Book Review: Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert

Wicked Beauty by Katee Robert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Once again, Katee Robert hit it out of the park with this one. Helen/Achilles/Patroclus as a triad while they compete to be the next Ares? Say less. I was confused as to how this was going to work, the triad, but the more I read it and saw how Achilles and Patroclus work with Helen, even though it was Achilles himself who told Patroclus not to speak or even touch Helen, but somehow someway it worked. Some things were touching and stuff I didn't think would work but my god it did work.

Helen has become one of my favorite heroines in the series so far. Yes, she lived a luxurious life in the spotlight, but she got tired of it. So what does one Helen Kaisos do so she can be her own person? Signs up to be one of the champions so she can become Ares. During the competition, Achilles & big bro Zeus were trying to get her to go back home, saying that she doesn't have the balls to become Ares. But Helen said fuck that and she went on anyway, even though on the side she was doing....many lovely things with Achilles and Patroclus.

When I say "many lovely things" I MEAN "many lovely things I wish I could mention that it even made ME blush." But I did enjoy them to the point that no, I didn't imagine those lovely things, I swear I didn't (dear reader, I totally did).

The competition aspect of the book was one I *shockingly* liked. Even though Paris, the little shit, tried to get under Helen's skin, seeing Theseus and the Minotaur competing to become the next Ares was really fun to read as well. I liked seeing how Helen, Achilles and Patroclus worked together to get through the competition, but before Achilles could even become Ares, he even tasted it...well, an arrow went through his Achilles' Heel, and Helen became Ares.

Was Zeus upset? Yeah. But he could get over it.

Now there's a female Ares, trouble is coming to Olympus, and I need to know what's going to happen. This was a well done written book and I loved every bit of 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: 5 Books All At Once!

Hey y'all and welcome back to my blog! I haven't been posting up anything because of the fact that I've been busy. But since May has been a huge reading month for me, I decided to do five book reviews-all at once. Each book I read I loved (one I really didn't...) but it's okay! June looks like a really good one as soon as I post this up, starting it off with Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong. So without further ado, let's get started with the book reviews!!

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Deathless Divide by Justina Ireland
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh hello Jane and Katherine, nice to see you again. I really enjoyed the book and I’m sad that things didn’t go the way I thought, but at the end of the day, I’m glad that Gideon Carr is dead. I was shocked when I read how he died-I thought Jane was going to kill him, but then Katherine killed him…it was actually pretty dang good. I loved it and now I’m also sad that the duology is over.

I liked the dual POV from Jane and Katherine. You get to see how they are doing while they are dealing with the aftermath of Summerland, then Jackson’s death, then Nicodemus, then them out in the wild west, trying to find their place to live. I actually liked how Jane became a bounty hunter and fell in love with Callie. I honestly wanted them to stay like that forever, until Callie just upped and left. As for Katherine, she was just heading to California with Sue and the others, trying to find a place to settle down. They do-I forgot the village where Jane’s mama was, but she was there, and Jane just felt uncomfortable there, because she wanted to do something else instead of staying in one place.

I enjoyed the pacing, it was really good, and when Gideon Carr finally died, I felt like a weight was lifted off Jane’s shoulder, because throughout the book she clearly has an obsession with Gideon and wanting to kill him so much, and she does see him again, thanks to Daniel Redfern. Even though Jane didn’t kill him, I was kinda wishing that she did. All in all, this was a really good book. I enjoyed it a whole lot. Wish there was another book after this, but I understand why the author made it into a duology.

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Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So this book…first time reading this book after it came out when I was in high school or middle school…and it’s okay. The whole going back in time I really didn’t like, because it threw me off and confused me. I don’t think I’ll pick up the next two books from the library, mostly because of the fear of reading another go back in time and things not sounding straight.

But I did enjoy the parts I like-like Karou using wishes, Brimstone reprimanding her, and then how the doors were burning and everything going to hell. It’s okay, I felt like it could be better but I just dealt with it as the story went on. Some of the chapters were short and sweet, the others were long and explains a whole lot. I did think that Karou going down the slide was fun and meeting Thiago who nearly chokes the hell out of her.

And Akiva…eh…he’s okay. He’s nothing that interesting, tbh. Yes he’s an angel, but all he did was dwell on who Karou is or what she looks like at all of that. He might be big and strong and all that, but to be honest he’s kinda…boring. Sorry if you liked him a long time ago. He’s just boring and not my type, and if he gets more interesting in the book, cool, if not, then okay.

I liked this book, the writing was okay, but I just thrown around with the whole other backstory for Karou/Madigal.

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Neon Gods by Katee Robert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Katee Robert has got a new fan in me. HO-LEE-SHYT this book was so good. I enjoyed this book, mostly because I went in with very low expectations. But the spice was really good, especially when Hades asks for consent. CONSENT YA”LL. That is the most sexiest thing I’ve ever read in a book, and when a man asks for consent, I’m down, I’m done, I’m yours. And the ending. Once again, HO-LEE-SHYT.

But I really loved how Persephone grew in the book, from being society’s darling to becoming her own woman, who won’t take no shit, even from Zeus and from the Thirteen. I think the one thing I really liked from this book is that they don’t have any of their God-like powers. They’re just people like you and me, and it’s almost like a royalty story, with the Thirteen and all that. I really enjoyed this book so much that I’m hyped to read the other books.

My favorite part is when Hades told Persephone, “You are a really shitty custodian to your body.” and that just blew me away. I was mad at first when he told her that, but then as Persephone told him that she didn’t even eat, I can see why. Good lord, girl. I also loved how Persephone trusted Hades with her, because she felt safe, which I started to really love as I kept reading.

I really do highly recommend this book, I really enjoyed it, it threw me around a couple times, and I love Hades and Persephone and their relationship SO MUCH, y’all. So, so much.

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The Affair at the Victory Ball - a Hercule Poirot Short Story by Agatha Christie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Basically this mystery was so quick, I felt like instead of Poirot solving the case, we got Rampo from Bungo Stray Dogs solving the mystery, and Atsushi was just…there in a way. I loved how quick he solved it, and even though it was a short story, I wish I knew what really went on in the Victory Ball, to learn and see what really happened. But it was short and sweet and I enjoyed it every much.

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Siege of Darkness by R.A. Salvatore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book wasn’t supposed to be funny-but it was. It was funny because of the fact that Drizzt whacked himself in the face with a tree. But after all that, this was once again a good book to read, and this time, it is a war for Mithral Hall. People did die, some did survive, one fell into his werewolf powers and killed a weapons master, and yes, Errtu was in this, but he wasn’t even that present in the book. Lolth was in the book was well, but good lord she’s very ambitious, even driving one of the oldest Matron Mothers to her death.

But let’s start at why this war for Mithral Hall is happening…

Matron Banere, with the help of the old dwarf magically hidden in a tooth, Gandalug Battlehammer, plotted out how she was going to take Mithral Hall and turn the poor dwarfs into slaves. She also wanted revenge for what Drizzt Do’Urden did to her and all of Menzoberranzan, so she starts to plot. Meanwhile, everyone in Mithral Hall is getting ready for this fight between the drow of the Underdark, and they get help from the Harpells, Silverymoon and Settlestone. Wulfgar’s presence was there when they talked about Aegis-Fang and how, if Wulfgar was alive, he would’ve been in the battle, though now I wonder what happened to him when he was caught by the damned yochlol, but I think we’re going to figure it out once I get to the next book.

The war was kinda slow. Jarlaxle was barely in it, in my opinion-he was just there, along with Quenthel and Triel. Even though Quenthel was killed by Drizzt and Matron Banere was killed by Bruenor Battlehammer (good for him), I think they were the stars, along with Drizzt and the others. I also like how the story kept switching with everyone, and the shocking thing in the story was that Lady Alurstriel showed up and helped the war.

There was a time in the book called The Time of Trouble, where magic went away, as if it never existed. Gwenhwyvar couldn’t go back to the astral plane, Bidderdoo tried to find a way to cure himself of being a werewolf, and the magic of Menzoberranzan was gone, and there was a little war breaking out in Menzoberranzan, with House Oblodara attacking another Matron Mother and killing her because she had her psionic powers…it was a whole-ass mess and I loved every bit of it. I can’t wait to read the next book of this series because I love it so much.

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