Mini Reviews (part nine)
Hi everyone!
Here are my next five non-podcast reads of 2022.
I continue to make my way through the Wicked Villains series by Katee Robert, as well as taking part in some buddy reads hosted by @buddyreadbooknook.
The Beast (Wicked Villains #4)
A really great addition to the Wicked Villains, my favourite so far. I really like how Katee Robert writes throuples in this series, building the relationships between all people involved.
This might also be the steamiest book so far as well. I appreciate how the author also includes content warnings at the beginning of each book.
As always, there is a sexy deal with a clear deadline and manipulations abound - one could argue that these books are pretty formulaic. Sometimes that works for me, sometimes it doesn't - in this case, it did and overall, I really enjoyed this.
Rating: 4/5
Vengeful (Villains #2)
Much like with ‘Vicious’, I think I overhyped this for myself and so it fell a bit short for me.
There is no doubt that V. E. Schwab is excellent at her craft, but it feels like sometimes she goes 'too big', to the detriment of beloved characters. While I appreciated most of the new characters introduced in this novel, I think there were perhaps too many storylines and it stretched them all a bit thin, if that makes sense. Marcella had a very strong beginning and background, but she just fizzled out by the end, which was disappointing. The same happened with Victor, Eli and Sydney.
The overall plot of this book was interesting, but I felt it lacked real depth - it read like a generic action movie.
All that being said, I am invested enough in the characters to want to read the next book when it comes out.
Rating: 4/5
Red, White and Royal Blue
This one started out so great but the ending fell flat for me.
As the relationship between Henry and Alex was developing, I was really loving it. I thought they had great chemistry, the dialogue was witty, I loved the friendship group they formed - everything was going great.
I even liked the initial reactions to their relationship, I thought it was believable. It was really only when the Queen was brought in that it all became too naive, I could no longer suspend my disbelief. Neither did I buy the outcome of the election. It was all too convenient and cheesy for me.
Rating: 4/5
The Sea Witch (Wicked Villains #5)
I didn't feel invested enough in the characters to rank this any higher than 3*. I think, with the exception of ‘Desperate Measures’, that in previous books the characters had more depth and I could better understand their motivations. The Sea Witch had very surface-level character development.
The time it took Ursa, Alaric and Zurielle to fall in love with each other was also way too fast for me. I wish there had been more of an exploration of a female Dominant. I thought the sex scenes were also quite generic in comparison to the previous novels, kind of just going through the motions.
Overall an average and a bit underwhelming follow-up to ‘The Beast’.
Rating: 3/5
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle #2)
What a great Y. A. Fantasy book, one which explored a lot of dark themes but managed to stay light and fun.
I would say this was more character driven than plot driven and I didn't mind one bit. How could I when Gansey, Ronan, Adam, Noah and Blue are all so different and engaging? Not to mention how quirky and funny Blue's mother and other female friends/relatives are.
I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I would - the blurb on the back of my book was a bit misleading, so this ended up being a quest I totally did not see coming.
Look forward to the next one!
Rating: 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