at the end. There are plot holes, like how the adults are that dumb and how quickly the dude gets his dragon, but I'm willing to overlook that, given that this does seem to be the author's first book. ...more
"My body moves like a tree on a breezeless summer day."
Oaths is not the first book I've read by F.S. Yousaf; the other was Sincerely which I ended up "My body moves like a tree on a breezeless summer day."
Oaths is not the first book I've read by F.S. Yousaf; the other was Sincerely which I ended up not being able to get through. I think this work shows massive improvement by the author and I'm interested to see how the next one will turn out.
Thank you NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the chance to read and review this book....more
Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the chance to read and review Metamorphose by Kayla Stone.
Metamorphose has an interestingThank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the chance to read and review Metamorphose by Kayla Stone.
Metamorphose has an interesting concept. a butterfly moves through a place believing it's horrifically ugly and unworthy of attention or love, Its belief in it's own unworthiness leads it to join the flames to be beautiful for some time, but afterwards realises that the brief moment of beauty cost far more than it was worth when it loses its wings and the ability to follow the sun.
This is meant to be a commentary on beauty and how women are taught to chase it at the cost of their own sanity and selves even when they are, objectively speaking, beautiful. After all, who amongst us can look at a butterfly and think it's ugly; and yet this one was willing to set itself on fire. The butterfly's own internal voice seems incredibly masculine in its obsession with beauty, think Du Bois double consciousness, but with women looking at their bodies through the male gaze.
That being said, this is not going to be my favourite read. While the concept is an interesting one the language was a bit strange and I was a bit bored. I personally feel anyone using the word ochre has issues. ...more
Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, for the chance to read and review this ARC!
Honestly, it's been a while since I read some good fantasy,Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group, for the chance to read and review this ARC!
Honestly, it's been a while since I read some good fantasy, and with this book only at 176 pages, it felt like an excellent place to try to get back into things. The shorter length was appealing as it allowed me to dive into a new fantasy world without committing to a lengthy read, especially given that I am not that crazy a fan of dragons, even though those seem to be in fashion this year.
Despite its short length, this book strikes a delicate balance between engaging the reader and building up the setting. Including brief chapters recounting past knights' tales was a brilliant touch.
The female characters were interesting enough; there wasn't much emotional investment on my part, but the writing and plot were enough for me to keep going. While I would like to read other books in the series, I do feel like a bit more on their development would have been good.
While the author stayed away from stuffing in tropes, a cheap tactic used to get readers in, and instead relied on her plot( which is fantastic), the representation of sapphic love in the blurb was a little misleading. Our main Sir Maddileh is bi, but that's all we get in this book. We don't see her interested in anyone, which is understandable given what happened to her. If you're looking for sapphic love or romance, we get none of that. However, there's potential for improvement in future installments, which is something to look forward to.
While the book was a satisfying read overall, I couldn't help but feel that the ending was rushed. A few more pages could have drawn out the climax, providing a more fulfilling conclusion.
Overall, I leave this book a well deserved 4 stars!...more
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this.
This was not good. I feel like the first couple of books in this series would have been morThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this.
This was not good. I feel like the first couple of books in this series would have been more interesting ones. I did feel like despite the author trying to tell us what she saw around her, we couldn't really feel it. Like okay, everyone in Miami is sexy and warm in a way people in LA are not. And I understand you're wearing a lot of designer drip, but like while the guy is pulling those clothes off you, it doesn't help to talk about the brand or the name of the thing....more
Thank you NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for the chance to read and review this book.
It's been a while since I've read a regency romance that acThank you NetGalley and Dragonblade Publishing for the chance to read and review this book.
It's been a while since I've read a regency romance that actually covers topics on the heavier side, without dismissing them altogether by the end. Henry has a gambling problem and that doesn't magically go away; he is gambler and that stays until the end. Katie has a birthmark that scares people, and that doesn't just disappear with her revealed to be a conventional beauty. Her father doesn't become gentle with them at the end, and they really will struggle for money in the future.
This made it a good solid read. And the spice was just **chefs kiss**! ...more
Thank you NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the chance to read and review this book!
I absolutely love this collection. This was a refreshinThank you NetGalley and Interstellar Flight Press for the chance to read and review this book!
I absolutely love this collection. This was a refreshingly human take on AI and the transition from this into magic and time travel was amazing.
Pieces like "There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai" and "Communist Computer Rap God" are the kind of stories that stand out and should be published en masse for people to read; they are the kind of stories that make an author worth remembering. The later stories that more blatantly talk about genocide and the death of people also come at a fairly appropriate time, with the genocide in Palestine....more
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.
I've been having a hard time with modern poetry these days these days and yet this worThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.
I've been having a hard time with modern poetry these days these days and yet this worked for me. While the language is gentle and simple, there is still meaning in the way the words have been strung together....more
Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the chance to read and review this book!
While I did really like the plot and the swan shifting, there was soThank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the chance to read and review this book!
While I did really like the plot and the swan shifting, there was something about the way the author wrote that was not young adult for me and I did have to try to not DNF the book. It felt a bit more middle grade and it didn't really make me invest in the characters. While this writing style makes it an easy read for sure, it does not make it a very good one, unless you explicitly target a much younger audience; but the book was marketed as young adult.
A lot of things felt predictable, like the romance between Tuan and Kier. That the queen loves Orla a bit more is never really unpacked in the book. The fact that Kier does gain the ability to shift seems like a bit of a bait and switch when it comes to things because the blurb literally talks about how she cannot shift. The stuff with the other princes was a bit meh, as well as the attitude in the kingdom, like yes we help with harvesting and the girls have a choice in everything they do. I also feel like no one really ever focused on the oldest sister, even after stuff happened between her and Orla. There is also no real sense that Kier has grown enough to resist the calls of being a swan, except that she wore an iron necklace. I'm also a bit miffed that Kier didn't keep the other horses.
We also didn't really unpack why Orla was ready to give Kier to Hafor; like I understand why she wanted Gill, but what was up with that? Besides to make her evil for the sake of being evil?
I don't think I'll be reading the rest of this series. ...more
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!
This is one of those books I want to own and have a copy off on my shelf and give to peThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this ARC!
This is one of those books I want to own and have a copy off on my shelf and give to people I love. They truly do not make anthologies like this all that often; which is, to say, that it is absolutely wonderful.
Maria Popova has put together a beautiful collection of poems that are interesting and really good, and accompanied each with a concept to be explored. She herself, writes beautifully, like a poet writing prose, each word saturated with love. She reminds us of the beauty and imagination in science, a field that has often been called cold because of its focus on rationality.
I would put her in the company of some of my favourites like James Crews and William Seighart, and I can't wait for the next collection she puts together; although I should tell her that the bar is incredibly high now.
I would never recommend a poetry collection to my grandmother, who has much better taste than I do in literature, but this is one I would not hesitate to give her. I know that compliment might not mean much to someone, but it's the highest one I can give.
The illustrations by Ofra Amit were also a lovely touch!
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.
The Unboxing of a Black Girl is a fantastic read. That being said, I am not the targetThank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book.
The Unboxing of a Black Girl is a fantastic read. That being said, I am not the target audience for this book. As someone who is not part of the target audience I still really liked the authors writing style and I think the list of resources given is amazing! ...more
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