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ravensandpages's reviews
562 reviews
Graveyard Shift by M.L. Rio
4.0
While I definitely planned to get to If We Were Villains before I read this, I am not disappointed at all by this being my first foray into M.L. Rio's writing! Graveyard Shift follows an eccentric group of night owls who meet at the same churchyard every night and become embroiled in an academic mystery when a hole mysterious appears at their meeting location.
While I would have loved to get more time with all of these characters, I think this works very well as a novella. The snapshots into each character's lives and motivations over the course of one night built a tense atmosphere that had me engaged up to the end. I loved the mystery and the unfolding of it, which the writing balanced very well with an immersive setting. The ending came much more abruptly than I expected, but that has emerged as my only disappointment. M.L. Rio is clearly talented at building distinct characters in a short amount of time, and I will be recommending this far and wide - as well as bumping IWWV way up on my TBR. I hope I get to see more of her work in the future!
I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Flatiron!
While I would have loved to get more time with all of these characters, I think this works very well as a novella. The snapshots into each character's lives and motivations over the course of one night built a tense atmosphere that had me engaged up to the end. I loved the mystery and the unfolding of it, which the writing balanced very well with an immersive setting. The ending came much more abruptly than I expected, but that has emerged as my only disappointment. M.L. Rio is clearly talented at building distinct characters in a short amount of time, and I will be recommending this far and wide - as well as bumping IWWV way up on my TBR. I hope I get to see more of her work in the future!
I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and Flatiron!
The Godparent Trap by Rachel Van Dyken
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 61%.
DNFed at 61%.
I was really excited about this one! I love a surprise baby trope, whether it's a hidden pregnancy or life throwing the worst at characters who have to scramble to pick up the pieces, and I liked the sound of childhood rivals to lovers learning to co-parent and deal with loss while balancing an uber-organized type A personality and a chaotic free spirit. Rip and Colby had the potential to be grumpy/sunshine excellence, but nearly every aspect of this book ended up falling short.
I liked the kids and Colby was fine, but Rip is charting for one of my least favorite male leads of all time. I love a good grump who is an actual grump, but Rip was just cruel to Colby and I didn't feel that the writing properly scaffolded this as a shitty expression of grief that would be remedied in a way that furthered the romantic plot; instead, it came off as vile and misogynistic, and the switch-up of Rip staying home and Colby getting his office didn't hit at all as a proper comeuppance. If he didn't have the secondary POV, I would have expected Banks to be the actual love interest. I might have preferred it that way, actually.
The writing was also unfortunately lackluster and I felt a lack of tension that kept me invested in the relationships. At 61%, I didn't feel any true will-they-won't-they, even with double secondary love interests in the mix (though on Rip's side, I felt that plot thread was dropped and forgotten). I might be somewhat biased toward slow burns, but especially considering this is a grumpy/sunshine second chance rivals to lovers, they got too close too fast. I also felt Colby forgave Rip way too quick. Simply not enough groveling, considering all this man has put her through. For all the history featured in this book between the high school bully gunning for Rip, their childhood relationship, their failure of a second date, and the couple that united them, very little of it came to the surface and added the weight that would have kept me hooked. Perhaps with a bit less of those moving pieces, this book might have stuck the landing for me?
Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book at all, but thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was really excited about this one! I love a surprise baby trope, whether it's a hidden pregnancy or life throwing the worst at characters who have to scramble to pick up the pieces, and I liked the sound of childhood rivals to lovers learning to co-parent and deal with loss while balancing an uber-organized type A personality and a chaotic free spirit. Rip and Colby had the potential to be grumpy/sunshine excellence, but nearly every aspect of this book ended up falling short.
I liked the kids and Colby was fine, but Rip is charting for one of my least favorite male leads of all time. I love a good grump who is an actual grump, but Rip was just cruel to Colby and I didn't feel that the writing properly scaffolded this as a shitty expression of grief that would be remedied in a way that furthered the romantic plot; instead, it came off as vile and misogynistic, and the switch-up of Rip staying home and Colby getting his office didn't hit at all as a proper comeuppance. If he didn't have the secondary POV, I would have expected Banks to be the actual love interest. I might have preferred it that way, actually.
The writing was also unfortunately lackluster and I felt a lack of tension that kept me invested in the relationships. At 61%, I didn't feel any true will-they-won't-they, even with double secondary love interests in the mix (though on Rip's side, I felt that plot thread was dropped and forgotten). I might be somewhat biased toward slow burns, but especially considering this is a grumpy/sunshine second chance rivals to lovers, they got too close too fast. I also felt Colby forgave Rip way too quick. Simply not enough groveling, considering all this man has put her through. For all the history featured in this book between the high school bully gunning for Rip, their childhood relationship, their failure of a second date, and the couple that united them, very little of it came to the surface and added the weight that would have kept me hooked. Perhaps with a bit less of those moving pieces, this book might have stuck the landing for me?
Unfortunately, I would not recommend this book at all, but thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters
3.0
I was approved for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley and HarperTeen!
Though the dip in the middle nearly lost me, All That Consumes Us turned out pretty alright for me. I enjoyed the concept and the very diverse cast as well as the commentary about ambition and generational terror handed down, and after clearing the hurdle of the slower start, I was intrigued by the exclusive society Tara gets invited to on the heels of finding one of her classmates dead. Magni Viri boasts Corbin College's best and brightest, but as she becomes more embroiled in their secrets and haunting history, she realizes she may be in far over her head.
I think there was a good atmosphere here, but it turned out a bit too tell instead of show. Especially the found family aspect, which didn't hit as hard with many of the characters & Tara's relationship with them feeling either undeveloped or too quickly developed in the case of her love interest. This story has a haunting set of bones, but its construction doesn't seem to stick the landing. Everything was overly explained in a way that robbed a lot of the mystery and allure a bit too early.
I think this may have to do with it not having many of the elements that make other dark academia novels among my favorites - I love Tara being an outsider to their world in the socio-economic sense, and with so many students at this elite college who have a wide variety of studies to focus on, I was hoping for a bit more pretentiousness and infodumping. And after the reveal of why the plot takes the turn it does, I was instantly way more interested in learning about the queer yearning and necromantic obsession that caused a trail of ambition and death for generations of students than sticking with Tara's plot line. Honestly, if Erica Waters wanted to revisit this story as an adult prequel, I'd be first in line to preorder.
If you're looking for an atmospheric fall read with a little bit of spooky vibes, I would still recommend this for an easy read!
Though the dip in the middle nearly lost me, All That Consumes Us turned out pretty alright for me. I enjoyed the concept and the very diverse cast as well as the commentary about ambition and generational terror handed down, and after clearing the hurdle of the slower start, I was intrigued by the exclusive society Tara gets invited to on the heels of finding one of her classmates dead. Magni Viri boasts Corbin College's best and brightest, but as she becomes more embroiled in their secrets and haunting history, she realizes she may be in far over her head.
I think there was a good atmosphere here, but it turned out a bit too tell instead of show. Especially the found family aspect, which didn't hit as hard with many of the characters & Tara's relationship with them feeling either undeveloped or too quickly developed in the case of her love interest. This story has a haunting set of bones, but its construction doesn't seem to stick the landing. Everything was overly explained in a way that robbed a lot of the mystery and allure a bit too early.
I think this may have to do with it not having many of the elements that make other dark academia novels among my favorites - I love Tara being an outsider to their world in the socio-economic sense, and with so many students at this elite college who have a wide variety of studies to focus on, I was hoping for a bit more pretentiousness and infodumping. And after the reveal of why the plot takes the turn it does, I was instantly way more interested in learning about the queer yearning and necromantic obsession that caused a trail of ambition and death for generations of students than sticking with Tara's plot line. Honestly, if Erica Waters wanted to revisit this story as an adult prequel, I'd be first in line to preorder.
If you're looking for an atmospheric fall read with a little bit of spooky vibes, I would still recommend this for an easy read!