blurrypetals

[blurrypetals]

Summer Romance by Annabel Monaghan - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 27, 2025 - ★★★★☆

This is my first book of Monaghan's, but I have the feeling someone is trying to copy Emily Henry's homework without any of the elements that make Emily Henry any good. I usually love a more mature romance, but god this was so boring.

I didn't care for the characters really. It felt like Ali was nothing more than a Divorced Lady with a Dead Mom and Ethan didn't have anything too interesting going on, either. I was thinking of DNF'ing this for a hot minute and finally gave up at the 75% mark when I decided I just didn't care how it all ended.

I really think too much weight is put on Ethan's identity and his failure to be honest with Ali for it to only seem like it didn't actually fucking matter in the end? This book was utterly frictionless, totally without any real conflict.

I wasted too much time on this one. Next, please!

[blurrypetals]

Careful of Books by Cassandra Clare

originally posted jul. 25, 2025 - ★★★★☆

I sincerely didn't know what to expect from this when I received it in the mail back in May. As someone who contributed to the Kickstarter this book is a part of, I'm a huge fan of Cassandra Clare and I'd try reading just about anything she writes.

However, I also didn't know this wouldn't be a collection of all Shadowhunter stories going into it. So, when I found it was just the one about Matthew and the rest were not related at all, I'll admit I was just a smidge disappointed. That said, I shouldn't have been! I really enjoyed the 3 non-Shadowhunter stories in this. So let's get into it!

A Sea-Change This was easily the worst one in the collection. Go figure that the one Shadowhunters story ended up being not so enjoyable. As much as I love Cassie and her work, I'm certainly not under the illusion that she can do no wrong and it's stories like this one that prove such. I love Matthew Fairchild. I think he's a wonderful character whose alcoholism and subsequent sobriety are written beautifully in The Last Hours. I always wanted the best, happiest ending for him. He deserves love, a long life of adventure and joy. This offers those things, but it is all far too rushed to at all feel satisfying or earned. I really didn't find any reasons to care for Sylvain and in fact expected him to betray Matthew and be the real killer. Alas, this really fell flat for me and it's the reason the collection is a 4/5 star read for me.

A Scandal at Undershaw This was surprisingly delightful! I've never been the most dedicated fan of Sherlock stories beyond the Robert Downey Jr. films and a couple of episodes of the BBC series, so this is likely something I never would have read without the entry point of it being Cassandra Clare. Having read it now, I'd easily read an entire series about these versions of the characters. It had some wonderful moments of humor, the mystery was compelling and unpredictable, and the characters were all very fleshed out with interesting backstories and believable motives even in spite of the novella length. I had a great time with this one, I really hope Cassie's agent takes note and can get it sold as a novel or series of novels someday soon!

Wendy Darling This was slightly weaker in execution than the second and fourth stories in this collection, but my affection for all things Peter Pan pulled a lot of weight for me here. I think it's impossible for me to rate anything Pan-related lower than 3/5 because of a lifelong soft spot for the story. Even though this wasn't the strongest of the bunch, though, it also wasn't the weakest. It had some really fun moments between James, Peter, and Wendy that felt reminiscent of Jem, Will, and Tessa (respectively) from The Infernal Devices. The lore could absolutely use some work, but it truly is no more or less developed than your typical CW or ABC Freeform show, so it honestly probably would have worked well enough in the end. Honestly, I'd have watched this as a show!

In Fire Foretold I feel like the thesis of this must have resembled, "How Holly Black can a Cassie Clare work possibly feel?" which, in my opinion, is a great thing. In contrast to Wendy Darling, I felt like what little of the lore we saw here was very solid but it was light enough to make me excited to know much more in the forthcoming novel. I really am excited that, of the three "proof of concept" novellas in this collection, this is the one that's getting a chance to spread its wings. It definitely reminds me quite a lot of the earliest parts of The Mortal Instruments with a snarky blonde boy coming to rescue the heroine from almost certain peril after she discovers there is more than meets the eye about the world she believed she knew after impossible magic things begin happening. That said, I'm stoked for the rest of this story and I'm glad we got this little taste here!

While this collection wasn't what I was expecting it to be, I'm glad we got a little something different for a change. I was really impressed with two of the four stories and enjoyed the third in spite of some flaws and, against all odds, the one Shadowhunter story that was here ended up being the weakest of the bunch. It was all a good time and I cannot wait to get Better in Black soon to finish off this whole fun Seasons of Shadowhunters venture!

Unrelated addendum: it's been really disappointing to see how vitriolic people have been about the fact that the Kickstarter has faced some shipping delays as well as the fact that Better in Black has been picked up for tradpub. I understand being disappointed that this didn't meet expectations has far as the timeline goes, but if anyone was under any illusions these books would never be picked up for tradpub or never get delayed, y'all must be drinking the good shit to have such delusions. A lot of people are also complaining about the copyediting and I'm just like...I dunno, who cares about a few typos? It sucks, in a perfect world these would be perfectly edited, there would have been no delays, and we would have gotten everything 6 months before any tradpub, but none of those things actually matter to the work itself nor are they Cassandra Clare's fault. Everyone whining about this stuff or, worse, reporting the Kickstarter as a scam need to grow the fuck up. Take a deep breath. Get a grip. You're gonna get your last book, then the rest of the world will. The entitlement on these people, I swear.

[blurrypetals]

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 23, 2025 - ★★★★☆

I liked this quite a lot more than The Knight and the Butcherbird! It was certainly a little more barebones than Butcherbird, but it was effective.

I was especially impressed with Harrow's use and mix of first and second tense here, using it extremely well in order to tell a story that takes place across time.

While short, this story packs a punch and somehow manages to have a believable and interesting romance at its center as well! I'd definitely love to read more short fiction from Harrow in the future!

[blurrypetals]

The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 18, 2025 - ★★★★☆

I'm certainly not alone when I say I enjoyed Durst's The Spellshop a whole lot. While I didn't love it, its worldbuilding and atmosphere were top notch, so I was definitely interested enough to read something else set in this world.

So...I still didn't love this. That said, it has the exact same strengths and identical weaknesses to The Spellshop. The romance had some really strong moments but ultimately lacked depth because the characters themselves didn't have a whole ton going on.

With all that being said, I don't have anything to say here that I didn't already say in my review for the first book. This was nice, great vibes, and the main guy reminded me of my husband with his acts of service.

I don't know if I'll read more of Durst's work beyond this book, but her work definitely has a certain coziness, a wonderful atmosphere, it was definitely fun to return to.

[blurrypetals]

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 17, 2025 - ★★☆☆☆

I made it about halfway into this one before deciding it was too wordy and info-dumpy for my tastes. It also seemed to be heading in multiple predictable directions and I simply wasn't interested in finding out exactly how predictable it all was.

I also really wasn't feeling terribly interested in either of the main characters. Sciona seemed to be nothing more than a really smart and gifted lady hellbent on smashing all the misogynistic men's expectations. That's it, that's the whole character. Thomil seemed to have a little more going on than Sciona did, but he also lacked quite a lot of depth.

I think if this book was a good deal shorter, I might have stuck it through to the end and might have rated it at least 1 star higher, but it really just felt like a big, long lecture on the magic system, like M.L. Wang knew she had something truly unique and different and wasted all her words talking about that rather than building interesting and believable characters.

[blurrypetals]

Wildlife by Jeff VanderMeer - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 14, 2025 - ★★☆☆☆

It's probably a good thing I didn't pay a dime for this story because otherwise I'd definitely want my money back.

Put simply, this is a story that strings you along for its duration only to reveal that what's going on with the ravine...is never revealed! It sincerely feels like this ended in the middle of a bigger, better story and VanderMeer just didn't care to finish it.

Instead, Amazon scooped up Jeff's scraps and put it into this collection for free. It was confusing, undercooked, and held little to no value. The only reason this is a 2-star rating instead of a 1-star rating was for the atmosphere. Sorry Jeff, better luck next time!

[blurrypetals]

A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranson - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 13, 2025 - ★★★★★

It's books like these that make me glad to dip my toes into the memoir and autobiography space every once in a while.

I don't think I normally would have gravitated toward this. I love Bryan Cranston and think he's a brilliant actor, but what little I knew about him before reading this didn't belie an interesting life outside his acting.

It's lovely to be proven wrong! The guy has lived a surprisingly interesting and adventurous life, particularly in his childhood and early adulthood. He's also very talented at telling these stories, giving everything this frank yet almost dreamy quality.

This was a wonderful surprise and I'm so glad I took a chance on it despite a little disinterest at first. Sometimes the most fun and interesting stories come in the most unassuming, humble, loving father and husband-shaped packages.

[blurrypetals]

The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 8, 2025 - ★★★★☆

I love a good thriller. Gone Girl is one of my favorite mystery-thrillers! But because of that, I think it kind of ruined me for a lot of other books because it's just too damn good.

I also can be a little too good at guessing the twists and mysteries in a lot of books like The Housemaid or they have great twists but aren't so great before that twist happens like with The Silent Patient.

I feel like Jeneva Rose hit a good balance between the two things here: it was a genuinely good, unpredictable answer to the mystery and it kept me interested and on my toes for a good deal of the book. I had about three different theories going on for who the killer was and why and while one of them was close-ish to correct, I couldn't figure out the details enough to really entertain it.

I will say, if this was a little shorter, I think I would have loved it. As it stands, however, it is a little long, a little meandering, so it wasn't a fantastic experience that had me on the edge of my seat. That being said, it wasn't bad and I'd be glad to check out more of Rose's other work in the near future!

[blurrypetals]

A Harvest of Hearts by Andrea Eames - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 2, 2025 - ★★★★☆

All being honest, this was close to being a 3-star read for me, but the spooky vibes, interesting and different magic, and impressive technical writing dragged things much closer to a 4 than a 3 when all was said and done.

I think two major things shot this book in the foot for me. The first was the pacing and length of the novel. I think this could have been around 50-70 pages shorter and about 30% better. The last quarter or so of the book especially felt extra drawn out.

I did really enjoy the beginning third of the book, however. I thought the opening exposition dump was an excellent hook to bring the reader into the world and Foss's mind. Things flowed really well from this exposition into the main plot of the novel.

I think the second issue with this book, though, is Sylvester. While Foss felt like a fully realized, tangible person and felt that way damn near instantly through her narration, I never really connected with Sylvester as a character, and therefore couldn't really buy into his and Foss's romance.

This had a lot of potential and lived up to some of it, but it definitely felt like a debut. I don't know enough about Eames's past work but it definitely did feel like it might have worked better as a short story, so I'm certainly interested in checking out the novella mentioned in the author's note. I'd definitely read more of her work in the future, but for now this was a decent if flawed homage to Howl's Moving Castle.

[blurrypetals]

Tangled Up in You by Christina Lauren - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 26, 2025 - ★★★☆☆

So, to preface this whole review, ya girl has a Tangled tattoo. I'm such a huge fan of Tangled that Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure is not only one of my favorite cartoons, it's one of my all-time favorite televisions shows, period.

When I say I love Tangled, boy do I mean it.

I was cautiously optimistic going into this, however. I'm generally a fan of Christina and Lauren! I've never rated them below 3 stars, for whatever it's worth, so there was a slim chance of disliking it, and it was a safe bet.

That said, I think I didn't like this as much because of that aforementioned love and adoration for my favorite Disney movie. I believe it kind of made it so I could never really love this book because it's a worse version of this story I love so much. And when I say it's a worse version, it's really just that it's being compared to what I find to be a perfect movie.

I really didn't care for Fitz here, especially in the front half of the book. I get that he's meant to be a grumpy jerk with a secret heart of gold, but it was really hard to see any good in him for a long while. Like at least in the original film, Flynn is legitimately funny and charming even if he is a rude, self-centered criminal. Here, Fitz is just mean at first and he doesn't have the same levity or humor Flynn Rider does to help his likability.

I didn't mind Ren so much, but I did feel like she was sort of infantilized when it suited the story and mature and knowledgeable when it didn't. Like, in the original film, Rapunzel is book smart, but she knows nothing of the outside world, so there are many things she doesn't know, which leads to her naïveté getting them into charming conversations and situations.

Here, though, it feels like the gaps between Ren's book smarts and street smarts feel much wider, even though Ren has received way more socialization than Rapunzel ever did. Why doesn't she understand the difference between being called hot (attractive) and being called hot (the temperature)? That just feels like you're dumbing her down unnaturally. That's not naïveté, that's just convenience for a joke that doesn't even land.

I will say that, despite my issues with the characters themselves, I did enjoy the romance they had. I'm really a sucker for a good road trip romance and I think Christina and Lauren do a great job selling it. The two characters have a natural blossoming quality with their relationship, opening up to one another gradually and carefully. I also appreciated that it wasn't some dumb miscommunication that made Ren leave Fitz behind. It was because of a lie she was told, not because she overhears something or sees something and misinterprets it, but because the only "mother" she's ever known tells her something that scares her. Kind of refreshing.

Anyway, this was definitely pretty mid for me but despite it's lows, it does have a few highs to balance it all out. I did enjoy some of the easter eggs, like the car's name being Max and Ren having a pet named Pascal. I would have enjoyed it even more if there were characters mirroring Lance, Cassandra, and Varian at the college, but I can't always expect for Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure to get its flowers...but (unrelated aside) PLEASE, Disney, make me an official Varian pin!

It wasn't a home run but it wasn't a total disaster either! I'll always keep coming back to Christina and Lauren, though! It might not always be a slam dunk but it's always at least a bit of a good time at its worst!

[blurrypetals]

Dating and Dragons by Kristy Boyce - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 23, 2025 - ★★★☆☆

Well, I didn't like this one as much as Dungeons and Drama, but it was still an all right read.

Honestly, I think a lot of my issue with this one comes down to two things: how adult Logan often seemed and how repetitive the conflict was.

In Dungeons and Drama, it felt like we really got to watch Riley and Nathan's feelings for one another blossom and grow over the course of the book and I loved that! Here, however, it seemed like Quinn and Logan hit it off damn near instantly, and therefore the conflict here is easy to understand: Quinn and Logan shouldn't be together lest they break the group rule.

And Boyce just hammers the reader over the head with this conflict over and over again. We're reminded of this issue and Quinn's past issues with dating party members so constantly that it feels like there's no room for anything else. I remember liking the D&D group from Dungeons and Drama so much, but with the group from this book, I barely remember anyone else's names or personalities.

On top of this, Logan seems so much more adult than Quinn, always offering calm, rational solutions to their feelings for one another, but this also comes with the fact that he makes comments about throwing Quinn up against walls and kissing her and loving her more than anything that just feel so...mature, way more mature than a D&D-loving 16-year-old would be, and Boyce doesn't give us any reason to believe he should be acting more mature than his peers, either.

This all said, I felt like this had its fun moments, even if none of it was nearly as fun as anything from Dungeons and Drama. I also felt like the romance had a lot of good parts, even if parts of it felt beyond the realm of possibility for your typical 16-year-old couple. I definitely didn't have a bad time, but it also didn't feel like a great time, either, so take that for what you will! Either way, I'd probably read a third one if Boyce writes one, but I'll definitely be hoping it looks more like the first book than it does the second if she does!

[blurrypetals]

The Floating World by Axie Oh - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 20, 2025 - ★★★★★

Sometimes, you just know you're gonna like something. I don't always put the most stock in a book when a publisher lists the book's comp titles on the inside flap, but it sure as shit got my attention here by listing two of my all-time favorite things: Shadow and Bone and Final Fantasy.

And I think the reason this worked for me is because those things are actually reflected in the work at hand without it feeling like it's ripping anything off, either. I can't tell you the amount of times I've read something like, "This is A Court of Thorns and Roses meets The Cruel Prince!" when it resembles neither, especially not the one I'm actually a fan of.

Anyway, the reason I'm talking so much about comps is because knowing what this is inspired by, in my opinion, only makes the experience better. I think the reason this was so fun was because, every time I saw something that reminded me of a Final Fantasy game or a Studio Ghibli movie or the Grishaverse, I saw it from an angle of pure creative inspiration, with Oh putting her own spin on every last element present here.

There are also definitely elements here that remind me of Oh's other fantasy novel, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, namely the idea of characters living without memory and others who are secretly royalty, but I similarly found them to be more thematic rather than the same thing twice over. I would be really interested to hear more about the themes of memory and memory loss in Oh's stories from her someday. Hint, hint…come to Salt Lake City…

I just absolutely got wrapped up in the world here. I may not have connected deeply with the characters, but I connected with their quests, their deep belief in the importance of family, which is another theme this book shares with Oh's previous novel.

The only thing I found to be a little lacking is some depth to the characters. I did enjoy the characters, don't get me wrong, but I didn't feel super attached to them. I would be sad about any of them dying or getting seriously injured, but I wouldn't cry.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book and the rich, dense, sprawling world Oh created for this story. I also found the characters to have interesting backstories that unfolded beautifully and at a perfect pace, even if I didn't feel so attached to those characters. I'm very excited to see what happens in the next book in October! So excited it's coming out just 6 months after the first! 'Til then!

[blurrypetals]

The Influencers by Anna-Marie McLemore - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 17, 2025 - ★★☆☆☆

I did not care for the last book of McLemore's that I read, Dark and Deepest Red, but I have loved many of their books in the past. So, when I heard that they had written a new book and it was not their typical magical realism or fantasy, I was interested, excited, even.

That excitement died a pretty quick death, though. McLemore failed to make me feel any intrigue over this murder mystery and, on top of that, I wasn't interested in any of the characters. June and July are probably the most interesting of the bunch, but even then I just couldn't get a foothold into caring about them or anything they were up to.

I also feel like McLemore's simple, dreamy dialogue which works so wonderfully in their fantasy absolutely does not work here. It makes everyone sound robotic, programmed to Act Suspicious rather than Act Human.

Anyway, this could pick up later in the book, I don't know, but I don't really intend to find out. I'm bored to tears. Next, please.

[blurrypetals]

Park Avenue by Renée Ahdieh - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 16, 2025 - ★★☆☆☆

Talk about not living up to the promised premise. The burn was simply far too slow here and I read so much of this book, still waiting for something to start happening.

I was expecting something fun yet thought provoking like Crazy Rich Asians and something raw and intense like Succession. It sounded like such an interesting combo! It still does! I simply wish we had, I dunno, actually gotten such a combo.

I guess it's possible I missed the "good part" by choosing not to finish this one, but at about 35% of the way into the book, we were still setting so much stuff up.

I'm pretty disappointed since I've really enjoyed just about everything of Ahdieh's I've read before and unfortunately this simply can't join those ranks. I'm simply too bored.

[blurrypetals]

Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 12, 2025 - ★★★★★

The day I started reading this book, I told my husband a little about what I'd read so far, which was perhaps when I was about 30-40% of the way through, maybe less. I said the pontifications on immortality and long life reminded me of Addie LaRue but the vampires (or, should I say roses?) themselves reminded me of something Anne Rice might write, even though I've never read any of Rice's work, just seen the Brad Pitt movie.

The day I finished this book, I got to go to an event and see V.E. Schwab speak. It was muggy and hot and I felt deeply, deeply grateful I had a birthday card to fan myself with, but I'm so grateful I got to hear her speak on this novel.

It was in that sweltering room that Schwab detailed the idea of the metaphorical garden The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue grew from and how this new book grew as a rose from that same garden. I loved this metaphor, because it not only explained this strange, inexplicable link I could feel between the two books, but it also perfectly describes how these two completely disparate works can still be connected, just as two different flowers in the same garden.

I was also probably enchanted enough to hear Schwab's thought processes, intentions, and the like that this went from a high 4-star rating to a full 5-star rating. I didn't love this nearly as much as Addie, but there was an undeniable fucking quality to this book. Schwab said she's never put so much of herself, personally speaking, into a book before, and I have to say, it shows.

I feel oddly reticent to really dig into things like the characters and plot, as this is so character driven that talking too much about the characters would, in turn spoil the plot of the book. That said, I loved all these women's stories. Their narrative voices were all extremely strong, as were each of the different purposes they had.

Anyway, it was lovely, deliciously dark, a fantastic rose from the garden. I can only hope we can get a whole bouquet someday, as she somewhat hinted could be a possibility in the future. Fingers crossed for more someday soon!

[blurrypetals]

The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel by Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Williams, and Sas Milledge - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 11, 2025 - ★★★★★

[an ARC was lent to me by my friend, who works for a local bookstore]

What a rare, beautiful treat to get the chance to fall in love with one of your favorite books for the first time again, and an even rarer treat to have such a good friend that they'll "forget" their ARC of a graphic novel they know you're looking forward to at your house so you can read and enjoy it a month and a half early.

I've only read The Raven Boys twice, but these books have forever changed my life. It's my all-time favorite complete series, and I'm over the moon we get to reopen that chapter with these graphic novels.

To start, Sas Milledge's artwork here is absolutely brilliant. There were a couple of characters here who didn't look exactly how I pictured them (specifically Whelk and Neeve) but the character designs nevertheless captured the essence of those characters. That being said, the main characters are dead on. Every single one of the boys as well as Blue all look precisely how I pictured them. I literally cannot wait to see it all in color, as this ARC was in black and white.

I also found the script writing by Stephanie Williams to be extremely faithful to the source material. It's been a minute since I reread the books, but I felt like all of the best parts of the novel were adapted beautifully here and there was nothing major missing. I felt like Noah was probably the only major loss here, as we barely see him, but other than that, I can't complain.

I think this was such a fantastic adaptation of the beginning of this absolutely beloved series of mine and I really hope they get the opportunity to adapt the other three books (and hey, why not The Dreamer Trilogy, too?) someday!

[blurrypetals]

Lights Out by Navessa Allen - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 9, 2025 - ★★☆☆☆

If my rating was based on the first half of this book, this might actually be getting a 4/5 rating, but alas, the second half exists, where the pacing dies a slow, painful death and the already not-great dialogue gets mega cringey.

Typically, I'm not much of a dark romance reader, but I dabble in it sometimes, and I watch a lot of YouTubers who review it, so I'm aware of some of the worst the genre has to offer such as Haunting Adeline, which I know to be problematic and poorly written.

I at least have to give Lights Out its flowers for featuring consent and somewhat competent writing. Like I said already, I enjoyed the beginning of this book. The sort of cat and mouse thing was pretty fun at first, but then once Josh took his mask off, something was definitely lost.

The mafia stuff was also just...absolutely not interesting to me. I really didn't sign up for any kind of mafia romance, since it isn't mentioned in the synopsis or earlier in the book. I've never, ever found mafia romance interesting, it's sincerely one of the least interesting subgenres to me. If I wanted the mob, I'd rewatch The Sopranos, thanks.

The dialogue really fell apart for me in the second half of the book, too. I really hated the way Aly and Josh would talk with and about one another once they got together. It was all too friendly and insta-lovey for me. I was actively groaning, "Oh, come on," toward the end. The audiobook really is the only reason this book is so popular, I just know it.

This experience was pretty rough, but it was at least better (both ethically as well as on a writing level) than some of its contemporaries. That being said, I definitely won't be reading the rest of this series as this one was already enough of a slog to get through on its own.