Book Review: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Okay…this book right here…brought it a month ago, had it on my kindle for the longest time and just never read it, and now that I read it, I still can’t stop thinking about it. Enemies to lovers, she fell first, the Shadow King is basically Gojo Satoru but with Shadow Magic? Bruh, I CAN’T with this book. I still love it though, but this book just took me places I didn’t even think was even possible.

My favorite characters in the book are Alessandra, Kallias, Rhoda and Hestia (I think that’s her name). I really enjoyed how Alessandra made a plan to kill Kallias once she became queen, but then, slowly but surely, she was falling in love with him without thinking about it. I think that was my favorite parts in the book-how she started to slowly fall in love with him without even thinking about it, asking him questions about his life, asking him about his shadows, just getting to know him. And when he was having problems, Alessandra came up with ways that actually helped the kingdom that I knew she was the perfect queen.

But Kallias…lemme talk about him for a minute. I thought he was just some old king who has this shadow magic that isn’t that scary. Until Alessandra went through him on that carriage ride, and the first thing I thought of once he explained how his shadow magic works was, and I wrote this down in the book: ‘He’s bloody Gojo.” Because yes, Gojo has infinity and can turn it off when he wants to, but Kallias has Shadow Magic. Homeboy can also turn it off and on if he wanted to, thus he’s fantasy Gojo…darn it.

But that little mystery of Alessandra killing her first love and making it a disappearance was kinda…stupid, in my opinion. She killed him, left him for dead, and then after a couple years later, people are hunting her down so she can confess that she did kill Hektor. When she told Kallias…all he did was laugh at her. That’s all he did-laugh. Apparently it was funny to him that she killed him so he won’t do it, and I was like…okay…cool beans, my guy…but was it that funny? Was it?? (Apparently to him, it was).

Another thing that I really liked about this book was the advice Alessandra gave to her friends. Some of them hit me while I was reading this book, and I was agreeing with her one hundred percent, even told Rhoda to go after her manservant. I really liked that about Alessandra, while she was trying to go through with her plan to kill Kallias so she can be Queen. But after the miscommunication trope rearing its ugly head again when Kallias found the poison to kill him along with finding out that his brother was still alive and parading around as Leonidas I think the name is and was trying to kill him was fun to read. But other than that, I really enjoyed this book. Might not be my favorite, but it was good nonetheless.

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Book Review: The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh. My. God.

This is the coziest book I’ve ever read in my life, and on top of that, I really didn’t care about the romance. All I cared about was the Nowhere House, and the people that lived in the house. I wanted to hang out with Ian, Ken, Lucie, Mika, Jamie, Altamira, Terracotta and Rosetta and stay in that house so much that I wished it was real. I really liked the everyday life that happened in the house, and I wished that they were real-that’s how much I really loved this book. The romance in the book was down on my list of things about this book that made it really good, I just loved how cozy and how I wanted to live in the Nowhere House.

But the romance in it was pretty nice and cozy as well. I really liked Mika and how she’s tutoring the girls on their magic, and how slow and sweet their romance got, even though Ian was asking so many questions and had tried multiple times to lock them up in a closet so they can kiss (me too, Ian, me too). But this is the first time I’ve ever read a grumpy x sunshine trope, and I have to say, it has been done well. But as I said, I really didn’t care about the romance at all. All I cared about was the people in the house and how they are living, thriving, and honestly minding their own business when it comes to the children and going out and having fun and learning how to control their magic.

My favorite child out of all three of them has to be Rosetta. Yes, she actually caused a little tornado in the bookstore, but she’s actually very sweet and kind and also very sure of herself when she wants to get revenge on Terracotta, who didn’t steal her puzzle from her room. I also love the fact that Rosetta can get serious when it comes to learning magic, and also comes up with really good ideas. I also like Terracotta-she kept cracking me up when she kept coming up with ways to kill Mika because she didn’t want her there, and I also liked how she defy pretty much everyone when she wanted to float in the air and ride a stick as if it was a broomstick.

The ending was the most funniest one ever-when they locked Edward in the shed because they reanimated the corpse of Lillian, and how it turns out Primrose is the sister of Lilian and that her name was Peony. But I really enjoyed this book, it’s one of my favorite ones this year, right next to From Lukov from Love.

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Book Review: Gods and Monsters by Shelby Mahurin

Gods & Monsters by Shelby Mahurin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The end of an era for me. I’ve read the first book three times, the second and this book one time, and I have to say, I’ve never had so much fun reading these books and enjoying myself getting to know these characters and making them a part of my bookish family, because I really love this series so much.

Gods and Monsters has a bunch of action, romance, drama, magic and more. It brings in the mermaids and gods of old, and it has a character I was shocked and surprised to love so much after not liking her in the last two books. But she has grown on me, and she has became one of my favorite characters, right next to Lou and Reid. Even though it opened with a possession (Cool spell, still possession), from there it lead to a journey with twists and turns that I wasn’t even expecting.

Lou and Reid, my babies, were apart, then Reid did a thing that made me have a Come to Jesus meeting with him, but he got them back. I really liked how Lou fought back against Nicholina and saw through her past and the voices inside her. I thought she was Gollum for a long time because of the way she talks. I was waiting on her to do that “gollum, gollum” thing Gollum does, but Nicholina did not-instead she talked really weird and she made me want to pull my hair out each time she does that. Then when Reid told Lou that “I will make my way back to you” and pull the string that made him lose his memories, I was confused that I wanted to read on, because I didn’t need sleep, I needed answers for what he’d done.

The introduction of the melusines was pretty darn cool. I actually wanted to live there because of how cool their world was. I liked how they had other ocean animals as pets, and how they can switch from having two legs or having fins. Their leader was alright to me, nothing to run and tell mama about, TBH. But the one thing-or person-that surprised me was Celie Tremblay..who knew how to break into stuff and actually helped Lou break into the safe at Chateau le Blanc-SHOCKINGLY.

I really didn’t like Celie in book one and two. But in this book she grew on me as she was both a lady and also a knowable thief and how she helped Lou with the door. Yes, Lou is now La Dames des Sorcieres and can do some very powerful magic, but Celie is powerful herself, even helped Belterra’s people get to safety from the blood witches.

This is my favorite book of the series, and I’m so glad that I read and loved it.

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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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