rxnnmelody's reviews
196 reviews

Wrath of the Triple Goddess by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I received an eARC of Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee from NetGalley and publishers Quill Tree Books. Prince Xian’s mother when he was young was bitten by a venomous white snake and has slowly been deteriorating his mother’s health for years. For years, Prince Xian holds a strong amount of guilt due to following into a lake when he was a child and losing a spirit pearl that could have saved his mothers life to a different white snake that also saved him from drowning. Zhen is the spirit snake who saved Prince Xian all those years ago in the lake and also swallowed the spirit pearl Prince Xian so desperately needs. Prince Xian's quest leads him right to Zhen and as they develop a relationship, Zhen’s secrets start to unfold in this traditional Chinese folktale retelling.

Between swooning, blushing, and bawling my eyes out at the developing relationship between Xian and Zhen, this book was a delight to read. Zhen and Xian definitely had the love at first sight, fairytale love, so if you are into slow burn relationships you won’t find that here. I, sometimes, can find slow burn romances to be a bit humdrum so I enjoyed this fast pace book. I found the supporting characters, Feng and Qing, and their relationships to Xian and Zhen endearing. While I sort of knew who the villain was going to be, there was enough of a twist that it did not disengage me from reading or take me out of the story. Additionally, I appreciated the author tremendously for taking the time to describe certain things that may be unknown to most readers, and for the first time I didn’t have to stop reading and look up on Google what certain things meant. Not that is always a bad thing, but I have yet to experience an author who can describe things without it feeling tedious to the storytelling. There are still some questions about some supporting characters, but otherwise a great retelling. 4/5 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the eARC of Legend of the White Snake by Sher Lee. This book had me in an emotional rollercoaster, and I am appreciative I had the opportunity to read this!

Gentlest of Wild Things by Sarah Underwood

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I received an eARC of Gentlest of Wild Things by Sarah Underwood from Netgalley and HarperTeen. We follow two characters Eirene and Lamia as they navigate towards either other and against Leandros who has been using a magical potion called Desire(s) to force women into romantic relationships with men they would not otherwise be with in the village of Zakynthos. Eirene sacrifices herself to become Leandros bride-to-be so her twin sister Phoebe doesn’t have to, and Lamia is trapped under the draconian regime of her father disguised as love and protection.

The book has been described as retelling of Psyche and Eros with a sapphic twist. As someone who is a weak for Greek Mythology and sapphic romances this book was sublime. Eirene and Lamia are captivating throughout the story as a well done slow burn relationship. Lamia’s character development was the one I was most invested in because everything she had known was being challenged. Leandros was minacious as the antagonist, and some parts were darker and more gruesome than I expected out of the book description. I was enthralled with the book and the character relationships that this was probably one of the quickest books I have finished this year. 5/5 stars.

Thank you Netgalley and HarperTeen for the eARC of Gentlest of Wild Things by Sarah Underwood.

The Witch of Colchis by Rosie Hewlett

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adventurous challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I received an eARC of The Witch of Colchis by Rosie Hewlett from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark. My favorite fantasy books are all types of mythology retelling but Greek mythologies are definitely closer to my heart. The Witch of Colchis is about Medea of Colchis, niece of the sorceress Circe, with magical gifts of her own and how she helped the famous Jason and the Argonauts retrieve the Golden Fleece, which is one of the more famous Greek myths. I wholeheartedly loved this retelling of Medea. The writing was smooth, the story flowed, and I felt like I was flying through the chapters. I appreciated the depth given to Medea and while I don’t agree with all her actions, I do support some of her wrongs because she was manipulated and discarded by the ‘heroic’ Jason for his own righteousness. I am most certainly here for the mythology retellings that challenge some of these male heroes who left a wake of atrocities behind for their ‘glory.' The Witch of Colchis did this for Medea. I feel exceptionally fortunate to have received an eARC of The Witch of Colchis and I am grateful for Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmarks because this book was wickedly good. 5/5 stars.

The Sirens by Emilia Hart

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I received an ARC copy of The Sirens by Emilia Hart thanks to Goodreads and St. Martin's Press giveaway. The Sirens is a story of two different sets of sisters from across generations intertwined together in more ways than one. I did enjoy reading The Sirens but I was unfortunately also unhappy with some of the semantics of the book. The things I did like were the characters and their relationships with each other, the eventual plot twist, the tie of real history with the convict ship, and the dash of magic realism. I found the book page turning and had the consistent desire while reading to see how the whole plot plays out. Without using spoilers the certain semantics I found less enjoyable were the diary entries and the prologue. For the diary chapters, I just did not detect the journal entry feeling while reading. The chapters' tone was more from the character’s third person point of view rather than an actual journal entry. The prologue, without using spoilers, kind of unraveled some of the plot for me but the things I disliked did not outweigh the parts of the book I did enjoy, especially the magical realism with sirens! 4 / 5 stars. Thank you to Goodreads and St. Martin’s Press for the giveaway ARC copy of The Sirens.

Songlight by Moira Buffini

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adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I typically don’t like books set in a dystopian period but I honestly couldn’t put Songlight down. I was drawn into the bio of two people who use Songlight, a form of telepathy trapped in a society who views their power as “Unhuman” but it’s also so much more than the bio lends off. It’s how propaganda can ‘mind twist’ the common people from the truth, how certain traditions leave us trapped in the archaic lifestyles with no room for growth, how prejudices shape our views and what happens when those prejudices are faced with the true facts of the world outside of what they have been taught. These are just plot points to the prodigious world building and superb character dynamics and development. One peculiar relationship had me lapping up the development that I was sharing the progress with my fellow book friends. I found this book fast paced but also detailed. At one point I remember being at 30% complete and when I blinked I was at 60%. Once I got to 75% a lot of the story was coming to head and I didn’t stop reading till I was finished. 5/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers who provided me with an eARC copy of Songlight by Moira Buffini. I feel incredibly lucky to be given the opportunity to read this book.

The Demigod Diaries by Rick Riordan

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced