Kati

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A low 2 stars. I love mysteries and I love fantasy, but sadly, I really didn't love this.

I don't even know what to say about this book. It was such a struggle for me to even finish it. I was just so bored and didn't care! Nothing in this worked for me, sadly. Neither the characters, nor the writing were engaging.

The characters were flat. They also behaved ridiculously and not in a fun way! They just annoyed the hell out of me! The explanations for the world-building were severely lacking. It just didn't make sense! There were too many puzzle pieces missing. Everything in this book was surface-level. Yet there was time for so many useless and unimportant details.

The writing was too clunky, simplistic and straight-forward for my liking. It contradicted itself and was full of inconsistencies. Some word choices and phrases simply annoyed me. It was also very bitty. Just a series of short moments strung together.

I've read the Foundryside trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett and while I hated the last book in that series, the first two were so much fun. Neither the world-building nor the magic nor the writing were amazing in that either, but I didn't care! The characters were great to follow, the book made me care and it was an amazing time! None of that happened in The Tainted Cup.

I also felt the publisher blurb was slightly misleading or at least open to misinterpretation. It talked about a “long-suffering assistant” - Din had worked for Ana for only four months before the start of the book. Ana is described as “wearing a blindfold at all times” - that thing comes and goes as it pleases and the text does not keep track of it! And to me, the blurb implied that this book might be a fantasy version of a classic country house mystery, but the mansion wasn't all that important to the plot and the characters moved to a different city early on in the story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

An unsatisfied, low 3 stars. Or maybe a high 2 stars. I can't really make up my mind.

The first half of this novella sits somewhere between 4 and 5 stars. I loved it. But unfortunately, the second half landed between 1 or 2 stars. It frustrated me to no end. Overall, the two halves just did not successfully work as a book. But I can't ignore how much I enjoyed the beginning! So, I've settled for a rating somewhere in the middle.

The second half was odd and did not fit into this novella, given how it started, with the ending being anticlimactic. It completely lacked impact. There was no punch to it, even though there was so much potential for a juicy or fun conclusion. It just fizzles out! All of it together didn't make sense as a book.

This novella definitely felt more like a thriller than a mystery, in my opinion. And it wasn't really a take on a classic country house mystery either.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. A really nice idea, but sadly, it wasn't very good.

I'm a fan of mixed-media mysteries and thrillers. Especially of the kind that asks the reader to solve the case. This book isn't a successful version of that type of book, in my opinion.

The writing style was very rough and there was no distinction between the two timelines. Neither the current day nor the past setting actually made sense. The characters didn't talk or act like people and the mystery element was fairly obvious. There also wasn't enough mixed-media content and the included pieces weren't overly exciting.

The quality of the narration felt more like that of a game made to be enjoyed by your friends. It just didn't work as a novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 25%. Blame the spiders!

I loved Bridget Collins' other two novels and I adore the writing in this, which unfortunately turned out to be a problem. For someone who does not like spiders, this is too atmospheric and immersive. It made my skin crawl. And not in a fun way.

If you don't have a problem with spiders and enjoy Gothic adjacent stories with a lightly magical element, then I'm sure this could be a hit!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A very surprising and sad 2 stars.

This is very much a case of “It's not you, it's me.” Sarah Hogle is my favourite Contemporary Romance author. I absolutely adore all her books! You Deserve Each Other is a comfort re-read and one of my all-time favourite books, period. Just Like Magic is pure happiness in book form and Twice Shy is one of the few books that almost made me cry. I literally squealed when I got approved for the ARC of Old Flames and New Fortunes. I was so excited! But man, purely because of personal preferences, this was very much a miss for me. And I'm so incredibly sad about it. I did not see this coming!

Unfortunately, this book features one of my absolutely least favourite tropes (someone has a - in this case secret - kid) AND on top of that, one of my least favourite female character traits (desperately wanting to be a mom) in romance novels. Not even the mysterious Sarah Hogle magic is going to make me enjoy that.

Everything else is magical! The writing is funny, but also heartfelt and a tiny bit sexy! The characters are fun and the banter is amazing. I was rooting for Romina and Alex! The emotional component was as amazing and layered as it always is in her books! And while I prefer more couple-focused romances, the friends, family and small town elements in this were great as well!

It had everything going for it! But I just can't get over those two - very prominent - elements of the story that I am probably never going to like reading about. I even had a hard time finishing this book because of my dislike for those tropes/archetypes. I'll still pick up everything Sarah Hogle publishes in the future! But this book just left me feeling disappointed.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 disappointing stars. This was such an interesting concept, but it really did not work for me. There was so much potential for this to be a great mystery-focused thriller, but I felt the execution was really bad and boring.

There was no depth to anything. Not the characters, not the plot, not the writing. Everything was surface-level and none of it made much sense.

The characters don't sound or behave like people at all! It got quite infuriating. The main character is annoying and a horrible person to a degree that goes beyond an “unlikeable” character who is fun to read about. The plot is weak and very slow-paced. You have to wait quite a while for that blurb- and title-promised reappearance and you can figure out most of what's going on about 20% into the novel. The documentary and the people making it? Not actually that important or involved in the story!

It's also insanely repetitive. The same ground gets covered again and again. There is no tension at any point and with so little going on in this, it could have been a novella. It might actually have worked in that format!

Some of the commentary on parenting is also more than questionable.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. Not for me.

I sadly just didn't get on with this book. The writing style and tone were not for me. The text felt cold, stilted, awkward and completely lacked descriptions. I couldn't picture the world or feel the characters' emotions. It wasn't immersive in any way for me. It seemed underwritten, while the plot itself was very repetitive.

The promised slow-burn romance involved the couple lusting after each other immediately. And there wasn't a lot of depth to the characters. They were very one-note.

The world-building felt very spotty and underdeveloped. It's just a stream of cliché Viking barbarian men who are drowning in their own masculinity, with women being their little property. Plus some vague allusions to Norse gods. I was also surprised by how brutal and violent the story was. Without anyone batting an eye or having an emotional response!

Not my cup of tea.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

2 stars. Great concept and I had been looking forward to reading this, but the writing style sadly didn't work for me at all.

The way this is written felt incredibly simple and juvenile. And so bland. Very few descriptions or explanations and those we did get seemed almost amateurish. Not very magical for a book about magic. I really struggled with it. I know many people enjoy this kind of writing; it just isn't for me. It lacked personality!

Unfortunately, I felt the same way about the characters. They were flat, their motivations made no sense to me and there were no connecting moments to explain their choices. If you just found a magic book that lets you travel wherever you want to go—which you immediately use, by the way—you should have a reaction beyond something along the lines of “This is the best thing ever, but now I'm hungry, let's go eat.”

The good guys, especially the two female friends, were annoying and the baddies resembled cartoon villains. The dialogue was atrocious and very much fell into the category of “People don't talk like this!”

After introducing all the important characters, the plot went in a direction that didn't interest me at all. I might have been able to get on board with it if I hadn't felt like I was fighting the stylistic writing choices with every page read. I wanted to enjoy a magical and immersive story all about the power of books, but regrettably, it was not to be.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

5 stars! I'm obsessed with this. A favourite of the year!

“A podcaster has decided to ruin my life, so I'm buying a chicken.”

Fun and funny with a wonderfully snarky protagonist, but also dealing with the nature of true crime and female victimhood in an incredible way. It's such a good time, but also has a lot of depth! And we all need a grandmother like Lucy's Grandma!

Given the nature of the story, there are some darker topics addressed in this book, but I loved the way those were handled. Taken seriously, but never feeling heavy. Perfectly pitched for a character-driven thriller with a comedic edge to it! All of the thematic content is direct, but never heavy-handed or soapboxy. It also doesn't just vilify all men without any nuance to tell the story of a woman's murder. It's just very well done and wouldn't you know it, people are complex and complicated beings!

The humour in the narration is a new all-time favourite; I just adored how this was written. The podcast element was also great and interspersed at just the right moments.

And yes, the whodunnit reveal didn't surprise me, but while it was possible to predict it, it never felt obvious, which is the important factor for me with this genre. I could always think of other possible solutions and questioned my idea of the main suspect until almost to the end. As someone who has read and watched mysteries all their life, being able to figure out the ending doesn't impact my enjoyment at all. It's about how we get there and for it to never feel blindingly obvious! And hey, who doesn't like being right sometimes?

I will be honest, I did not expect this book to have as much of an impact as it did. I was hoping it might be a fun popcorn thriller, but it's genuinely brilliant. Everything in this worked for me. I found a new favourite thriller!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

5 sparkly stars! It's always great when you finish a book and feel the need to silently stare at a wall for 10 minutes after because you don't know what to do with yourself now.

There's some gorgeous writing in this and an infuriating countdown. What more do you want?

This is a favourite of the year. Stuart Turton remains one of my all-time favourite authors. He made me enjoy an environmental dystopia that has hints of climate scifi, a subgenre I usually don't like at all!

I can't say much about this book since I believe the less you know about this author's novels, the more fun you'll have. What I will say is that, although The Last Murder at the End of the World shares some characteristics with his previous books—namely, that they are all mysteries featuring a small number of core characters who are surrounded by a larger cast and they all have lengthy titles—it is also, once again, a completely different book compared to the other things Stuart Turton has written. In the same way that The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and The Devil and the Dark Water are very different books!

Basically, if you love how Stuart Turton builds his stories, you won't be disappointed. If what he does is not your cup of tea, then I'm not sure this will work for you.

Personally, I can't wait for his next book! And with all due respect, please write faster, sir.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

A high 2 stars. Just a very bland and basic YA fantasy romance, with a romance that I just didn't buy.

This isn't awful, but it's completely lacking in depth. Everything is surface-level, even though the characters are supposed to be oh-so clever and the best at what they are doing. Unfortunately, they just come across as idiots and jerks. The included love triangle is annoying and stupid, plus it's immediately clear how that plotline is going to end.

The world-building doesn't make much sense and isn't very intriguing either. The class system, the land, the wider world or the level of technological advancement—it's all a bit muddled. The info-dumping is kind of clumsy and all of the writing feels clunky. Not bad, but slightly awkward.

I also don't think that this is the kind of book that has a large crossover appeal. It's just SO VERY young adult. When people complain about books being too YA, this kind of plot and characterization come to mind. It just wasn't believable to me.

There are books out there that do the witch/witch hunter dynamic much better in my opinion. This version of it just wasn't my cup of tea. There are some great ideas in this, but the execution just didn't work.

Edit after reading the full novel: Still 5 stars! And it's rude that I can't read the next book immediately! So rude.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of the Sampler of Empire of the Damned!

I was able to read the first 200ish pages of the sequel to Empire of the Vampire. And based on that little teaser, I could see this becoming another 5 star book, just like the first in the series!

If you enjoyed the previous instalment, this will probably provide a similar experience! Great writing, amazing characters with brilliantly developed and complex relationships, swashbuckling action and the most creative form of swearing I've ever come across!

I can't wait to read the rest and find out more about what's really going on! The suspense in these books is stressful in the best way!