Sandra

Love the illustrations and a simple book to read.

Got to love plagiarized work that is turned into a book to profit off of someone else's hard work.
sarcasm

Thank you, NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have been in a reading slump since last October and I saw this and decided to give it a chance. I can say without a doubt that this was worth the chance.
I was 100% entertained by Celestial Academy: Essence by Olivia Pharos. Now, for some... it might be an issue because It does have a lot of other book ideas within it. For me, I have no issue with that. Celestial Academy is perfect and amazing. It was so amazing for me that I went out and bought it and the second book.
Cough I'm gonna need that third one soon. Cough

Anyway...
Content Warnings/Trigger Warnings that I remember off the top of my head for those that need it:
Cursing
Mentions of rape (Chp. 3)
Talks of sex
Depictions of violence
Mentions of Death (lots of it)
Religion (for those who have religious trauma or might be easily offended because there is a religious aspect to this book.

Ummm... I might be missing some but I got too caught up in the story to keep track of them because it was that good. LOL. Sorry.

So... within the first chapter, we jump right into the story and it takes off running. The Female main character is extremely snarky and humorous. I found myself laughing a lot due to her dark humor and the banter between her and the rest of the characters.

The Narrator was.... one of the best Narrators I have listened to in a while. Very expressive and read at a... good pace. She even did the different tones and voices for different characters. It was a very enjoyable listening experience. Well done.

The plot follows a young woman named Doris who hires a Vampire Hunter named D to kill the vampire that bit her.
There are a lot of elements in this plot. You have Doris relying on D to fight and defeat Count Magnus Lee, the vampire that attacked Doris. The Count aims to turn Doris into a vampire so he can have her as his wife. The Count's daughter is trying to prevent this union. There is a lot more in this story that will take me forever to type but it is pretty good.
The book does deserve praise. Despite that Kikuchi writes kinda flowery. The characters are well-written and the setting is well developed.

My issue and the reason why It is 4 stars is because of the audiobook. I spent 4 years being an audio editor and learning how to clean them up to make them sound smooth.

Let me explain, humans, make a lot of sounds with their mouths that they might not know that they are doing. These sounds can be ticks, sighs, teeth sounds, the pronunciation of letters that are drawn out, lisps that affect how one may pronounce letters, etc. In this audiobook, the S sound is very strong. For me, it is hard to miss because that should have been cut down or noted by the editors for removal. What I mean by noted is sometimes, you need permission before you can cut something out/down in the audiobooks.
Anyway, that strong sound of S is hard to miss in the first chapter. It does get better as the story progresses but for me, it's annoying my audio editor side due to how strong it is compared to all the other words and letters within this story. There are also breath sounds within this audio that should have been cleaned up but overall pretty good book. I enjoyed it.

Just gonna give it three stars because I dislike giving books anything lower. I was bored reading it.

We enjoy Pete the cat in this house.

Not bad, I just find these topics boring. That is why i rated it 3 stars.

Adorable little children's book.

Not for me

October 2024:
Y'all don't understand how excited I am for this book. I've been following the progress of this book since the very start. This is the one book I'm looking forward to in 2025.

The narrator of this audiobook was amazing!! The book had great worldbuilding and I became engulfed in the world. However, the characters needed more development and depth. I liked the magic system it was on the fun side and meshed well with the plot. The plot... Hmm, not sure how to explain it interesting but hard to follow at times.

Thank you, Net Galley and CamCat Books for a copy of The Man or the Monster

The Man or the Moster is a sequel to another book and this is not my typical read. I am glad that I went outside my comfort zone. I had a wonderful experience.

The Narrator: I adore her voice and how soothing and lovely it is. The narrator makes the audience feel connected with the characters. You feel the emotions that are within this book. I was consumed by this book.

I stayed up way past my bedtime reading The Man or the Monster. It's full of betrayal, drama, forbidden romance, twists and turns. It was such a good book that I felt as though I was there. I felt heartbreak and fell in love with every aspect of the book. This is a book that is not forgettable. It is one that will stay with the reader for a very long time.

Now, I need to go read the first book in this series and this author is now on my auto-buy list.

It's cute and quick

Listen Mama is heartbreaking and a wonderfully sad memoir that will make you cry, smile with sadness, and even make you remember your own story (if it is similar).

We meet Manny in the early 90s when he begins his journey through the turbulent waters of his existence as a teenager and we are witnesses to his ordeals and tribulations until the bittersweet but satisfying conclusion of his story, in the late 2000s. This is a good recollection of someone who endured a lot. It hit home for me.

I do recommend being cautious when diving into this story

Some TW's that I saw:
Anxiety, Bipolar, bullying, depression, overall mental illness, death, Domestic abuse, sexual assault, drugs, trauma, food insecurity, and weight issues.

There are more but these are the ones I remember the most.

I am glad that I was given the opportunity to finally cry during a story that hit close to home for me

Thank you, NetGalley

#ListenMama #Netgalley

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for providing me with this ARC audiobook.

The Woods are Waiting is a slow-burn thriller that is set in the Appalachian region of Virginia. The rhymes that warned of the monster in the woods and the lore provided a spooky atmosphere for the book. That was enjoyable and kept me intrigued.

However, the overall plot of the book did disappoint me. It was not until the last few chapters that I was truly interested again. But... Even then the end needed more. I was and was not thrilled while reading this thriller.

As for the narrator of the audiobook. I have mixed feelings about her. Her accents caught me off guard but I could tell when she would switch characters. For me, the narrator sounded monotone in areas that should have a little more... Umph. However, the narrator did have a soothing voice to listen to which allowed me to stay slightly engaged.

I swear I already did a review of this book.
sigh Guess I need to do it again.


Oh my Lanta, I hated this book so much. It was utterly boring. I went into this expecting something with Stephen King's essence that he sometimes put into his thriller books. All I got from this was a whiny teenager who conducted a school shooting and still whined about life.
There are heavy topics in this book but it was handled so “awkwardly/immature” (not even sure if that is the correct word(s) I want to use.

sigh
Now, it is not the worst book I have ever read about school shootings/horrible situations that minors are in. But... It is not the best.
I wish Stephen King would rewrite this.

The rating is 2.5/3
I don't even think I would recommend this book to those who are just getting into these types of books over books like Hate List or Nineteen Minutes

I read this about 2 months ago for one of my college classes. I rated it one star not because I did not like the book. I rated it one star because there was a lot of mistakes in the book. There is wrong information within the first 16 pages. Then throughout the book there is more.
I enjoyed the content within the book when it was correct but the majority of my time reading this book. I was fact checking just to make sure it was correct.
I have an issue with reading books like this and majority of the information on people they speak about is incorrect. It takes away from the overall book.
You find one mistake, you think okay someone didn't catch it, too easy. You see two, then three and more after that. Now you as a reader do not even know if the book is trustworthy and have to fact check every time they mentioned a name, date, location etc.
But overall it is a decent book. If and when i find another book like this, that is actually correct. I will come back and insert it here.

Thank you Net Galley for an audio ARC of The Last Saxon King by Andrew Varga. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was short and to the point. The plot was good and not a complex YA read. I did find Dan and his male gaze to be relatively “cringy”. The characters are somewhat lacking but it does not hinder the overall story.

Thank you, NetGalley, Kevin Moore, and the publishers for providing me with an ARC for the second book in The Book of Souls series.

The Book of Demons is the second book in The Book of Souls by Kevin Moore. The story was intriguing and had mayhem throughout the whole story. There was a wonderful transition from the Book of souls to The Book of Demons. The world-building was impeccable as always and the writing allowed for the world-building to be spot on.

Mr. Moore's writing style weaves a wonder tale into a complex story very effortlessly. I am sad that this is Duology and this is the final book in The Book of Souls series but I am excited for what might be next.

I hope this story gets turned into an audiobook to make it more easily accessible.

So, I have attempted to read this twice.

The first time I started to read this I did DNF it. I got to 20%-25% before I DNF'd. The reason why is because I was not sure if I was bored, stressed out due to school, or just too overwhelmed with life. So, I put the book down and left it alone.

This time in 2022, I wanted to try to read this again because life has calmed down. I managed to make it to 45%-50% of the book before I DNF'd it once again. The characters did not leave an impression on me. As soon as I ended my 30 minutes a day reading time I would forget them. I was tired of the repetition. And, some other factors within this book.

I think 2 stars is appropriate, I might recommend this book to someone that has not read in a long time, or I would not recommend this at all.

Thank you for providing me with an arc for Throne of Slumber. This is a “plus-sized gender bender retelling of sleeping beauty”. It is a wonderfully fast-paced, action-packed retelling that will immediately suck the reader in. It did take me a while to read but not because of the book. That is my fault and life was chaotic. The average reader could finish this within a day. However, I am glad that it took me so long to read. Throne of slumber was my book to relax in those early hours of the morning.

Honestly, this is one of the better books I have had to read for Uni. It does not have similar material to other criminal justice books. It is a fresh perspective and approach to this area.

Edit 2022:
Due to recent events, a star will be deducted.

I was bored with this book before page 10. I stuck it out to see if it would get better, due to other books starting slow. I stuck it out and wished I didn't.
Here are some pros:
There is a person that will like this book a whole lot better than I did.
Interesting (i guess)
I just couldn't get into it.

This book is very adorable and my 2-year-old loved all the bright colors on the page. Me personally, I dislike short books like this for children, but since my child loved it I will give this book a rating of 4 out of 5.

First off I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC!

The prologue was good and did its job. It set The Drowned Woods up very well.
I liked the characters but at times they become insufferable due to seeing similar characters done in other books. I feel that the characters are missing something to make them more “unique” or “less forgettable. There were times while readings this that I see a character and just completely bypass that section with good old glazing at the page.
I did love the multiple POVs, but it was flawed. I feel that it could have transitioned better.
The pacing was slow. For me, it was so slow that I got easily distracted. I can deal with the slow pace that picks up, a fast pace that slows down, and even a slow pace that picks up once. But this was constantly slow. The only way I can better describe this is to imagine this as a monotone person.
The ending for me was okay, I feel let down though.
I think if this whole book was written like the prologue was it would have been 5 stars.