lauren

3 stars✨

I have never read anything by Fiona Zedde before this. I did not expect that this was going to be an intrigue and mystery storyline in this book and that is one of my favorite genres, so this made it a pleasant surprise.

We have Agnes Noble who is private, mysterious, and untouchable. She rules House of Agnes, the most exclusive escort agency on the East Coast, with a diamond fist. Crossing her is a mistake no one makes twice. We then have Investigative reporter Lola Osbourne who is not afraid. She's gunning for the House and its so-called queen. She'll make sure no other innocent gets dragged into Agnes's alluring web, to be used and discarded the way Lola's sister was. From the moment she lays eyes on Lola, Agnes knows she's hiding something but she also knows she won't be able to resist Lola.

I really liked the way this story was told. I enjoyed Lola's determination and her ability to change her mind. I also liked that it was an age-gape romance, as those are one of my favorites. The atmosphere is also fantastic. I will admit that there were some plot holes and a couple of convenient timings that made me roll my eyes. But I still enjoyed it. The steamy sex scenes were definitely my favorite part.

However, I did have some issues. First, there were sometimes where I was really confused. I like that they spent some time together, talking and getting to know each other, but I don't think that one night of flirtation and dinner together was enough for them to fall in love. I felt that the reveal was a letdown. I just was expecting more. The writing isn't bad, but it didn't wow me, and there were a few repetitive things that were annoying.

Overall, I did enjoy this. If you're looking for a sapphic romance with some mystery in it, I do recommend this. Thank you to Netgalley and Ylva Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a great collection of poems about mental health, body positivity, being female, and being Black/biracial. I could really relate to a lot of the poems about being fat and struggling with mental health. While I did enjoy the poems there were some that I couldn't get into. Some of them just didn't pack the punch that the other ones did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Button Poetry for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Howls From Hell is a horror anthology collecting together sixteen stories. I have never read an anthology so this was a lot of fun. If you enjoy horror, then you should enjoy some of these stories. I do have some favorites but overall these were all really good. Some of the stories did drag and some I felt like were a little too short. I think my favorites are Junco Creek by S.E. Denton and Suspended in Light by Alex Wolfgang, I would buy these if they were a book. Thank you to NetGalley and HOWL Society Press for the ARC.

I did enjoy this book, but I really thought I was going to like it more. It started off really strong, I was fully invested. About halfway through I found myself getting kinda bored. I love how fast Shari Lapenas' books read, they are definitely addicting. I did not figure out who the killer was, I was predicting everyone else. I enjoyed reading from multiple different people, we had a whole cast of characters. I felt that halfway through is where I started to get bored and just wasn't fully invested in the story. I didn't really care who the killer was or why they did it once we found out the reveal. This was just an okay read for me. I will definitely keep checking out Shari Lapenas' books because for the most part, I do enjoy them.

DNF at 40%

I honestly just could not get into this book. I think it mostly had to do with the writing style, it just didn't work for me. I didn't feel connected to the characters and honestly didn't care what happened

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Amanda Lovelace has done it again. Every poetry book I read from her has made me cry and this book is no exception. This poetry book speaks on the experiences that young girls go through throughout their lives. I. could relate to many of these poems and that broke my heart. While reading this I felt empowered and strong. The writing was once again amazing.

That being said, there were some poems that felt kinda felt to me. That could just be a me thing though. I am giving this book 4/5 stars.

‘Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.'

I love poetry so I was excited to read this. I ended up enjoying a lot of the poems. Unfortunately, there were some that I couldn't really get into. But that could have been just a me thing. I did enjoy that the poems were dark and gruesome. I did feel like there were a lot of poems in here, I think it could have been cut down. Overall it was good, but nothing amazing.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

DNF

Everyone seems to love this, but I did not.

The writing was choppy to me. The dual timelines were not interesting and the plot barely moved. I tried to read this multiple times and just couldn't get through it. There were also really weird word choices that pulled me out of the story. There was honestly nothing that I enjoyed.

DNF

I don't know what is happening to me but every book recently I just could not finish, this being one of them.

Now, this sounded intriguing and the writing wasn't bad but there were a lot of things that bothered me. I'm just going to list everything that I didn't like sorry. There were way too many characters and POVs. There was so much happening that I couldn't really get into the story because of that. There was really no character development and I got pretty far before I DNF. Because of the lack of character development, I couldn't connect with anyone.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF

I really did not like this book. People were saying that this was a fast-paced book but I do not agree. I felt like it dragged so much. There was too much POV's and they did nothing for the book. Matt was extremely boring to read from. I felt like he did nothing. There were homophobic/racists comments and that was what really push me over the edge. I don't understand why the editor didn't remove those comments. I just don't understand why people love this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced readers copy in exchange for my review.

DNF
I, unfortunately, could not get into this book. I got about 45% though and could not finish it. So let me rant.

night owls and summer skies open with our main character, Emma lane, going to stay with her toxic, bigoted mother for the summer, but things quickly go awry when it's revealed Emma will be going to camp mapplewood while her mother and brand-new husband go on their honeymoon. she's determined to get out but she gets caught up in a whirlwind of drama, as well as a budding romance with Vivian black, who is a counselor.

My biggest problem was Vivian. I just could not stand her. Vivian pursues this relationship just as much as Emma but no one around Vivian thinks this is a problem, like what?!? Vivian looks through Emma's phone and makes fun of her campers. Like why? Also, I and the writing just didn't click. I didn't feel any connection to the characters. The dialogues were very choppy and felt too much like a script to make it seem interesting. I was so excited for this because a gay summer romance? Yes, please! Unfortunately, this just didn't work.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an e-copy for review.

DNA at 45%

I really wanted to love this book. The premise, which promised a “blend of Chinese history and mecha science fiction” sounded really intriguing and promising. I felt that the pacing was kinda off, sometimes it felt fast other times it felt slow. I also felt like the author was trying to do too many things at once. Also, the romance was really underwhelming for me, I just didn't understand it. I'm SOO upset about this because I honestly was so excited to read this. I might try this again in a couple of months but I'm not sure.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.