Before you guys read this review I want to flag that the review includes discussion of: I honestly found this book very hard to read and hard to write about, especially with what’s in the news these days. I’m sorry if this is upsetting for you guys to read. I thought about not reviewing it but I think there is a worthwhile discussion to be had about what it means that a book like this … Continue reading War by Laura Thalassa
TW/CW: Murder, attempted rape, beheading/separated limbs. I deeply, deeply enjoyed The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh. Or, a lot of it, anyway. The Beautiful takes place in 1872 New Orleans, where a young former dressmaker named Celine arrives after fleeing Paris. She arrives with several other young women from Europe and they are all to be settled in a convent together until they marry. Celine quickly becomes drawn to a young woman named Odette, who hires … Continue reading The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
A C is a weird grade for a book that I read compulsively, especially since I remain very curious about the next one, but while the set up, the action, and the ensemble were a lot of fun to read, the more I thought about it, the more I found myself thinking, “But, wait…” I have a stack of “But, waits” regarding the character development and emotional pivots, and they began to accumulate from about … Continue reading American Witch by Thea Harrison
Fans of the site know that I’m not afraid to jump around within a series when it comes to my reading. I picked up The Savior having only read a few of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books before, and this is book seventeen. While I was able to follow everything that was going on (Ward provides a helpful glossary in the beginning of the book and offers context clues), I do think that this is a … Continue reading The Savior by JR Ward
This is a really tough review to grade, because on one hand, I enjoyed the absolute heck out of this book. I highlighted so much I left horizontal marks on my reader screen. I laughed aloud so many times, twice loud enough to startle the dogs. I ran around the first floor delighted that I had gotten a sly reference to the Crows series, ridiculously proud of myself. I took pictures of my reader screen … Continue reading In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston
NB: We have a suspicion that many of the Bitchery are Buffy fans, which means this squee is in good company. This review from Crystal Anne With An E was originally graded “A with Extra Squee Because Buffy,” but we felt bumping up up to a full on squee was fair. Crystal reads a lot, cross-stitches, and is an autism consultant by day and goes to library school by night. She is a Hufflepuff. … … Continue reading Guest Squee: Slayer by Kiersten White
Crazy Cupid Love is an interesting fantasy/paranormal romance that will definitely appeal to mythology nerds. There’s a friends to lovers romance, an adorable beta hero (who gifts the heroine with Dunkaroos), and a whodunnit. While neither the romance nor the mystery were incredibly strong, the world and the surrounding mythologies could lead to some wonderful future books. Eliza Herman is a descendant of Cupid and exists in a modern world, specifically California, where people turn to … Continue reading Crazy Cupid Love by Amanda Heger
It’s been a bad week(s) for a lot of women. Personally, I’ve been vacillating between the kind of rage where I feel like wasps should come out of my mouth in a swarm, and the sort of despair that leaves you noodle-limp. It’s a combination of anger and exhaustion. I know that I am not alone. Then I picked up Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert, and goddamnit, this novella had everything my brain needed. It … Continue reading Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert
I haven’t read any of the Chicagoland Vampire series, so I went into the spinoff series with zero world knowledge. The lack of knowledge wasn’t a problem because, boy howdy, is there some infodumpage in the first few chapters. I had to coax myself to keep going on to the next chapter because the setup and construction of the world in the first part was some slow reading. But once the main character moved from … Continue reading Wild Hunger by Chloe Neill
Siren’s Tide is the first book in the Sea King’s Daughter novella series that follows six mermaid sisters. I thought the novella was a little rushed and uneven, and while it sets up the world for the remaining five books, it didn’t do a great job of capturing my imagination. Ianthe Liakos is a mermaid and paranormal investigator (she looks human when she’s not in the water). She’s working in DC with her assistant/friend the … Continue reading Siren’s Tide by Philippa Ballantine
I didn’t start reading Nalini Singh until her most recent book, Silver Silence, the first book in her Psy-Changeling Trinity series. I was okay starting there (enough of her world was established for me), but you really do need to read that book before you read Ocean Light. Ocean Light is a fated mate romance largely set in a sci-fi-rrific undersea base and it involves marine shifters. Shut up and take my money, right? My only … Continue reading Ocean Light by Nalini Singh
