Book Review: Blood and Honey (Serpent and Dove #2) by Shelby Mahurin

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book…caused me so much emotional damage that I was on the edge of my seat as I read it. This has so many twists and turns and surprises that I thought that I would fall out of my seat reading this book. And Loureid once again shocked me TO THE POINT that they had to split the party, which I said “Does…does anyone know NOT TO SPLIT THE PARTY?!”

But before I can get into all of that, let’s start with the elephant in the room, which is Morgane le Blanc, Louise’s mother. In the first book, Morgane actually killed Louise but Louise came back to life. Now she’s out here killing the king’s children, starting with the blood witches. Etienne was horribly killed, and Gabrielle was kidnapped. Morgane was going after people that either looked like Reid (which, it turned out, Etienne had red hair just like Reid). Lou wanted to stop her mother from doing all of this, and she tried, but it took Woodwose, who turned out to be a very charismatic man from a traveling troupe, to stop her. But after she was stopped, she turned around and killed Ansel (which pissed me off).

Reid, on the other hand, is trying his hardest not to use magic. He doesn’t want to see it, smell it, or even think about it. After finding out he’s a male witch, he’s been trying to suppress his magic and only use his hands and fists and logic to get out of things. But he did get the Beast of Gévaudan on his side to help find Morgane and stop her. He actually made a friend in Thierry, and he did use his magic on three people and a Chasseur he knew. When he, his mother, and Bastien got caught by King Auguste, it didn’t go well. Because King Auguste wanted Louise (turns out he’s an evil son of a bitch) and didn’t care how many women he slept with, he was going to have more kids (like bruh…Robert Baratheon did that. Look how he turned out). But thanks to his sisters Violette and Violetta, he escaped and had to leave his mother behind.

Now the thing that threw me a bit was the knife-throwing scene. Did it awaken something in me? Maybe. No one told me that was going to be in there-I went in there blind and I really liked that scene. I got scared that Reid was gonna hurt Lou, but he didn’t. But the ENDING. When La Voisin did that spell so Nicholina (whom I’m convinced that was based on Drusilia from BtVS) could possess Lou, in which I was like “Is she really gonna do-no…no, she did” and I don’t know if I’m ready to read Gods and Monsters, but I am and I can’t wait to read it.

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Book Review: Electric Idol by Katee Robert

Electric Idol by Katee Robert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Electric Idol has to be my favorite Katee Robert book for many reasons. One is that Psyche is plus-sized and I related to her so hard when it came to clothes and that she confuses feelings and sex, two, I fell in love with Eros. He’s my sweet cheese, my new good time boyyy (and the things he can do to protect her…ooooh I loved A LOT), and Aphrodite…even though she’s his mama, I really liked her, though I understood that she had to go away so a new one can take her place. But the shocking twist of Callisto as the new Hera??? Um….Ms. Katee, ma’am, I have so many questions.

This is my first time reading a book with the forced proximity trope. I knew it was in there, but I really loved the way she wrote it. It was slow, and they talked about it, going along with the marriage and actually slowing it down so Psyche could get used to Eros. The new Zeus ain’t all that scary at all, he’s just…I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it (I really can’t), but I think he’ll be just fine.

And the spice?? Oh my gosh, it was perfection. And the way Eros just asks Psyche to marry him and then she has to think about it, going through every argument? It was PRICELESS. Marriage of convenience has just become one of my new favorite tropes, and seeing how Eros and Psyche lived day through day, even though their relationship was fake but the marriage was real? The first time they call each other husband and wife? I don’t normally squeal and kick and all that while reading a romance novel, but I did for this one.

But the thing that made me squeal and kick and all that was the action. Yes, Aphrodite wanted Psyche dead. Yes, Eros was supposed to kill her. When she found out they got married, what does Aphrodite do? Tries so hard to finish off her son’s job, blaming it on him so that he can come back to her (*que Mother Gothel’s song “Don’t be a dummy, come with mummy. Mother…”*) and it doesn’t work? And Psyche, thank god for being the smartest woman IN THE WHOLE WORLD, just tricked her and now Aphrodite went bye bye and now Olympus is safe…for now…we think…no, no, we hope.

Also yes I also did squeal seeing Persephone and Hades there in the book as well, and the epilogue of them at Demeter’s house for dinner was so cozy and CUTE. Loved every bit of it.

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Book Review: War Storm (Red Queen #4) by Victoria Aveyard

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

War Storm by Victoria Aveyard was SO GOOD. I got scared for a moment that I really wasn’t going to enjoy it, but I did. I really loved the fact that it had multiple POVs, Cal was in his Mariah Carey/Toni Braxton/Bill Withers era when it came to Mare, because he kept looking at her and wanting her when he’s the new king, and it's like the Samos family and his grandmother are forcing him to marry Evangeline, who really doesn’t want to get married. All Evangeline wants is for her and Elane to be alone somewhere, far away so no one knows them. But I really enjoyed this book, even though I didn’t like some things.

The one big thing I didn’t like was Maven’s death. I felt like this was kinda not satisfying than Volo Samos’s. His was satisfying because Julian sang him to his death. Maven just ran around like a little bitch and goating Mare to kill him. Then when she does get near him, he chokes her half to death, and then when she stabs him (I think), he just…dies. I mean, yeah, because of the Silent Stone it would’ve gone differently if it didn’t end the way that it did.

Throughout the book, I was oddly cheering Evangeline on. I wanted this girl to have to happy ending SO BAD that I’m sitting here upset that she can’t get that happy ending because of what she had to do as a princess when all she wants to do is run off with Elane and be herself. When she finally realized that she could live the life she wants when she went to Monfort to see how Davidson lived with his husband without hiding her true self or anything, she started to want it, to crave it. At the end, she decided to run away once her parents tried to kill her (which was bullshit, by the way) and I hope she and Elara are living happily ever after.

Now Cal…Tiberias the Seventh, the True Flame of the North…this boy was going through his GoT type crap along with his Mariah Carey/Toni Braxton/’I must listen to every sad boi music because I miss Mare’ era. Like…he was still feein’ for this girl after he chose his crown over her. Then I felt like he was going through what his grandmother wanted when I don’t think he really wanted to do it. He shot her down with the idea that he must plant his flag in Delphie or wherever she wanted him to make capital, and he didn’t do it. Then he and Mare spent the night together, but after that one night, he didn’t talk to her until the Lakelander War and when the Lakelanders attacked. But Evangeline, before she ran off, told him that he can get his happy ending if she could too. In the end, he and Mare decided to be apart, to see what she wanted and what he wanted, and when they’re ready, they’re ready.

Iris’s point of view was pretty interesting. Reading hers was very interesting, from trying to manipulate Maven, getting Bracken’s children from Monfort, and even going home and working with her mother and sister to try and attack Norta and take it from Maven and Cal. Sadly, Maven kinda comparing her to a dog pee’d me off, but at the same time, she took it with pride when I wanted to pimp-slap the shit out of him. Then when she tricked Maven and gave him to his brother, I cheered. I really liked Iris-just that I hope she had a nice day.

And Mare…I just want Mare to be happy. I want Mare to live her best life and never let anyone get on her nerves. But after reading her chapters, that’s all she needs, in my opinion. She loves Cal so much, but at the same time, she wants to find Maven and punish him for everything he’d ever done. She wants to stay with her family, who moved from Piedmont to Monfort, I believe, but she keeps on moving. She almost lost Kilorn one time during an attack on one of the Tech Towns but thank god for Sara Skonos and her healing him. I was worried for Kilorn for a minute when that happened, but he’s good now, even though at the end I thought something really bad happened to him. But he was fine, and I really liked Tyton-he looks and feels like a silver-haired anime character, which was funny, and I got worried when she went after Maven one final time.

I really enjoyed this book so much, it’s a new favorite series and I would re-read it over and over again.

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Book Review: King's Cage (Red Queen #3) by Victoria Aveyard

King's Cage by Victoria Aveyard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

May has been busy, but I’m finally reading like crazy now. King’s Cage was the first book I finished in May, and OH MY GOD…it hurt. It was an enjoyable ride, I hated Maven with all my heart, and I was not expecting the multiple POVs of Mare, Cameron, and Evangeline. In fact, Evangeline’s POV surprised me. I never really liked Evangeline, but the more I read her POV, the more I started to like her.

The book starts with Mare being a prisoner of the boy king, Maven Calore after she turned herself in after her brother Shade’s death. She couldn’t get in contact with her lightning because of the silent stone, her manacles, and her guards, which were Avrens. She did everything Maven told her to do, even though she hated every single minute of it. She had to give a speech, twisting the lies of the Scarlet Guard and painting them as terrorists, and was known as the leader of the Scarlet Guard. She was interrogated so badly by a man named Samson Merandus that she relived Shade’s death repeatedly.

After that terrible interrogation, Mare wakes up to find Maven over her. Sadly, even though I wish he didn’t, Maven still has feeling for her, and he forces her to give a speech about the Scarlet Guard, and also Maven gave all newbloods sanctuary from the Scarlet Guard. He forces Mare to experience all of this, and she hated every minute of it.

In this book, we learn more about Maven and Elara, and how Elara manipulated Maven so well in his mind that it makes me wonder if he ever had any emotions at all/ And the more he forced Mare to watch all of the newborns pledge their allegiance to him, the angrier she got, even though she couldn’t do anything. Then during a wedding between Maven and the Lakelader Irs Cygnet, the Scarlet Guard attacked to save Mare.

Mare was freed by Evangeline Samos, who was tired of her being in nice and simple imprisonment, so once she was freed, Mare left with the Scarlet Guard and reunited with everyone, including Cal. When they started moving against Maven and his enemies, that’s when things were coming out of the woodwork.

This leads me to Cameron’s POV. Cameron wants to save her brother Morrey so hard from the Red War camp. She keeps asking Colonel Farley and Diana Farley, but they said no, until Farley, while pregnant, comes up with a plan to break in the Choke I think, and get her brother back. They do, but thanks to Maven’s televised speech, Morrey, along with the rest of the Reds and newbloods, think that the Scarlet Guard are terrorists. But after some convincing, I think Morrey agrees. Also, she’s very suspicious about Cal and what he was doing behind doors (I was too).

Evangeline’s point of view was very…her. Her father wants to become a kingdom, breaking apart from Norta and wants to become Queen. Evangeline just wants to be with her girlfriend while she’s married to her brother. But things don’t go as planned as Evangeline thought, because with the meeting with the Scarlet Guard, her father, and Queen Anabel Leloran said that Cal and Evangeline to be married, and for Cal to take the throne. Mare left and Cal followed her, and Mare told Cal not to do it…but he didn’t say it back. So Mare turned around and left, leaving me to finally finish this series with War Storm. I’m enjoying this series so much and it’s one of my favorites.

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