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Reviews

Mooncakes Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Mooncakes Review

44774415Diverse, wholesome and pure!

Mooncakes follows the story of Nova and Tam. Nova is a witch and Tam is a werewolf who used to be best friends until Tam moved away years ago. Now that Tam has returned in pursuit of a horse demon that is plaguing the forest near their town, maybe their latent romantic feelings for each other will resurface?

I loved Nova’s character. She undergoes quite the arc over the course of the storyline in a pretty short amount of time. She starts off very self assured and happy with herself, then thinking she might not be good enough, to accepting that maybe things do need to change in order to grow as a person. I love all of her witchy confidence and the fact that she isn’t afraid to ask her grandmother’s for help if she needs. She hasn’t gotten to that overconfident stage where she doesn’t need/want any assistance from others.

I thought Tam was a perfect contrast to Nova. Still a little unsure and unconfident in their werewolf abilities and even I would say a little ashamed. Not that they aren’t proud of being a werewolf but the fact that they haven’t mastered their powers quite to the same extent that Nova has. Though I love the fact that they don’t give up and actively tries to better themselves not for their own sake but because they want to keep those they love safe.

I thought the artwork was absolutely beautiful and at times really made an impact. In particular the way Nova’s parents were portrayed. Their addition alone into the plot was a twist that I did not see coming and I was delighted with how they were incorporated almost naturally with their artwork. All of the illustrations were really unique and different and I felt they captured the essence all of the characters perfectly!

The story as a whole I thought was highly entertaining. You definitely have the action packed, super magically charged side to the story, but there was also a calming, inclusive, family filled subplot that I feel will definitely appeal to a wide range of readers.

I would say though I just wish it was a tad longer, 50-100 or so more pages to really prolong the story and add just a little more depth and suspense and simply because I want more!

⭐️4.5/5 stars This warmed my heart!

Reviews

Geekerella Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on Geekerella Review

81E7BnpXpZLThis was cute!

This is a Cinderella retelling but with a bit of a twist. We follow the story of Elle who lives with her step-mother Catherine and her twin daughters Cat and Chloe. Elle works on a food truck and is a hard-core fan girl for a classic sci-fi show called Starfield that she grew up watching with her father, that is about to be readapted into a new blockbuster movie! Darien has just cast as the lead character in the new Starfield and has to judge a cosplay contest at the ExcelsiCon that Elle has decided to enter.

Darien I actually quite liked that he wasn’t just a typical young Hollywood actor. He also had a lot of issues in his life and obstacles that he had to deal with on his rise to fame. I liked that we delved at lot deeper into his past and how everything unfolded with Brian. Having his timeline run concurrently with Elle and seeing how the texts connected them was super cute and really had me invested in the plot.

For the majority of the book Elle just got on my nerves. Letting Catherine and Chloe walk all over her and just bowing down to them and not doing anything about it. Just accepting all of the horrible things they do to her and not trying to fight back at all. I honestly can’t stand female main protagonists that have no backbone. I realise she has had to live and cope with them for years and this is her way of dealing with all of the manipulation, but I needed her to be stronger and fully snap back at them and take charge. Sage was the one who stole the dress back from Chloe; Darien was the one who stood up to Chloe at the ball. Elle had maybe one scene where she opened up to Catherine, but she cried through most of it and it wasn’t really enough. There wasn’t really any conclusion to that part of her life, she kind of just ran away from them.

Other than that I really enjoyed the rest of the book. The pacing was quick and the overall premise I thought was a unique take on the classic Cinderella tale. Sure it was a little tropey at times but it was entertaining and fun and exactly what I needed in the middle of this read-a-thon!

⭐️3/5 Quick, fun, cute read, I was just left a little unfulfilled!

Reviews

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet Review

51BhQZOH9zLGood not great!

This book follows a ragtag mixed species crew aboard a tunneling ship called the Wayfarer. They are given a contract to travel to a faraway planet that’s been recently added to the international treaty list and punch a wormhole back to more well-traveled airspace.

The characters were definitely interesting and intriguing. I loved all of the different species that are explored throughout the book, especially when it goes into details about their history and culture, seeing how different they are to humans.

Rosemary’s character was a little boring at the start. She kind of blended in behind all of the other dynamic characters aboard the Wayfarer. I wasn’t all that invested in her and I wasn’t really compelled to figure out what she was running from back on Mars. And when it was eventually brought to light, it wasn’t all that shocking to be honest.

I loved the relationship between Kizzy and Jenks! The banter between them and all of the kind of manic energy they brought to the storyline. Jenks’s subplot was highly interesting to me; him being in love with Lovey and then contemplating getting her a body and then when everything happens seeing him grieve and lean on his fellow crew mates and how they supported him throughout. It was very touching and really displayed the levels of companionship, love and respect they all have towards each other!

Unfortunately a good majority of the book bored me. All of the spacial/sciency talk didn’t do anything for me personally and kind stilted the pace of the book. It was only 400 pages but it felt like closer to 600 to me. I picked this book up and put it down several times during the month and really the only reason I managed to finish it was because it fit a challenge in the Reading Rush. There wasn’t really anything in the book that was driving me to pick it up and finish.

This was definitely more of a character driven story whereas I prefer a more blend of action and adventure with character development throughout.

⭐️3/5 stars I spaced out for most of the book…

Reviews

Birthday Review

by amyleighreads3 Comments on Birthday Review

39863399Perfection!

Birthday is a story about two kids Morgan and Eric who are born on the same day and have made a pact with each other to spend every birthday together.

Eric and Morgan are both such complex characters. They are both very different from each other and have their own unique voice and it seems at times they might drift apart yet they work so hard to maintain their friendship in spite of the many obstacles that they have had to overcome.

Morgan’s journey throughout the storyline was everything! All of the anguish and denial and self-hatred and depression she had to deal with over the years culminating in an explosive scene that broke me only to claw her way out and finally express who she truly is to the two people who matter most in her life was beautiful. I loved everything about Morgan. There were times when I wanted to give her a hug and then there were times I was like what are you doing. Though I can’t fault any of those moments because it was her journey that she had to undertake and I definitely would not be able to relate so how would I know how I would react in the same situation you know…

I thought Eric was the perfect contrast to Morgan. His arc over the course of the book was a joy to read as well. We see him really struggle with the pressures that are put on him constantly, be it by his father or just the expectations of his peers, being the football star yet still being friends with Morgan. We see him kind of bow to these expectations a lot in the beginning of the story, wanting to just fit in and seem normal, giving up his guitar playing and blowing Morgan off to hang with the jocks and staying with his girlfriend even though he thinks she only likes him because of his pursuits on the field. Then in the latter years he really starts to see the error of this ways, especially when he sees how much Morgan is struggling.

I loved the unique format of the book; it really drew me in straight away. Just showcasing this one day a year allowed the story to really go into the minute details of Morgan and Eric’s life that I feel would be written out if it was a traditional novel. Going through their days and then when it ends knowing that there will be a whole year in the interim where so much can happen was keeping me highly invested and engaged in the story.

There are sooooooo many touching scenes in this book. So many profound moments that brought a tear to my eye, I absolutely loved this book! It was relatively short and was a pretty quick read, but I know it’s going to last with me for a very long time!

⭐️5/5 READ THIS BOOK!

Reviews

From Lukov with Love Review

by amyleighreads1 Comment on From Lukov with Love Review

38326753._SY475_This was a totally spur of the moment pick up for me. I’ve still been feeling a little funky in terms of my reading so I’ve been picking up a lot of romance to try to remedy that because its just so easy and entertaining to read. So when I saw a few different reviews for this book pop up in some recent booktube videos I decided to give it a go and actually loved it!

We follow the story of Jasmine who is a hardcore figure skater who was recently dumped by her skating partner. She hasn’t been able to find a new partner since so she is unable to compete. She has been training at the same complex as Ivan Lukov who is the reigning national champion, a 2 time gold medalist and is known as being the best figure skater in the world at the moment. Jasmine and Ivan cannot stand each other and since Ivan’s partner has bowed out for the season Jasmine is the only one good enough to step up.

The hate to love trope is my absolute favourite in romance novels and this book did so well in building up the sexual tension throughout the course of the storyline. The chemistry between these two from the start was palpable and I loved that it delved a lot more deeper into their backgrounds than what I was anticipating.

Jasmine’s candour really pulled me into the book. There’s just something about characters swearing in books that really endears me to them (lol). I just feel like that’s exactly how I would react in the same situation. As someone who swears a lot it make the book feel more realistic to me, which made me appreciate the story even more. I liked the fact that she is really trying to balance her life and not just have it be all about skating. The gradual arc of her character was very well done and she really had to overcome a lot of situations before she could really accept herself. I especially liked that she noticed how she has treated her family in the past and has tried to rectify the situation by being more involved and aware of everyone and their feelings.

Ivan at the start I thought was a little too good to be true being handsome, rich and the best figure skater in the world. I think his cocky attitude mixed with all the hard work we see him put in to being the best helped to ease my concerns about him as a character. Once we started to learn more about him and penetrate that guard he always has up and see some of the more emotional scenes he has with Jasmine and he finally shows how much he cares about her is when I started to fall under his spell! OMG after he made that speech to Jasmine’s father I was sold!

I highly enjoyed my read of this book. I think I picked it up at exactly the right time and I think it definitely helped me get around this slumpy feeling I’ve been having! I was totally surprised by how much I enjoyed this book and it just left me with some happy feels!

⭐️5/5 stars Caught me by surprise and made me shed a tear!