littlepiscesreading's reviews
87 reviews

Its first seven pages are spent belabouring the point that no one cares about Wyatt Bucks’ death. An unfortunate portent of what’s to come. There’s quite a lot of back-and-forthing at times and the sense of circiling the drain gets tiresome. It’s a shame. I understand the uncertainty and the mistrust that the characters regard one another with but it just drags on a bit too long.

Approaching the midway point is a reveal that I enjoyed seeing the characters react to. But I do struggle to believe that it came as a surprise. In part because the Fab Five never cohered as a friend group. Neither in the present nor in the flashbacks. Most of which are focused on an individual character and therefore didn’t develop the relationships which does feed excellently into the tension of the present. Even in moments of levity there’s often the sense that they’re standing on ice that could collapse under them at the slightest shift.

If it weren’t for the occasional comment like ‘the good vibes of them hanging out’, it would be perfect. The presentation of their relationship as something it’s not is vexing. None of them oblivious to the tension they were walking into. It just doesn’t feel true.

I tend to think of thrillers as a faster paced genre. This is largely not the case here. However, once the group is reunited there’s a fantastic ramping up of the pace which builds until you’re rocketing back and forth. It’s very destabilising and ties into the confusion of the moment. I understand why some don’t like the tense shift but for characters trapped by this one deed presenting the flashbacks in present tense can be effective.

I do wish it had stuck to its style of shifting back and forth though. It was jarring to start a chapter where there wasn’t even an attempt to make it fit. Unfortunately not the most disappointing element of the chapter. Lauren and Kelly-Ann were very much second thoughts throughout the book. None of the characters rise above archetype but the women were least developed and the flashbacks ultimately lean on not like other girls even though the scene had the potential for depth.

When its pacing works, it works fantastically. I loved the horror elements. I loved the confrontation with Wyatt. For those reasons I was going to give this book four stars. Regretfully the end brings with it a moment of honesty that feels more for the benefit of the reader and it breaks all suspension.

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Jeff Gunhus for this review copy. I leave this review voluntarily. 

 The meticulous descriptions give A Hush at Midnight enrichen the book and help to ground it. For which I am very appreciative. Bell ties her mysteries together excellently but there are many strands to weave. I love watching a mystery be solved and this one especially. It was incredibly satisfying. With that being said, Laura’s investigations could be frustrating. Both in the many times she was waylaid and in her many self-incriminations. I’m all for malicious compliance and testing limits and I had to read through my fingers at several moments because of it.

Its many elements combine to make it very high emotion. There are so many stressors. An aspect that I enjoy. To quote Mari Kondo: I love mess. And the sense of wrongness, of Laura being watched, was very well done. There are, as a consequence of this, quite a few rundowns through the book as more evidence gathers. I appreciated this. I was taking notes, as I do, for the purpose of reviewing, but I imagine without that, I would have needed the reminders.

The eeriness of the the movements, of the messages, is one of the stronger elements in the book. The relationships fall a little flatter. Brent, for instance, is so immediate. When there are so few people that Laura can trust, her belief in him sits at odds with the tension of the narrative. There is a good attempt at closeness with her dad but it comes across more transactional than emotional. And her calling her friend ‘dramatic’ when that friend is suffering a harrassment and stalking campaign undercuts their closeness. It does a far better job at painting the tension between Laura and her neighbours.

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Marlene M. Bell for the review copy. I leave this review voluntarily. 

 Given the content warning I had initially thought that the narrative might play coy about the assault. It did not. I appreciated that it didn’t shy from Desiree’s experience or the trauma that it caused. Both for her individually, and for them as a couple. There’s a domestic aspect which I really enjoyed for its discomforting atmosphere as their relationship strains under the circumstance. 

The Axe is a very contained story. In the claustrophobia of an apartment too small for the questions and trauma mounting between its characters. In Eric’s desire to trust her, and uncertainty in her innocence. The tension is great and I appreciate that Desiree is allowed to be complicated and difficult. There are an unfortunate amount of stories that reach for this kind of subject matter but fall into the simplicity of a perfect victim. 

Even with all of this in mind, the book maintains a quick pace while still managing to hold back its secrets until the end. It’s just a shame that the emotions falter as Priessman’s narration has a flatter affect. 

Thanks to iRead Book Tours and Linda Griffin for this review copy. I leave this review voluntarily. 

Scorched and gnawed skirts are a small price to pay to be surrounded by baby dragons. And Qureshi knows exactly how to write the most adorable dragons. It’s such a shame that this strength is so entwined with its flaws. One that I do think it manages to mitigate. However there really is no escaping that despite how often it tells you that the Sterlings are one of the most esteemed Drakkon families, a family with dragon carers and even stables, Aiden neglected his baby for months. 

It’s unsurprising that he has to be prompted to apologise to his dragon. It’s unsurprising that he was more sorry his behaviour upset Saphira than his dragon. One of the elements that I did enjoy most was the domesticity of Aiden and Saphira’s arrangement. And I will say that Qureshi does come to paint a wonderful portrait of the three of them as a family. However I can’t help but feel that if Sparky had been a dog rather than a fantastical creature that Aiden would rank closer to characters who kick dogs than swoonworthy romance heroes. 

The prose is heavy on exposition. Not in itself necessarily bad though I’d rather experience the world than have it told to me. It ultimately feels like a pop-up book. The shallowest gesture at a world. The arc of the romance ultimately is prized over its reality. Aiden’s job, for instance. It’s important in that it sets him apart from his family but suddenly it all but disappears from the narrative and he spends every day at the cafe. And ‘in a world where dragons flew through the air, nothing was too far out of reach’ was so frustrating. It’s not special. That’s an everyday occurence. 

I don’t like to quote so much at once but in this instance it’s demonstrative -‘With a start, Aiden realized he was home, standing in front of his door. Sometimes he got so deep in his own head, he forgot about everything else around him. Usually he enjoyed the winding road that led up to his cottage, taking in the sight of all the leaves returning to the trees, the buds that would soon bloom. But he hadn’t noticed any of them today, he was so lost in thought‘. 

The first sentence comes after pages of the world building and yet again re-explaining the circumstances in which Sparky came into his care. We know he’s walking somewhere because the chapter tells us as much when it starts, itself immediately following him leaving Saphira. The second sentence is just a repetition of what we, the readers, have read and know to have happened. The third fully does not matter and only belabours the point. The fourth yet again is just a repetition of what we, the readers, have read and know to have happened. The only thing in this paragraph that matters is that he’s arrived at his house. 

I’m genuinely so sorry that Qureshi didn’t get an editor because I can’t fathom how this happened otherwise. There needed to be someone who said trust your readers. We can remember what you told us the chapter before. We can remember what you told us the chapter before that. It isn’t only the repetition, however. It often says the same thing in the same way and isn’t paced well. Saphira’s relationship with her mother is clearly set up but is forgotten for a large swathe of the book only to be thrown back in in quick succession just before it becomes relevant again. The paragraph was the worst example of this but I’m surprised that this book wasn’t at least a dozen pages shorter. 

I do appreciate that Aiden didn’t keep secrets from Saphira for long. The last thing this book needed was something else to drag it out. As partners, they tend to work really well and it was lovely to see them interact that way. Even if he leaves her helplessly in the dark at times. I’m so glad that Qureshi didn’t feel the need to throw in a third act break up for the sake of convention. What she did include was genuinely very sweet and worked perfectly. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon for this review copy. I leave this review voluntarily.