Audio ARC Review: Every Exquisite Thing by Laura Steven

 

A YA horror-thriller-romance retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Our Infinite Fates, featuring a never-before-heard bonus chapter!

Penny Paxton is the daughter of an icon. Her supermodel mother has legions of adoring fans around the world, and Penny is ready to begin her journey to international adoration, starting with joining the elite Dorian Drama School. When Penny’s new mentor offers her an opportunity she cannot refuse, to have a portrait painted by a mysterious artist who can grant immortal beauty to all his subjects, Penny happily follows in the footsteps of Dorian’s most glittering alumni, knowing that stardom is sure to soon be hers. But when her trusted mentor is found murdered, Penny realises she’s made a terrible mistake – a sinister someone is using the uncanny portraits to kill off the subjects one by one. As more perfectly beautiful students start to fall, Penny knows her time is running out . . . A seductive and searing exploration of beauty, identity, and what the pursuit of perfection can truly cost.

A Macmillan Audio production from Wednesday Books

Title: Every Exquisite Thing

Author: Laura Steven

Publisher: Macmillan Audio/Wednesday Books

Expected Publication Date: May 26, 2025

Review

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with an audio version of this title to listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is my second book by this author and I think it solidifies that I'm just not a fan of her writing. It's possible the audio may have added to this. I liked the narrator, Felicity Bown, enough. She sounded familiar to me but when I tried to find other books she narrated that I may have listened to, I could not find any. She was rather flat throughout the story. I just didn't feel the character's emotions at all and it made it very hard to connect with the character. I need someone who was more engaging and she was not it.

I love a good reimagining as much as the next person. And The Picture of Dorian Gray was a great choice. I love this story and my expectations for it being redone were high. This book did have those elements for sure. Steven did fairly well incorporating those things and allowing me to see the connection. However it lacked any depth. Dorian Gray explores elements of beauty, self-destruction, societal pressures, and corruption. This book glosses over those things at most.

Penny was nothing special for me as a character. She's deeply flawed and I did feel that part immensely. But I really didn't connect with her at all. She didn't have anything particularly interesting happening throughout the book. Even by 50% through I just did not care what happened to her or why it was happening. Her relationships with friends and family didn't lend much to the story either. I honestly didn't really know any of them well enough to see how they would contribute to the importance of her story. They felt flat and uninteresting and were barely developed.

Dark academia is one of my favorite genres. When I see it in a blurb, I'm almost guaranteed to give the story a try. This one definitely fit that narrative. It's one of the reasons I chose to request it. The world building is there but not expansive at all. Steven introduces some supernatural elements (not surprising considering the story's reimagined origin) but I needed to understand it more. I needed to see where it came from earlier on in the story but Steven was more concerned with the mystery happening than providing this background. How did the magical elements introduced come about? Besides Dorian, are there other places this exists? There is also a rivalry with Penny and her classmate Devina that gave the story some interest but overall I didn't really feel their push and pull. We are just told about it being there rather than it truly being shown to build the story.

This is also listed as a murder mystery thriller with horror and romantic elements. While I see the author tried to include those elements through the eyes of the underlying story line, I didn't really find anything horrific about the plot or what happened to the characters. It's definitely more of a mystery than anything else. I didn't even feel the thriller part of the story. Nothing had me gripping my seat or set my heart racing. As for the romance, meh. There is no chemistry with the characters and it just didn't seem like it was important to even include it in the story. The story tried to be too many things at once for me rather than focusing on the more important elements of the mystery. This caused the pacing to be uneven and even clunky at times.

The book uses body dysmorphia and  eating disorders as they underlying reason Penny seeks out the Masked Painter and immortalizes herself this way. It's explored enough to show how terrible this disease can be. There are many moments where her starving herself play a roll in helping to shape her character.  But Penny is only telling us these things, we are never shown the horrors of what this all actually means for the character.

Overall, not enough happened in this book to keep my interest. The connection to The Picture of Dorian Gray set my expectations high so I expected a lot from this but it was sorely missed. I was bored for most of the tale and found myself drifting off only to come back and rewind to find I really didn't miss anything important. I wish the characters were more fleshed out, the world was built out so we could understand it more, and the motivations of the characters a little more clear. I think many will enjoy this story, especially if their knowledge of Dorian Gray is not expansive or non-existent. It's solidly a YA tale. And,. given the ratings I am seeing, I definitely think I'm in the minority for not enjoying this one.  I do think that many teens will connect with Penny on the levels that are intended given her obsession with her body, pressure for being a certain way, claiming true identity, and  beauty standards since this is so prevalent in our society today. 

Author:

Laura Steven is an author and journalist from the northernmost town in England. She has published several books for young adults—such as the bestselling Every Exquisite Thing, YA Book Prize-shortlisted The Society for Soulless Girls, and CWIP award-winning The Exact Opposite of Okay—many of which have been widely translated and optioned for TV and film. When she’s not writing, you can probably find her trail running, reading chunky fantasy novels, baking cookies, playing old men at chess, or ignoring her husband and son to perfect her Stardew Valley farm. You can find her on Instagram at @laurasteven and TikTok at @authorlaurasteven.

Audio ARC Review: The Fake Divination Offense (Magic and Romance #2) by Sara Raasch

 

Sports romance gets a Dungeons & Dragons makeover with the next book in the Magic and Romance series that follows half-giant Orok, forced into a PR relationship with a feisty, fan-favorite cheerleader.

Orok star defensive tank on the Philadelphia Hellhounds rawball team. Half-giant. Patron Urzoth, god of strength . . . only Orok’s tired of being tied to a god known for aggression. So (don’t tell his mother) he’s planning on renouncing Urzoth.

Until the cult of Galaxrien, Urzoth’s sworn enemy, ends up causing a lot of damage through their ill-advised attempts to summon him, and the followers of both deities find themselves blamed for the long-standing feud and its ramifications.

Alexo cheerleading intern with the Hellhounds. Smells like apples, which Orok only knows because he picked Alexo up. Accidentally—Orok publicly saves Alexo from a bar fight, and fans go feral for the muscly pro athlete being protective of the pint size dude-in-distress.

That’s enough to have the Hellhounds and Urzoth’s church both coming to them with a Orok and Alexo will start a PR relationship to put a positive spin on Urzoth. Orok is all set to refuse—and finally separate from Urzoth—when the team offers Alexo a starting spot on the cheerleading squad to play up the star athlete and cheerleader optics. It’s such an obvious dream come true for Alexo that Orok finds himself agreeing to the arrangement like the sap he is.

He can keep living a lie for a bit longer. But Orok starts to wonder if they can drop the fake part of this fake-relationship…

Title: The Fake Divination Offense (Magic and Romance #2)

Author: Sara Raasch

Publisher: Bramble/Macmillan Audio

Expected Publication Date: May 19, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this audio to listen to and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I was really looking forward to this book. I have been loving the queer books Raasch has been writing, especially the audio. The narrators have all been really great. I have listened to one other book by Vikas Adam before and enjoyed his narration enough so I was pretty confident he would do Orok justice. And I could not wait to hear Orok's story since there seemed to be so much more to him than what was presented in the last book.

Unfortunately I was disappointed with this book in so many ways. I hate that I have to write this review at all, to be honest. I went in with such high expectations and came away completely and utterly disappointed.

The narrator had such potential to bring Orok's character to life. And for parts of the book I did like how he voiced him. But for most of the book his voice was so rough and angry it made me disconnect with the character. I know the character has anger from his past, I get that. But it dripped into all his interactions. Vikas Adam truly overplayed the role for me, really trying to act out the character rather than just give him a voice to show us who he is.  He was growly much of the time, I kept having to rewind scenes and turn the volume up because I couldn't understand what he was saying. He took a character I enjoyed from the previous book and made me dislike him. This was super frustrating for me. I also hated how he voiced most of the other characters, especially Seb and Alexo. It's like he didn't know Seb at all. If he had listened to the previous book, he would not have voiced the character the way he did for sure. And don't get me started on the long drawn out sex scenes that were totally over the top with Adam's narration. I love some good smut but his narration just made it uncomfortable more than anything else. The first scene truly made me feel like Orok was in charge, despite saying he wasn't, and Alexo just taking it no matter the consequences. Overall, I just didn't enjoy this as an audio book at all.

Now, given Orok's background and size, I get that he might be kind of a brute. But he didn't come off that way in the first book at all. And I understand he has some possessive tendencies, but it was so overdone. He didn't make me feel his connection with Alexo at all. Where was the chemistry I thought might be brewing. The book tried to make it a slow burn but it really wasn't.

And where is the banter I know Raasch infuses into her books? I maybe laughed once while listening to this, if that. The characters came off as super flat and that just slowed the pacing down for me.

I had to force myself to listen to the story. I just didn't care about the characters, the plot, or anything else, to be honest.

The best part of the narration was the newscasters at the beginning of the chapters where they were given voice. Those times were fun. 

I understand the book was dealing with heavier topics with the abuse from the camp Orok and Seb attended, to the potential for harm to Alexo, but I just didn't even care. 

And there were so many plot holes leaving things to feel very surface level at best,.This book takes place a few years after the last book and you're given barely any backstory to what happened during that time. Orok left to go play ball in Vegas and then leaves him team to come back to Philly. There were obvious reasons why, but they are never addressed or explored. Also, what is Rawball? How does it work? We see games in this book but I know nothing of what those games entail or how they are won/lost, This is a sports romance but we barely know or see antyhing about the sport. And the religion thing is honestly just confusing to me. I didn't truly understand Orok and his religion in book 1, but I got the gist. I thought it would be explored more in book 2, since that is such an important part of who he is, but it isn't. It's glossed over for the most part. All we know is he's not happy with it.

I'm sad to give this one two stars after loving the first book (and also Raasch's other series, Royals and Romance). I just didn't care about the characters or the story, Perhaps my expectations for this were too high. Perhaps I would have enjoyed it better in print. I will still read the upcoming books in both these series and I will hope they are done better than this one.

Author:

Sara Raasch has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then — her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. Her debut YA fantasy, SNOW LIKE ASHES, the first in a trilogy, came out October 14, 2014 from Balzer + Bray. It does not feature her hand-drawn pictures.

ARC Review: Caller Unknown by Gillian McAllister

 

How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock—and finds herself on the wrong side of the law—in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.

There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…

Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.

What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.

A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.

Title: Caller Unknown

Author: Gillian McAllister

Publisher:

Expected Publication Date: May 5, 2026

Review:

Thank you to William Marrow and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

This is my first book by this author. My expectations were pretty high after seeing so many people post about her previous books and how good they are. I should honestly know better than to follow along after high praise for a book. Although, it seems this book may not be her typical type of story so perhaps there's is something to be said there.

I wanted mystery and suspense. Maybe a little thrill. What I got was a little bit of mystery and just family drama. Not what I was expecting at all. The overall plot is the FMC's daughter being kidnapped and her adventure to get her back. The book started out promising, though I wasn't a huge fan of the narration technique of the author. There was A LOT of telling in this book. The narrator told us all about her family and what she felt she was going through but the author never really showed me any of this. Add to that the mystery of the kidnap being solved pretty quickly and the rest of the book the characters searching for said kidnappers and it just wasn't the mystery I was expecting.

The book is told in alternating POVs from the main character, Sophie, and the kidnapper. At first, I thought this might prove interesting. But really there was almost no need for the second POV. I'm not really sure what it added to the story. We could have easily seen the situation through the FMC's POV. Though the kidnapper is not who you think it is at all, so that was a surprise.

The pacing of this book was SO slow. I had to push so hard to get through the story. I kept waiting for things to happen but nothing ever really did. It mad it so hard to stay engaged with the story. I had no desire to really keep picking it up but I did because I thought maybe the mystery would turn out to be something mind blowing. Hint: It wasn't. Plus all the side stories the main character was telling really didn't lend much to the overall story. They did give some background to the characters but it wasn't anything that really made me like the story or characters more.

Add to this that I had no connection at all with the characters nor did I even care about them and the story was just a flop for me. I just could not suspend my disbelief enough to really see the story as being true. Everything that happens with the police, the FBI, the lawyer, jail, it just made no sense to me at all.

The was a pretty fast read with short chapters but overall I just wasn't impressed. It didn't make me wan to run and read other books by this author at all. I'm not sure if I will take a leap to try another book by this author.

Author:

As you find me, it's autumn 2025 and my latest novel is Famous Last Words, a thriller with a marriage at its centre. It asks the question: what would you do if your husband is caught up in a siege in central London? Only, the police tell you he isn't one of the hostages: he is the gunman... I hope you like the answer!

Upcoming in spring 2026 is Caller Unknown, a thriller about a woman whose teenage daughter is kidnapped, and she decides to pay the ransom, meet the kidnappers direct, and not tell the police.

ARC Review: To Steal A Throne by Gabi Burton

 

In this YA fantasy novel perfect for fans of Divine Rivals, a girl who has always served others decides to take power for herself.

Her magic feeds on lies.
His magic could destroy her.

Mira Kyler runs the court of Virdei from the shadows. Ever since she helped her half-brother Luc cheat his way into the role of Virdei's leader, she's used her lie-powered magic to collect secrets from members of court, then used them as blackmail to keep her brother in power.

But when newcomer Kaidren Vale shows up and challenges Luc's leadership, he threatens the stability Mira has worked so hard for. Kaidren also has magic-magic that can detect the precise nature of someone else's power with a single touch. If Kaidren so much as brushes against her, everyone will discover that Mira is the one who's been manipulating the court for years.

As Kaidren and Luc compete in three deadly challenges called The Trials, Mira realizes that no matter who wins, she'll be stuck serving a mediocre man who doesn't deserve to be in charge. She's done hiding in the shadows. She wants power of her own.

To get it, she'll have to betray both her own brother and Kaidren-but the fiercer the competition gets, the more Mira realizes that the one boy who could destroy everything is the one boy she might not be able to resist.

Title: To Steal A Throne

Author: Gabi Burton

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books

Expected Publication Date: April 7, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Bloomsbury USA Children's Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I was excited when my wish came through for this book. Most intriguing to me was the potential of the magic system. How lies would feed magic. I was excited to watch the world build and see how the magic system was set up. Unfortunately, this one just missed that mark for me.

At first, I really liked Mira. She was strong and confident in herself. She was strong for her step brother, Luc, who is obviously a total wimp and cannot make decisions for himself or even stand up for what he might believe in. Their relationship was frustrating for me. One minute she loves him and is helping him and he's grateful, the next he's ignoring her or not backing her up and she is hating him. The swings were so drastic I couldn't truly understand the relationship at all. It made me start to dislike Mira and I become totally frustrate with her. She was willing to continue having a relationship with him despite him ignoring her or even standing down when she was always standing up for him. I also didn't understand her position the "kingdom". She's a bastard child but she is able to stick close to the person with the highest title in the country? How? Why? What was their relationship growing up? She tells us over and over how much her father hates her but she's allowed to be close to his son. It just made zero sense to me. You do see her teeth come out when it comes to the enemy, Kaidren. There's a push and pull there. Burton tried to work this as chemistry but I didn't feel it at all. Overall, I didn't connect with any of the characters in this book. They were not well developed and appeared so flat to as not really have any genuine personalities to speak of.

The magic system for me was totally confusing. I truly could not understand it apart from lies fueling it. But, even then, there were times when Mira needed jars of magic to help her? I didn't understand how it was set up, or used, or why. Burton did attempt to explain is somewhat at the beginning but I still didn't understand it. Maybe that was a me thing but I don't think it was.

The world building is totally lacking. I didn't see it well explained as to why there were these positions. Why her step-brother could hold his position so long. What the vote meant for him to maintain that position. Why there was a tournament, which dragged and dragged. Let's be honest, I could not explain the intricacies or politics of this world if I tried. I also had a hard time visualizing the scenes. The descriptions were very flat for me to the point it felt Burton was telling me what I was seeing rather than showing me. The action scenes were dull and devoid of anything that would make my heart race or be in fear for the characters.

The pacing was all over the place. Some scenes went by super fast, while others just dragged. I found nothing happening in the middle of the book at all. I had a hard time understanding where the book was going or what the point of it all was going to be in the end.

Burton worked in a kind of Bridgerton twist to her story by adding The Shadow Queen, who distributes papers with stories of the "ton" for lack of a better world. While I liked the idea, it just wasn't a fresh idea. Too similar to Lady Whistledown for me. I'm not sure how Burton could have even made this unique because it just was not.

Mostly, I was just bored while reading this. I found myself skimming over sections just so I could get to the next chapter in the hopes something exciting would happen. The plot of this book gets totally lost in the scenes that don't move the story forward in any way. The description tells us the FMC is going to steal the throne (which is not really a throne, by the way), but I didn't get the sense of she was truly worried about this. I didn't see her fighting to gain that place for herself or her sabotaging others to even try and take it. Add to this the abundance of subplots that didn't add to the main plot of the story line and the entire story felt all over the place with no cohesion at all. The biggest issue with this book is it tries to do too many things while not fleshing out any of them and leaving the reader to wonder how any of these things are related. Unfortunately, I won't be continuing on with this series in the future.

Author:

Gabi grew up reading and writing in St. Louis, Missouri. She graduated from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine in 2021. Now, she works as a paralegal and author on the East Coast. When she’s not working or writing, she’s probably watching Netflix, scrolling through Tiktok, or finding beautiful places to walk—preferably near a body of water.

Review: A Latte Like Love by Michelle C. Harris

 

Love is brewing as a barista falls for a reclusive artist struggling with the tragic aftermath of an accident in this charming, epic romance.

Audrey Adams knows the exact routine for all her regular customers. That’s what happens when you work at the same Brooklyn coffee shop for years. So it’s completely normal that she notices Theo Sullivan, a shy new patron who comes in at exactly 8:17 a.m., right? And that this incredibly tall (and cute) man never drinks his coffee, always leaves a generous tip, only stays long enough to scribble in a notebook, and wears the same KN95 mask. Call it barista instincts or a reasonable reaction to Theo’s undeniable sweetness, but Audrey is crushing hard.

Eagerly anticipating Theo's visits, Audrey relishes the precious few minutes they chat every time he orders his large, extra-hot Americano. When an incident reveals the horrific facial scar he's hiding beneath his mask, Theo flees the café in shame, dropping his sketchbook and leaving a part of his broken heart behind.

Audrey decides to find Theo, return his book, and confess her feelings. Before long, they’re inseparable, talking nonstop and meeting up for dates at the coffee shop.

But Theo is reluctant to fully let Audrey into his heart. He continues to hide his scar and refuses to talk about his past. Their feelings are bubbling under the surface, but will Theo—and the truth behind his accident—keep him from finding the love they've both been longing for?

Title: A Latte Like Love

Author: Michelle C. Harris

Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group

Publication Date: March 17, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I love a good romance. I was excited for this one. I'll admit, when I started it it gave Phantom of the Opera vibes for me. I thought for sure the book would take this kind of turn. Alas, it did not. And I struggled. I wanted to love the story, I wanted to love the characters, but I just couldn't get into any of it, I always give debut authors the benefit of the doubt. Figuring they are reliant on their editors who should give them good direction when helping them make changes to their story. But I don't feel like that happened here. 

Genuinely, I feel like this author has a lot of potential. While I wasn't a huge fan of the story, the bones of a writer are absolutely there. It just feels like there needs to be more growth in how the author's story is presented.

There are some tropes in this one that had promise: sunshine FMC, Audrey, grumpy MMC, Theo, horrific accident and trauma healing. But these themes didn't seem to be going anywhere. On top of this, there is insta love. I know this concept can be done well but that was not the case here. I felt like the FMC was obsessed with the MMC without knowing anything about him at all. She's attracted to his inability to chat with her? And him hiding himself because of his scars? I just didn't feel like this was honest. And their relationship just screamed codependent to me rather than two people gettin got know one another, holding the other person's individuality in regard, and having a mutually beneficial relationship. As a matter of fact, the whole relationship felt a bit toxic from the beginning and Theo gave off dark broody red flag vibes with his intensity that actually had me scared for Audrey. I also could not connect to the characters given the lack of background. I needed to know and understand them. Instead the entire story seems focused on their romance and not much else.

I would have loved to see more development of the side characters, as well. Often times in romance stories, the supporting characters really help to build the story and give insight into the characters. That didn't happen with this story as I never got to know the side characters at all.

I also had zero connection with the characters. I needed more from both, It is written essentially in one POV, though I did read you get Theo's POV in parts of the book. I feel like that would have helped move the story better had it been introduced from the beginning. I really would have liked to see what Theo was experiencing during the relationship building part of this story. I did see he has a epilogue at the end, but I just wasn't invested enough to get to it and see what he even had to say.

The pacing was very slow for me. And the chapters were much longer than I would have liked for a romance. I pushed myself to get through them until I just could not anymore.

Add to all this the fact that the book is 500+ pages, quite long for a romance, and I lost interest and just couldn't bring myself to continue.

I do think this has an audience. I read in many places this is Reylo fan fic, so that kind of makes sense to me (as that's definitely a Phanton of the Opera theme). It's a light hearted story for the most part, or at least the part I read. I can see where people would be drawn to Audrey, who is obviously a care taker, and Theo, who is healing from trauma. 

Author:

Michelle C. Harris grew up deep in the heart of the Central Texas Hill Country, devouring as many books as she did tacos. By day, she wrangles academics at a university, and by night, she pens stories about love, magic, and men who yearn under the intense supervision of her Shiba Inu, Pippa.

In her spare time, you can find her playing volleyball, buying more tea than she could ever possibly drink, and writing fan fiction about star-crossed space wizards on AO3.

ARC Review: Queen of the Night (Starkeepers #2) Sky by Amalie Howard

 

The sequel to The Starlight Heir and the epic conclusion to the romantasy duology that Rebecca Yarros calls, “a breathtaking, sexy romantasy full of twists and adventure.”

The Kingdom of Oryndhr has been saved by the will of the Royal Stars. But King Roshan, once Sura’s best friend and chosen love, has changed. She can sense corruption growing in him, and her own magic is being twisted by his command to dangerous ends. As dreams of her strange shadow guardian return in force, she is left unsure of her path—and of her heart.

When an attempt on her life leads to her rescue on the back of an azdaha, the dragon-like creature she once thought a myth, Sura truly finds herself in uncharted territory—in a land far beyond Oryndhyr’s borders. Everlea is full of magic, ruled by the deadly and enigmatic Night King, Darrius. And to Sura’s shock, Darrius is none other than the man in her dreams…and possibly her soul fated mate.

As a prophecy unfolds, the old gods awaken, and a war between kingdoms looms, Sura has no she must fully embrace her destiny as Starkeeper and the entirety of her power before it’s too late. But all power comes at a cost…and darkness has a way of slithering into the smallest spaces.

Queen of the Night Sky is a lush, fast-paced romantasy inspired by Indian and Persian mythology,

Open door spice “Why choose” trope Yearning and heartache Magic system inspired by Vedic astrology

Title: Queen of the Night Sky (Starkeepers #2)

Author: Amalie Howard

Publisher: Avon

Publication Date: March 17, 2025

Review:

Thank you to HarperAudio Adult, Avon Harper Voyager, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

I've long been a fan of Amalie Howard and her ability to cultivate stories that are diverse and interesting. I was super excited for this second installment in the Starkeeper series. The ending of book 1 definitely left me wanting more so I could see where the story goes. This one picks up right after that one ends. If you have not read book 1, you need to go back and do that before you approach this one or you will not understand a thing that is happening, although there is somewhat of a recap in the first chapter.

Warning here, there are some spoilers ahead that I just had to include in order to appropriately review this title. I tried to keep them light so you'd still want to possibly dive in and see how they progress. But you have been forewarned.

I had both a kindle copy and audio copy of this book. The narrators were all new to me and in all honesty, I listened less than reading the Kindle version because I just didn't like how the narrators presented the characters. I did enjoy the male more than the female, but overall their narration grated on me and took me out of the story.

I remember having a bit of a hard time getting into the first book in this series but once I was surrounded by the story it took off and I loved it. This book started off similarly for me. I wasn't sure where it was going or if I would like the direction. But then I got to part 2 and started to see how the story was taking shape. I will be honest and say why choose is not one of my favorite tropes. I tend to pass on the books that have this theme. But since I was already invested from book 1, and I'm usually a fan of how Howard writes her stories, I figured she would nail it correctly and make me enjoy the trope. Unfortunately, I was wrong. 

I really liked Suraya's character. in book 1. She had a lot of growth and I wanted to see more of her badness come out in this book. But all that is stilted in part 1 when she is more or less abused and taken advantage of. Now, I did have my suspicions of why and how this was going on (which were confirmed later in the book) but I still didn't like it. She was belittled and had zero way to defend herself. It diminished her so much. But in part 2, she has a what I consider a personality change. Is this because of her memory loss? Of course it is, but also the changes were so abrupt from book 1 to book 2 it really turned me off to her character. She does have some growth by the end of part two as she slowly relearns who she is and this was a nice touch.

I loved Roshan in book 1, in this book, not so much. Even after the big reveal, I needed him to be gone. Once the truth came out, it was like nothing he did in part 1 mattered. I hated this. Suddenly Suraya just forgave him and, oh, still had feelings for him. HUH? She didn't even have a chance to process her anger towards Roshan and then maybe slowly forgive him. There was not emotional work, no growth in this area, at all. And of course we are introduced to the second love interest, Darrius, Suraya's soul-fated, which I figured we'd see sooner or later given her dreams. I really liked his character so much more than Roshan. His struggle with his monster and how to keep Suraya safe was very genuine and endeared me to him. And, in all honesty, I don't feel like Howard did the why choose justice with how Roshan was presented. To me, there was a clear line as to who Suraya should choose considering how poorly Roshan treated her. This book would have been much better presented as a love triangle rather than a why choose. The why choose felt forced for me and I did not feel Suraya's struggle when trying to figure out who she wanted to be with. I could not be invested in her relationship with Roshan at all.

The world building continues in this book. Now we see a bit more of the magic outside of Suraya's home and how it is used. I enjoyed this part for sure and think Howard did a nice job incorporating it into what we already knew of this world. I loved the dragon type characters. And, while their introduction absolutely reminded me of Yarros's Fourth Wing, I was able to overlook this so I could see how they fit into the story. This story is filled with political intrigue and, or course, a villain who you probably do not see coming.

I will say, part two of this book felt like a completely different story from part 1. While part 1 is a continuation of book 1, party two introduces all new elements and characters. I almost felt like part 1 could have been a novella and then part 2 could have been the actual sequel. It all just felt rushed at the end, like Howard was squeezing in the why choose because it was what she thought people might want and then trying to wrap up the duology. I would have loved to see another book that explored the why choose and the potential throuple as opposed to just ending it. The whole story felt a bit unresolved.

And I have to mention there was one line in the book that completely took me out of the story and pretty much had me not even want to continue. At one point during a love scene, the MMC talks about the FMC's private parts as "glistening alter of worship" and this totally turned me off. It was not sexy. It was not an amazing way to decribe his thoughts. It was just gross for me.

This series had lots of potential but this second book killed it for me. The pacing was inconsistent and the turn it took was not in line with the first book at all. As much as I wanted to like this book, I just didn't. The book felt full of too many things as it tried it's hardest to end the dulology. I really think it would have been better with a third book. Despite my rating, there seemed to be lots of people who loved this installment and I think it will appeal to most of Howard's audience, for sure.

Author:

ARC Review: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Maggie The Undying) by Ilona Andrews

 

A page-turning, unforgettable fantasy set in a city peopled with ruffians, spies, malcontents and murderers. Experience out-of-this world adventure and dangerous politics as Maggie tries to survive waking up in her favourite fictional world.

A heart-pounding epic from No. 1 New York Times bestselling author duo Ilona Andrews.

When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren. It’s a city she knows intimately from the pages of a famously unfinished dark fantasy series – one she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading, while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic and mayhem? Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the plot, the setting and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love – a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to return home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes – and attentions – of duelling princes, dukes and villains. This all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the ending she’s seen on the a cataclysmic war.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me is the beginning of the most epic adventure yet from genre powerhouse writing duo Ilona Andrews. For fans of Samantha Shannon, Sarah J. Maas, Danielle L. Jensen and isekai portal fantasy.

Title: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me (Maggie the Undying #1)

Author: Ilona Andrews

Publisher: Tor Books

Expected Publication Date: March 31, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, NetGalley, and Tor Books for providing me with a copy of this book to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

The premise of this book drew me in! How exciting to wake up one day and find yourself in your most favorite book. At the same time, what a disappointment to find that things aren't exactly as you thought they were when you were just a reader of the story!

I think the audio killed this book for me. I thought I would love it as audio, but I just could not get into the narrators voice for this story. It didn't fit for me. Sieh's voice was pleasant enough but really not one I'd put along with fantasy. This was my first time listening to this narrator and I just could not connect with how she was telling the story.

I loved the idea of portal fantasy. Traveling to another time/place is so much fun in my mind. But the actual story line didn't work for me. The pacing was slow at times and then sped up to the point where I almost didn't understand what was going on. And the info dumps totally took me out of the story. I understand the FMC loves this story and knows it like the back of her hand, but rather than showing us the story we were just told over and over again what was happening. As for the plot, I really just found it went around in circles. It didn't seem to be going anywhere of importance.

I'm not sure if this story is connected to other stories but it certainly gave off that vibe. I felt like I was dropped into the middle of a story I should have already known something about. I didn't care about the characters as I didn't really get to know them. I felt like I was missing a whole chunk of who they are.

This is my first dive into portal fantasy that I can remember, though I'm sure I read some as child, so perhaps it just is not for me. The book has many good reviews and I'm sure the audience that loves this type of fantasy will fall head over heals for Maggie and her story.

Author:

Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.

ARC Review: Hollywood Hookup by Christy Swift

 

A scandalized former movie star is thrust back into the celebrity life where she finds herself competing for a date with her longtime crush in this funny and heartwarming rom-com about second chances and rediscovering your true self.
Once a teenage TV star, she’s reinvented her life. Now her very public celebrity crush has put her back in the spotlight.
Josie Days has worked hard to forget who she used to be. Once upon a time, she was Mexico’s favorite bilingual teen star—until one disastrous decision ruined her budding career. These days, Josie’s happy to keep things very off-camera as a makeup artist. That is until her best friend ropes her into a charity game show where the prize is a date with her forever celebrity impossibly charming Irish “It” boy Sean O’Sullivan.

Josie has no interest in winning. In fact, she’s trying to lose—and fast. But Sean is interested in more than a game. The problem? Josie isn’t who he thinks she is. And when the cameras start rolling and her past is exposed, she’ll have to decide if she’s ready for the spotlight again—or if her second act never should have started.

Title: Hollywood Hookup

Author: Christy Swift

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central Publishing)/Hachette Audio

Expected Publication Date: February 10, 2026

Review:

Thank you to Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Hacette Audio, and NetGalley for providing me with this title to read and give my honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Since I was fortunate enough to have both the Kindle version and audio version of this title, I will be reviewing both at the same time.

While I love audio books that have many narrators when the title is an actual production (like a dramatization), I find it hard to follow a book with multiple narrators when it is not. This book has 6 narrators and for the life of me I could not tell you which person did which character. Six narrators is a lot in a romance book and it honestly made it hard to follow along. The narrators on their own were well done enough, though, again, hard to say who was who and who did the best job. I wasn't a fan of the narrator for the MMC, Sean. His Irish accent was subtle, yes, but often times not even there so I wasn't sure if he just wasn't trying or if that was actually supposed to be how the character's voice came across. Overall, I found the multiple narrator idea overwhelming and it took away from any enjoyment I may have gotten out of the audio.

While it doesn't seem this book is billed as a series, there are many characters who appear from the first book, Celebrity Crush. As a person who likes to read books in order, you will absolutely be spoiled for the couple from that book if you read this one first so I do suggest reading them in order.

While I didn't love Swift's writing in the first book, I wanted to give her another try in the hopes her craft may have grown and blossomed. But that was not to be the case for me. As with her first book, the characters came across as stilted to me. They don't grow, change, and develop as I would hope in a romance story such as this. The FMC, Josie/Savannah, comes across as whiny and scared of her shadow. Plus she's just so self-centered, never worrying  about anyone but herself. She's so worried about being outed for who she truly is, her character never has a chance to evolve. And for the age of the character, she is very immature. The MMC, Sean, comes across as a bit snobbish and quite full of himself. I just found it totally unattractive and didn't see what the FMC saw in him at all. And he was just all around weird with his obsession with props from movies and plays. It didn't lend anything at all to the story or his relationship with the FMC.

If we're going to discuss romance and chemistry, this couple is not the standard by which I would judge a rom-com. I didn't find either endearing. I didn't feel any chemistry between them, even when it may have had a chance to grow. It's unclear what either even sees in each other. They suddenly like each other with no background whatsoever. I didn't believe in their connection at all.

There are a ton of side characters in this story. I did understand the author bringing in characters from the previous story and it was fun to see some of them again. But overall the side characters just didn't add anything to the story or move it along. Plus there is a ton of name dropping in this book that just made no sense.

One of the things I remember from the first book in this series was how much telling the author did. I was hopeful that would not be the case with this title, but, alas, it was not to be. And the plot, it just didn't make enough sense for the story to move forward and let me believe in the characters. The banter felt forced throughout the book. I didn't find myself laughing or even giggling. For a book billed as a rom-com, it totally missed that mark.

I really had to push myself to finish this book. I just did not find it interesting and found myself speeding up the audio or skimming the eARC just to get through it all. I was never fully immersed or invested in the story of the characters.

Unfortunately, I won't be continuing with future stories from this author as I just don't feel her style is for me.

Author:

I write geeky love stories, sometimes as smexy romcoms under the name Christy Swift and sometimes as sci-fi or sci-fantasy with a little heat in the engine coil under C.P. Swift. I daylight as a freelance writer and social media content provider for medical and technology clients across the country. I’m also editor of the award-winning Heartland LIVING magazine. I’m represented by Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong of Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. In my free time, you can find me living my best life in the Florida outdoors or playing the nerdiest board game you’ve ever heard of with my kids and friends.

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