![]() Once Upon a Time Cassidy Serhienko I know this book has gotten a lot of love on the interweb and on paper it has everything that would make me love it, which is why I bought it not long after it came out. Literally all I need is a pirate and I’ll buy it, but this book has everything else too. Twisted magic? Got it. Semi-creepy mermaids? Yeh. The promise of romance? It’s there. Kingdom and monarchy? Duh. But there was just a lack of oomph that made this book a bit of a miss for me. The main guy (can’t even remember his name) seemed like he was supposed to have the vibe of characters like Baz or Kaz with his over the top fashion choices and hints of moral ambiguity, but he just didn’t have the angst or the charisma to pull it off. I would say that 13 or 14 year old Cassidy would have loved this book because of him, but she was already thirsting after book boys like Jace, Noah Shaw, and Ignifix so I think she already had more refined taste, thank you very much. I appreciated his flair for finely tailored coats but I don’t think he and Amora had any chemistry, which made his character seem a little weaker. Honestly, he probably had a more interesting backstory and I wish he had been the main character, because given the right attention I think he could have shone. Where what’s his face just felt a little flat, I actively disliked Amora. I thought she seemed petulant and entitled, and where she should have grown out of it by the end of the book, she didn’t. The only reason I know she’d make a good Queen is because she kept telling me so. The amount of times she essentially said she deserved to rule over everyone or it was her right was severely irritating to me and almost made me stop reading. It would have been one thing if she did literally anything to back it up, or if she got a healthy reality check after everything she learns about her family and legacy, but she doesn’t. She marches onto this guy’s boat, acts like she owns the place, and tries to run the operation even when it’s abundantly clear that she doesn’t know shit. They supposedly bond over the fact that “she was made for sailing” and she’s such a natural. ???? Where? What tf does this girl know about anything? While this was something of a rant, I think that the world Grace built was really interesting and unique. The imagery alone is beautiful and is one of the reasons why I kept reading even when I wanted to throttle Amora. Had the main character been more well-rounded or at least experienced some character development than I probably would have enjoyed the book a lot more and continued the series. As it is, this book just didn’t work for me but I do see why so many other people loved it. Anyone who has read All the Tides of Fate: let me know if I should give it a whirl!
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![]() Cassidy Serhienko “People like us are not victims. We’re someone’s nightmare.” This is it. The best book I’ve read because of bookstagram’s recommendations, and it’s not one that I see a lot of. Sure it makes its way into a few reels, but it definitely doesn’t have the hype of series like From Blood and Ash or even A Touch of Darkness (which I also loved and reviewed btw), and it deserves it. This book is a fantasy/mystery/enemies-to-lovers romance - so basically you couldn’t ask for anything more. And it’s adult fantasy so the swearing and smut factor is decidedly high. Rhapsodic is a really interesting world with a blend of Fae-lands and supernatural magic mixed into a modern world, and I loved how Callie and Temper would use their powers in their regular-world PI business. With the way that this book ends, the next in the series is going to explore and expand on the Otherworld. With the repeated mentions of the brutality of the Fae I’m very excited to see more of Des as the King of the Night instead of just the Bargainer. Speaking of Des, I loved how his relationship with Callie developed and the way that he took care of her but in incredibly obnoxious ways. I think that the ending of this book sets up the next one to really develop their romance and companionship. The banter and chemistry between Des and Callie was freaking fantastic and I loved the way that they challenged and supported each other even when they weren’t exactly on the best of terms, at least on Callie’s end. A lot of books that have two timelines don’t show such a considerable difference in the personalities/voices of characters, but Thalassa really nailed it. Callie’s voice was consistent, though noticeably more mature and snarky as a more worldly adult. Similarly, Des and Callie’s relationship and way of interacting with each other was recognizable in both timelines, but showed a significant enough change given the difference in time, their baggage, and their age. I know that some people were put off by the fact that they first met when Callie’s sixteen, but honestly it didn’t bother me. The only issue that I had with those sections was that they took me out of the modern plot-line, which I found much more exciting considering we already know what’s going to happen in the other storyline. It didn’t bother me because even though their relationship was pretty flirty in that timeline, the Bargainer set lines and didn’t try to cross them. I’m not sure if the Bargainer is immortal (if this was mentioned, I can’t remember), but if we’re going to have a problem with every Fae/immortal character getting with a human teenager then I’m going to have to throw away like ¾ of my fantasy books. Feyre is seventeen and Tamlin and Rhysand are both 500+. This is obviously not a deal-breaker for me. I’m not an expert on the subject, so I’m not sure how other people would interpret the way that their relationship basically developed because Callie was a victim of abuse and Des helped her through it. He does so both as a teen and when they come back together seven years later, and I think that the difference in his support of her from when the trauma was fresh and when she’s an adult adjusted appropriately with what she needed from him. Sometimes I felt that the effects of this experience wasn’t always given enough attention, particularly in regards to Callie as an individual, but it definitely added depth to their relationship to see how he has and continues to support her. There’s really only one thing that I didn’t like about the book, and it’s not insignificant. Though she was given a fantastic name, Temper is pretty much the definition of the sassy black friend. It was disappointing that pretty much the only POC representation in the book was little more than a caricature. Callie frequently refers to Temper having lots of “dark” or scary power, and that makes me hopeful that she’ll become a more developed character with a larger role in the rest of the series. If not, it would be a seriously missed opportunity. So if you like swearing, hot guys with wings, weird magic, and murder, definitely read this book. ![]() Once Upon a Time Cassidy Serhienko This week’s #throwbackthursday is Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley, one of about 5 of her books that I re-read religiously for reasons that are somewhat beyond my comprehension. Laurie Graham has just ditched her cheating husband and blows into Carnal looking to start a new, simple life with a nowhere job in a nowhere bar. Instead, she finds Tatum Jackson. Because of an idiotic remark, the two strike up a somewhat volatile relationship that quickly turns into an intense flirtation and relationship. Oh, and there’s a serial killer side plot. Anyone who has read KA knows that she has an… interesting writing style. The girl loves a comma even more than I do and she’s certainly no stranger to parentheses. Her heroines, including Laurie, can be somewhat wishy-washy when it comes to their relationships with their respective love-interests. Her novels are LONG but the majority of her books are made up of day-to-day events and conversations that don’t necessarily have large importance to the plot. This is probably one of the reasons why I love her books and find them to be such amazing comfort reads. It wouldn’t seem like it would be a style of novel that you would find riveting, but I literally cannot put Sweet Dreams down whenever I pick it up. Which is probably a couple times a year at this point. I’m sure the writing style would annoy some people, and normally I would be among them, but I swear this book (and many of KA’s other titles) is crack. And the bitch knows how to write a love interest, let me tell you. I obviously have my favourites, but Tate probably reigns supreme - he might even beat Tack from Motorcycle Man. Tate and Laurie have such amazing chemistry and I think that he handles her insecurities and fears in the relationship with such care. Because this was not my first time at a KA rodeo I was on board with Tate from the start, but I think that it was such an interesting dynamic to have a love interest that really wasn’t all that likeable at the start. Laurie calls him out on his bullshit and while Tate might not have a complete metamorphosis, he certainly learns how to treat Laurie and others in his life with more care. KA is particularly famous for her girl gangs and guy groups (idk what the male equivalent of a girl gang is). This book and series is probably my favourite when it comes to the supporting characters. Laurie’s friends all have well-developed lives and personalities, and in doing so I think that KA has created an atmosphere that feels very realistic. You really feel like you’re living in Carnal when you read this book. I can already feel another re-read coming on, my massive pile of new books is about to be pissed. This week’s #throwbackthursday is Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley, one of about 5 of her books that I re-read religiously for reasons that are somewhat beyond my comprehension. Laurie Graham has just ditched her cheating husband and blows into Carnal looking to start a new, simple life with a nowhere job in a nowhere bar. Instead, she finds Tatum Jackson. ![]() Cassidy Serhienko “Darling, I win either way.” 4.5/5 This book could have gone one of two ways: it could have been a unique, atmospheric, and addicting romance, or it could have been a cheesy disaster on steroids. Thankfully, A Touch of Darkness is definitely the former. I read this book in one sitting and immediately added the next book to my online basket. I think that Hades and Persephone had a fantastic romance and banter, the world was interesting and original, and the secondary plots had enough intrigue to keep the story engaging. As with a lot of popular books on bookstagram, I think that the smut factor has been over-exaggerated, but only very slightly. I am however starting to question my reliability - maybe I shouldn’t be comparing this to actual adult romances, I don’t know man. I think books like this don’t feel as graphic to me because even though there actually is quite a bit of smut, it uses kind of vague terms for body parts (typing that out felt gross and I don’t know why). That said, this book is hawt and I definitely get why it’s on so many “spicy fantasy reads” lists. Compared to From Blood and Ash, which I’m pretty lukewarm on, this book is MUCH faster-paced in terms of both the storyline and the smut-line. I’m not one of those people who think that putting sex scenes in books takes it out of the realm of YA but I would still say that given the age of the characters and the content of the novel (including the smut), this book resides in the nebulous and ill-defined genre of NA. Considering Hades and the other gods are supposed to be millions of years old, I sort of wish that was more apparent in their interactions with the 24-year old Persephone and the other mortals. Apart from the fact that Demeter is absolutely batshit, there was no real feeling of danger or other-ness from the gods. Hades himself is a really dynamic character and I was intrigued by the way that he so clearly cared what Persephone thought of him but also wasn’t interested in justifying his actions. In that sense, you got the impression of his power and age but I hope that in the next books the gods’ powers and the line between mortals and the Divine is explored more. The concept of this novel could have easily felt quite gimmicky, but I think that St. Clair did an excellent job with the world-building. As a Greek mythology nerd, I enjoyed the shout outs to myths like Orpheus and Eurydice and I think they were worked very seamlessly into the story so it didn’t feel like the book was trying too hard. Having the Gods acting as pseudo-celebrities was a really fun interpretation and perhaps I’m being a little bit too pretentious but I thought that if it wasn’t exactly a commentary on celebrity culture, it was definitely an astute observation. I 100% believe that this is how we would treat and revere the gods in a modern world. Really the only thing that I didn’t like in this book and the reason that I took off half a star was Persephone herself. At times it felt like she was being deliberately obtuse and combative with Hades when it was really unwarranted. Hades isn’t exactly communicative about a lot of things, but while he might not directly explain everything to Persephone he is quite open with showing her the realities of the Underworld, his bargains, and himself. Since their relationship was really the focal point of this book there needed to be some conflict in order for there to actually be a plot, but it sometimes painted Persephone in a quite frustrating light. I will definitely be picking up the next book, but I also know that every book in the series is also written in Hades’ perspective so I’m debating whether or not I should just read those instead of or in addition to Persephone’s. ![]() Cassidy Serhienko “I am not ruined. I am ruination.” And so ends the Grishaverse trilogy. I’m quite satisfied with how everything was resolved, but I’m honestly a little underwhelmed by how we got there. I think that the entire series had really great potential and had all of the right ingredients to be great, but it was just never quite able to get there. As you can maybe tell by my rating, I still really enjoyed the series but still just feel a little…. So for the sake of my sanity and coherence, let’s break it down. Of course we’re going to start with the Darkling. Now just to clarify, when I read the books I was not into the Darkling as a romantic interest for Alina - the only reason I think the Darkling is hot is because Ben Barnes is hot, and hot people doing sketchy things is hot. I’ve accepted this, I revel in it. And I think that Book Darkling has the potential to be a lot more interesting than he really is. He has the backstory, the moral quandary, etc etc to be a really great morally grey character. But since that’s never truly delved into he’s almost just a cut and dry villain. This is one of the many areas where I think the show does a better job of bringing a sort of maturity to the story. The Darkling is supposed to love Ravka and want a better future for the Grisha, but because he’s barely on the page we only see the immediate threat that he poses to Alina, and the terrible things that he does to hold onto power. As for Mal, I really don’t get why everyone hates him so much. The critique of Mal is that he wants Alina to be normal and he resents her power. I think that’s true, particularly in Siege and Storm, but not in a bad way necessarily. I think that he’s grappling with the fact that her power is what keeps them from being together and he’s losing this girl who he’s known and loved in one way or another for his entire life. And I think that’s a struggle for him but he is entirely willing to let her go to meet that destiny - and help her to reach it in any way that he can. But while doing that, he’s also grieving what seems like a loss. Ultimately it is a loss because not only is she going to have to become a queen, a saint, whatever, but she’s going to have this ancient life that he can’t possibly be a part of. He’s actually quite selfless when it comes to Alina and Alina’s power. MY issue with Mal is that he’s just kind of boring. Again, I think that he as a character and their relationship would have seemed better if these books had been written later- like if Bardugo had a little more practice like she does for SoC. Because as much time as Mal and Alina are in the same place, they really don’t have that much page time together because they’re struggling so much to talk about their issues and deal with the fact that this thing is keeping them apart. As a result, they don’t really have any apparent chemistry and we’re told more than shown how much they care for each other. When it comes to Alina, I was just a little bored by her character as well. She had no distinct personality and no discernable love/connection to Ravka that made the stakes feel high. It sometimes felt like she was going through the motions of being the Chosen One instead of actually being invested in the outcome of the war. She never really confronted her power or the enticement of getting more that would inevitably have led to corruption. And considering this was pretty much the main theme of the book, that was a bit of a let-down. I think that Jessie Mei Lin and the writers of the show did a fabulous job of breathing a little more life into the character. As for the plotting of the third book, it was just a little discombobulated. Bardugo’s actual writing is good, but nothing really happened until about halfway through and the main climax of the book only lasted about four pages. It was a lot of build up for not much pay off. There were so many characters and plotlines that were underused or not utilized at all. Yes, I am talking primarily about David and Genya. Nothing about this book or the series as a whole was bad, and I think that the series has good bones, but Bardugo maybe didn’t have the skill to really wield her talent like she does in SoC and KoS (according to other people, I haven’t read it yet). She’s clearly a great writer and the world that she built in this book is awesome, but I’m definitely anticipating liking Six of Crows a lot more. ![]() Cassidy Serhienko Well it only took 84 years but I finally finished My Policeman and surprise, surprise, I don’t really know how I feel. It’s a great book and very well-written, but I’m so friggin’ pissed. Obviously I knew going in that it wasn’t going to be a happy story, but I was prepared to feel a lot more empathy and compassion for Marion than the unadulterated rage that was the reality of my feelings towards her. She makes a terrible decision obviously, and in the 1999 time frame you can see that she regrets it. But the thing that kept me from feeling sympathy towards her is that it is very hard to believe that she actually loved Tom. She was infatuated with the idea of him that she had created in her head but on the rare occasion that he showed any of his true self to her, she was more angry and annoyed than anything else because he wasn’t behaving in the prescribed way that she wanted him to. Even before she does what she does (keepin’ it spoiler free folks) I didn’t like her. I felt a certain amount of pity, but it’s not like she’s a meek bystander in her relationship with Tom. Patrick, who is also enamored with the idea of Tom, at least gets to see all sides of him and seems to accept and love those too. Because Tom is never quite comfortable with Marion, she doesn’t get that. This isn’t her fault, but it does make it hard to feel anything other than anger towards her for her actions. Nothing would have justified what she did, but I at least would have been able to feel some more compassion for her. Furthermore, she keeps doing terrible things to make herself feel better. She’s hiding the fact that she can’t provide adequate care for Patrick because she wants to keep him around to assuage her own guilt and give her time to write her confession. It’s very hard to come to terms with the fact that this character has willfully made herself and everyone around her miserable for 40+ years. I will say, if anyone could make me feel for Marion it’s probably Emma Corrin. Other than the fact that Marion is the epitome of the worst, I think that it was an interesting choice to limit the story to Patrick and Marion’s perspectives, and then to further limit it to their reflections in letters and diary entries. In the beginning it made it difficult to decide how I felt about Tom. Marion and Patrick were so clearly besotted with him that they aren’t exactly reliable narrators when it comes to him. He makes decisions that hurt both of them, but he doesn’t really have much of a choice - at least not a good one. Having his perspective would have made it easier to understand how he was feeling in these moments and how he was affected, but as much as the narrative is centered around Tom, it’s not really his story. The writing itself was fantastic, especially considering it wasn’t a standard narrative form. While I did enjoy the book, I actually expect to enjoy the film adaptation more since I assume they’re going to make changes/choices that might make me more invested in Marion’s character. Since she is a key storyteller I think that they have to at least make her a more compassionate figure, if not a likeable one. But as much as Marion is a main character with an important story, I’m hoping that they focus more on Patrick, Tom, and their relationship. I wish that the book had done so, and I think that it’s what an audience would be more interested in seeing. And of course Harry Styles is playing the guy that drives these people to such complete distraction and recklessness, OF COURSE. ![]() Once Upon a Time Cassidy Serhienko “I’ve met her twice in my life. This time I was smart enough to fall in love with her” • This week’s #throwbackthursday is Fix Her Up, which I read back in 2019 during one my not infrequent romance novel kicks. I’ve read plenty of Tessa Bailey and a lot of her stories are more focused on the steam then they are on the characters and the story, not that I’m complaining mind you. Fix Her Up does not fall into this category. Fix Her Up is definitely a character-driven story full of heart, fun, and just the right amount of angst. Georgie could have very easily been insufferable - she’s a freaking party clown for God’s sake, and she’s dead-set on changing her little-kid image around town and with her family in an effort to kickstart her life and career. Instead of becoming the annoying heroine trying way too hard to be quirky, Georgie feels like a real person struggling to be understood by those close to her and her reinvention felt empowering instead of belittling. Oftentimes romance novel heroines are needlessly and obnoxiously stubborn in order to prove that they have a backbone. Georgie was confident in herself and her relationship with Travis while still showing vulnerability and sensitivity to Travis and her friends. She was an incredibly likeable, unique character and I loved watching her come into her own. As for Travis, I think he was a really refreshing love interest. Obviously he’s hAwT, but he also manages to ACTUALLY LEARN HOW TO COMMUNICATE. Thank God, a romance novel with a plot other than communication issues. He stands up for Georgie without being condescending, leans on her when he needs to, and he appreciates and respects who she is. The entire book is funny without being flippant, and managed to maintain the light-heartedness characteristic of romance novels while still giving the characters enough to contend with that I was invested in their story. Highly recommend you add this to your summer tbr if you’re like me and devote the season to romance reading! |
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