oraclereadings's reviews
105 reviews

Reading this was a literal emotional roller coaster for me.

I read this for a book club. I can't say that it's not something I would have never read before, but I don't think it would have been my first pick.

The synopses mention multiple viewpoints between a mother and a son, so I expected that, but then, surprise, here's grandma.

I loved Lily's story, her character, and her will to want to protect her son. I hated Nick, however. Like, sir, how dare you treat your mother like that? She did the best she could. And then, May's story made my heart ache. Honestly, the reason I gave this a 3.5 rating was because of Lily and May.  It probably could have made it to four, but screw Nick!

 Actual Rating: 4.5✩

I didn't know that Part of Your World had a continuation, and I was so happy to stumble across this. Abby Jimenez is definitely one of my new favorite authors!

The only reason this wasn't a perfect 5-star rating for me was because of Brianna's character. Like, I understood that she went through hell with her ex and had trust issues, but she was just so inherently rude for no reason at the beginning of the story. Also, I know that the trigger warning for (view spoiler) was stated at the beginning, but the whole (view spoiler) plot twist was out of nowhere and felt forced to me. Like, both of these characters are doctors. How could neither one of them see this becoming an issue?


See Also
⤷Part of Your World 

 I know that this is a short story, but I was just so underwhelmed. I know that only so much can be explored in a novella, which is why my expectations were probably high.

Like, I know that it's still an adult contemporary romance, and Ali Hazelwood is known for putting smut in her works, but we really didn't need a two-minute sex scene. 

I honestly didn't think that I was going to finish this series. It's been a while since I read [book:Wonder Woman: Warbringer|29749085] and [book:Catwoman: Soulstealer|29749098]. I was sure that I would have lost interest by now.

And yet, here we are.

It wasn't amazing. It didn't blow my mind. But I did have fun and enjoyed reading [book:Batman: Nightwalker|29749090].

This is set before Bruce Wayne's eighteenth birthday when he is to inherit his parents' fortune and before he is to become the Batman.

Even as a teenager, Bruce is still his little shithead self and likes to get involved where he shouldn't. Like when he uses his super tech car to help the police take down a gang member of the Nightwalkers, disobeying a few road laws in the process. Unfortunately, since Bruce is not the Batman yet, he can't swiftly sneak away before being caught (and isn't buddies with his fellow policemen), so he ends up being punished with doing community service at Arkham.

At Arkham Asylum, Bruce meets another member of the Nightwalker gang - Madeline - and he has an attraction that can only be described as his relationship with Catwoman.

<b><i>DNF</i></b> @ 51%

So. . . if this were targeted as an adult or even new adult book, I would have found myself invested. It is labeled YA, but this could have had a higher age rating. When I think of a young adult, I think of anywhere between the ages of 14 and 22. Granted, the main characters are 19 and in their early twenties in the present time, going back as far as their early teenage years in flashbacks. But come on, there are so many adult books where the main characters are young.

This also has many religious undertones, and I was not into the story. Usually, I like to invoke my religious trauma by subjecting myself to other tales of spiritual trauma, but it's when I know that I'm getting into that kind of story. The synopsis was not evident to me, and that was what this book was about.

I'm sorry to say that I'm going to have to pass.

Sophie Lyon is a romance writer. Or, she tries to be. She wrote a book that hit off and signed up for a contract. Cool, right? Except that she's suffering from writer's block and only has six weeks to finish her deadline. Sophie blames this on the fact that she's never had the feeling of "being in love" before. With some inspiration, Sophie starts a TikTok page and dedicates her content to figuring out the solution.

She decides that she's going to do this by rekindling with her exes and find out what went wrong in their relationship. Or what happened that made her unable to say those three words.

Dash Montrose is a former child star and teen heart throb. He also happens to be Sophie's landlord. Dash is recovering from his issues has a former Hollywood star, suffering through the long battle of alcoholism and working his way through rehab. His family doesn't understand this and think that he's just "taking a break" from stardom and that he'll land another role in no time, even pressuring him to do so. Little do they know, Dash has taken on to becoming a famous crafter on social media (keeping his face out of the picture) and uses this hobby as a way to stay sane. In his spare time, (to avoid pressing matters from his family) Dash decides to help Sophie with her social media challenge.

If you grew up watching the 90's version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, then this is for you!

This was fun and I had a good time reading, but it just didn't <i>wow</i> me like I thought it would.

At 19, Vivi is heartbroken after suffering a break-up with her boyfriend Rhys. Being in a silly, goofy mood, she and her cousin decide to caste a "hex" against her ex-boyfriend. Hence the title <i>The Ex Hex</i>. They're just having a silly fun time, it's not that serious. The candle they use is the equivalent of a Bath and Body Works candle for crying out loud. It's not that serious. Right?

Nine years later, Rhys comes back to town as a descendant of the town's founder? mayor? something of the sort. It's part of tradition that a Penhallow (Rhys) recharge the town's ley lines and make an appearance at the fall festival.

But everything goes wrong!

Dun, Dun DuN!

Now the cat is talking, inanimate objects are flying around, and there's a pissed off ghost roaming around. 

 I think I waited too long to read this.

That seems to be my problem. A book comes out and I put it off because there's so much hype surrounding it and I don't want to fall into the bandwagon. Well no more, I say! We are hopping on this wagon and riding straight through hell!

I'm going to be honest.

I have tried to get into the faerie world that Holly Black is well known for. But ever since Tithe, I have never found an interest.

And that sucks!

Because I want to be interested! I want to like this. I want to like and enjoy Holly Black's books. I'm trying, man.

I would like to continue to The Wicked King, but I make no promises. I'm sorry! 

 I just want to put out a quick disclaimer before moving on to the rest of the review. I am not new to monster fucking, but this is my first physical work of fiction related to the topic.

So I didn't realize that this is a sequel/retelling (different POV) to Morning Glory Milking Farm when I decided to buy this from my local bookstore.

With that being said, my entire review is going to change from my original thought.

My original thought:
No plot. No worldbuilding. Just bam, you are here.

Although, to be fair, I don't know how much of a new mindset I can add into this. Seeing as I have no intention of reading Morning Glory Milking Farm, my review isn't going to change as much as I thought.

There's no real setting. Maybe I'm spoiled but I need like every single detail on what is happening in a scene. Okay, maybe not every single detail. I don't need to know about characters going to the bathroom or anything like that. I just want to know that the characters are sitting on the couch or if we're at a coffee shop.

And none of that is clear in A Blue Ribbon Romance. One scene goes from him getting "milked" to a conversation with one of his friends and there's no clear time skip/jump or change of scenery.