p_gonza2's reviews
171 reviews

The Witch Hunt by Sasha Peyton Smith

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Clash of Fate and Fury by Rachel Menard

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Clash of fate and fury:

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me this e-arc. All opinions are my own.

After (winning) the trials from the empresses Gen and her friends have to first do more of the empresses bidding to get Gen’s father freedom. It was quite emotional reading the interactions that Gen had with her dad, it was so sad because I understand why she isn’t wasn’t so open to her father. I honestly think that Pollux is even better than the previous book. (Butttt Castor is still my favorite and I’m glad we got to see more of her in this book.) I loved the magic system and how the author added the mythology is well written. The author wrote each character so different that I never had a problem knowing whose pov it was.

Overall I recommend this series to anyone who likes mythology, amazing written heroines and different pov chapters.

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Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

*Many thanks to Netgalley and Inkyard Press for sending me this arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own*

Silver in the Mist is about an asexual spy who is sent to the rival kingdom to infiltrate their royal court and kidnap the most powerful magic caster to help aid Devlin’s kingdom.

I really liked the world building; how well described both kingdoms were and when Devlin travels we see how different they both are. Fun fact almost everyone in this book is a grey character and I liked that because they were doing what they thought was best for their country and it was interesting reading about them.

Some of my complaints about this book is that when Devlin goes to Cerena, at least for me, I was confused as to why everyone was a layde I think if it was mentioned before hand that it was a neutral term for the nobles would’ve been much better for the reader to know. And my other complaint is that Devlin’s spy skills are mostly talked about but not shown because whatever she needs she finds it too easily; for example she finds really important classified documents on top of a table which doesn’t make sense because it would be somewhere harder to find, same thing with books she’s quick to find the answers she needs from books or when she gets papers from the best spy in her kingdom by picking a lock which you would think that by being a spy they would have better lock systems, but I guess not so that was a bit annoying I wanted Devlin to actually struggle to get her answers.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book I would read it again and pick up a sequel if there’s any since it’s an open ending.

Book cover: 5/5!

Characters: 5/5

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4./5

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These Wicked Stars by Catelyn Wilson

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley for sending me this e-arc in exchange for a honest review! All opinions are my own.
I wanna start with that I find the cover to be so pretty and was one of the factors of me requesting this book. I also found the synopsis interesting almost reminding me of Caraval. Unfortunately I could not connect to the characters at all. In a hero’s journey it starts with character leaving home, often being foolish making horrible decisions and most often have a big flaw (that they get tested later and learn from their mistakes), for our main character, Hazel, her flaw

happened to be too trusting and needing to be desired/

. Hazel gets constantly tested throughout the book and she keeps failing, every person she meets she trusts, the only reason that she wasn’t betrayed was because the other person didn’t do it but Hazel herself never questions herself. I honestly think that if we would’ve seen some growth from this it would’ve improved but it just makes her character flat, and boring, I did not sympathise with her I did not care if she got hurt or what would happen to her.
The other thing that first seemed interesting was the idea of the bazaar to be open for 7 days but unfortunately there was some days (literally the first day) that felt sooo long there was just too many descriptions that it made me put the book down and take a break. I think if the introduction was shorten it would make the story flow better. I understand we need the information to understand but it was too much for just one scene.
This book also contains insta love which is why I say that Hazel didn’t learn of her mistakes because she just wanted to be loved and honestly just stayed with the first person who showed some interest in her which is literally the same problem she had with the other guy.
Overall this book had potential it just needs a shorter introduction and add growth to characters. Would I read a (the?) sequel? Probably not as I couldn’t connect to the characters to actually be invested to see what happens to them.

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The Reclaimed Kingdom by Dana Claire

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adventurous funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

*I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review*

*Clears throat* Mirror Mirror, Snow White and the Huntsman, meets Robin Hood!!

The cover alone grabbed my attention.

I was not prepared for how good this book was going to be. It started a bit slow and around the 40% mark I couldn’t put it down unless— only when I had to leave to work— the vibes I got from this book was the movie Mirror Mirror when Snow (different name idk?) escaped the palace and starts stealing money from the queen and once further in the book I got more of kristen Stewart’s movie. This story does contain a sort of love triangle which reminded me a lot from the Huntsman’s movie.

Character wise I think Andrua (Dru) did learn from her mistakes and she learns to control her powers more. Dodge was my favorite he reminded me so much of Sam Claflin’s character in Huntsman I liked that he wasn’t a useless prince and helped out whenever he could. The ending made it open for sequels to continue and I think it’ll be fun see how all the main characters continue forward after the new revelations.

Cover: 5/5

Characters: 5/5

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War of Shadows by Emma V.R. Noyes

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adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Many thanks to the author for sending me this arc! War of Shadows picks up right where we left off in the previous book.

I think this is my favorite Amare adaptation, we see how far she has come and changed since she came into the Sunken City. We get to meet new, or rather previously mentioned, characters and we see that they’re not like what it was previously mentioned in the other books, I mean I even felt bad for the villain. I really liked we got to see more kingdoms and I would to read more of the others simply because they sound so amazing (this is me begging for novellas aka Lukas and Finn adventures ).

But…

Let me tell you this: don’t get attached because some characters will die. No one is safe and I wasn’t expecting a certain character’s death.

HEA: yes

Pace: fast

Book cover: 5/5 *chefs kiss*

Content Warnings