Meet Cute / Helena Hunting

3.5/5

Meet Cute is a rom-com movie in new adult novel form. It has a ridiculously hot, literal movie star love interest who cares for his sweet younger sister, a career focused woman, and a two-dimensional villain. It's a sweet novel that doesn't have the flaws many chicklit novels do, such as a catty friends and anti-feminist themes, and even supplies some steamy scenes. 

Meet Cute does a good job of balancing romance with relatively realistic and reasonable characters. I enjoyed the switching perspectives because I liked both of the leads, Kailyn in particular. She's smart and very put together, except for her fangirl scenes in the beginning which were so cringe they were a little hard to read. Kailyn is at a crossroads in her life and I appreciated her logic and approach to her problems. I also liked that she made time for her friend Holly; I'm glad that Helena Hunting didn't feel the need to add some trashy friend drama into the novel.

The villain was cheaply done but who cares? Nobody is reading this looking for a well-developed villain. Meet Cute delivers on everything it promises: a literal meet cute, sweet characters, a budding romance, and sufficient steam. It was a little too long for me to call it a quick read but it's a light read, and I'd recommend it to those who are looking for a feel-good story and happy ending.

White Stag / Kara Barbieri

 

3/5

An average to above average read. Janneke, our lead, is an interesting and well-developed character; her journey and growth are the strongest points of the novel. Janneke must decide what and who she is and want she wants in her future. Her internal conflict and the flow of her perspective felt natural. I appreciated her strength, especially in the face of past trauma. 

I believe White Stag started as a Wattpad fanfic so I had adjusted my standards accordingly and I'd suggest readers do the same before reading. I liked Janneke but no other character is nearly as developed. The dialogue can be hard to pin down because at times it is extremely modern which contrasts sharply with the world it's set in. I also found it hard to understand why and how, if goblins are so horrible and cruel, Soren is our one special angel with feelings? And the biggest downside was the ending; it was a major stretch and felt cheap. 

Overall, White Stag is a quick read with an easy romance to root for, and it can act as a filler for the The-Folk-of-the-Air-shaped hole you may have in your heart. Be sure to adjust your expectations in terms of development and complexity, read all of the trigger warnings beforehand, and you'll be set to give it a try. 

Sorcery of Thorns / Margaret Rogerson

5/5

Sorcery of Thorns reinforces my belief that Margaret Rogerson should be on every YA reader's "authors to watch" list for her well-developed characters, wonderful relationship building, and enchanting worlds. 

Her first novel, Enchantment of Ravens, disappointed me at first because I had expected an epic fantasy when it was a romance novel, but quickly became one of my favorite comfort reads due to the relationship, the lead's cleverness, and description of the world. Sorcery of Thorns, which is an entirely different novel, is the epic fantasy I wanted, and even more clearly displays Rogerson's strength in creating complex characters and relationships.

Sorcery of Thorns follows Elisabeth, who has been raised in the system of Great Libraries where sorcerer-created grimoires are kept under control. She's been led to believe that sorcerers are evil, because sorcerers must tie themselves to a demon in order to use magic. When the Libraries fall under attack, Elisabeth finds herself in the heart of the conspiracy, and the novel is about her fighting this threat. 

The official blurb makes it seem like Elisabeth and the sorcerer Nathaniel team up to face the threat, but the truth is that her journey takes many twists and turns and Nathaniel has a smaller role than I would have expected in a typical YA novel, something I appreciated. This journey is about Elisabeth, and I thoroughly enjoyed her strength. I loved her realization that the information she'd grown up on may have been biased, and I admired her willingness to keep an open mind and make her own opinions. One thing in particular that stood out to me in Sorcery of Thorns was that Elisabeth is often first on the scene and the first to act. I didn't realize how common it is for a female lead to follow another character into action until I read one scene where Elisabeth is there first, Nathaniel and his demon Silas following behind her. 

And this brings me to Silas, Nathaniel's demon. As stand-out of a female lead as Elisabeth was, Silas really stole this show. I think he's made it onto my personal list of best characters. Every scene with him was a treat; honestly, there may have been more scenes between Elisabeth and Silas than Elisabeth and Nathaniel. The slow discovery of Silas's character was as enjoyable as, and probably aided, Elisabeth's self-discovery. Silas was a mystery, and I never really knew where he stood or if he could be trusted, and that made reading about him so exciting.

I've read other reviews for Sorcery of Thorns that mentioned pacing was too fast. For me, there was a point about 30% of the way in that actually felt too slow because Elisabeth was isolated, but otherwise Elisabeth is a very proactive character always looking for the next step. I can understand why others may think the ending wrapped up too quickly, but I don't feel the same way. Everything that needed to happen and should have happened, happened. In fact, the last sentence really packed a punch. It was honestly the best ending I've read in a while and probably the best scene in the book.

Sorcery of Thorns has a stronger-than-usual female lead, a world book-lovers will enjoy, a background romance, and an interesting demon. Not sure what more I could ask for in a YA fantasy. Please give it a try ASAP.

The Fill-In Boyfriend / Kasie West

 4/5

The Fill-In Boyfriend was exactly what I was looking for in a cute holiday read. It's a romantic coming-of-age novel that is very reminiscent of Since You Been Gone by Morgan Matson, which is one of my comfort reads. 

Every so often, between fantasy and sci-fi reads, I crave an easy teen romance. I'm always wary that I'll unluckily pick up one of the many horrible high school novels full of underdeveloped characters, catty friends, and unrealistic boys that always stink of anti-feminism. You know what I'm talking about. The Fill-In Boyfriend is not that. Obviously, one can't have too high standards for a novel of such genre-- you won't find anything stunningly original here, but you will find a sweet coming-of-age story, funny dialogue, and a strong ship. There are times when our protagonist Gia's narration can be a little boring, but I feel that that's part of her character and development; the point of the novel is her learning to form and express her thoughts.

I read The Fill-In Boyfriend in one day. I loved having such an easy ship I could get behind, and I thoroughly enjoyed being sucked out of boring pandemic life and into Gia's world. Kasie West does an excellent job of showing instead of telling, and I loved the almost unreliable narration. It allowed me to slowly discover Gia's character the same way she was discovering herself. I would highly recommend The Fill-In Boyfriend to fans of Matson's Since You Been Gone and those looking for a sweet, fun read. 

The Inheritance Games / Jennifer Lynn Barnes

2.5/5

The Inheritance Games has a plot very similar to that of the movie Knives Out. I really enjoyed that movie and solving puzzles, so the premise of Inheritance Games interested me.

I liked our main character Avery and her cleverness, but the biggest drawback of this novel are the poorly sketched out Hawthorne brothers. Each one is a one-dimensional stereotype. None of them are complex, and all of their dialogue is extremely unrealistic which made for some cringey interactions. I also disliked the slight love triangle; it wasn't too bad because Avery doesn't seriously get involved with either. Also, the characterization of Emily was flat and poorly done. She was nothing more than a plot device and an unoriginal one at that.

Overall, The Inheritance Games was fun because I enjoyed watching Avery's determination in solving the puzzle and protecting those she cared about, but the novel isn't particularly intense or complex. Beware that the characters are not very well-developed, but otherwise Inheritance Games is an enjoyable light read for fans of riddles. 

How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories / Holly Black

I find I can't rate this, because it isn't a novel of its own and also because I may be a little biased. How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories is a companion novel to The Folk of the Air trilogy, one of my favorites of all time. I cannot express how much I love Jude, and Cardan, and Jude and Cardan together. I know I am not alone in this opinion.

I tried not to have too high hopes for the companion novel, but when it's pitched to have Jurdan scenes from Cardan's point of view, how could those hopes not creep up? And that was my main issue with How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories-- there were hardly any interactions between Cardan and Jude. I love Cardan, and I loved learning a bit more backstory on him, but I felt like this companion novel didn't offer anything new or exciting. It felt like Holly Black could've whipped this up in two days. 

Really, I'm not going to complain because I will devour any Jude and/or Cardan content there is, so 🤷.

Incendiary / Zoraida Cordova

1/5

A strong point of Incendiary is the development of the protagonist Renata's character. I liked her mystery and complexity, and the way Zoraida Cordova contrasts Renata's view of herself with others' views of her. Cordova creates an interesting situation of mistrust, redemption, and betrayal. 

I read Incendiary with an anticipation for something that never came to fruition. The world and situation had so much potential, but once I finished the novel I was left with the sense that Renata had not actually progressed very far. 

We spend a lot of time following her around the kingdom, from the castle to the rebels to wherever else, and at the end of the book nothing had really been achieved. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the plot to find a solid drive, but it didn't happen. The ending has set the circumstances up so that the sequel may find a clearer, stronger plot, but I don't feel that Incendiary has something special enough in it to make me want to read the sequel.

The Storm Crow / Kalyn Josephson

2.5/5

The Storm Crow was an average read. 

I think Josephson wanted to include some mental illness awareness because she gave the main character depression. I may sound harsh, but this is a YA fantasy novel, not realistic fiction, and I'm not interested in a main character that isn't going to be proactive. Luckily, Thia becomes much more active as the novel progresses and I enjoyed watching her gain that strength.

The world lacks originality, which in itself is not a dealbreaker, but the characters weren't strong either. We've got an orphaned princess struggling to lead her kingdom, her handy soldier sidekick, a hot frenemy prince, and a powerful tyrant. The relationship between Thia and Prince Ericen was a particular letdown for me. I had been hoping to see a strong transformation as their relationship grew. Instead, their dialogue always felt forced, as if Josephson was trying to strangle them into different molds.

If the blurb really excites you, skim the novel and see if it can keep your interest; otherwise I'd recommend something along the lines of The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid or Sisters of Sword and Song by Rebecca Ross.