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Reviews

Slewfoot Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on Slewfoot Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

A spirited young Englishwoman, Abitha, arrives at a Puritan colony betrothed to a stranger – only to become quickly widowed when her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. All alone in this pious and patriarchal society, Abitha fights for what little freedom she can grasp onto, while trying to stay true to herself and her past.

I just absolutely loved Abitha’s character. She’s really had to already overcome so much in her life living with an abusive father after her mother died and then being sold and shipped off to a new country to marry a man she’s never met and still trying to make the best of her situation. I liked Edward as well, he really did take Abitha’s word into consideration despite growing up in this kind of society. I felt like he was more progressive thinking and would of came around had he not died. Abitha was just trying to be independent and free of all of these rules that are placed upon her by the church and all these men.

Samson’s storyline was a tad confusing to be honest. I wasn’t as interested in finding out who he really was, it was kind of obvious he was some kind of god of the wilderness so it wasn’t a huge surprise when he did get his memories back. It was a little chaotic and hard to envision exactly what was happening around him and what was real and what wasn’t. I thought his friendship with Abitha was quite pure and almost innocent in a way. All he wanted was to help her and in turn try and find out who he was.

Puritanical society is so frustrating to read from. Having all these men in charge spouting rubbish and creating their own rules and saying it’s God’s will just makes me angry. I would never of been able to survive in this kind of world and I can fully relate to Abitha and her quest for freedom from this oppressive way of life. I think that version of society is the real horror in this book and everything that Abitha done for revenge was justified. They treated her and Sarah horrifically and when she became the witch they wanted her to be it was satisfying to see her give those men their dues.

⭐️4/5 stars horrifying, gory and such great read!

Reviews

Gods & Monsters Review

by amyleighreads2 Comments on Gods & Monsters Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

After a heart breaking loss, Lou, Reid, Beau, and Coco are bent on vengeance more than ever before—and none more so than Lou. But this is no longer the Lou they thought they knew. No longer the Lou that captured a chasseur’s heart. A darkness has settled over her, and this time it will take more than love to drive it out.

This is a little hard to review as I didn’t leave this book with any lasting impressions, which I think in and of itself is quite telling. This was the finale in the series and for the majority of the book I was quite bored. One thing I think that made the book drag a little was the reoccurring theme of Lou and Reid being forced apart by one thing or another. First it was Lou being inhabited by Nicholina and then Reid losing his memories almost straight after it never gave us a chance to just enjoy the two of them for a little while before something else happened to keep them apart and their relationship was one of the things that I liked most from this series.

Reid losing his memories and reverting back to his old chasseur mindset really got on my nerves. I understand it was a way to acknowledge just how much he and Lou are meant to be even if he knew she was a witch before they got married. But I just feel like it was unnecessary to revisit this when this was the main obstacle between them in the first book.

There was also too many side quests that they had to go on before the inevitable stand off with Morgane. They had to expel Nicholina then go back to the chateau to steal a necklace, we’ve already travelled all over this world in the second book I wasn’t really all that interested in the continuous journey they were on. I would of appreciated learning more about the different gods and digging more into the history of the witches.

⭐️2/5 stars Way to long and tedious

Reviews

So Happy For You Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on So Happy For You Review

Robin and Ellie have been best friends since childhood. When Robin came out, Ellie was there for her. When Ellie’s father died, Robin had her back. But when Ellie asks Robin to be her maid of honor, she is reluctant. A queer academic, Robin is dubious of the elaborate wedding rituals now sweeping the nation, which go far beyond champagne toasts and a bouquet toss. But loyalty wins out, and Robin accepts. Yet, as the wedding weekend approaches, a series of ominous occurrences lead Robin to second-guess her decision. It seems that everyone in the bridal party is out to get her. Perhaps even Ellie herself. 

Robin wasn’t particularly a likeable character, but she is definitely relatable! I liked the fact that we are given quiet an in depth look into her childhood and how it has effected her life as an adult. In particular the rift between her and her sister really impacted her mental health hard. I can definitely see how rejected and hurt she must of felt but I think she shut her out before they could sit down and maybe hash everything out.

Ellie I thought was strange from our first encounter with her. Then as we learn more about her background and friendship with Robin I couldn’t help thinking she was a bit of a toxic person. She was always so defensive when Robin would call her out and you could tell she didn’t really have a feel for who she was since we would just mimic whoever she moved on to. It was pretty obvious from the start that she was trying to kill Robin but her reasonings just didn’t feel like enough to warrant such a drastic decision.

I liked the representation and the commentary surrounding marriage and how societal expectations could literally make women crazy. As a 30 year old single woman I could definitely relate to Ellie about the pressure that is put on women to find the one and get married. I think this was a very entertaining and scarily realistic depiction of a possible future for all of us.

⭐️3/5 The fact this could happen irl is horrifying lol

Reviews

Book of Night Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Book of Night Review

*100% SPOILERS*

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie as our main protagonist was definitely the reason this book was a four star as opposed to just a three. I liked the fact that we get a thorough background and we learn a lot about her motivations and why she has made certain decisions over the years. I loved her kind of snarky attitude and the way she doesn’t back down when put in a tight spot but still will feel real emotions like panic and desperation.

Vince I knew was going to be more integral to the story than what he seemed at the start. Charlie focuses on him a lot even though he is her boyfriend I just feel like he kept popping in more than usual. She always described him as quite stoic and how he didn’t talk when he didn’t need to so when we find out that he’s actually Edmund I was like oh he really changed. But then when the actual twist comes about at the end I did not see it coming at all! I for sure thought Red was behind the murders and didn’t really think any more than that so I was surprised for sure.

The other characters in the book helped move the plot along for sure but they weren’t very nuanced other than that. Odette and Balthazar I feel have so much potential as characters but we didn’t get to explore them as much as I wanted. Posey even I didn’t form a connection with her at all. Hopefully we learn more about each of them in the next book and they service more of a purpose.

In terms of the magic system and how the shadows work I’m still not quite sure I wrapped my head around it. They way it was all explained was a little info dumpy and confusing. We didn’t really get into much about how the shadows can alter feelings and memories and what it even means to be a gloam. Even the system with the Cabal wasn’t explored enough for me either, I feel like it wasn’t even mentioned until well over the half way mark of the book.

What really carried the story for me was the relationship between Charlie and Vince. I think the way it was portrayed and evolved as the story progressed was very relatable. Feeling comfortable in the start and then finding out they each have secrets and having those doubts creep in and then breaking up but they still love each other. Ugh, it was great! I would of even liked a few more smuttier scenes (plenty of blood and gore so why not more smut?)

⭐️4/5 I was left wanting to know more!

Reviews

The House Across the Lake Review

by amyleighreadsLeave a Comment on The House Across the Lake Review

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

Casey Fletcher, a recently widowed actress trying to escape a streak of bad press, has retreated to the peace and quiet of her family’s lake house in Vermont. Armed with a pair of binoculars and several bottles of liquor, she passes the time watching Tom and Katherine Royce, the glamorous couple who live in the house across the lake. They make for good viewing—a tech innovator, Tom is rich; and a former model, Katherine is gorgeous.

Casey was a little frustrating as a character. I had a feeling she wasn’t telling the whole story in regards to what happened with her husband so in the end when that twist was revealed I wasn’t that shocked. I was just overall confused as to why she was so adamant in finding out what happened to Katherine. She had only just met this woman and had maybe two interactions with her before her disappearance and she is just soo invested in figuring out this mystery.

Boone I was wary of at the start, I usually always mistrust all the characters in mystery/thriller book but Boone seemed a little too good to be true which is kind of an obvious sign that he’s a red herring. I liked the fact that he has his own secrets and we get to learn quite a bit about character and how he ended up at Lake Green. I would of liked a few more interactions and nights of surveillance between him and Casey to build up a little more of a rapport.

Tom and Katherine honestly were kind of bland. We don’t have enough context about them, their relationship and their mannerisms before that night Katherine disappeared. We weren’t shown any of the conflicts between them we sort of just have to take Katherine’s word and believe a drunk Casey that she’s seeing what she thinks she’s seeing. They just weren’t interesting enough for this whole book to be centered around them.

There were some pretty interesting twists and turns throughout the majority of this book, I was surprised a few times and I liked the format of the book with the dual timelines. I just think the supernatural element came out of nowhere and was a bit of a cop out. There was nothing in the book before then that indicated that there was any otherworldly phenomenon happening to it was hard for me to take it seriously, I was kind of just like wtf…

⭐️2/5 stars a little too unbelievable