Category: Reviews

Reviews

Watch Over Me Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Watch Over Me Review

Watch Over Me is about a girl named Mila who has just aged out of the foster care system. She has been offered a job on a remote farm tutoring young foster kids who live there.  She loves it there but is haunted by the past traumas that threaten to overwhelm her life.

 This is not what I was expecting at all. I thought this was going to be a young adult thriller/horror novel where kids keep disappearing or found murdered on this farm, but really it was a contemporary with a speculative twist.

I think this book was structured perfectly. From the present timeline where Mila is being introduced to life on the farm and finding her place within this already established family. To the flashbacks of Mila’s time with her mother and Blake giving us much needed context and displaying how these events still have an affect on Mila all these years later.

The ghosts added the perfect touch of edginess to this otherwise quite rudimentary storyline. Had they not been there and having the mystery surrounding why they are haunting this farm I think I would of otherwise been a little bored with this book.

Mila is an endearing character. I found the relationship she developed with Lee to be touching and I feel she may have using him as a surrogate for her younger self and how she wished she would have been treated by her mother. We are only given a glimpse of what she had to endure in her past and we definitely see how some of the decision she made back then have just compounded on her conscious and are brought to the forefront for her to deal with.

This was a touching story about guilt and remorse and how someone who has been dealt a tough life is still able to move on and gain a family and a place to feel welcome and comforted.

⭐️3/5 stars haunting, poignant & moving

Reviews, Updates

The Damned Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on The Damned Review

Following the events of The Beautiful, Sébastien Saint Germain is now cursed and forever changed. The treaty between the Fallen and the Brotherhood has been broken, and war between the immortals seems imminent. The price of loving Celine was costly. But Celine has also paid a high price for loving Bastien, loosing her memory of him completely.

I liked that we got a more in depth look at the supernatural beings in this book. We learnt all about the Court of Lions and how they all came together and formed this family under Nicodemus’s charge. We are definitely given a lot of context and background around the war between the vampires and werewolves and how they all came to be in the mortal realm in the first place after being banished 400 years ago, which was what I was missing from the first book.

I was highly invested in Bastien’s character throughout the course of this book and I found he really took over most of the plot. I was a lot more interested in his point of view as opposed to all the others. It was entertaining seeing the shift from his human self and what he thought he wanted from his life to now being one of the Fallen wanting to be better and fix his flaws. Going on the quest to try to be unmade so he can reunite with Celine was adorable and commendable.

Celine again is not a favourite character of mine. I liked her more in this book than The Beautiful for sure, yet she is still a tad bland for me. There is nothing about her that captures my attention and she isn’t really differentiated from any other main female protagonist out there in the literary world. I appreciate her need to find the truth and I was surprised by the reveal of who her mother really is. I liked the call back at the end to her life back in France and what she was running from in the first place. I definitely think she owed Michael and explanation and she should of probably told him the truth from the start about her feelings for Bastien instead of just disappearing with him for weeks.

There were times when I thought the plot rushed through a lot of important events that could of been explored and explained a lot more. The first half of the book was a lot slower paced with not a lot happening and then it feels what should of been two thirds of the book condensed into the last 150 pages or so.

⭐️3/5 stars I’m left with a lot more questions than answers

Reviews

Night Film Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Night Film Review

Ashley Cordova is the daughter of a famous film director Stanislas Cordova who commits suicide and an investigative reporter named Scott McGrath who tried to expose Stanislas in the past is on the hunt to find out the truth as to why she did it.

This was definitely not what I was expecting for sure. For some reason I thought this book was about a reporter who witnessed a crime so this was highly unexpected for me. I had never really looked into the blurb or found out what this book was actually about so it was kind of nice just going in blind.

Scott was an interesting character for sure. I was immediately invested in his storyline and wanted to know more about him and how he came to be in this situation. He has no qualms with bribing or trespassing in order to get the information he needs which kept me entertained throughout the course of the book.

I didn’t really know what to think of Ruth and Hopper. I knew Hopper had to be closer to Ashley than what he originally admitted to being because why else would she single him out? And Ruth I just thought was on Cordova’s side and we would see her sabotage Scott as one of the twists. But alas, that did not occur. I didn’t really see the point of her character and I was never attached to her in any way.

Ashley and the rest of the Cordova family were intriguing. I liked going on this journey with Scott and figuring out her movements before her death and how her father ties back into it all. The whole demonic aspect pulled me out of the story a bit because I wasn’t expecting. I didn’t think this story would have any kind of supernatural element but I was into it as the story progressed.

The pacing and the build up of anticipation kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading. I loved the mixed media format of the book as well, it was a nice break from everything that was going on and added a lot of context to the plot. It was thrilling and action packed and full of weird, kooky characters that surprised me at every turn!

⭐️3/5 This low key spooked me!

Reviews, Updates

Blood Heir Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Blood Heir Review

Anastacya Mikhailov is the crown princess of the Cyrilian Empire and is one of the Affinities; gifted with abilities to control the world around them which are deemed unnatural and dangerous in their society. Ana’s affinity is one of the deadliest and most abhorred the ability to control blood.

Ana is one of those female protagonists that acts without thinking and lets her emotions get the better of her, which really annoys me. If she would have just stopped and thought about the consequences of her actions there wouldn’t have been as many obstacles for her to manoeuvre around in order to find who she was looking for. She has definitely had a lot of trials in her life but she has also a bit unrelatable because up until a year ago she was a princess. I did appreciate how she became aware of everything that is going wrong in the empire and how affinities are being treated and forced into slavery.

I really enjoyed Ramson’s character. I liked that we actually got a lot of his background and how he came to be in Cyrilia. There is a reason behind why he has made some of the choices in his life and we see the repercussions of his decisions continue to affect him now. It was obvious to me that he would end up with feelings for Ana but it was gradual and made sense in the context of the story.

I was invested in these characters right away and wanted to find out what was going to happen next. The pace was just a little up and down and pulled me out of the story a little bit. I appreciated the world building that was included as well, how descriptive the prose was really immersed me into the story line.

I found the plot to be predictable yet still entertaining. I think the spin on the original tale was quite refreshing in this fantastical setting. It was a solid start to a new series and I am left wanting to know more which is always a good sign. I feel there is definitely room for this tale to expand and become even more compelling!

⭐️4/5 stars Pretty much what I was expecting!!

Reviews

He Started It Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on He Started It Review

*MILD SPOILERS BELOW*

He started It is about these three siblings whose grandfather has just passed away and in order to receive the inheritance he left for them they need to embark on the road trip they once took when they were all kids.

I liked the premise of the story, I thought it was super original and unlike anything I have ever read before. The build up of anticipation was very well done and the little twists that take place definitely kept me engaged and wanting to read more. I didn’t really know what to expect going into this book but I thought it would be a lot more intense than what it actually was.

Beth I was thinking was going to be a bit of an unreliable narrator, I truly thought at times she was a little bit crazy and as the storyline continued I definitely think she had some mental health issues that she clearly needed to work through. The way she was so obsessed with her sister came across as strange to me. But I guess if I were in her situation I may of ended up in the same boat, especially given the circumstances surrounding her disappearance.

The other two siblings I didn’t really form any kind of attachment to. I was definitely intrigued by them and wanted to find out the parts they played in the road trip and why they were all so hesitant in discussing what happened. They all had secrets they were clearly keeping from each other and Beth never really seemed to notice anything that was happening around her in regards to them in particular.

I would of liked to get more of an insight to their grandfather and his mindset throughout the course of the first road trip as well. As the book progressed we do get of sense of the kind of person he was but to get maybe one of two chapters from his perspective right at the end explaining the whys and how’s might of made me more satisfied.

I think overall this was a solid psychological thrilleresque book. I was 100% invested from the start and wanted to figure out what was happening and I definitely didn’t predict any of the twists and turns. I just thought the ending could of been a little stronger! We got so many interesting, weird things happening throughout and the explanation and reasons behind the whole thing was mundane and boring. Shocking, but boring nevertheless.

⭐️3/5 stars Immersive but in the end fell a bit flat!