jkreads's reviews
67 reviews

challenging emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

5⭐️

TW: alcoholism, drug use, self harm, child neglect, paedophilia

Just…wow. This book was beautiful. A searing tale of Black love, pain and success told in beautiful prose brimming with emotion.

Seven Days in June is easily the best second-chance romance I’ve ever read. All of the angst and pain experienced by Eva and Shane had a purpose, none of it was gratuitous or over the top. The journey they went on throughout the book was SO satisfying, and it really felt like I was right there with them, I was so invested.

I’m always nervous going into a book with disability/illness rep because it’s never guaranteed to be done well. That was not the case here. I really loved how descriptive Tia Williams was in talking about Eva’s chronic pain and the impact that this had on every aspect of her life. I also loved that there wasn’t an underlying message of ‘just push through’. Sure, there were times where Eva tried to push through the pain but she knew this would come at a price. So many books that I see being hailed as having great disability rep very much promote the toxic message that ‘if you just push through and accommodate yourself, you can do anything’ when that just isn’t the reality for many disabled people. Eva spoke about parenting from bed or the couch, which I can very much relate to as this is something I’ve had to resort to on days where I’m struggling.

I listened to this on audio and the narration was wonderful, it really helped me connect with the story on a deeper level. I will probably be purchasing a physical copy of this as well though, because it’s definitely going to be one that I reread in the future.

Content Warnings

Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo

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emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have had this book on my TBR forever (honestly I put it on my TBR the second I saw this STUNNING cover) so it felt like a perfect first pick for The Diverse Baseline Challenge. This was my pick for January prompt 2: a book by a Latine author.

This book was unlike any other I’ve ever read. Clap When You Land is a dual narrative novel in verse that follows two sisters, Yahaira and Camino, who discover each other through the death of their father in a plane crash.

The novel follows the sisters through their journey of grieving the loss of their father’s life, as well as the loss of the man they thought they knew. It was a raw and visceral journey through each of the girls’ experiences both in life and in grief. Camino and Yahaira were well-developed, interesting characters and the ensemble characters were intriguing as well.

I listened to this on audiobook and I would HIGHLY recommend consuming this book in this format - it really helps the poetic writing style shine. This was my first Elizabeth Acevedo book and it certainly will not be my last.

Maiden of Artemis by Eloise Bahr

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adventurous challenging tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Maiden of Artemis is a historical fantasy that centres around Otrera, first Queen of the Amazons. Full disclosure, I know basically nothing about Greek mythology. The author did a great job at setting the scene and explaining the context and the characters, however I think to fully immerse yourself in this story it would be helpful to have some background knowledge.

The language used by the author was rich and descriptive especially when depicting landscapes and architecture. I liked the cast of characters for the most part, however I didn’t connect with Otrera as much as I would have liked to given that she was the main character. The pacing was slow to start but definitely picked up towards the end, which was tense and exciting and definitely laid a good foundation for a sequel while still wrapping the story up in a relatively satisfying way.

{ARC review - thankyou to Musadora Publishing and Netgalley for this copy in exchange for my honest review}

Sisters of Sword and Shadow by Laura Bates

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4⭐️

{ARC review - many thanks to @simonschusterau for this copy in exchange for my honest review}

I love me an Arthurian retelling and this one was no different! Laura Bates created an immersive, beautiful world that was easy to get lost in. Sisters of Sword and Shadow is a YA novel and to me it is such a great example of how rich and multidimensional YA novels can be, while still being accessible and fun to read.

My main critique of this novel lies in the pacing - it was quite slow paced especially to begin with. This was partly due to the world-building (a necessary evil) but I think going into this knowing it was YA, I expected the plot to unfold at a quicker pace. It did pick up towards the end, and even during the slower parts the language used by the author was so captivating that I still enjoyed myself.

Also, can we talk about this cover?! I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t at least half the reason I went for this ARC. I love books with strong female characters, and I love that this book tells you straight up using the cover art that that’s what you’ll find here.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a female-focused Arthurian retelling, or anyone who thinks that YA books are flaky and not worth their time - you just need to read the right ones!

Wild Magic by Alexandra Ivy

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

{ARC review - thank you to Kensington Books for the early copy in exchange for my honest review}

Mages and witches and vampires, oh my! This was a fantasy mystery book that I really enjoyed. I haven’t read many fantasy books where the MC is a mage, usually they’re a fae/faerie or a vampire so this was a refreshing change. I really liked the magical mystery that was central to the plot of this book - it was fairly predictable for the most part but it was fun enough to keep my interest despite this.

I’m knocking off half a star because this book contained what is quickly becoming one of my least favourite romance tropes of all time - super old ancient immortal MMC and young FMC. Thankfully the woman in question in this book is 30, rather than a teenager as so often seems to be the case. Honestly, I probably would have let it slide if it wasn’t mentioned SO OFTEN just how old the MMC is. At a certain point it crossed over into ick territory for me.

I wish that the characters were a bit more fleshed out, many of them had potential to be really interesting but I feel like we only really got to know them on a superficial level.

Overall I’d recommend this to anyone looking for an easy-to-read fantasy book with mystery elements.

Content Warnings

One Good Move by Lily Miller

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emotional lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

One Good Move is the first book in the Haven Harbor series from Lily Miller. This book follows Sierra, our FMC, and Grayson, our MMC, as they unexpectedly become neighbours following a one night stand where they both thought they would never see the other again.

This has the following (non-exhaustive) list of tropes:
🩷 Dual POV
🩷 Brother’s best friend/forbidden love
🩷 Small coastal town
🩷 Forced proximity/neighbours to lovers
🩷 He falls first

If you like any of those tropes, you’ll probably love this book! This was an easy read that would make for great beach reading. Unfortunately though, despite having a bunch of tropes I normally enjoy, this one fell a little flat for me.

The characters felt a little one-dimensional to me. I HATED how the two significant men in Sierra’s life (Grayson and her brother, Jake) were both super possessive and acted entitled to her. It was a relief when she had the realisation towards the end that this was an unhealthy dynamic, and it seemed that Jake had the same realisation too. Overall it felt like even though he was only a side character, Jake had the most character development.

I assume Jake’s story will come in a future book, which I will probably check out! Even if only in the hope that there is a cameo from Miss Millie, Sierra and Jake’s grandmother. I wish we’d gotten more of her in this book, she was such a great character!

I loved the coastal setting and overall vibe of this book so although I didn’t love it, I will likely continue the series.

Content Warnings

The Love I Could Have Had by C.J. Connolly

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

The premise of this book was so intriguing to me! I felt like the story had great potential, though I realise I should have tempered my expectations a little given that this is a New Adult romance. As a result, the plot centred around the romance (duh) and didn’t really unpack any of the other elements. I felt it didn’t really deliver on Liv having “a chance to do all the things she never did”, as she never really attempted to do things differently or alter her life course in any significant way.

The main thing I didn’t love about this book was that it switched between first-person POV (in Liv’s chapters) and third-person POV (in Jake’s chapters). This may have been a stylistic choice that was just lost on me, but it felt jarring every time it switched. I sort of thought it may have been leading up to an “and then I woke up” style ending where it turned out Liv had been thinking as Jake which would have explained the POV switch, but THANKFULLY it didn’t end that way, so idk what the POV switching was about 🤷🏻‍♀️

Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth

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dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I picked this one up because I loved the concept of it - a decade on from the defeat of an otherworldly evil known as the Dark One, the five ‘Chosen Ones’ who were selected as children to defeat him are trying to go about their lives. I was initially hooked but somewhere about halfway along it just ran out of steam and almost fully sent me into a slump.

I initially enjoyed the structure of the story - it focused on one of the five Chosen Ones, Sloane, and was written from a third person POV which is my preferred style to read. Interspersed throughout the book were other pieces of media - journal entries from another character, quotes from books, newspaper clippings and government documents from the project to defeat the Dark One. I appreciated what the author was doing here, delivering pieces of the plot from different perspectives, however it just made the whole book feel really disjointed to me. I felt like it interrupted the flow of the narrative and a lot of the quotes and excerpts from other books felt irrelevant to me.

I really feel that had this book been structured differently, perhaps as a dual POV between Sloane and Nero, it would have flowed a little better and I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King by Carissa Broadbent

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Carissa Broadbent has well and truly cemented herself as an auto-buy author for me (well, auto-download because her books are on KU) and this book re-confirmed that. This was the second book in the Nightborn duet and was a dual POV between our two main characters, Oraya and Raihn.

I really enjoyed the time taken to flesh out the relationship between the two main characters, and the dual POV really helped with this. I also loved the further exploration of the world as the characters travelled outside the main city, as well as the lore and history of the world.

I loved the ending of this book - things felt resolved in terms of Raihn and Oraya’s relationship, but not the world as a whole. This is perfect for the way the series is structured, given that it is six books set in the same world but presented as three duologies, focusing on different main characters in each duet. I love this concept as when I read a multi-book fantasy series with good world-building and characters, I often wish I could explore certain parts of the world or storylines of side characters more.

From what I can tell the next duet in this series will feature Mische more prominently, which I can’t wait for as I loved her character!

Indigo Ridge by Devney Perry

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emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

There was something so comforting about reading this book. It was like a combination of the thrillers I used to eat up pre-reading slump (so like, 2018) and the smutty romance books I'm currently loving. Being on holiday while I read it probably contributed to the vibes too. Along with all that, it was a great book!

What it WASN'T, on the other hand, was an enemies to lovers book. I keep seeing people on Booktok describing this as enemies to lovers and I realised once I'd finished it that it even says that in the Kindle store description! These characters were not enemies for a single second. They didn't even really dislike each other at any point! Again, this was a great book, but I think selling it as an enemies to lovers romance is going to leave some people disappointed.

The plot was nothing revolutionary but both the mystery and romance elements were well-executed and I enjoved the main character, Winslow. I was happy with how the story wrapped up and can see myself enjoying the rest of the books in this series.

This was my first Devney Perry book and it won't be my last! I'm looking forward to reading the rest of The Edens series.

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jkreads's reviews 67 reviews

jkreads's reviews
67 reviews