britreadsbooks

[britreadsbooks]

i'm officially back to business (reading books)

[britreadsbooks]

my eyes went—> 😍

[britreadsbooks]

The Shepherd King (Duology) by Rachel Gilig

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When the sequel is better than the starter

It has been a long while since I read a fantasy that I absolutely adored. I found a lot of the fantasy novels in the last year to be just okay or even good, but these books had me wondering if I just haven’t read good fantasy in awhile and I forgot what it was like.

The lore in this shit is just *chefs kiss* fabulous. The magic is so unique, so unlike anything I’ve read before. The romance is a subplot - take notes, fantasy writers - and it’s wholesome and the drama adds to it. There’s no need for miscommunication tropes or any time wasters, the natural progression of the plot provides alll the conflict you need.

As the first book “One Dark Window” went on, I fell in love with the magic system and I found myself wanting more and more to know what the scoop was with the Shepherd King. I wanted to know all the juicy deets about how he all these magical cards and how he ended up becoming “The Shepherd King.” I was left wanting at the end of the first novel but surprise, surprise - not for long!

When I started “Two Twisted Crowns” I was stoked that I was getting all of the information I wanted by the end of the first novel. It picked up exactly where we left off and gave me a satisfying, sensible plot with a good wrap-up in the end. The plot was flawless, I have no notes.

The one singular reason that this only gets four stars is because the foreshadowing was heavy as all heck. I could predict a lot of what (I assume) were supposed to be big reveals. I think this novel is considered YA, so that’s probably why, but still.. even with that flaw, this shit was excellent. And I appreciate that author didn’t beat a dead horse. A duology was enough to keep the plot from not feeling stunted because she wanted to drag it out over 3-4 books.

Highly recommend this duology, I’m so happy I picked it up.

[britreadsbooks]

[britreadsbooks]

Neon Gods by Katee Robert

⭐️

Gods help us all.

Okay, so I DNF’d this book 45% of the way through. Typically, I don’t like to review books I don’t finish so I normally power through terrible ones just so I can give my thoughts. Unfortunately, I just could not power through this any further.

First and foremost, who are these girlies recommending this book? Bless you, but I don’t see what you see. This was marketed as a “modern retelling of Hades/Persephone.” I tell you, I don’t see any retelling at all. Yes, they share names and the city is named Olympus, but you could’ve swapped the name and BAM! You got yourself a mafia romance.

Secondly, the smut in this book? Horrid. Bad bad bad. The descriptions are uncomfortable, the dialogue is lackluster, and the MCs are not fleshed out enough for them to have chemistry. It’s just such an odd experience reading smut for two-dimensional characters that you have no investment in.

Finally, the characters themselves. There is no character development to speak of and frankly there is very little plot. I’m a bitch who likes a little thinking with my smutting so this will simply not do for me. Not only is the smut bad, but the smut is all you have to offer me. Then, to add insult to injury, you give me hot and cold characters who are impossible to enjoy because they are such a random mashup or random tropes. Is Hades a bad boy or a sunshine? Ah, why not both! A man who is supposed to emulate the god of the Underworld is a simp with a (possible) foot fetish.

The BookTok girlies have failed me yet again, which is the whole purpose of me creating this blog. I will dispel the myth that this book is good. It is not good. You’re welcome!