Book Review: A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair

A Touch of Ruin by Scarlett St. Clair
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was all over the place. I felt like Persephone was making a whole bunch of mistakes and isn't giving a damn about the consequences, and she's not caring for herself. She's not even thinking straight when it came to her friends and her relationship with Hades. She's just doing everything and damning the consequences, which is very bad in my opinion. Every time she and Hades have a conversation, she's either holding back on him, or she's yelling at him, which really doesn't make any sense at all. Why fight him, then turn around and smash him after you get done yelling at him? What kind of relationship is that???

Then the whole thing with Apollo just really...confused me? Like she made a deal with him to be his friend for six months because you wanna save your friend Lexa-which will be my next point of discussion when I get to it-and when he agrees after you nearly take off his penis with your thorns, the first thing he does he take you to a club and forces you to judge a contest that shows how ruthless you can be...like sir? The hell is your damn problem? And he gets mad when she chooses the other guy over you...is you dumb??

The whole Lexa thing was just....plain weird and plain selfish. Lexa wanted to DIE, and yet Persephone tried everything in her power to save her, only for it to backlash in her face...and you want me to feel sorry for her? Really? 'Oh she needed to go through this' BULLSHIT. I felt like Persephone wasn't thinking with her brain or her heart, she just went through it without the consequences. She should've talked this through and not just jumped in, wholeheartedly, into this. If she did that, I think she would've been fine and the book would've been much better. Will I finish this series off? I might, but not for a minute because this book was a hella mess and it's my least favorite one out of the series.

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Book Review: The Perfect Mistress by Victoria Alexander

The Perfect Mistress by Victoria Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Perfect Mistress, though funny, was just okay to me. Nothing to run home and tell Mama about, TBH. I like the banter and the spark between Julia and Harrison, the ghost thing was fun, and the parts in between chapters with the words Hermione wrote were fun to read. But the one thing that irked me and got on my last nerve was the writer who kept going along with Harrison's plan to take the memoir and write a very terrible book about it.

Julia has to be one of my favorite characters of all time. Yes, she is trying to save money, and the only way she can get money is if she sells her great-grandmother's memoir called The Perfect Mistress. Everyone is giving her an offer to purchase it-Mr. Cadweller, the author Mr. Ellsworth, and Harrison. At first, Harrison devises a plan to try and get her to see reason to NOT publish it-a story of his father is in the book, and he doesn't want scandal to touch the family. Well, it didn't go well, and then Harrison came up with another scheme to get her to not publish the book, which is both very smart and also very stupid of him: be her friend and then get her to not publish the book.

Sounds fun, right?

Nah. It doesn't sound fun at all.

Because after kissing her on the terrace at a poetry reading, that's when Harrison realizes that he's in love with her, and now he's warning her about men who might take advantage of her and all of that. And each time he and Julia are in a room, they are fighting and nearly ready to kill each other. Harrison even saved her before she was kissed by Ellsworth. I was happy that they got together, but then at the end it was just them arguing until they forgave one another--which was fine, and that was it.

I did enjoy myself, it was funny at some parts, but other than that it was okay, nothing to run home and tell mama about TBH.



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Book Review: Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation volume 3 by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi (Novel) Vol. 3 by Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Reading this book and having SO MANY FLASHBACKS to The Untamed and going "oh no" with each page, knowing where this was going and how painful it was going to be. I almost cried at certain parts, and laughed at some parts. I even cheered when Yangli stood up to that guy whose name I've already forgotten because I hate his bloody guts.

And Wei Ying...poor Wei Ying...everyone hating him for what he did, and then everyone turning their backs on him because of what he did...ow. I felt sorry for him. Even when he and Lan Zhan met up again I just couldn't help but repeat the lines, Wei Wuxian!, Lan Wanji. Like it was like he said his name so calmly instead of shouting it like he did it in the book...ow my heart.

Reading how Wei Wuxian turned into the Yiling Patriarch almost made me cry, but also FUCK Wen Chao, and I'm glad he got what he deserves. Because I'm imagining what Wei Ying went through to start the Demonic Cultivation path...god that hurt. But now I cannot wait for the next volumes because I know they're going to be good, and also they might make me rewatch The Untamed again because goddamn this book was so good. Even the scene in the cave with Wei Ying and Lan Zhan in the cave cracked me up--and the shocking part when Wei Ying was blindfolded and Lan Zhan kissing him instead of the other way around. It was beautiful and it made me smile.

But my favorite parts is whenever Wen Ning showed up and just...just be baby. I love Wen Ning so much (as much as I love Wei Wuxian and Lan Zhan). Wen Ning just needs to be protected at all cost.

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Book Review: Galatea by Madeline Miller

Galatea by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This story was a sad one. I originally gave it a three-star, but after thinking about it, gave it a four-star. This story broke my heart in many ways, mostly because I felt like those doctors and nurses and her husband treated her like an invalid and a sex toy, and never gave into her wishes, like wanting to go for a walk, wanting to go see her daughter, actually getting pregnant and being happy about it. But it's like they wanted her to be some kind of living, breathing doll, only for her husband to have around the house, and that made me so sad. I'm glad that she got out of the house and into the sea and also visited her daughter, but good lord, she wants to go out and have some fun for once in her life, not stuck in the house like some invalid or someone who really wants to stick around and do nothing. I really enjoyed this one, but this one broke my heart so much.

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Book Review: That Time I Got Drunk And Saved A Demon by Kimberly Lemming

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If I can summarize this book, I would say that this book is like if the song "Demons Are A Girl's Best Friend" by Powerwolf slammed together with a funny, laugh-out-loud book, then this book is for you. I enjoyed this book so much that I have a feeling that I'm going to reread this book all over again because it didn't take me long to read, and I really enjoyed reading about Cinnamon and Fallon.

I liked the adventure Cinnamon and Fallon went on, even though she didn't want to go at first. She kept saying "nope", but then as she got better and stronger, that's when she started to gain confidence in herself. Even when she started to fall in love with Fallon when she didn't mean to, coming up with so many excuses when in reality she did want him, but she tried to resist him, even when he turned into a huge Shadow Dragon and nearly burned a whole city down, but he didn't, thank god. The part I liked was when she saved Felix the werewolf and Ambrose the Yuan-Ti snake man from that horrible man who wanted to skin them for their pelts, which was very terrible, but I liked how the author handled that situation.

The second thing that I liked about this book was the many monsters that appeared in the book, which were almost a lot. Meeting orcs that didn't want to tear your face off, the two different dragons that were very different but one was controlled by the evil lich, and also I liked how there was no animosity when they came together after what happened in the city of Wandermere. It was like everyone came together and hung out on the boat.

Even though I only read this book for the comedy and the adventure, and the romance and the spice are down on the list of things I would love about this book, the romance and the spice is up there, because good lord I loved every bit of it. Even though it was a little fast and I got worried that it was going to get bad, instead the flow of how Fallon and Cinnamon fell in love, even when he called her "Rabbit" or "Little Rabbit", I still enjoyed it and the spice was just perfect for me-not to little and not too much.

I would read this book all over again for the very first time because it was *that* good.

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Book Review: The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book, like Amari, completely broke me, but in a different way.

My favorite thing about this book, first and foremost, is the relationship between Vincent and Oraya. Yes, she's his daughter (I thought she was adopted, but after the ending and what it was revealed, yeah they're related), but I found it odd that Vincent treated her like his own progeny instead of a daughter, which was shocking. Secondly, almost every thought Oraya had, sounded like Vincent's voice, which made me oddly believe that they had the same kind of relationship like the vampires from Vampire: The Masquerade. But when it was revealed that she was his daughter and she was a half-vampire, well...things changed for me.

Secondly, this was my first time reading a book with a tournament setting. I didn't read The Hunger Games because I thought I wouldn't like it, but after reading this book, I kinda wanna read more about tournaments like this and why they were so bloody. I mean, the Kejari sounds like fun, but after reading and witnessing the pain, death, and trauma that it causes the contestants participating in them, I was kinda scared, to be honest, that I wasn't going to enjoy this book. But the more I read, the more I got worried for nearly all of them, including what happened to Mische.

Thirdly....Raihn Ashwhatever his last name is because I forgot. I liked Raihn. I wanted to make fun of his name. But I fell for him, even was about to put him in my Garden of Tall Men. But no. He turned around and betrayed me AND Oraya at the end once she wished for him to win instead of her, and I was shocked. DISHONOR ON HIM, DISHONOR ON HIS COW, DISHONOR ON HIS WHOLE ENTIRE CLAN for what he did to Oraya. And that boastful promise he made? BRUH. On sight the next time I ever read the second book, because WTF--why would you say that??? I know it was to protect her BUT WHY??? Ugh, I hated that part of the book.

The way Vincent died once he found out who Raihn was...it was painful to read (and I did gasp when I read it) but OMG it hurted so much. Like, bad. I wasn't expecting that to happen to Vincent, even though he deserved it after going to war with the Rishan, for no reason, and then destroying the city his daughter was born and came from. I had a major side eye when it came to him, and I'm so glad that I was right on the money about it.

Will this make me read the next book of the series? Yeah it would make me do that. I'm just gonna take a break first and then I'll read it, to see how it ends because WTF I'm still not over it. I just need to relax for a moment, read some good books, and then I'll come back to this world because it was just so good.

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Book Review: Amari and the Great Gamer by B.B. Alston

Amari and the Great Game by B.B. Alston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you're wondering if I'm okay after reading this...NOT. REALLY.

B.B. Alston did an amazing job with this world, and jumping back in didn't take me long to do. There were so many shocking things that happened in this book-like Amari teaming up with Lara, this Great Game that nearly made my heart drop, Dylan Van Helsing doing the most to make sure Amari doesn't get the Crown, and then the whole attack against the Supernatural World and how one person, a faun with the ability to control people--which is terrible, btw--but other than that, I enjoyed the book that I cannot wait for the next book.

The ending was the one that shocked me the most, mostly because her brother finally woke up after two books. I thought he wasn't going to wake up after what happened to him, but then I remembered what happened during the last game between Dylan and Amari, and how Amari used one of Dylan's spells to make him good again, but after he did that, that's when things went to hell and Dylan went back to being eeevil, which hurts my soul but in a good way, and then Elsie finally turning into a dragon was SO COOL.

The shadow thing that bounced all around Lara's room was pretty funny, but when Jayden talked it down and gave it a cool nickname, I was both shocked and very proud of him for showing off his skill, which is talking to animals and stuff, actually be helpful. But how Amari found out what happened during the congress meeting was pretty interesting and I want to know more.

I think one my favorite parts of this book was how B.B. Alston uses supernatural creatures and spins them in his own way, like the thing with the wraiths. They are very interesting and I really like how they are trying to make a way into this world. I'm glad that I read this book and now I'm ready for book three, because I really need to know how all of this ends and how Amari does things with and without her magic, and how her brother Quinton fits into all of this and how he's going to help her save the world from Director Harlowe (whom I really don't like).

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Book Review: Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

OH MY GOD. Amari Peters, why weren't you around in my CHILDHOOD?!

I LOVED this book. This book FLOORED me when I picked it up and read it. I wasn't expecting to love this book because I thought it was going to be like any other middle grade, but NO. It wasn't. In fact, one of my students actually picked up this book and said "Hey, this girl looks like me!" and I was proud of myself, that I could bring this book to work and one of my kids saying that one of the characters looked just like her. Anyway, Amari and the Night Brothers was written so well, that I instantly checked out book two from my library so I can read it once I'm gone with this one.

Amari and the Night Brothers is about a girl named Amari Peters, who is trying to find her brother, Quinton, who has suddenly disappeared. After receiving a gift from her brother in the form of a suitcase, she is opened to a world filled with Supernatural things she thought didn't exist until now. She goes and befriends a weredragon named Elsie who is super smart, and a boy named Dylan van Helsing. When it was time to prove that she has some kind of powers or abilities, it turns out that Amari is a magician, and with all the attacks by magicians and hybrids are happening all over the world, everyone is either scared of her or don't trust her. But it turns out that Amari is an illusionist, and seeing her learn how to use her magic for good and not for bad is a really good thing.

Every time Lara Van Helsing appeared, I immediately didn't like her. She kept bullying Amari, which had gotten out of hand that I'm glad Amari fought back. Even Director Van Helsing kept wanting her to fail, but she didn't. She kept proving her wrong, even asking if she can use her magic during one of the trials so she can get the plant thing. But the ENDING.

OMG THE ENDING.

THAT BETRAYAL?? Wasn't expecting it. It was so out of left field for me, and I wasn't expecting it or didn't see it. and to learn that Moreau was going to use Maria and Quinton for a spell to bring back his partner??? What??? Shame. But for Dylan to do that....mouth is still on the floor. But I'm glad that Quinton and Maria are alright, and now I need to know what happens next in the second book.

I just need everyone to read this book, please and thank you because I LOVED IT so much.

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