• ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Night Tide by Anna Burke | ARC Review

    14th April 2021
    Cover of Night Tide (Anna Burke)

    Night Tide (A Seal Cove Romance #2) by Anna Burke

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    You know when you hate someone so much you ended up knowing every tiny thing about them? Well, I don’t, but Lillian and Ivy do.

    Dr. Lillian Lee (31) and Dr. Ivy Holden have been archenemies throughout vet school, so when Ivy relocates to Seal Cove where Lillian is working, the latter is not pleased. To Lillian, Ivy is a spoiled rich kid who made her life hell. But what if she isn’t horrible anymore now?

    I love books with wonderful imageries and great thematic choices. In Spindrift (my review here), I adored the opening and ending scenes of the dock, from boat to land, and here in Night Tide, the freedom on an isolated island with crashing waves, persistent and ever-growing vines of ivy, the somberness of Edgar Allen Poe references, etc. are as beautifully interwoven as I could have wished for.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    Spellbound by Ophelia Silk | ARC Review

    8th April 2021
    Cover of Spellbound (Ophelia Silk)

    Spellbound by Ophelia Silk

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Check trigger warnings on the author’s website.

    I went into the story knowing I’m going to get cottagecore sapphics with a simplistic plot, but I didn’t expect it to be so cute.

    Jane Paris (20) and William make a striking couple. Or so the villagers say. One day, after another dissatisfying evening with William, Jane walks into the dangerous forest for a shortcut back home. Soon, a poisonous beast attacks her and it is only because of the witch Adelaide Thompson’s magic and cure that Jane survives. Raised to be proper and polite and marry a man, Jane learns that not all expectations are meant to be fulfilled, especially when there are other things that bring her happiness.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Project by Courtney Summers | ARC Review

    1st February 2021
    Cover of The Project (Courtney Summers)

    The Project by Courtney Summers

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: cult, gaslighting, manipulation, child abuse, abuse (cigarette burn, scalding, etc.), panic attacks, death of family members, suicide (jumper), vandalization, pregnancy, car accident, substance-induced psychosis, threatening, possible PTSD, infidelity

    The Project is a story about a cult, The Unity Project led by Lev Warren, and the unbreakable ties between sisters Lo (b. 1998) and Bea (b. ca. 1992) Denham.

    Lo has always dreamed of being a writer but is currently, in 2017, stuck working as an assistant for Paul Tindale at SVO, a magazine company. When the opportunity arises for her to dig into The Unity Project, a religious organization Lo believes to have taken Bea from her, she risks her own safety for a series of exclusive interviews with Lev. With Lo being facially scarred from a life-threatening car accident that killed both her parents in 2011, she is recognizable everywhere at The Project’s compounds as Bea’s little sister. But Lo is tired of everyone else knowing Bea when she hasn’t heard from her sister in a long time, and she is desperate to find out what is really going on at The Unity Project.

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Clinch by Nicole Disney | ARC Review

    11th January 2021
    Cover of The Clinch (Nicole Disney)

    The Clinch by Nicole Disney

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    Content warnings: graphic sex, blood, d slur, homophobia/homomisia, child abuse, minor character drug addiction, mention of prostitution, recreational drinking, uses of ableist language, hospitalization

    Written in present tense, The Clinch is an incredibly vivid rivals-to-lovers sports romance, charged with immediacy.

    Eden Bauer (27, gay) holds an undefeated record and is the reigning UFC featherweight championship. When newbie pro Brooklyn Shaw (22, biracial, Black) challenges Eden for a title match, Eden reluctantly agrees. Their rivalry is strong, but when post-match Brooklyn comes knocking on the door of Eden’s gym, will they be able to put aside their differences and work together?

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  • ARCs,  Book Reviews,  Fiction

    The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins | ARC Review

    4th January 2021
    Cover of The Wife Upstairs (Rachel Hawkins)

    The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

    Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.

    // tl;dr: very cishet & white (0 queer characters & 0 poc); messed up world of rich people and master manipulators with mysterious deaths

    Content warnings: on-page murder, mentions of drowning, blackmail, manipulation, forced captivity, infidelity, blood, alcohol abuse

    [background music: taylor swift’s no body, no crime]

    Everything is a sham and our seemingly lovable characters are actually master manipulators.

    It’s thrilling to read, and I couldn’t stop at all.

    Jane (23), who grew up in the foster care system until she aged out, walks dogs for the rich people in Thornfield Estates. When by chance she meets Edward “Eddie” Rochester (30s), a handsome recent widower who doesn’t entirely fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, she desperately wants him—him and the new life he could provide—because no one should ever know that Jane isn’t really Jane. But she isn’t the only one who has dark secrets from the past.

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