tvislife's reviews
377 reviews

I know I’m in the minority, but I didn’t love this one. It follows Iris and Roman, rivals at a newspaper who are writing about the war between the gods and get sucked into it. 

This felt like a WWII period piece and a greek myth tossed into one. Which sounds great! But alas, it was somehow boring to me. The warring gods were interesting, and I want to know more about them, Dacre in particular. The slow build figuring out their backstory was well done, even thought I wasn’t that satisfied with the amount of of information we were given. I think my main issue with this book was their profession; I found the whole reporter / enchanted typewriter stuff just not engaging at all. I didn’t struggle to get through this like I did with A River Enchanted, but I also didn’t really like it a ton. I was bored! It was boring! And their letters honestly felt lame and cheesy to me! 

I will say, there were a few fantastic romantic elements in the middle of the book, but I found the beginning and the end just meh. I think I’m just not a fan of this author and her style, she is obviously a talented writer, but just not my vibe. I’m sure many people will like this one though! 

Man that was an exciting sequel. Like the first book, this book follows a series of crazy events that somehow all connect by the end. 

I love Lisbeth, and I love Mikael. Both were at the top of their game in this book, although I was a bit disappointed that we spent a significant amount of time in this one without Lisbeth’s POV (though she was still the main focus I’d say). All the characters were interesting actually, even the side characters, though Lisbeth and Mikael were still clearly the stars. 

The first book could get bogged down in long, boring paragraphs of research and random history. This book had a bit of that, but not nearly as much, so it felt much faster-paced and engaging. Can’t wait for book 3! 

Intense and engaging read! This follows Sylvia, who has had her magic “cuffed” since she was a child, and an Heir to a throne that has made it his mission to find and arrest all those with magic. 

I really enjoyed this! I’ll be honest, I thought about DNFing around 25%—there were just too many kingdom names and random people mentioned in the “history” that didn’t matter. All the names were thrown in suddenly and I didn’t really get a chance to absorb what each was before the plot was chugging right along and almost left me behind. 

Despite those issues, I really did come to love this book. Sylvia is a badass, and I loved how she could find the humor in situations, and Arin’s responses to her attempts at humor were to die for. Their dynamic was cute (and hot), and the plot (once I could follow it better) was pretty engaging. I can honestly say I can’t wait for book two!

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC!

Just as good as I remember! It follows Mikael and Salander, as they come together to solve the mystery of Harriet Vanger’s disappearance and the sketchy dealings of a big corporation. 

I can see why this book is so popular, but I can also understand why it wouldn’t be for everybody. Some sections of it can come off as pretty dense, especially the sections about the financial dealings of the different companies. I followed it fine, but it was also kinda dry in those parts and dragged down a lot of the action. It was still a very engaging read, but it’s not the straightforward murder-mystery that some people might expect going in. Can’t wait to read the rest! 

I love these books, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Haters can hate, but I love my scientists in love. Elsie is adorable, and fun, and yes a little cringe, but I love her. Jack is the supportive boyfriend all of us deserve, and their dynamic was cute. 

This was on-par with the Love Hypothesis for me; like that book, I fell in love with this one immediately and couldn’t wait to get home from work and read it. The characters were likable and felt fleshed-out (even the side characters), the Twilight references were actually pretty funny and relatable, and it made me crave some sharp cheddar cheese cubes. These books aren’t meant to be read for some unique, ground-breaking plot; they’re just cute romances set in a science-y atmosphere. And I will read as many STEMinist novels as Hazelwood wants to write. 

Fun, but not a lot to it. After getting infected and then touching a Providence card as a child, Elspeth now has to live with the consequences of having the nightmare in her mind (and hiding that from the world). 

This was fine! I actually really liked the main character and her interactions with the Nightmare. The main issue I had was the story—the whole goal was to collect a deck of the Providence cards; okay, yeah, that’s fine. But it really didn’t feel like anything was happening ever. There was like one semi-exciting heist, but the rest of it was just like, arguments in her head. The romance was okay, but predictable, and it felt like they went from not knowing each other to being obsessed like instantly. 

This book was fine, and I look forward to the next, but I can already tell it’s the kind of series that will literally never cross my mind again once I’m finished. 

A delightful sequel to a delightful book! I was so so happy to be thrown back into the chaotic scholarly pursuits of Emily and Wendell, as they look for a door back to his kingdom. 

This book might even be better than the first. We have the characters we know and love, and are introduced to a few new ones to become obsessed with as well (I’m looking at you, Snowbell!). Everyone felt fully fleshed out, and the other characters added intrigue to the main plot, but never really distracted from Emily and Wendell, the valance was very well done. 

As with the first book, the tone of this sequel had a nice mix of scholarly sounding passages, interspersed with the almost nonsensical situations that are common when faeries are involved. There was also some genuine romance, which I was very very excited to read. I loved every bit of this book and can’t wait for the next. 

Huge shout out to NetGalley for getting me this ARC! 

President Snow, or Coryo, is a poor, somewhat desperate boy in the Capitol who wants to do anything he can to make sure his family returns to their place of honor—Snow on top. When he’s selected as a mentor for a new experimental part of the Hunger Games, he realizes this is his chance. 

I really enjoyed this book! I know some people are like, why would she write this and “humanize” the villain of the story when so many other stories could be told? And while I somewhat agree with that, I also think—villains seldom view themselves as villains, and I was very curious to see what President Snow was like before he was president Snow. 

Coryo was a bitter, and deeply selfish person, who probably would have never described himself that way. From the very beginning, we see how he dismisses or overlooks the kindness shown to him by those around him, particularly Tigris and Sajenus. Tigris is holding the family together, and he seems to somewhat appreciate it but not realize the depth she goes to in order to keep them afloat. He outright fisk likes Sajenus, but keeps him close in case he can use that connection to his advantage. 

Every connection he makes seems to lack a genuine emotion, just a means to an end for him. I loved Lucy Gray, and wish we got more of her in the book, but I get that the focus was Coryo. Overall this was well done and engaging, and I find myself wanting even more prequel books (not necessarily about him, but that universe in general). 

So disappointed by this book. The idea of a heroine that kills almost everyone she touches, other than her Man, sounded so fun. But alas. 

The characterization and descriptions just were not there for this book. At all. Almost no descriptive paragraphs at all, just a lot of dialogue of mediocre banter. I couldn’t bring myself to care about anyone, or the plot (which was very confusing at the start of the book). Again, the lack of descriptive paragraphs would have helped a lot in the beginning so I would know what the fuck was going on. But again, no. 

The characters were fine—but had very little going for them. The only things we learned about them were almost always through dialogue, which makes it feel superficial. I was just not a fan.  

The best of the Bridgerton books. Farmer George and Just Charlotte have my heart. 

This is by far the most substantive of all the Bridgerton books—meaning, there’s (somewhat) of an actual plot and meaning behind the romance. I love how this book explores the race dynamics of the Bridgerton world, which were only vaguely hinted at in the show (barely), and not at all in the books (since the author wrote everyone white). Is it perfect? No, and I don’t know that I’m the best person to comment on how good the representation was in this book—but it’s there, which is much more than I can say for the others in the series (and many historical romances I’ve read). 

It also really touches on George’s mental struggles, and how those around him try to help and manage them. That, combined with the ton opening to be more than just white people, made this book INFINITELY more interesting than the others in the series. My main gripe with those is that they feel like the same story told over and over—but this one felt new, and I loved it. And I loved the love that Charlotte and George shared. They were flawed, but wonderful together, and I’m so glad I gave this story a shot before watching the show.