Samia
Thank you for providing me an ARC, NetGalley!
Wow!!!! This was actually pretty crazy of a story and I've never really read a thriller that has some spice in it. We have our main character, Elizabeth, who is an English professor seemingly living a normal care-free NYC life until her past comes back to haunt her. She has a secret and someone knows (thus the title). This starts spiraling into a crazy story where she has to go back home to Louisiana to confront her past and figure out who is harassing her, as well as uncovering things she hasn't thought about in 20 years. Meeting a mysterious man in town she finds out its the son of the man she's killed and it begins a whirlwind of figuring out who is trying to expose her while also learning about the past in bits and pieces for the reader. I found it thrilling and novel, but I do wish it was a little more in-depth. There were parts of the story, like Elizabeth's psyche or maybe more flashbacks that could have added more to the story, as well as the other POV we hear from - I would have loved to know more. But overall this was a decent read and I wonder if there would ever be a second book because that would be so crazy.
This book was a journey! I have some mixed feelings. First off, Paul honestly freaks me out a bit. I know he's supposed to be this prophesied figure, but he comes across so cold and detached—it left me wishing we'd gotten a little more of his humanity along the way. His treatment of his mother, especially, really rubbed me the wrong way. Jessica is such a fascinating character, and Paul often acts like an ungrateful little shit toward her when she absolutely doesn't deserve it.
On the flip side, I am obsessed with the Bene Gesserit. The concept of their sisterhood is incredible—they are so powerful, and it feels like they're secretly pulling all the strings. Everything that unfolds in the book is like a ripple effect of plans they've been setting in motion for centuries, and I'm dying to dive deeper into their lore.
The world-building is, of course, massive. It's definitely heavy and slow to get through at first, but by the end of the book, I was totally hooked and ready to see what kind of fallout all this buildup is going to have in the next part of the series.
One thing that stood out to me, though, was the dynamic with the Fremen. Even though they're portrayed as these incredibly adaptive, resilient people, I couldn't shake the feeling that they were being used as pawns—another example of colonizers exploiting a native population for their own gain.
Overall, I'm glad I read it and really want to continue the series to see where it all goes.
So I listened to the audio immersion version of this by Soundbooth and holy crap it was AWESOME! It was super entertaining having music and background noise, different voices, humor, I was very entertained. Obviously I started for Princess Donut (who wouldn't) but the story is pretty interesting. It feels like there's something underfoot that we still don't know cuz we are the humans reading (or in this case listening) through Carls POV. So as he learns stuff, we learn stuff. We're left on a cliffhanger and ONLY have covered 2 dungeons that's crazy! I can't even imagine what will happen next. Very excited for the next Soundbooth immersion audio to come out so I can continue my journey that way because it totally spoiled me for this series.
Oh my god never trust anyone but yourself!!!
This was the wildest gaslight I've ever seen and I was hooked because of the cult angle and stayed for the fucking wild ass ending angle!
This story follows a woman who grew up in a cult and never really “knew” what happened to the members- they just disappeared (which in retrospect makes me feel like the police really didn't look as well as they could have after knowing the ending) and she has to battle herself, her past, and her present as she tries to create a safe world for her daughter Lucy. There are so many red herrings in this book and a really unreliable narrator whose doubt feeds into our own mind - is she really telling the truth or is there something wrong does she need medical help? We honestly don't know right up until the end and I was enthralled the entire time. I binged this book because I HAD to know the end. Amazing thriller I loved it! Not only did it thrill me but I also really felt for the main character and felt sad for her too because her ending isn't the happiest but it's honestly realistic.
Thank you NetGalley for the E-ARC!
What a brilliant, beautiful, hilarious, irritating, and overall engaging and amazing book! I literally loved this even though I had no idea what was happening half the time. The pretense is a billionaire dies and his three kids reunite to get through the week of his estates, his billion dollars business, and deal with each other. I don't usually read books about family dynamics but this got me hooked like reality TV gets you hooked and I hated the characters but I also loved them but I also wanted them to fail and yet by the end I was rooting for them. It was endlessly amusing and I chuckled a lot. I think the best way to describe this book is- shit happens and family can be trying but ultimately we're all human and that brings us together if we want it to. “God” really does have her humorous ways.
Thank you so much to Net Galley for the ARC!
I love this series !! Thank you to the author for the ARC- I apologize for such a late review but I am finally here!
So I read within the darkening woods and was really tickled by the storyline and the combination of human and magical elements. The characters were all distinct and the plot line was actually quite good.
This was even better in Above the Ashen Clouds! I absolutely love the unique way the author made angels into academic prodigies and removed the religious part, it was quite funny to see them react to humans thinking they are true angels in the “human sense”. I also like that although this was fated mates, the characters really built up a friendship and relationship first and had so much in common. It made the story more realistic. All the plot twists in the story were great too, I liked the academic part of this because we dive more into WHY the worlds suddenly combined with bits and pieces of each other. This book made me laugh and gave me the right amount of thrill! Spice was also very nice (
This really stressed me out in the best way possible. What a crazy book with its eerie dystopia lens and an intricate look into the mind of someone who is seemingly traumatized by the changes pushed onto her, by her lack of autonomy. I really loved the show and think it made me appreciate the book more because they really rounded out the entire world of Gilead.
The way I THIRST after every book in this series is INSANE! This was a much anticipated book as we last saw everyone they were all basically screwed over by my least favorite person in the entire series. I was really curious to see how Xander would redeem himself in this book and what we would learn about him and just when I thought I couldn't like him anymore- I see all the things he does here and I'm like WHAAAAA.
I really loved this book because shit got real and it makes the entire series more authentic - not just a shifter type romance but also with a really great plot. I'm hanging on the edge of my seat to see what's gunna happen next and I literally read this within 48 hours cuz I needed to KNOW.
And then we get to that cliffhanger at the end I was NOT expecting that at ALL!!! Like holy shit what am I supposed to do until the next one??
Thanks so much for the ARC and everyone needs to read this NOW.
I really liked this book! It's a very fun concept of battling in arenas and a girl exploring what it means to survive and shine and how to hold true to the person that you are deep down when you are tempted with greed and riches beyond belief. I will say some parts were a little clunky in the sense that the fights could have been a little better (the description was a little confusing) but I really liked the pace of the book and the almost innocence of it because there isn't a hero at the end. There isn't the happy ending we think she is going to get and I think that's the point - we see that after all the battles Lythlet suffers and all the ups and downs, hopes and hardships, she consistently has to choose to have faith and hope in the long run- against all odds. The ending was a little meh for me but it leaves the reader to openly interpret what the future might hold. Some of the vocabulary was a little dense I think it would have been nice to have a visual of the types of gods or the structure of their religions to refer to but overall I liked reading this! Would recommend if you like the hunger games and kind of underdog coming of age stuff.
Wow this was a really great read! I liked the storyline and how the characters had their own shit going on while also having this love story. I like that Emily Henry puts you right into the heart of characters and again I loved the banter. I took a star off just cuz I think there was some inconsistencies or gaps - like I would have liked to know more about their books or I would have not had Naomi just randomly show up at the end it was a little meh. But overall I really liked it and cracked up the whole time!
⭐️3.5 stars from me.
We continue with a very different narrative, the journey of what the hell Area X is. I liked this perspective of the government somehow being involved and what the overall story is. However, we come to learn that literally nobody knows shit and that's the wildest part of the entire series. I finished the book with questions upon more questions and I wonder if there could have been atleast 100 pages removed cuz some parts were so long and drawn out that they were confusing. I'm still really intrigued but it didn't capture me as much as the first book. I'm really hoping the third book gives us some real answers cuz at this rate I'm here for the truth!!!
Thank you to NetGalley for the E-ARC. This is my honest review.
I think this book started out really strong and I enjoyed the character Blair - she's fun and fierce and I was really drawn into her. As we move to melodys story I had a lot of expectation but it fell short. The book was okay, but nothing super fantastic. I had a hard time finishing it. The love triangle was confusing, I think there could have been more spice but even then I think the author was trying to create tension and layers between the characters but it fell flat for me. I wasn't in love with any character really, just Blair a little bit and that was it. I think the story would have more potential if it was edited more and there was some more of a plot flow during the time they're in the fortress because that's mostly the book and it's really dry.
I really liked this book! First of all because reading about an Indian FMC is relatable since I'm Indian. Secondly I love the banter a lot and the storyline of both MCs breaking out of their shells to follow their real dreams. It's cute, sweet, witty, and sexy. Really loved this as a casual read!
Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this :)
What in the sci-fi horror flubber did I just read???
I LOVED IT.
I imagine the Crawler is like the flubber from the 1997 Robin Williams movie Flubber. And the Tower is 100% the Alaskan Bullworm from SpongeBob.
But let's get serious now because there is so much to unpack. First of all, the pretense of this story having no names, no real identity, is fascinating because it forces us to ultimately only like one of the characters in this book, the biologist. Because all we hear is from her POV and really, we are reading her journal. I like the way she breaks the fourth wall and talks to the reader like she is actually speaking to us.
This book has a lot of mystery shrouded inside what feels like a twisted science experiment on the PEOPLE that enter Area X. I had a feeling as soon as they said they had a psychologist that something shady was afoot. I find it interesting that as we learn the different cues for the hypnosis we also learn that they may have been hypnotized way before they joined the expedition. Since the biologist is our POV, we know something nobody else knows—she has inhaled the spores and is immune to the hypnosis, and this is where we finally see shit hit the fan.
When the biologist told us that her husband had been here before and that she realized during this trek that maybe he was forced to go on this mission, I felt so sad for her because it changes her whole perspective on who they could have been. As smart as she is, the way in which her solitude encompasses her life kind of ruins it to a point that when she says she will stay in Area X, even her husband agrees in his journals this would be the place for her amongst nature and away from society.
Speaking of journals, the whole lighthouse scene really creeped me out. There is so much that is unknown (aside from these monsters and the worm-like tower and this mysterious writing and all of that), the fact that so many people have been here before her, before all the expeditions that they DO know about. I don't know why, but that's the part that creeps me out the most. Monsters? I can handle that. But the unbearable understanding that this is way beyond a simple expedition in a land supposedly unknown? Total dystopian vibes.
Needless to say, I have already ordered the other books and I can't WAIT to devour them all.
I loveeeee this series so much!! I think Mai Corland does a great job of exploring several characters, their motivations, and how they are connected together. I still feel an Ocean's 11 vibe with their coordination but I'm not mad about it. We now know that our teams initial attempt at assassinating the King of Yusan hasn't gone according to plan and now they've entered a new country with new rules in hopes of saving themselves. But can they ever trust each other after all their lies and betrayals have been exposed? The different POVs in the novel kept me very engaged and I like the shorter chapters that allow us to see different scenes through different character POVs. I am super excited for the third book after that crazy cliffhanger- which I did NOT see coming!
Highly recommend if you like action, ensemble characters, political layers, betrayal, magic, and all the hype that goes with it!
Alright, this review has been long overdue, so I'm going to break down why I rated this two stars.
Let me start by saying I really loved Fourth Wing; I was super hyped for the series just from that one book. Then I eagerly read Iron Flame, and it was literally torture to finish, but I thought, “It's okay; maybe I'll give it another chance—sometimes one book in a series is just meh.”
Then this one came out, and I can't believe I wasted my weekend on it when I have so many more engaging books to read. Respectfully, it's awful, lazy, and the writing is horrid. I'm appalled and confused as to why so many people like it, but honestly, you do you, and I'll be me. Here is why I did not like it:
The Writing: I did not like the writing at all. It felt as though many phrases were reused to the point where I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over again. For example, the way Violet's “anxiety” is described is literally the same as saying “my stomach dropped” or “my stomach plummeted.” To me, it became predictable and then annoying.
POV: Being in Violet's POV up until the end of the book was, in my opinion, kind of whack. First of all, it made the story boring; furthermore, we experienced so many changes in Iron Flame that having multiple POVs throughout the book would have made it richer. I wanted to know what Xaden was going through, what the dragons were thinking, and learn about some other characters as well. Having the POV change at the end was off-putting—it again felt lazy.
Fight Scenes: RY's fight scenes are generally just okay, and I had a hard time following some of those in this book. The course of action for different characters did not make sense, and I had to reread many parts to grasp what was happening. In some instances, RY references “a person” and later names a different character—for example, at one point, Violet hears someone shout behind her while she must focus on her fight, and then Dain is mentioned. Wouldn't it have been better to name Dain from the beginning instead of saying “a person”? I don't know—the fight scenes didn't flow as well as I would have liked, leaving me more confused than engaged.
Subplots: There were a TON of subplots in Iron Flame already, and do any of them connect or provide any answers in OS? No, not really. First, we have a “quest” to find Andarna's dragon family; a mission to find a cure for Xaden; and the potential for a full-scale war. Under these topics, there is island hopping for the quest with little to no information on the islands or deeper connections (maybe this extra detail isn't needed, but it seemed that with all the reading, we would have received more insight into the geographic and historical complexities). We have the subplot of the cure while we are on the quest, and then random information—like Xaden's mom being alive (why?)—is thrown in to stir things up without ever fully exploring her relationship with Xaden. Violet is possibly an inductee of a goddess, but this is barely mentioned, inserted randomly, and then never discussed further. And then, why is his grandma suddenly so important—was she important before? It all really confused and annoyed me. After all this hunting and questing, we finally find Andarna's family, and then—BAM—they won't help, and Oh, Andarna just breaks your bond and leaves your rider—what? And no, we don't have a cure for Xaden; too bad, so sad. Then the ending of the book is basically like book two, where he is still screwed and we don't get much out of it, but they get MARRIED—what the hell?
The Characters: If you are going to create a book series with several characters and supposedly complex relationships, maybe include a character dictionary so we can look them up? I swear, I felt like I was going crazy because, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out who some people were. With an ensemble this large, it would help to have multiple POVs or a character dictionary—or something.
Overall, I didn't like it, and I felt disappointed. It doesn't help that RY already mentioned she's had a TV show deal for this since she had Fourth Wing in edits, so it felt like she had just been writing to get the book out and make money. This book, as well as Iron Flame, honestly lacked the detailed, careful writing that made Fourth Wing so good. Again, this is my opinion, and I'm not going to hate on people who loved it, but please don't hate on me because I really didn't. I won't be rushing out to get the next book, but maybe I will read it—let's see.
Wowwowowowowowow I LOVE IT. This series is so good. I will say that it's def a journey to get through the first book considering it's 1,000 pages long but the last 25% of the book make it so worth it. We have so many moving pieces, underdog stores, multiple parallel plot lines, political hierarchies, and s complex system of magic that is yet to be tapped into. I'm very curious to learn more about who Shallan and Kaladin really are and what sort of powers they are going to tap into.