sup3r_xn0va_maya's reviews
364 reviews

The Blood Trials by N.E. Davenport

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

💬: "I’m a cadet. I’m nowhere close to his rank. I’m also so much more than that and good ol’ boy Radson decided to fuck with me on the right day. I smile at Radson while motioning him forward. Feeling the severe strain of my cheek muscles, I know I appear a little psycho."

Davenport, N. E.. The Blood Trials (The Blood Gift Duology Book 1) (p. 9). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, sci-fi, romance, adult, 

📚Page Count: 453

🎧Audiobook Length: 18h 20min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
----

The Blood Trials by N. E. Davenport is a sci fi/fantasy ADULT story about a Black woman 
who lives in a racist and misogynistic society who finds out her grandfather was murdered when she previously thought he died of natural causes. Ikenna is spending her last night as a cadet with friends when she privately gets the news, she instantly decides that she wants revenge. Joining The Praetorian Trials means that Ikenna can get close to the people who might have had a hand in her grandfathers death, so that's what she decides to do. She's sure that she cans survive the challenges, because she was trained by the best (her grandfather) and she has a secret blood gift to help her. Will Ikenna be able to survive the challenges while also figuring out who killed her grandfather? 

There were plenty of things I really liked about this book. I love how the main character made impulsive decisions, now these decisions weren't always the best ones but I felt as if the character's personality really shined through and it was consistent. I liked how Ikenna often remembered her grandfather and how she would think about what advice he might give her. The action scenes were really well described in this book. And although some of the twists in the story were predictable, the story was written well so it was still interesting when revealed. 

There was only one thing that I didn't like. I couldn't understand why the challenges were so hard, there were characters dying left and right and it felt like the Praetorians reasoning for the challenges being so hard didn't make sense. If no one survives your challenge then who actually wins? Literally no one, because the Praetorians wouldn't gain any new soldiers. There were so many people dying that it no longer became a shock when someone died, and it was no longer impactful. It ruined the immersion for me. Thankfully the story was written well so I was able to re-immerse myself back into the story a few chapters later.

There was one spicy scene, it was written well but I'm uninterested in spicy scenes between young adults. I'm giving the spicy scene a one chili 🌶️ out of five chilies.

Overall, this book was really good. There was so much I enjoyed and very little I disliked. The theme of this book is "revenge" and it really reminds me of "Iron Widow" by Xiran Jay Zhao and I gave that book a 5. This book definitely deserves a 5 as well. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]

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One for the Money by Jeaniene Frost

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 01h 06min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5 
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One for the Money (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on book four point five (4.5) in her Night Huntress series, One for the Money. Cat and Bones are going to continue their vacation plans (after the mess in France) but before they do Cat promises to do her uncle Don a favor by protecting an heiress who is a friend of the family. Will Bones, Cat, and the Heiress make it out alive?

This was an okay story. I laughed a few times, so it was funny and I was on the edge of my seat towards the end because of all the action, so I had a good time while listening to this. I think my main complaint about this novella is that it's just too darn short. I would have loved more action or spicy scenes but it's a story that's approximately 66 minutes, so I see how there's no room for much else. 

There was nothing special about the spicy scene in this novella. I'm giving the spicy scene two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

This novella was slightly better than okay, and it kept my attention for the duration of the graphic audio, I enjoyed it overall. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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Destined for an Early Grave [Dramatized Adaptation] by Jeaniene Frost

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 33min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
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Destined for an Early Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the fourth book in her Night Huntress series, Destined for an Early Grave. Cat and Bones decided to take a vacation to France, but all is not well because Cat is now having dangerous dreams about a vampire named Gregor. A vampire that Cat has a history with, but even she doesn't remember that. How can Cat and Bones confront Gregor for his transgressions?

This story started off in a really convoluted way and I was not expecting to like this novel as much as I did. I thought the idea that Cat had a history with a "secret" vampire but she didn't know it was very sloppy writing at first, but when the pieces started to fall into place I could see that the author put much more thought into this book than I had originally suspected. (This of course is the dramatized adaption so it's not exactly like the book, but the execution of this adaption was awesome.)

The spicy scenes were good and I liked them even more after Bones and Cat were reunited (IYKYK [if you know, you know]). I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

After finding out the premise of this addition to the Night Huntress series, I was not expecting the story to be good. The story was great, it had action, it gave me mini heart attacks, and I sat on the edge of my seat while reading this. I'm giving this 5 stars, not only because I really liked it but because it subverted my expectations, and I'm happy about that. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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Devil to Pay by Jeaniene Frost

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dark mysterious 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? Yes

3.0

💬: "“Why did you try to jump in front of the train?” she asked. Blake closed his eyes. That’s right, the last thing he remembered was the train. “Did you stop me?” he asked incredulously. “Damn it, why?” She raised a brow."

Frost, Jeaniene. Devil to Pay (Night Huntress) (p. 7). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 89

🎧Audiobook Length: 02h 18min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5 
----

TW -


Devil to Pay is a novella and it's book 3.5 in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series. Blake, a human
possessed by a demon
and Elise, a vampire sired by Mencheres are the main characters of this novella. The story starts off with Blake trying to commit suicide and Elise saves him. I don't want to say much else (just so I don't spoil things) about this story other than, Elise and Blake start to get to know each other after she saves him. 

This was just okay. I understand that it's a novella and it's supposed to be short, but it was just too short for my liking. The specific parts of the story were there, like the plot and climax, the problem is that just about every scene/chapter was too short to make me care. I will say that the story did have an interesting start.

There was a singular spicy scene and it started spontaneously and, in my opinion, it was too short. I'm giving it 2 🌶️ chilies out of 5 chilies🌶️.

Overall, this novella was just okay. Although we somewhat got backstory on the main characters of this novella, it was too short to make me care about the characters that were new. I'm going to give this 3 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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At Grave's End [Dramatized Adaptation] by Jeaniene Frost

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 27min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
----

At Grave's End (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the third book in her Night Huntress series, At Grave's End.  In this book someone new is after our favorite couple, we meet new but also very old vampires, there's a ton of action, and even some sad and emotional bits. This addition to the series was a roller coast, one that I want to continue to ride. 

There was only one thing I didn't like, and that was the minor sexual assault that happens to Cat while she's in the club scene. She does end up
beating up the people who touched her without permission,
so I supposed there was that at least. 

There weren't many spicy scenes in this, if I remember correctly there was one. It was done well so I enjoyed it. I'm giving the spicy scenes three chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Each addition to this series is better than the last, and book 3 (Dramatized) is no exception. I'm so delighted to be experiencing this series for the first time. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars instead.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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Both Feet in the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

💬: "Bones traced the lines in Cat’s tattoo. Every notch and curve was identical to the one he had on his upper arm. She’d memorized his cross-bones so thoroughly that a picture couldn’t have been more accurate. His emotions fired like the finale of a fireworks show."

Frost, Jeaniene. Both Feet in the Grave: A Night Huntress Novel (pp. 80-81). NYLA. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: 335

🎧Audiobook Length: 10h 06min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 
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Both Feet in the Grave written by Jeaniene Frost, is an alternate perspective book based on the second book in her Night Huntress series, One Foot in the Grave. Both Feet in the Grave was more exciting than the original second book in the series, I really love Bones as a character and his thoughts and decisions are interesting to follow. I'm really excited to read the third book from his perspective (if the author ends up writing it), but for now let's discuss Both Feet in the Grave. 

Cat and Bones have been separated at this point for 4 or 5 years, neither of them has contacted the other in this time span. Cat is now working as
a special agent in a Supernatural department of a special government agency.
By happenstance Cat and Bones end up once again crossing each other's paths. 

There were so many cool actions scenes and we all know that Cat is a badass, but these alternate perspective books are definitely where Bones shines. I think both the main characters are really cool but these books tell so much of Bones' background story, it's all so interesting. 

The spicy scenes were really enjoyable. I'm giving the spicy scenes three point five chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️.5 out of five chilies

There was a lot of action in this novel, but there was also a bit of romance. I think the action overweighs the romance, but the story is still a good one either way. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [Hoopla Digital]

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Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

💬: "“Some women, some men,” Pam said, dusting her hands together as if she were talking about some infectious pest. “They are like everyone else who has a secret life—most of them are quite pleasant, fairly harmless.” Though Pam didn’t sound too positive when she said that. “But the bad ones tend to contaminate the good.”

Harris, Charlaine. Dead to the World (Sookie Stackhouse Book 4) (p. 46). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, paranormal romance, shapeshifters, vampires

📚Page Count: 292

🎧Audiobook Length: 9h 59min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️  - 3/5 
----

Dead to the World is the fourth book in the Sookie Stackhouse Vampire Murder Mystery series, this series is the inspiration for the HBO show, True Blood. This addition to the series was okay, it was interesting for sure. We get introduced to new characters and new magical/mythical/supernatural entities and, of course, there's a mystery to solve. In this novel Sookie's brother goes missing and she's doing everything she can to find him. Meanwhile, Eric has completely lost his memory. Can she find her brother alive and help Eric with his memory loss?

In book four, Sookie ends up
finally starting something romantic with Eric, though I'm not sure how I feel about it because he had amnesia and couldn't remember anything from the past. I would definitely say she took advantage of the situation by sleeping with him.
Sookie's brother is missing and she uses Eric's as well as some other people's help to try and find him. I love the mystery aspect of these books and that's one of the main things that keeps me coming back to this series (even though I didn't like books 2 or 3.)

The spicy scenes in this were okay, some were fade to black and some were on page. I'd say overall they weren't spectacular but that were alright. I'm giving this 2.5 chilies out out 5 chilies 🌶️ worth of spice. 

Overall, this book was just okay. I don't think it was better than book 1 (which has been my favorite so far.) I'm going to give this 3 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars

I read this for free on [Libbyapp.com]

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My Love Story!!, Vol. 11 by Aruko, Kazune Kawahara

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

💬:N/A

📖Genres: shoujo, romance, humor, manga, graphic novels, comics

📚Page Count: 186

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 

My Love Story!!, Volume 11 by Kazune Kawahara was a delight to read and it reminded me of the same kind of allure that the first few volumes of "My Love Story" has. In this volume, Takeo's, Sunakawa's, and Yamato's schools are having field trips to the same area. Takeo is having thoughts about
taking his relationship with Yamato to the next step
therefore he's trying to stay close to her but also keep his distance. In the next part of this manga, Yamato has secret that she plans on revealing to Takeo. What could the secret possibly be? In the last part of this manga, Sunakawa makes a new attractive friend, will Takeo get jealous? 

This manga was so funny and pleasant to read. After having read volume 9 and not really liking it all that much, I wasn't excited to read volume 11 (especially because volume 9 was my lowest rated book of the series and volume 10 was my second lowest rated book in this series.) I'm so happy that I didn't give up on this manga because this volume was great.

This addition to My Love Story was exactly what the series needed, in my opinion. I'm excited to continue on with the series again after feeling slightly uninterested after having read the two volumes that came before this one. I'm giving this 5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I read this manga for free on [Libbyapp.com]

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One Foot in the Grave [Dramatized Adaptation] by Jeaniene Frost

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dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, vampires

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 07h 27min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25 - 4.25/5 
----

One Foot in the Grave (Dramatized Edition) is a graphic audio published by the company Graphic Audio and written by Jeaniene Frost, based on the second book in her Night Huntress series, One Foot in the Grave. Cat Crawfield hasn't seen Bones in about four or five years, but after she's targeted for assignation, Bones might be the only one who can help her. After having worked as
Special Agent Crawfield
for the last four (or five) years she definitely has acquired some new (and old) enemies. Will Bones be able to save Cat from the impending danger? Will they be able to rekindle their lost relationship?

I really enjoyed this addition to the Night Huntress graphic audio series, it was so entertaining. There was so much going on and the music, sounds, and voice actors really came together to help tell an exciting story. 

The spicy scenes were okay in this. They weren't the best but they weren't terrible I'm giving the spicy scenes three chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

This was really exciting and all the elements came together to make a really nice dramatized adaption of One Foot in the Grave. I'm giving this 4.5 out of 5 stars instead.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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The Awakening by Christine Feehan

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

💬: "The breath slammed out of her lungs. Flames shot through her body, from her breast to her deepest core. The strange roaring was back in her head. Need was on her. Not some gentle emotion, not a pleasant feeling, but a raging tidal wave of hunger, of craving."

Feehan, Christine. The Awakening: The Novella That Introduced the Leopard People (Leopard series Book 1) (p. 51). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, urban fantasy, paranormal, shapeshifters

📚Page Count: 121

🎧Audiobook Length: 3h 38min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5 
----

The Awakening by Christine Feehan is a novella and it's the first story in her series "Leopard People". Maggie inherits a house in the jungle and if I read this correctly, she just "wakes up" or "awakens" in the jungle (I'm unsure of how she actually got there.) Maggie is on the cusps of a physical and mental evolution, and she meets a man named Brandt who's supposed to help, he also says he's her mate. 

It was really evident that this was a novella with the rushed pacing. The two main characters talk for what seems like a day and after that, it seems like Maggie already trusts him. At one point Maggie mentions that she used to be asexual (or at least she thought she was asexual) but now she's having sexual cravings for Brandt and she can't explain why. Before evening knowing if she was interested Brandt kind of flashes her while he sits in the nude in her house or bungalow, he claims that she's his mate so I guess he thinks this is acceptable. 

The spicy scenes were alright, it was hard to get into them because the male protagonist was so pushy with his sexual advances, the part where he surprises and flashes her with his nude body really bothered me, he didn't even know if she was truly interested at that point. I'm giving the spicy scenes two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall this story was a bit strange and baffling. I wish the pacing was a little smoother, and it would have been nice if we saw the characters interact with each other outside of their sexual cravings. I will read the next book in the series and give this series another chance, as of now I'm giving THIS novella 2.5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️.5 - 2.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Libbyapp.com]

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