Book Review: The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn

Title: The Viscount Who Loved Me   

Author: Julia Quinn

Series/Standalone: Bridgertons (Book #2)

Genre: Romance, Historical, Adult Fiction

Pages: 354

Publisher: Avon

Year Published: 2000

Format: Audiobook

"1814 promises to be another eventful season, but not, this author believes, for Anthony Bridgerton, London's most elusive bachelor, who has shown no indication that he plans to marry. And in truth, why should he? When it comes to play the consummate rake, nobody does it better...

    -Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, April 1814

But this time, the gossip columnists have it wrong. Anthony Bridgerton hasn't just decided to marry- he's even chosen a wife! The only obstacle is his intended's older sister, Kate Sheffield- the most meddlesome woman ever to grace a London ballroom. The spirited schemer is driving Anthony mad with her determination to stop the betrothal, but when he closes his eyes at night, Kate is the woman haunting his increasingly erotic dreams...

Contrary to popular belief, Kate is quite sure that reformed rakes do not make the best husbands- and Anthony Bridgerton is the most wicked rogue of them all. Kate is determined to protect her sister- but she fears her own heart is vulnerable. And when Anthony's lips touch hers, she's suddenly afraid she might not be able to resist the reprehensible rake herself..."

My Rating: 4.5/5

This was really great to read after watching the most recent season of the Netflix show. It was vastly different from the show though and I would recommend reading it if you didn't enjoy the second season of the show as much as the first. This book really helped to explore the inner thoughts of both of these characters, their desires and their rationales to themselves about everything going on. Also, it has quite a different plot than the show so still worth a read even if you did enjoy the last season. I plan on continuing with the series on audiobooks as soon as possible! Would recommend it for romance fans for sure (as I'm finding out I might be one).

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Lore by Alexandra Bracken

Title: Lore

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Young Adult, Mythology, Fantasy

Pages: 480

Publisher: Disney-Hyperion

Year Published: 2021

Format: Audiobook

"Every seven years, the Agon begins. As punishment for a past rebellion, nine Greek gods are forced to walk the earth as mortals, hunted by the descendants of ancient bloodlines, all eager to kill a god and seize their divine power and immortality. Long ago, Lore Perseus fled that brutal world in the wake of her family's sadistic murder by a rival line, turning her back on the hunt's promises of eternal glory. For years she's pushed away any thought of revenge against the man-- now a god-- responsible for their deaths.

Yet as the next hunt dawns over New York City, two participants seek out her help: Castor, a childhood friend of Lore believed long dead and a gravely wounded Athena, among the last of the original gods.

The goddess offers an alliance against their mutual enemy and at last, a way for Lore to leave the Agon behind forever. But Lore's decision to bind her fate to Athena's and rejoin the hunt will come at a deadly cost- and still may not be enough to stop the rise of a new god with the power to bring humanity to its knees."

My Rating: 2.5/5

This was just ok for me. I did enjoy the story and I was interested in what was happening at the moment. But this isn't a story that is going to hold any interest for me in the future. It won't really take up space in my memory. The gods were interestingly fleshed out and the story touched on a myriad of topics, not sure that all of them were handled in the way that I enjoyed, but they were handled. Overall just fine.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Spoiler: Gild by Raven Kennedy

 This book was so much more than I thought I was getting into. If you are reading books from Kindle Unlimited, or at least if you're me you have certain expectations about what the book might include. I often expect romance or smut, and while this book had some it was more of a dark adult fantasy than those two things.

Does this book start in an orgy, yes it does. But it really makes sure you're comfortable with anything that could happen in the book. I think that the author did a wonderful job of making all the characters have an individual voice. 

Our main character is interesting to read from, as she's been with King Midas for the past ten years and has seen his rise to royalty. I'm sure we will hear more about that as we continue in the series.

 King Midas best not be our love interest because I will lose my ever-loving shit. What he offers is NOT love! 

Digby was one of my favorite characters and I'm optimistic that he might make a comeback.

Sail was such a heartwarming character I bawled when he died.

I'm interested in Captain Rip and what kind of Fae he will prove to be.

Highlights:

"'What is the king's favored doing out of her carriage?'

Saild scratches the back of his neck nervously. 'Well, see, what happened was... um, she-'"

-Pg. 228 

"It's the arrogance of men, to think so little of women. And it'll be their downfall too."

-Pg. 287

"I won't sit idly by and keep letting men crush me in their fists."

-Pg. 295

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Gild by Raven Kennedy

Title: Gild

Author: Raven Kennedy

Series/Standalone: The Plated Prisoner Series (Book #1)

Genre: Fantasy, Adult 

Pages: 393

Publisher: Raven Kennedy

Year Published: 2020

Format: Ebook (Kindle Unlimited)

First Line:  "I lift the gold goblet to my lips as I watch the show of naked flesh through the space between my bars."

"The fae abandoned this world to us. And the ones with power rule.

Gold.

Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of gold.

Even me.

King Midas rescued me. Dug me out of the slums and placed me on a pedestal. I'm called his precious. His favored. I'm the woman he Gold-Touched to show everyone that I belong to him. To show how powerful he is. he gave me protection, and I gave him my heart. And even though I don't leave the confines of the palace, I'm safe.

Until war comes to the kingdom and a deal is struck.

Suddenly, my trust is broken. My love is challenged. And I realize that everything I thought I knew about Midas might be wrong.

Because these bars I'm kept in, no matter how gilded, are still just a cage. But the monsters on the other side might make me wish I'd never left."

My Rating: 5/5

I thoroughly enjoyed my time reading this. This book is more a high fantasy to me than a romance although it does have sex scenes and scenes that include rape, so if that is something that is triggering for you, I wouldn't suggest reading this book. I think that the author does a great job of laying out what can happen in the book with the first chapter. The first chapter starts in an orgy, so if you can make it through that you'll maybe be okay for the rest of the book. I thought that the fantasy aspect of the book and the plot were super interesting, and all the characters had their own unique voice. The one concern I have is whether the main love interest is who I think it is. There is one person I very much don't want it to be, so here's hoping that we get some clarification in book 2.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

Title: Serpent & Dove

Author: Shelby Mahurin

Series/Standalone: Serpent & Dove Series (Book #1)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 513

Publisher: HarperTeen

Year Published: 2019

Format: Hardcover Copy (Own It)

First Line: "There's something haunting about a body touched by magic."

"Bound as one to love, honor or burn.

Two years ago, Louise le Blanc fled her coven and took shelter in the city of Cesarine, forsaking all magic and living off whatever she could steal. There, witches like Lou are hunted. They are feared. And they are burned.

Sworn to the Curch as  Chasseur, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. His path was never meant to cross with Lou's, but a wicked stunt forces them into an impossible union- holy matrimony.

The war between witches and Church is an ancient one, and Lou's most dangerous enemies bring a fate worse than fire. Unable to ignore her growing feelings, yet powerless to change what she is, a choice must be made.

And love makes fools of us all."

My Rating: 4/5

It took me a minute to warm up to this book. I thought that the beginning was really slow, but as you begin to get into the relationship aspect of the book and seeing how the world develops around our two main characters helps to flesh the story out. I loved the romance in this, I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers and a protective hero. I will say that the plot while interesting isn't what carried the book for me. I will be continuing the series and I can't wait to see where this story goes.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Review: The God Dilemma by Ryan Ferrier

Title: The God Dilemma

Author: Ryan Ferrier

Artist(s): Priscilla Petraites, Marco Lesko, Moritat, Casey Silver

Series/Standalone: Rat Queens (Vol. 8)

Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy, Adult

Pages: 136

Publisher: Image Comics

Year Published: 2021

Format: Paperback (Library Copy)

"While Hannah ventures down a dangerous path of black magic, peace in Palisade is interrupted when a monstrous titan pulls the Rat Queens into action one last time!"

My Rating: 1.5/5

I had a lot of hope after the last one and this ending just wasn't it for me. It felt rushed and like the ending was thrown together for no reason. I'm not sure what the point of reviving the characters was when they once again changed the art style, and the way the characters reacted to situations. Overall this series had too many changes in it throughout and I wouldn't recommend, it because you'll be like me hooked from the first one and disappointed as the authors make rapid changes to the plot, art and characters.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: Escape by Carolyn Jessop

Title: Escape

Author: Carolyn Jessop

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Nonfiction, Adult, Cults

Pages: 413

Publisher: Broadway Books

Year Published: 2007

Format: Audiobook

"The dramatic first-person account of the life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman's courageous flight to freedom with her eight children.

When she was eighteen years old, Carolyn Jessop was coerced into an arranged marriage with a total stranger: a man thirty-two years her senior. Merril Jessop already had three wives. But arranged plural marriages were an integral part of Carolyn's heritage: She was born and raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), the radical offshoot of the Mormon Church that had settled in small communities along the Arizona-Utah border. Over the next fifteen years, Carolyn had eight children and withstood her husband's psychological abuse and the watchful eyes of his other wives who were locked in a constant battle for supremacy.

Carolyn's every move was dictated by her husband's whims. He decided where she lived and how her children would be treated. He controlled the money she earned as a school teacher. He chose when they had sex; Carolyn could only refuse- at her peril. For in the FLDS, a wife's compliance with her husband determined how much status both she and her children held in the family. Carolyn was miserable for years and wanted out, but she knew that if she tried to leave and got caught, her children would be taken away from her. No woman in the country had ever escaped from the FLDS and managed to get her children out, too. But in 2003, Carolyn chose freedom over fear and fled her home with her eight children. She had $20 to her name.

Escape exposes a world tantamount to a prison camp, created by religious fanatics who in the name of God, deprive their followers of the right to make choices, force women to be totally subservient to men, and brainwash children in church-run schools. Against this background,  Carolyn Jessop's flight take on an extraordinary, inspiring power. Not only did she manage a daring escape from a brutal environment, she became the first woman ever granted full custody of her children in a contested suit involving the FLDS. And in 2006, her reports to the Utah attorney general on church abuses formed a crucial part of the case that led to the arrest of their notorious leader, Warren Jeffs."

My Rating: 5/5

When rating a nonfiction memoir of a story I base my rating on the narration style and the interest that the story held for me. I am not here to judge Carolyn's story or her life as I am not someone who lived it. I thought that this was a really interesting story to read about as someone who escaped the FLDS with all of her children and survived with someone so high up in the cult. For context, I am intrigued about cults, I think that the whole idea that people can be brainwashed into doing such unbelievable stuff fascinating to read about. I think the fact that this is a first account telling of the changes that the FLDS saw when Warren Jeffs began taking power, and how she managed to survive in a society where women are most often considered breeding stock. Does anyone have more suggestions about cult books, either fiction or nonfiction?

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

Title: A Deal with the Elf King

Author: Elise Kova

Series/Standalone: Married to Magic (Book #1)

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Pages: 338

Publisher: Silver Wing Press

Year Published: 2020

Format: Audiobook

"The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death.

Three-thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella's village to be their Human Queen.

To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she's dedicated to her life to studying herbology and becoming the town's only healer.

That is until the Elf King unexpected arrives... for her.

Everything Luella had thought she'd known about her life, and herself, was a lie. Taken to a land filled with wild magic, Luella is forced to be the new queen to a cold yet blisteringly handsome Elf King. Once there, she learns about a dying world that only she can save.

The magical land of Midscape pulls on one corner of her heart, her home and people tug on another... but what will truly break her is a passion she never wanted."

My Rating: 1.25/5

I found this book was far blander than I expected it to be. It had been recommended to me as a spicy fantasy book, and while it was a romantic fantasy, it didn't live up to the spice level that I wanted. It was fine, but not what I wanted at all. So I won't be continuing with the series.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny