The Mirror of Beasts by. Alexandra Bracken | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Mirror of Beasts (Silver in the Bone, #2)

Author: Alexandra Bracken

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 576

Publication Date: 7/30/24

Publisher: Hachette Children’s Group

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Series, King Arthur, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Hachette Children’s Group for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

With the dream of Avalon in ruins, Tamsin and her friends are all that stands in the way of Lord Death’s plans to unleash the horrors of Anwnn on the world of the living. As the Wild Hunt carves a bloody path across continents, Tamsin is mustering allies, tracking down powerful artifacts, and traversing into new otherlands in search of a way to stop him.

Legend tells of a “Mirror of Beasts,” powerful enough to trap even Lord Death in its accursed glass, but the mirror is not all that it seems. Tamsin must confront her own darkest secrets if she hopes to tap the mirror’s strength to defeat her enemies.

Arthurian legend bleeds into contemporary action, and scars of the past are torn open anew by a starcrossed love that refuses to go quietly. This riveting conclusion to the Silver in the Bone duology will hold you in its thrall until the very last page.

Content Warning: violence, death

This story throws you right in after the events that happened in Silver in the Bone. It is action filled and for the most part moves at a quick pace. There are quests and the found family trope really brings these characters together. I enjoyed everything that was going on between Tamsin and her friends, Tamsin and Emrys, Tamsin and Cabell her brother who has had a hell of a journey being on the opposite sides of things. They all had stuff to work out and they do so with all this chaos going on.

The story about King Arthur and Excalibur being the basis for this adventure is really cool too. I like that there were some surprises I wasn’t expecting. I loved the romance storyline with Tamsin and Emrys, who have a ways to come back to trusting one another again but they work through it eventually!

I do think this book was long but it makes sense since it’s a duology and there were some things to wrap up. I wonder if it would have been better as a trilogy though? Not sure but I was losing some steam to read it at 75% into the book. There might have been too many characters for me to follow, not the main ones but the sorceresses that are new. I also thought Lord Death was a funny name for a villain, but he was not a funny guy at all – I hated that Cabell was working for him.

My Thoughts:

Overall, I was entertained with this conclusion to the duology! I think it’s a great end to the series that centers on found family. The action and quests really move this story along and the romance is resolved for Emrys and Tamsin which I’m happy about. If you liked Silver in the Bone, I think you’ll also enjoy this one!

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Other Books By This Author:

Silver in the Bone by. Alexandra Bracken | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Lore by. Alexandra Bracken | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A Magic Fierce & Bright by. Hemant Nayak | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: A Magic Fierce & Bright

Author: Hemant Nayak

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 7/9/24

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Categories: Young Adult, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Magic, Dystopian

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A young technomancer teams up with a handsome thief to save her sister in this propulsive, magic-filled young adult fantasy that is perfect for fans of Gearbreakers and Iron Widow .

Adya wants nothing more than to be left alone. Content to be loyal to no one but herself in the isolated jungles of South India, she dreams only of finding her lost sister, Priya, and making enough money to take care of their family. It’s too bad that her rare ability to wake electric machines—using the magic that wiped them out five centuries ago—also makes her a coveted political pawn. Everyone seems to believe that her technomancy can help them win the endless war for control over the magic’s supernatural source.

These senseless power struggles mean little to Adya. But when her enemies dangle news of her sister before her, she’s all too quick to leap at the chance to bring Priya home—even if it means teaming up with a rakish, disreputable thief in order to do it. With the threat of invasion looming ever larger on the horizon, Adya must reconcile the kind of person she is with the kind of person she wants to be and untangle the web of intrigue, conspiracy, and deceit that threatens to take all of India down with it.

Content Warning: violence, death

+ The world building in this one is very unique. It’s a mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, in India. There is technomancy which is about magic and machines, which I thought was neat but maybe a better explanation of how this world came to be would have been helpful.

+ Adya is the main character and she’s gifted with technomancy. And she’s really connected to her sentient Yamaha motorbike, it’s like a friend to her which I thought was cool. I’d say she is very brave and loves her family. Her family is gone, except for her brother and maybe a sister, who she hasn’t given up hope on finding. Dsouza is her rival but we learn he’s more than a thief or renegade or whatever dangerous guy he’s portraying. I’d say there is some rivalry flirting going on between them but it’s not a focus at all. I think the two of them were fun together.

+ This story has a lot of action and violence that I wasn’t expecting. I think it made the story move fast. There was mention of Indian mythological creatures like the naga, drongo and yaksha.

~ The reader gets thrown into the story which made it hard to get my bearings at first. I would have liked more history about this world and what happened. I could grasp that Britain was trying to invade India but I don’t know why and at first I thought this was taking place in the past but then realized it was in the future since they had modern things.

~ Would have loved to connect more to the characters.

My Thoughts:

I thought this was an interesting and unique story because of the technomancy and sentient motorbike. Adya is an interesting character who can make machines magical. The Indian mythology added a lot to the story to make it more fascinating. I do feel like I didn’t quite connect to the characters but the story did move fast because it had so much action, sometimes very brutal. I think if you are into India, rebellion, sci-fi, magic and dystopia, this one may interest you.

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Dungeons and Drama by. Kristy Boyce | Book Review

Review: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Dungeons and Drama

Author: Kristy Boyce

Format: paperback (borrowed)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 1/9/24

Categories: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary

When it comes to romance, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to play games. A fun YA romcom full of fake dating hijinks!

Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. Crucial to this plan is to bring back her high school’s spring musical, but when Riley takes her mom’s car without permission, she’s grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad’s game shop.

Riley can’t waste her time working when she has a musical to save, so she convinces Nathan—a nerdy teen employee—to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she’ll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous.

But Riley didn’t realize that meant joining Nathan’s Dungeons & Dragons game…or that role playing would be so fun. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn’t require as much acting as she would’ve thought…

Content Warning:

Riley is a theater kid who loves musicals and for punishment she is forced to work at her dad’s game shop. A boy from her high school who she’s never talked to named, Nathan also works at the store and she goes from a girl singing musicals to learning how to play Dungeons and Dragons with him and his friends. Riley working at the shop is not quite the punishment after awhile as she forges a growing bond with her dad and make a lot of new friends.

This is a fun young adult story, perfect for teen readers. I adored Riley and her best friend, Hoshiko and also Riley’s relationship with her mother. I enjoyed seeing her open her world and learn more about her dad’s love for gaming! I have minimal knowledge of D&D but I know enough from my husband and son about the game and it was cool to see how Riley learns and joins the game.

The fake dating was super cute!

My Final Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this one! I feel like the book cover captures this book so correctly. It’s sweet, funny and heart-warming. It’s filled with theater kids and gaming kids and when the two worlds combine it’s so much fun!

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Six of Sorrow by. Amanda Linsmeier | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Six of Sorrow

Author: Amanda Linsmeier

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 6/25/24

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Categories: Young Adult, Horror, Contemporary, LGBT+, Mystery, Magical Realism

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Delacorte Press for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Sixteen years ago, six girls were born on the same day—and now, on their birthday, one of them is missing. From the author of Starlings comes a story about small-towns, friendships, and the terrifying things your parents don’t tell you, that’s perfect for fans of Yellowjackets.

For most of her life, Isabeau and her five best friends were inseparable—amazingly enough, the six girls even shared a birthday. Then a rift caused their friendships to fracture, and Iz lost everyone except Reuel, the only one who didn’t abandon her.

Until now. The night of their sixteenth birthday, Isabeau leaves Reuel sitting on her front porch and heads home—and in the morning, Reuel is missing. She’s gone for three days, and when she reappears, there’s something wrong with her. She’s sick. Really sick. And she doesn’t remember anything that happened while she was gone.

If there’s any bright side to the situation, it’s that Reuel’s peculiar disappearance brings the six girls back together. Their sisterhood feels as strong as it was years ago, but when another one of them disappears, they all agree that they must have more in common than simply their birthday. They all feel it. Something’s been waiting for them, and that something has come to claim them one by one.

Deep in their bones, they know—it’s just a matter of time until they they’re all taken. And if they don’t save themselves, no one will.

Content Warning: body horror, illness, blood, parental death, underage drinking

This book was giving me The Craft vibes throughout and I love that movie. Obviously, it wasn’t The Craft, because but it had all the vibes – group of high school girls, vows of being best friends, blood vows, things happening to the girls.

Sorrow is a small town, but one with a backstory. There are six girls with the same birthday, if that’s not suspicious, I don’t know what is. Isabeau is one of these girls and there is a feeling these girls once upon a time were close best friends but not anymore, at least not with Isabeau. But something happens on their sixteenth birthday and it’s a race to figure out what is going on with the girls.

There are some heavy issues that are brought up in this book such as lost friendship, family problems, grief, and problematic parent/child bonds. I like how they face their problems eventually though and there is actually a happy ending even though this was a horror story.

Speaking of horror, this is set in a small town with a backstory about a witch named Sorrow. The horror is happening to the girls, where they are disappearing, or going through some illness and bleeding out of their eyes and such.

My Thoughts:

I thought this was pretty entertaining especially with premise of a small creepy town called Sorrow and six girls having the same birthday. What these girls uncover is something dark but the darkness makes way for the light and love of their friendship as they are reunited again. I think that was my favorite part of the book – the friendship. It would have been nice if there was more witchcraft in this book but that’s just for my personal preference!

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Starlings by. Amanda Linsmeier | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Calculation of You and Me by. Serena Kaylor | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Calculation of You and Me

Author: Serena Kaylor

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 6/18/24

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Neurodivergent, Romance

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A calculus nerd enlists her surly classmate’s help to win back her ex-boyfriend, but when sparks start to fly, she realizes there’s no algorithm for falling in love.

Marlowe Thompson understands a lot of things. She understands that calculus isn’t overwhelmingly beautiful to everyone, and that it typically kills the mood when you try to talk Python coding over beer pong. She understands people were surprised when golden boy Josh asked her out and she went from weird, math-obsessed Marlowe to half of their school’s couple goals. Unfortunately, Marlowe was surprised when Josh dumped her because he’d prefer a girlfriend who was more romantic. One with emotional depth.

But Marlowe has never failed anything in her life, and she isn’t about to start now. When she’s paired with Ashton Hayes for an English project, his black clothing and moody eyeliner cause a bit of a systems overload, and the dissonant sounds of his rock band make her brain itch. But when she discovers Ash’s hidden stash of love songs, Marlowe makes a desperate deal to unleash her inner romantic heroine: if Ash will agree to help her write some love letters, she’ll calculate the perfect data analytics formula to make Ash’s band go viral.

As the semester heats up with yearning love notes and late nights spent with a boy who escapes any box her brain tries to put him in, Marlowe starts to question if there’s really a set solution to love. Could a girl who has never met a problem she couldn’t solve have gotten the math so massively wrong?

Content Warning:

Marlowe is neurodivergent, and for someone who struggles with social cues and expressing feelings, she was doing pretty good. She had the most popular boy in school as her boyfriend, and she was part of the “in” crowd. That is…until her boyfriend breaks up with her and her routine for the past two years is upended.

I thought this was such a cute romance. Marlowe is all about numbers and mushrooms, she’s analytical and her ex complained she wasn’t romantic enough. Yes, she had the golden-haired, perfect Southern boy, jock as her boyfriend but then she gets paired up with the dark-haired boy, Ash, who is in a band and has a lip ring. Her world is turned upside down and I loved seeing it happen! I love the opposites attract trope especially between a boy with a bad rep and a smart girl. But the thing is – Marlowe can’t let go of her routine, she wants Josh back and tries to learn to be more romantic to win him back. Marlowe and Ash help each other out but they fall in love with each other in the process.

There are some really great side characters in this story. I love her two best friends who are as unique as she is but I love how they had her back no matter what. Marlowe wanted Josh back, and even if they hated the idea, they tried to help her make it happen. They gave her space to make her mistakes and learn from them without judging her and that was so cool. I also enjoyed learning about Marlowe’s family dynamics too which play a part in how she feels about relationships.

My Thoughts:

This was such a cute, slow burn, teenage romance that has great side characters, a main character who has growth, and even a grand gesture! The romance progression is so good with Ash helping her get Josh back, to Marlowe realizing she didn’t want Josh back at all but Ash instead. I enjoyed this one and I’m looking forward to reading more from this author.

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Fate of the Sun King by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Fate of the Sun King (Artefacts or Ouranos, #3)

Author: Nisha J. Tuli

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 556

Publication Date: 6/4/24

Publisher: Forever

Categories: New Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Series

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Forever for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The highly anticipated third installment of the steamy Artefacts of Ouranos series journeys deeper into the glittering fae world as Lor puts both her life and her heart on the line in this enemies-to-lovers fantasy romance.

With the Heart Crown now in her possession, Lor must navigate the dangers of being an heir on the run, knowing more than one power-hungry ruler is after her blood. When she returns to Aphelion to unlock her magic and recover her family’s legacy, it becomes clearer than ever that all that’s gold doesn’t sparkle. No stranger to battles, she continues to fight her attraction to the Aurora Prince, understanding this might be the one she finally loses.
As the past mixes with the present, Lor uncovers the truth about the Artefacts and their role in shaping her destiny. Now, her future hangs in the balance, leaving her closer than ever to getting everything she’s ever wanted… or losing it all forever.

Content Warning:

So I thought this would be the last book in the series but I am wrong. It’s the third book and there was a lot going on with flashbacks happening from the present to the past and vice versa.

I did like that Lor and Nadir’s slow burn finally picked up steam and they are committed to one another now. Thank goodness because I don’t think I could wait for another book to see if they got together or not.

Maybe I wasn’t in the right mood to be patient and process everything going on but the flashbacks were taking me out of the story. I do think the story did progress, especially at the end. I did like seeing Lor’s siblings more in this story. The world-building is good, I just wasn’t in the mood to dive into it I think or it was too slow for me at some parts. Everything does pick up at the end but then of course, there is a sudden cliff-hanger.

My Thoughts:

I think it’s good to wait for the last book and then you can binge the series.

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Dance of Stars and Ashes by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heart of Night and Fire by. Nisha J. Tuli | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

***

Rule of the Aurora King by. Nisha J. Tuli | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Trial of the Sun Queen by. Nisha J. Tuli | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Check & Mate by. Ali Hazelwood | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Check & Mate

Author: Ali Hazelwood

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 352

Publication Date: 11/7/23

Categories: Young Adult/New Adult , Romance, Contemporary, Chess, LGBT+

In this clever and swoonworthy YA debut from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, life’s moving pieces bring rival chess players together in a match for the heart.

Mallory Greenleaf is done with chess. Every move counts nowadays; after the sport led to the destruction of her family four years earlier, Mallory’s focus is on her mom, her sisters, and the dead-end job that keeps the lights on. That is, until she begrudgingly agrees to play in one last charity tournament and inadvertently wipes the board with notorious “Kingkiller” Nolan Sawyer: current world champion and reigning Bad Boy of chess.

Nolan’s loss to an unknown rook-ie shocks everyone. What’s even more confusing? His desire to cross pawns again. What kind of gambit is Nolan playing? The smart move would be to walk away. Resign. Game over. But Mallory’s victory opens the door to sorely needed cash-prizes and despite everything, she can’t help feeling drawn to the enigmatic strategist….

As she rockets up the ranks, Mallory struggles to keep her family safely separated from the game that wrecked it in the first place. And as her love for the sport she so desperately wanted to hate begins to rekindle, Mallory quickly realizes that the games aren’t only on the board, the spotlight is brighter than she imagined, and the competition can be fierce (-ly attractive. And intelligent…and infuriating…)

Content Warning: grief, dysfunctional family

+ My most favorite thing about this book has to be about the chess world. After watching The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix a few years I found the competitive world of chess so fascinating! Maybe because the lead was a female chess player. But I like that about Check & Mate that the lead is a female chess prodigy because we get to see her experience while playing in a male dominated game. I loved all the scenes about the competitions and training even though I have minimal knowledge of chess myself, I found it really interesting.

+ Mallory is a character who is really going through some stuff. A situation with her late dad has left her blaming herself for the state of her family and she feels totally responsible for taking care of them, but she’s only 18 years old. She may be a chess prodigy but she put chess aside when things went down with her dad – and she’s far behind the competition in ranking. She basically knows nothing about the competitive world of chess.

+ The supporting cast is so also one of my favorite parts of this book, especially Oz. He is so cranky and snarky, but I thought he’s snide remarks were so funny. What a personality. And I like that he called Mallory out on her bs when everything fell apart. Mallory actually had a good support system of friends, family and new colleagues but she wasn’t very good at accepting their help because of this guilt she carried inside her. I also particularly liked the rheumatoid arthritis representation, with Mal’s mom. My best friend has rheumatoid arthritis and I’ve see her go through some major challenges all her life.

+~ I thought the romance between Mallory and Nolan was cute and the rivals to lovers trope was fun and full of tension. But I also wanted more from their relationship, but that’s just personal preference – a little more angst maybe? Or just more scenes with Nolan? Mal did keep running from him in the beginning so it’s mostly in the second half that they get more scenes together which is a shame because I wanted him there from the moment she met him. I do think because of both their personalities and past trauma that maybe they both had some things to work through – mostly for Mal though. I loved when they did finally act of their attraction.

~ I did like Mallory’s devotion to her mom and sisters. But her sisters are a handful and sometimes it got annoying. There is a lot of cultural pop and Gen Z references, but I didn’t mind it.

My Final Thoughts:

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one because of all the chess but I loved it! I just wish there was more Mallory and Nolan time in the book and maybe less of Mal’s sisters, but overall I enjoyed this one a lot!

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Bride by. Ali Hazelwood | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Love Hypothesis by. Ali Hazelwood | Book Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Flawless Girls by. Anna-Marie McLemore | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Flawless Girls

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 304

Publication Date: 5/28/24

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Categories: Young Adult, Finishing School, LGBT+, Mystery, Horror, Thriller

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Feiwel & Friends for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Soler sisters are infamous in polite society—brazen, rebellious, and raised by their fashionable grandmother who couldn’t care less about which fork goes where. But their grandmother also knows the standards that two Latina young ladies will be held to, so she secures them two coveted places at the Alarie House, a prominent finishing school that turns out first ladies, princesses, and socialites.

Younger sister Isla is back home within a day. She refuses to become one of the eerily sweet Alarie girls in their prim white dresses. Older sister Renata stays. When she returns months later, she’s unfailingly pleasant, unnervingly polite, and, Isla discovers, possibly murderous. And the same night she returns home, she vanishes.

As their grandmother uses every connection she has to find Renata, Isla re-enrolls, intent on finding out what happened to her sister. But the Alarie House is as exacting as it is opulent. It won’t give up its secrets easily, and neither will a mysterious, conniving girl who’s either controlling the house, or carrying out its deadly orders.

Tautly written, tense, and evocative, this is a stunning YA novel by award-winning and critically acclaimed author Anna-Marie McLemore.

Content Warning:

I was really intrigued with the first part of the book, Isla and Renata are sisters and sent to a finishing school that is so supposed to help refine a girl into a proper young woman. The author’s note does explain how Isla is intersex and we do get Isla’s thoughts about feeling out of place which is nice since an intersex character is rare in books.

When Isla goes back to find out what happened to her sister, that’s when things go kind of over my head because I’m just here for the mystery/horror/thrill of it all but what we get are…metaphors about jewels. I get what the author is trying to do and it is poetic but I was not in the mood for it. The message in the book is awesome though and strong because it talks about how this finishing school not only taught the girls how to act and be in the public eye, but it was also teaching them how to cause division between the girls also. I kind of loved the scene of the girls being wild at night when they could let loose. The story talks about the expectations of women and how women have to wear several faces.

I totally get the vision but I think it was too much imagery for me.

My Thoughts:

I like the intersex representation and the strong message about society’s expectations about girls and how we have to live. I don’t think there was much horror in the story except for maybe psychological horror. There is a lot of symbolism and imagery with this book and I totally get it but I definitely had to be in the right mood for this one.

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Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: Some Mistakes Were Made

Author: Kristin Dwyer

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 384

Publication Date: 5/10/22

Categories: Young Adult, New Adult, Romance, Second Chance Romance

You can’t always go home again.

Ellis and Easton have been inseparable since childhood. But when a rash decision throws Ellis’s life—and her relationship with Easton— into chaos she’s forced to move halfway across the country, far from everything she’s ever known.

Now Ellis hasn’t spoken to Easton in a year, and maybe it’s better that way; maybe eventually the Easton shaped hole in her heart will heal. But when Easton’s mother invites her home for a celebration, Ellis finds herself tangled up in the web of heartache, betrayal, and anger she left behind… and with the boy she never stopped loving.

Content Warning: drugs, prison, neglectful parents

Having read this after listening to The Tortured Poets Department was such an experience! I didn’t mean for that to happen by the way but that’s what happened. And so many songs were resonating with what was happening in this book and Easton is a tortured poet for sure! What a coincidence right?

Ellis has made it – she graduated from high school in San Diego, a town that isn’t home. Now she is invited back home to Indiana, for a 50th birthday party for the woman who practically raised her and the three boys she was close to when she lived with them. Dixon, and Tucker are like brothers to her but Easton, is something more. There are events that happen in the book leading up to the moment Ellis and Easton are separated which sets off a hard journey for them to get back together.

There is angst, mutual pining, and so many feelings that aren’t communicated between Ellis and Easton. Their love story is so sweet but heart wrenching because she’s the girl from the wrong side of the tracks and Easton is the boy with loving parents and an easy upbringing. They are together, then torn apart, then thank you for the happy-ending, brought back together. I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen though, it got frustrating, but eventually they broke through to one another. A lot of things had to happen, like Ellis really facing her demons and Easton being patient through it all and telling her how he feels. I was sort of rooting for them, but also rooting for them not to be a toxic kind of love.

I loved how Sandry (Easton’s mom) took Ellis in. I love how Tucker became her best friend. But I also love that people in her dysfunctional family loved her too and showed it, like Tenny, her cousin and her grandma. This story showed that families are complicated but there can be love there too. I appreciated the layers of this story.

My Final Thoughts:

I loved this book and I think this author is becoming a must-read author for me. I can’t wait to read more of her books!

Quotes From the Book:

“I’m so sick of waiting to be saved or waiting for find myself because I’m too afraid the person I find will disappoint someone else.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

“I stand here and feel other. Not quite one of them, but not quite something else. It’s how I feel everywhere.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

“Because all the people who love me don’t want to keep me, but I can’t stop feeling like I need to please them.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

“I forgot about this. People who can laugh at shitty things. People who don’t think the sky is falling when something small goes wrong. They call it perspective. Or being jaded. Or worse, a grateful attitude. Really, it’s just survival. A word I hate as much as I own.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

“We keep having the same argument with words that circle the same hurt over and over again.”
Some Mistakes Were Made by. Kristin Dwyer

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The Atlas of Us by. Kristin Dwyer | ARC Review ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

The Dangerous Ones by. Lauren Blackwood | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: The Dangerous Ones

Author: Lauren Blackwood

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 5/14/24

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Young Adult, Historical Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Civil War, Vampires

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

A romantic historical fantasy from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Blackwood, set in the American Civil War with vampires and people with demigod-like abilities.

1863, Pennsylvania

War doesn’t scare Jerusalem—she’s a Saint. Thanks to powerful demigod-style reflexes, endurance, and strength, she’s fearless. And ever since the Confederates declared civil war, partnering with the vampires who benefitted off slavery, she and her battalion of Saints are essential to the Union army.

Jerusalem herself had been enslaved by a vampire, escaping North only after her family was murdered. She knows the enemy better, hates the enemy more than anyone in her battalion, and has been using it to her advantage since she joined the war a year ago. More than anything she wants revenge, but if she can help Black people gain freedom and equality without having to steal it for themselves like she had to, then all the better.

But she never expects to have to team up with a vampire to do it. Alexei is one of those handsome, arrogant Ancient Vampires. But he’s on the Union’s side, and in the year they’ve known each other, has never done anything but prove he’s on hers.

Together, they set out to change the course of the war and take down the vampire who destroyed everyone Jerusalem loved. But for her, it’s about more than justice.

It’s about killing a god.

Content Warning: violence, slavery, mentions of rape, war, death

This author always has unique, interesting concepts to her stories, which is why I requested her newest book on NetGalley. America’s Civil War and vampires? I needed to see how this story would play out.

I love the concept. Jerusalem, is a Black girl who is a Saint, which are people with supernatural powers. She’s fearless, which was cool to see. In their unit is Alexei, who is a centuries old vampire – but of course he’s in an 18 year old body. A Russian, white boy, vampire body. He is so enamored with Jerusalem who is always arguing with him – he likes that about her though, that she’s fiesty. They fight for the union army against the confederate soldiers coming up from the South but they go on a secret mission that takes a turn for the worse.

Both Jerusalem and Alexei have interesting back stories. Jerusalem’s story is filled with struggle and fear as she flees to the North to be a free woman. Alexei’s story about being turned into a vampire is sad too as he loses people he love and also becomes a slave to his maker. I liked all the historical elements about the civil war, and the horrible things Black went through as slaves. I even think the paranormal aspects of vampires, werewolves and Saints fit so well in this time period.

As far as the enemies to lovers situation going with Jerusalem and Alexei, I wasn’t sure I was into it. It’s obvious he loved being around her and fighting with her from the beginning of the book. But for Jerusalem, it took her awhile to actually explore her feelings about him – I felt like it was forced a bit. They both had some baggage about their troubled pasts so I kind of wish their romance took a back seat.

I would have loved to learn more about the Saints because I thought that was interesting! I did love Jerusalem’s relationship with Odessa, who tried to keep her in line – especially when she was bickering with Alexei. Something I did struggle with at times was the speech. Jerusalem speech most times sounded so modern, and in a weird way made me think she and Alexei just didn’t mesh well because she was clearly young, while he was a very, very old guy in a young body!

My Thoughts:

I like the uniqueness of this story and I was invested in it until the modern speech started to bother me, and the thought of Alexei being thousands of years old and Jerusalem just 18 started to make me feel uncomfortable. And usually I don’t care if vampires who look 18 are with other 18 year olds but I think the speech differences between them just threw me off on the whole thing. I think if the romance wasn’t so in the forefront, I would have enjoyed it more because I liked the historical aspects and the action and fighting between the Saints and the enemies. Overall, it was an okay read.