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Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1)
Heather Fawcett
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Daddy Issues
Kate Goldbeck
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Coldwire
Chloe Gong
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Rose in Chains
Julie Soto
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Octavia Butler's Afro-Futuristic World š«šš§¬
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All of her groundbreaking works, exploring themes of Afrofuturism, power, and survival.
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Dark Sisters
Kristi DeMeester
theballadofgrace commented on yzwordwanderlust's review of An Arcane Inheritance
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theballadofgrace finished reading and wrote a review...
I considered continuing to give this a try, but I don't really think I have the willpower to push through a book that I don't think will improve as it continues.
I think the political intrigue, lore, and world-building are the best parts of the book for me, and I'm intrigued by the setting and magic that Davenport has created for this story, but sadly the character executions and romance fall flat and leave me wanting more from them. Despite knowing that the smut would be plentiful in this, it was still jarring to have the character interactions outside of sex still be about how horny they are for each other. Like, yes, I get it, but can we discuss the actual plot now?!
The writing is fine but not great. It falls too often under the cardinal sin of "telling instead of showing," and I often feel like the book could be a hundred pages shorter if it wasn't always trying to explain everything and just allow the reader to infer through context. And while I wasn't expecting this to be the most original piece of work ever, I hadn't expected this to just be an amalgamation of all the popular romantasy tropes from enemies-to-lovers, to shadow daddies, to whatever else thrown together. It feels basic and generic, like another grain of rice amidst thousands of others. And because this book was just recently released and is still utilizing the same tropes that so many others have used before it, this book also feels outdated.
I think it's possible that I will pick up this book in the future if ever I'm in the mood for what this book actually provides rather than have expectations of what I wish it would have been, but for now, it's a DNF.
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Our Vicious Oaths
N.E. Davenport
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My Husband's Wife
Alice Feeney
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We Do Not Part
Han Kang