renee

[MY RATING] 8.9/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- GAH THIS WAS SO GOOD AND IT MADE ME SOB SO MUCH bc i was imagining myself in her shoes and sobbing because if this happened to me and my boyfriend i'd probably be worse than her when it comes to grieving and just imagining him picking up the phone would never ever let me get over his death so JSBGSKRGAEWGEG
- i dont remember much bc i read this in 2022 but am writing the review only now but YEA ALL I RECALL WAS THAT I SOBBED ALOT AND I REALLY LOVED THIS BOOK and loved following the main character's grief journey while crying along with her.
- it was refreshing and great and overall i would reread this book whenever i feel like i need to cry and imagine that it's my boyfriend and I instead to cry more HAHAH

[8/10 RATING] [Spoiler-free review]

This was a great book to read! The plot was interesting, and it kept me wanting to know more. I thought that it was interesting having a protagonist with cerebral palsy as well. I do remember being slightly confused at the development of Rhen's personality though. The romance could be a little more developed, but overall this was a really good read! Despite not liking the ending that much (epilogue), I still enjoyed the novel alot. It was written beautifully, and I'm glad I picked it up. No regrets reading this one– I'm on the 2nd book now !

OVERALL: Do try this series if you'd like an original retelling of Beauty and the Beast, with cool things like characters travelling across to the modern world with technology straight from the fairytale world. I thought it was really good!

THIS WAS SO GOOD !!!! [9/10 RATING] [Spoiler-Free Review]

This was SUCH a gorgeous ‘rivals to lovers' type romance novel. The novel was incredibly well written, with characters that I absolutely adored. Being an animal lover myself, I absolutely adored Quint !! I, too, along with Prudence, fell in love with Quint. I loved the way she slowly found herself falling for him, and how much character development she had throughout the novel. I remember grinning like mad while reading because of how much I shipped them. I love the premise of the novel, the characters, the plot, the character development and the writing. It was a super heartwarming read and I really loved it.

OVERALL: PLEASE READ IT. You will not regret it and end up finishing the book with the biggest grin on your face because the whole journey was amazing.

[7.5/10 Rating] [Spoiler-free review]

At first I wasn't really feeling this book as I didn't like how the story was going, but as I read, I found myself liking the characters more, which helped to keep me going. The romance was kinda predictable (I saw it coming from miLeS away before it even began), but was still a good read. I wasn't able to sit down and binge it one-shot as I wasn't really a fan of how the story was progressing, but it was still interesting enough to keep me reading for “short bursts of time”. Like the first book, Rhen's personality was kinda hard to understand??? (Are you caring or cruel??? Why did you suddenly become cruel??) It was really quite confusing. I also did not expect Grey's POV to be written like that as, I understand that he's human and all but he feels like a completely different character from the first book? I'm just gonna assume that its his character development... Lia Mara on the other hand, however, grew on me quite a lot (I was really “eh” with her character beforehand).

OVERALL:
A good read, but I find that it's a bit sad that the main characters of the first book were kinda ‘tossed-aside' ? I understand why this had to happen (I mean the 2nd book was focused on Grey's story, not Rhen's) but I still believe that their story cannot be ignored? As a reader who read the first book and the second in succession, it was quite strange, as the main characters who were so vital in the previous book were practically non-existent in this one. Harper felt quite useless and irrelevant in this novel which was :/
But despite everything, I did enjoy the book. Great series, so you should pick it up! I will be reading the 3rd book in hopes that it might be better!

ALSO: THIS BOOK GETS BONUS POINTS FOR NOT HAVING A LOVE TRIANGLE because I absolutely hate love triangles.

[MY RATING] 9.5/10
[A LITTLE BIT OF SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]

[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- CAN I JUST SAY THAT I REALLY FUGGIN ENJOYED THIS BOOK
- its not often i can find a fantasy romance that isnt TOO plot heavy to the point the worldbuilding overtakes the romance so I REALLY LOVED THIS ONE. IT WAS SO FREAKING FUN TO READ AND IT MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD BC IT WAS HILARIOUS
- the plot was so unique and fun i just had a fantastic time reading this overall
- sometimes the magic system that zayn explains gets confusing cos its too much at once and i had to reread it a few times to understand (maybe im just dumb but ya i couldnt follow sometimes) so minus points for that
- I WANTED MORE SMUT PLSDFJSNFGZJKWAGEG i ship them so hard
- will be reading the next book bc the romance and smut is wonderful

[CHARACTERS]
- pls zayn is so hot he has got me simping so hard for him while reading like OH MY GODDDDD SJDJSFRSNFSGF
- talia was a WONDERFUL main character bc i absolutely loved her BUT WITH THE EXCEPTION OF how dumb she was in the other universe like bro if ur seggsea tattooist incubus boss zayn tells u to stay put then listen to him girlie like why u tryna get urself in trouble pls ;-;
- talia's mom was super annoying LMAO but i still liked her anyway in the end cos she was just doing mom things
- I LOOOOOOVE BISCUT THE TATTOO BIRD SO MUCH. he is the sweetest almond loving bird ever and i absolutely fell in love with his cheeky personality. he deserves all the almonds in the world ever to exist

[MY RATING] 1/10

DID NOT FINISH AT 10%

- saw the premise and found it interesting, so i started reading it but OH BOY was i disappointed
- first of all, the writing is SO bad that it feels like there was barely any effort to make it sound and look professional?? LIKE IDK MAN the language used is crass and its just bad writing overall because alot of it didn't make sense to me and felt extremely boring as well.
- this might as well have been a summary of a tv show or something instead of a proper book because the writing didn't make sense
- i HATED the sex scenes why r u making the scenes so crass and unenjoyable
- anyway i couldnt bring myself past chapter 3 so there goes that

[MY RATING] 8.5/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- this was SUCH a fun read !!!! it was lighthearted, fun and just overall a good time!!!
- i really enjoyed seeing the regency era world through the main characters perspective and it was just a fun time reading this!
- the romance was really cute (i enjoyed all the side pairings as well!!) and overall this is just a feel good lighthearted regency romance that i needed after watching bridgerton LMAO

[MY RATING] 5/10

DID NOT FINISH AT 62%

- i wanted a fun, quick, BL story to read and this sounded like fun! however, the more i read it, the more i felt like this was more of a fanfiction of one direction for some reason rather than an actual gay story.
- it was nice but the more i read it the more i decided that i disliked how the romances and the story was progressing.. it started to get draggy and boring and overall i would recommend this only people who loved shipping one direction together LMAO

[MY RATING] 6.5-7/10
- SPICINESS: 7/10 coz these men r so hot LMFAOOOO and also bonus cos it explored more unusual kinks u dont really see normally in books

[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD]

[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING, PACING & CHARACTERS]
- i loved the first half of the book the story was SO GOOD HAHAHAHAH
- it was my first mafia novel and i can definitely see why women eat this shit up bc i ate it up as well LMFAO
- I cannot decide, for the life of me, who is my favourite boy. LMAO i would say it's probably diesel because he's got this weirdly sweet and gentle and romantic side to him?? but GAH the gun and knife play would probably be too much for me if i was roxy. my other fav boy candidate is probably garett because he grew on me.

- I do have a few complaints, however:
1) It was extremely unrealistic in a few cases!
let's take roxy's hatred towards them for example. how tf did she go from hating all of them to falling for all of them within A WEEK?!?!? ma'am i know they are super hot but like THEY STILL KIDNAPPED U AND LOCKED U IN THEIR HOUSE HAHAHAHA
for it to be more realistic i would've expected a longer timeframe. also the fact she wasn't extremely shocked by diesel's unique interests in the basement was unrealistic to me coz ma'am he was burning peoples eyeballs out and you didn't feel more scared ?

2) why is it possible that roxy was able to friggin FIGHT and get up and even kiss them after being sliced open, tortured, waterboarded, bones and ribs all broken, shoulder dislocated, nails plucked out and fingers broken like HUUHHHHH u're telling me she could still have the stregnth to beat people up and kiss people after this ordeal??? AINT NO WAY MAN that was unrealistic for me HAHAHA

3) THERE WAS TOO MUCH SEX. at first the balance and build up was GOOD like i thoroughly enjoyed the scenes cos they were extremely well written to the point i was able to visually see it in my head (very nice thank you) BUT THE 2ND HALF HAD SOOO MUCH SEX THAT it started to get unnecessary?? like WJGAWGEG JUST LEMME READ ABOUT THE STORY PLEASE WE DONT NEED SEX EVERY CHAPTER AAAAA LIKE ITS HOT AND ALL but bc there was so much i got desensitized to it and it became a “alright here we go again w the seggsea time”

4) it started to get draggy around the 400-500+ page mark (i read this on my kobo e-reader and there were 825 pages so for me it was 400-500+ page mark) and i almost stopped reading it cos i was lazy but WOOHOO i persevered!

overall i would not re-read this because i am lazy af to reread all 825 pages but hm it's good material for men who don't know what women want in bed LMAOOO (not the knife and gun play or the super aggressive side but the moderately aggressive side is good)

GOD I LOVED THIS NOVEL. [9.8/10 RATING] [spoiler-free review]

I picked this up by chance while searching for a ‘rivals to lovers' troupe to read and thought this looked exactly like the lighthearted high school romance I wanted to read. I am so happy and grateful that I picked this novel up because THIS WAS SO GOOD !!!!!

The way the author fleshed out the characters and wrote the story was amazing. The characters feel three-dimensional and very human, and the way she narrated Rowan's feelings throughout the novel was so beautiful to me. More often than not, I found myself relating to the characters in the story, and growing emotionally attached and invested in how the characters would overcome their issues and somehow get together despite being rivals !

The way the romance was written was so satisfying. I could feel the romantic chemistry and sexual tension through the pages of the novel and it drove me mad at places because I shipped them SO hard !!

OVERALL: PLEASE READ IT. This was an absolute gem to find and I LOVED IT.

[MY RATING] 6/10

- overall the premise was interesting but i was most disappointed in the romance... i wanted the romance to have more depth but the main character forgot her first love interest so quickly (whats the point of having a first love interest if its not developed and when the 2nd love interest is clearly someone that matches better)
- i dont remember much bc i read this a long time ago and wanted to write a review but never got the chance till now AHAHAHAHA
- i wish the side characters were more developed as well!!

[9/10 Rating] [spoiler-free review]

I LOVED THIS. First of all, the writing was fantastic. It was clear, easy to follow, as well as wonderfully descriptive. I was able to visualise the setting and characters very well. The plot was really well done! I thoroughly enjoyed reading and following Lou, and laughed extremely hard at all the ‘big titty liddy' parts. I loved the slow burn– to me, it was so well done. Even though I already knew Reid and Lou were gonna be together, it was still so nice to see them slowly fall for one another. I love the side characters (coco and ansel!!!) too! Coco and Lou's dependable friendship was so nice to read about.

OVERALL: If you want an enemies to lovers (aka witch x witch hunter) fantasy-ish novel with great side characters and witches, this is for you! I really enjoyed the novel, and I'm hoping to read the next one soon! (Please give it a try even if ‘witch x witch hunter' sounds too cliche to you. Their relationship development was such a nice journey to follow through and I loved it a lot!)

[7.5/10 Rating] [2nd paragraph is NOT spoiler-free!]

This book was a delight to read, mainly because of the eerie atmosphere. I loved the way the author set the tone of the book– I believe that this book would be best suited to read on a dark and stormy day whilst curled up in a quilt. I enjoyed the writing and each of the characters, and especially loved the gruesome images the author painted of the things that were happening. I loved the whole horror aspect of Verity being able to see things (I loved how vivid the descriptions were for all the horror scenes). The book hooked me in quickly and overall I really liked it. So why did it get only a 7.5/10 from me?

[MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD]
I was quite disappointed to find out that the whole mystery about the deaths of the sisters was resolved the way it was resolved. The way it was built up made me expect some really mind-blowing
dark and emotional plot twists, so it was really disappointing to discover at the end that everything was due to some supernatural being. I understand that this is supposed to be fantasy and fiction but I felt that it would be way more impactful if the mystery did not delve into supernatural explanations for the things that were happening. It got extremely unrealistic (I know it's fiction but it just seemed really weird that suddenly OOh Cassius is some child of a deity and that all these killings were a result of the sisters' stepmother's bargain with yet another supernatural being). To me, it felt quite funny to read that as the book went from “oh man this is gon be creepy” to “its original eerie atmosphere is completely gone now.. what even is this development..?”

I also felt that the author's pace went from really good to kinda rushed. Suddenly everything was happening at once (the whole twins birth thing and suddenly the place is on fire and burning down at the same time?), and it was a bit difficult to understand what was going on in some parts (The line between reality and ‘dreams' was hard to distinguish (which can be a good thing but I felt the author could have elaborated and explained more about the whole dancing thing in a better way.) Also since we are on this topic, the ‘magic' gateway to the balls was kinda underwhelming to me. The whole book was slowly building up its eerie atmosphere and suddenly it kinda went poof when they found the magic gateway thing :/ Was really disappointed about it). I also disliked the fact that supernatural beings were so easily accessible? It's cool and all but it made the story feel extremely unrealistic (Random mortals are able to strike deals and bargains with supernatural beings so easily??).

Another complaint I have is the romance in the story. I like Cassius a lot but the romance was too predictable (saw it coming from miles away..) and also quite unnecessary. It didn't add a lot to the story, and it was a bit underdeveloped. It could've been written and developed in a much better way so it's quite disappointing. More things could've been done with Fisher as well– the relationship could've been developed more + his death, tho gruesome and painful, seemed underwhelming due to how it was set up. Right away when they wanted to find Fisher I knew he probably died. There could've been more development to the lore and plot surrounding Fisher's character and the balls.

OVERALL: I think anyone who likes eerie atmospheric novels with good descriptions should give this one a go! It was a great read overall and I enjoyed it a lot despite my complaints.

[7.8/10 Rating] [Spoiler-free review]

I thought this book was great. It started off quite confusing? But oh boy it got GOOD. The author's writing style was great, and the way she wrote about Elizabeth's thoughts and motives was really well done! The descriptions were super detailed, and horrific and I loved it! I enjoyed the book alot, but I wish it was longer... The ending felt a bit rushed to me, and I wish it was developed more. Overall a great ‘creepy' read to pick up on a stormy day in your room alone, highly recommended!

[MY RATING] 9/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING, & PACING]
- i read this in 2022 and im writing the review now in 2023 as I didn't have time to write one at that time!
- THIS WAS SUCH A DELIGHT TO READ.
- the trials (summer, winter) etc were SO creative and SO FREAKING FUN TO READ ABOUT. it was so refreshing to read something asian + fantasy inspired and it was just overall so fun and fresh!
- i really enjoyed the world-building here and the cool abilities of the different characters in the story!!
- am definitely gonna be re-reading this one because i liked it so much

[MY RATING] 9.4/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN ALMOST ALL SECTIONS]
When I read the sypnosis, I KNEW this was gonna be something that was up my alley. I am so happy that I picked up this amazing book, I loved every bit of it, and could not put it down because it was so good!

[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
[BIG SPOILERS AHEAD IN THIS SECTION]
- The worldbuilding in this novel is so well done. With how everything was described, I was able to picture the little town Ryn stays in, how the bone houses looked, how intimidating the forest could be and more, with clarity. I really enjoyed the bits of lore that was found throughout the novel as well– as a reader, it felt like a believable world to go on a journey on with protagonists. The pacing was just right, and it was accompanied by great writing to make the reading experience more enjoyable.

- It would've been nice to expand on the lore involving the other mythological creatures, eg. the pwca and tylwyth teg, and actually get to see the characters interact with these named creatures on a closer basis.

- However, I was quite confused by some parts: When Ryn was telling Ellis the story of the cauldron, I thought it was a story that dated hundreds / thousands of years ago. So it felt very strange when all of a sudden the story revealed that Ellis's mother was the woman.. I felt that this could've been explained in a clearer and more believable way.

- I felt that the romance was slightly rushed, and though yes, anyone could see Ellis and Ryn getting together, it felt as if their feelings were very sudden. It would've been nicer if there was more of a lead up / more chemistry building before they jumped into the romance stage.

[CHARACTERS]
[SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD IN THIS SECTION]
- RYN: I love Ryn! I think she's such a strong and independent character, and I really like how she's firm but also gentle towards certain things. Her seeing her father as a bone house was such a lovely moment, but also a moment where I held my breath because !!!!! a bone house is finally good! I was very excited for her.

- ELLIS: I think Ellis is such a great ‘balancer' to Ryn's more outspoken personality. I like how he worked with maps and trusted Ryn all the way! He's smart, emotional and selfless, and I really enjoyed reading about his character in the book.

- THE GOAT: I loved the goat. It was one of the best additions to the novel, and it was so funny and endearing to see its loyalty even after it died! It was such a sweet goat, and it made the novel 2x better with the goat following their journey and fighting the bone houses with them!
May you rest in peace <3

[OVERALL + ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS]
- Overall, if you're thinking of picking up this gem of a book, DO IT. You will smile, laugh, be anxious but also excited when reading the novel. It is a beautiful work of writing, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a standalone adventure romance (ish) folklore-themed story to read!

[MY RATING] 9.5/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- writing this review like a year after i read it cos i never had time to write a review sooo
- THIS WAS A GEM OF AN ENEMIES TO LOVERS NOVEL.
- I absolutely ADORED the witty banter, high stakes and amazing chemistry between our lovely siren killer & prince killer
- i loved the premise, the worldbuilding, the lore, the romance... everything about this was perfect and i loved it so much.
- will re-read when i have time because this was delicious (and rewrite another review!)

[9/10 RATING]

THIS WAS SUCH A GREAT BOOK!! There were plenty of hilarious moments (I literally could not stop laughing), and a really beautiful storyline. The characters were charming and witty, and had so much chemistry together! I absolutely loved it. The only thing I didn't like was that there wasn't a sequel :(

OVERALL: Please read it!

[MY RATING] 8.5/10
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- i dont actually remember much bc i read this a long time ago and never wrote a review until now but
- i remember that this was an extremely fun read which i really really loved!
- even tho i was quite confused by the magic system and also that coin could master skills so quickly (even tho she lived in the slums before and didnt know jackshit about the lives and skills of the higher ups) it was still super enjoyable and i recall being thrilled and excited for her journey!!
- would probably reread this again next time to write a better review AHAH

Simply AMAZING.
It brought me on one fantastic journey, and I loved it to bits.
Absolutely brilliant, and I highly recommend it.

[SMALL SPOILER]

There is no romance in this story (unfortunately, as I felt that Alex could have gotten together with Jordan) and I am hoping for some in the next book in the series.

Once again, I highly recommend this book- It brings you to places, and its description makes you read in awe.

GOOD READS FORMAT:
[MY RATING] 6.5/10

[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- OK OVERALL THIS WAS REALLY WHOLESOME AND CUTE with some great smut scenes
- i decided to read this bc u dont really find that many smutty books with monsters in them (at least i believe i havent digged enough for them) and wanted to see how it would play out
- it was really short and u can see that its a book entirely focused on smut but like GAHAHA it was quite wholesome and i did enjoy it on the plane
- i didn't like how it was abit weird in the sense that monsters have cell phones and live like humans tho idk like its weird cos he was supposed to be a monster that did not exist in human's minds (thus people hunt for monsters and ghosts to see if they actually exist) but here he is using a cell phone and being totally normal and not monster like HAHAHA
- i wish the author gave him more character depth!!

[CHARACTERS]
- i think amy is quite funny cos she was entirely biased towards doing it with the monster with 0 struggles or real hesitations and i like her for that
- adrian is so sweet as a guy and honestly this is just super wholesome yea!
- i read it all in one sitting on the plane with my brightness lowered on my kobo so :D

[MY RATING] 7.5/10
[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING, & PACING]
- SO i really enjoyed this one bc of its interesting premise and its slow burn enemies to friends to lovers romance!! it was so cute to see both of them open up with one another slowly and trusting one another in their predicament
- it got tedious halfway cos it was abit draggy but i still enjoyed it !!!
- there was a misunderstanding arc and bc i HATE misunderstandings it minused points from this book :(
- overall super cute and fun to read tho!

[MY RATING] 9/10
[SOME SPOILERS AHEAD IN CHARACTER + OVERALL SECTION]

I am SO glad I picked this novel up. The cover was gorgeous and synopsis sounded interesting, and I couldn't be happier to read this! It was such a fun read, and I couldn't put it down.

[PLOT, WRITING, WORLD-BUILDING & PACING]
- Writing a novel from 3 different perspectives is like writing 3 separate stories. As I'm not great with books with a lot of different POVs (I tend to get very confused), I went into it thinking it was gonna be a slightly muddled mess of perspectives. However, I was surprised with great writing where each of the different sister's POVs were executed wonderfully.

- The world-building was very well done– each of the different countries the sisters were sent to felt different and unique from one another. It was descriptive, allowing me to visualise the various scenes in my head clearly. The magic system, however, felt slightly confusing to me, but it was still interesting nonetheless!

- Despite the 3 different POVs, I felt that the pacing was really good as nothing felt rushed or too draggy.

[CHARACTERS]
- Out of all the sisters, Sophronia was my favourite. I liked how different she was from Daphne, who was stubborn and somewhat blinded by her loyalty towards her mother (I am very excited for the future books to see how Daphne's would handle the truth of her mother's plans), vs Sophronia who had a big heart despite everything that she was taught and raised to be. I also really liked Beatrice!

- I wished there was more romance, however. I really liked Leopold's character development / growth and his interactions with Sophronia, as well as Beatriz's chemistry with Nico! However, due to a certain betrayal by Nico, we do not really like him anymore in this house. HAHA

- I didn't really care for the rebellion with Cliona and Daphne, but her romance Bairre was nice. I just wish it was more developed.

[OVERALL + ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS]
[KINDA MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW]
- I saw her execution coming, but !?!? NOOOO I thought she had plot armour :( It was such a shocking but also not very shocking moment for me (bc I predicted she would die). I thought she would get saved....

- That last chapter writing about the mother's POV was a plot twist for me because HOW!?!??! WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN? I am sobbing bc the 3 girls were amazing people that I came to know after reading the novel and following them on their journey and I would not like to see bad things happen to them.

- Overall, I highly recommend it for its plot twists and interesting plot! If you are hesitating to pick this up due to eg. politics, yes, there is still politics BUT it isn't boring politics (i.e. military blah blah). It doesn't go too much into politics, so do pick it up even if you dislike politics ! (like me)