Mini Reviews (part fourteen)
Hi everyone!
Welcome to another round-up of my 2023 non-podcast reads.
Reading has been a bit slow for me lately and I was a bit worried I wouldn’t have five new books to review for the blog, but Sierra Simone’s New Camelot Trilogy saved me. I am also continuing with the Shadowhunters series as buddy reads and picking up some steamy romances whenever the sheer size of the fantasy books I am also reading for our podcast become a bit much.
Tis the Season for Revenge
There were parts of this book that I thought were really great, but then there were parts that I really disliked. I feel like the author wanted to make a statement about abusive relationships, something that is obviously extremely important, but the overabundance of pink being stuffed down my throat took away from the message for me.
Abigail, the main female character, was trying super hard to be a bubbly, pink ray of sunshine but was genuinely the most petty character I think I have ever read about. Like, I understand that she was in a horrible and verbally abusive relationship with Richard, but instead of going to therapy to deal with her issues, she instead devotes all of her time and energy to childish pranks and using Richard's boss for revenge. I think that was the most frustrating part of her character for me - she realizes how she was used by Richard, acknowledges that it is wrong to do this to another person and then continues using Damien.
Damien was so blatantly a man written by a woman and so obviously the exact opposite to Richard, appreciating everything about Abigail that Richard criticized ... at times this really worked for me, because it was important for Abigail to experience a healthy relationship, but sometimes it just felt too unrealistic that he ticked literally all of the boxes and there was never anything that they disagreed on.
The sex scenes were pretty hot, Damien has a bit of a dominant side.
Overall, this was a really easy read that was pretty predictable.
Rating: 3.5/5
A Not So Meet Cute (Cane Brothers #1)
This was a fun romance based on 'Pretty Woman'.
I liked the banter between the characters, there were a lot of funny scenes that were also really cringe-y - the second hand embarrassment was real. This was also a lot steamier than I anticipated, but in a very good way - I love to see such a confident, sex-positive FMC.
Rating: 4/5
Lady Midnight (The Dark Artifices #1)
Despite taking me two months to finish, I really enjoyed this Shadowhunters instalment.
I love the Blackthorn kids, especially Ty and Mark.
My main issue with Cassandra Clare's books is the length of the chapters - because they are so long and dense, I find it difficult jumping in and out of the story and so need to dedicate a big chunk of time to be able to fully get into the story.
I'm excited to see where this story goes - in many ways it felt like a standalone in terms of the murder mystery. I'm guessing the next two books will deal more with character and relationship developments.
Rating: 4/5
American Queen (New Camelot Trilogy #1)
Based on the smut scenes alone, this would have been 5 stars from me. However, certain plot elements and other people's negative reviews have made me drop the rating to 3.5 stars.
The plot elements I didn't enjoy (spoilers ahead):
1. The random incest - why? Why was this necessary? Ash is messed up enough because of having served in an active war-zone and his wife died unexpectedly. We didn't need another questionable thing from his past popping up. -0.5 stars
2. The geo-politics. Even if we suspend our disbelief that someone under the age of 40 with little to no experience with politics is the President of the United States, the whole conflict in made-up Carpathia is under-researched, unclear and stereotypical. -0.5 stars
3. Abilene. So predictable and so annoying. I am assuming she was put in to show us how lonely Greer is, that she would willingly spend time with such a horrible person despite being aware of her manipulations? In any case, she is awful and if Greer had any self-respect, she would have dropped her back in boarding school. -0.25 stars
4. The power dynamics. Full disclosure, I have never been in a Dominant/Submissive relationship so I honestly don't know how realistic the representation is but I feel like things were sometimes very blurred. Ash manipulates Greer and Embry constantly, irrespective of if they are in a scene together and it sometimes made me uncomfortable. Also, he meets Greer when she is 16 years old and he is 26 - borderline informed consent, I feel. -0.25 stars
There were other things that people pointed out e.g. Greer being a lecturer at age 25, the insta-love between everyone, that didn't sit well with me but not enough for me to decrease my rating even more.
Despite all of the above, Sierra Simone has a way of drawing you into the story. I liked the jumping around in timelines, for example. And I genuinely think the sex scenes are well written, so...
Rating: 3.5/5
American Prince (New Camelot Trilogy #2)
Everything I had issues with in the previous book were once again present here, which is perhaps not surprising as many scenes in this book were simply Embry's POV of things that were mentioned in American Princess.
I am surprised by the lack of trigger warnings, either in the book or the author's website, so here they are for those considering reading this book:
BDSM, kidnapping, sexual assault, attempted rape, rape, consensual non-consensual, rough sex whilst injured, mention of incest
I will definitely read the next book because I am truly invested in the main throuple relationship, but a lot of the peripheral angst makes me uncomfortable.
Rating: 3.5/5
Have you read any of these books? Do you agree with my ratings? Let me know in the comments below, via e-mail or DM us on Instagram - we love to hear from you!
Until next time, keep reading!
Lucia