Review Roundup Summer 2023

A quick little roundup of several smaller reviews I wrote in Summer 2023. Beware of spoilers!

Title: A Fatal Illusion

Author: Anna Lee Huber

Series: Lady Darby Mystery #11

Thank you to Anna Lee Huber, Berkley, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to Yazmine Hassan for inviting me to participate in the blog tour; I’m sorry I didn’t get my crap together in time to participate properly.

I had a great time revisiting the characters and learning more about the dynamics of the Gage relationships. I don’t understand Lord Gage and his condescension at all, not even after this book, but it sure was fun to watch him play with his baby granddaughter. The mystery wasn’t quite as captivating as the family drama, but still intriguing. Overall another great addition to the series, though I do miss Bonnie Brock and sleuthing about London.

Title: North of Nowhere

Author: Allison Brennan

Series: n/a

Thank you to Allison Brennan, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to an eaudiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This novel was great! My only complaint is the head-hopping. Were all those points of view necessary? There were at least five–no, six–and that’s way too many. If you need that many POVs to tell your story, you’re not doing it well. It just inflates the narrative because you’re describing the same events over and over and over.

But apart from that, I enjoyed it. I liked the characters. Kudos to Brennan for making Boyd sympathetic, that’s not easy to do. Tony, too. Little Ryan was the stand out. How could he not be? That poor sweet boy. I just wanted to give both him and his sister a huge hug.

Eliza Foss was a great narrator!

Title: The Lost Library

Author: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Series: n/a

Thank you to Rebecca Stead, Wendy Mass, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to an eaudiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this novel! The characters were all likeable, the plot intriguing. I do feel, though, that the storytelling could perhaps have been executed better, particularly concerning point of view—were all of them necessary? And do not break the fourth wall (chapter three)!

Also I didn’t care for the reveal of Al’s secret; I just don’t believe it could have been possible for 20 years. I’m also not sure I understand why only one book was signed out by HG Higgins. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention when that was explained. Also was it explained why that photo was in the book? Not everything adds up in my brain, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment of Mortimer’s and Evan’s arcs. The mice could have had a bit more personality, but they were cute and entertaining enough.

The narrators, Christopher Gebauer, Jennifer Blom, and Rob Dircks were all excellent.

Overall, it’s a wonderful tale for children who love mysteries and need a sympathetic protagonist to relate to. Older teenagers and adults might get too distracted by the details that don’t quite make sense, but could still enjoy it, as I did.

Title: A Killer in the Crystal Palace

Author: Deb Marlowe

Series: Kier and Levett Mystery #1

Thank you to Deb Marlowe, Tantor Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to an eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I’m trying to recall elements I disliked or didn’t understand, and I can’t think of any. Which is both good and bad: good because that means it was well written; bad because…..it just wasn’t very memorable. It was your standard historical mystery. Which is awesome, because that’s my bread and butter right now. But it’s also not awesome, because it doesn’t stand out in an increasingly saturated market.

Kier was an okay character, though nothing really stood out about him except he was a kind, smart, and Scottish. Levett wasn’t a bad character, but she wasn’t great either. Grossly rich, grossly intelligent, and grossly self-confident, she didn’t inspire much sympathy, nor was she relatable. Her claim to woe was being a woman in a man’s world and PTSD from being kidnapped (or was it just attempted kidnapping?) when she was a child. Gave off poor-little-rich-girl vibes.

So it was okay. I enjoyed it for the most part, the mystery was great, and I’m interested in seeing where the series goes. But Marlowe’s gotta give her protag some flaws.

Lastly, the narrator, Henrietta Meire, was excellent.

Title: The Good Daughter

Author: Karin Slaughter

Series: n/a

A lot darker than I expected. And graphic. Holy cow. Beware triggers!

Otherwise very well written. The story meandered a bit in spots, could have been shorter. At points I would check my progress and be surprised how not far I was; like when I felt it had to be over halfway, it was actually only 38%. Around 52% there was a slow section and I was tempted to quit and claim TLDR, but I was too invested in the characters and plot at that point, I had to know how it ended.

I’m not sure why this is listed as a series, because it was pretty well wrapped up. Probably it’s just because there’s a prequel novella.

If all Slaughter’s work is as dark as this, I’m not sure I’m eager to read more, but this novel was worth reading even though it made me uncomfortable.

Title: Always Isn’t Forever

Author: J. C. Cervantes

Series: n/a

Thanks to J. C. Cervantes, Penguin Group, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sooo…. I don’t really understand. Your soul gets put in a stranger’s body, but you lose all memories of your previous life while taking on the memories of the stranger? What the hell is the point of that? In the end, the dead person still no longer truly exists, and the live person lives without knowing anything’s different. Exactly the same as it would be without any soul transplanting. Except with added confusion. We could devolve into a boring philosophical discussion of what exactly is a soul and how it may or may not be shaped by outside influences, but I don’t care that much.

The book might as well have been a more straightforward amnesia romance. The whole race-against-time theme seems like great story conflict, but not when it doesn’t make sense. When I realized that, the book kinda lost all impact to me and became a trudge. Thank god it had an HEA or it would have been a worthless, weepy story, and I’d have been pissed.

Hart was a really nice guy, almost too nice to be realistic. Ruby annoyed me. I’m not entirely sure why, but something about her just rubbed me wrong. Maybe because I’m not sure she deserved Hart. He was entirely selfless, while she was self-pitying. Yes, she was grieving, but she seemed to expect people to continue walking on eggshells around her and poo-pooing her nearly six months later. Idk, like I said, rubbed me wrong. And Lourdes? Struck me as Cervantes wanting to have her It’s a Wonderful Life and eat it, too.

Overall, not to my taste.

Title: The Only Purple House in Town

Author: Ann Aguirre

Series: Fix-It Witches #4

Thanks to Ann Aguirre, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was better than I expected! Iris was likeable and relatable, a great MC. I’m a little miffed with Eli for holding onto his secret so long, but honestly he wasn’t being all that secretive; Iris should have at least suspected. No one throws that much money at a house they don’t own unless they’ve got money to burn. The other tenants were great too. My only issue was that the middle dragged; if I were to break it into quarters I’d say I tuned a good bit of the third quarter out. Could have been slimmed and trimmed. Otherwise this was a nice read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for humor, a strong found-family theme, and touch of the paranormal. Don’t read that Iris is a vampire and get turned off, like I nearly did (I’m so sick of vampires); it’s not what you may think. Also, don’t worry about this being the fourth book in a series; I had no idea until I got on here to post this review. This can definitely stand alone.

Title: Masters of Death

Author: Olivie Blake

Series: n/a

Thank you to Olivie Blake, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.

DNF 40%. Actually it was more like 25%, since I paid less and less attention to the book until I finally called it. I liked the story at first, was interested in Viola, Tom, Death, and Fox (though I hate it when either side of the central romantic couple is introduced to us while, shall we say, sowing oats with someone else). They all had charisma and I looked forward to getting to know them.

Except more and more characters entered the story until there were too many for me to keep track of. The POV kept switching, backstories piled up, and it just felt like no progress was being made in the story. I lost track of what was going on, of who knew who and was doing what, until I no longer cared about any of it. When the gods came on board, I was done.

I’m very disappointed because I was so on board at the beginning and fully believe Blake could write one hell of a novel with the help of the right developmental editor. I was going to check out The Atlas Six despite being disappointed by this book, but when I heard the looooong list of narrators each voicing a different character, I knew I’d be in the same boat. No novel needs that many viewpoints.

Title: Ghosted

Author: Sarah Ready

Series: n/a

Much thanks to Sarah Ready, W. W. Crown, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked Ghosted! Jillian and Daniel were great characters—except the Daniel we met at first felt like a different person to the Daniel we met later. It could be argued, though, that they were two different people, one influenced by Jillian and one not. But it still made the book feel off a bit to me. And did he have to be rich and famous? It immediately takes away most of a character’s relatability, which can make the reader feel a disconnect. And it’s such a writing cheat, smoothing away any inconvenient realistic details. Anymore the rich-and-famous trope just makes me roll my eyes.

My chief complaint was that it. Got. LONG. It’s a 14-hour romance! Romances are usually around 8 to 10 hours, perhaps 12 if they’re part thriller/mystery/suspense. Epic fantasy romances can be longer, but this was pretty straightforward contemporary romance with a paranormal bent. Jillian and Daniel built their relationship . . . and then had to start over from scratch and build it all over again. I understand the need for that, and I liked the story enough that I listened to every word, but I grew impatient and was relieved when it was finally over. Surely something could have been cut somewhere; I’m not convinced the best friend we never met couldn’t have been cut.

The twist of ghost Daniel’s existence was interesting; I was expecting the cliche coma. I appreciated being surprised.

Overall, while there were aspects I could have lived without, I enjoyed this novel and would be willing to check out another Sarah Ready book.