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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Review

The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes | as always, check tw!

5 out of 5 🌟 | NO 🌶

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

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This was another one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. Jennifer Lynn Barnes has been one of my favorite authors since I was 16, when I picked up the Naturals series for the first time. When the Inheritance Games went viral on booktok, I was so excited that people were finally experiencing the brilliance that is Jennifer Lynn Barnes.

The Final Gambit was an amazing conclusion to the Inheritance Games series. It does a phenomenal job of connecting all three books in such a unique and interesting way. The story was all wrapped up with a little bow. Though, I have to admit the storyline ending for Toby wasn’t my favorite and I’m sad about Grayson. I have always been team Grayson.

My favorite part of this whole book though lies in the characters. Xander has always been my favorite character since the beginning. And if you have read the Naturals series— or you want to— Xander gives off Sloane vibes. His commentary and mannerisms make the book so lighthearted, when the book gets intense. Overall, this book was one of my favorites of the year.

Have you read this book? What did you think?📝

Remaining Series Ratings:

The Inheritance Games— 5 Stars 🌟

The Hawthorne Legacy— 5 Stars 🌟

#book #books #book review #bookshelf #book reviews #book community #Book Recommendations #book recs #tbr #physical tbr #jennifer lynn barnes #the inheritance games #the hawthorne brothers #the hawthorne legacy #the final gambit

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher Review

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher | 18+ check tw!!

3.75 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶.5

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

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The month of October is the month where I pile all of my spooky, supernatural, and witchy books on to my TBR to get into the spirit. This was my first witchy read of the month, and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

This was a very cute, quick witchy read based around the oldest triplet in the triad of witches. It has fake dating as well as other supernatural elements like Shifters, Vampires, etc. That being said, the world building was pretty interesting and quite easy to follow considering how many different supernatural species were introduced.

One thing that confused me however, was the relationship between supernaturals and non-supernaturals. It isn’t really explained. You assume they are aware about each other but don’t really have a foundation for why.

I also felt like the characters were a little older than made sense for the story. The main characters dated in high school and broke up when they were 18 and don’t reunite— or even run into each other until 14 years later. But that really isn’t reflected in their dynamic. Them being in their mid to late 20’s felt more plausible to me, though I recognize that character age is usually close to that of the author.

I really thought this was such a light read and throughly enjoyed reading it as well as being in its world. I’m looking forward to reading the next book as they come out and I am absolutely rooting for Bax and Olive to get a book!

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts??📝

#book #books #book review #bookshelf #book reviews #book recs #book recommendations #book community #new adult fiction #new adult #adult fiction #april asher

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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Hooked by Emily McIntire Review

Hooked by Emily McIntire | 18+ check tw!!

2.5 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶🌶.5

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution ⚠️

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This book was definitely a wild ride. I know that this is a very popular book in the booktok sphere and I had been hesitant to pick it up, which wasn’t completely unwarranted.

To begin, even if you are comfortable with dark romance books, please be sure to read the trigger warnings listed on the author’s website. I made a mistake not doing that, and something’s took me by surprise.

As far as the story goes, this book borders on the darkest side of dark romance. At first, I thought this book gave Twisted Lies energy. But even Alex Volkov is less morally depraved than Hook. Even with my qualms about Alex, at the very least, he didn’t physically harm Ava and groveled when he did mess up. The same can’t really be said here.

I also found that the story was very predictable. While I originally enjoyed the little nods to the original Peter Pan story, at some point they became somewhat forced and cliche to me. Similarly, about half way through, I had already figured out the antagonist which made the rest of the book feel very long.

Overall, this is a Dark Romantic Fantasy book with tones of insta love and not nearly enough groveling, that just wasn’t for me.

I’m curious, have you read this book? What did you think? 📝

#book reviews #bookshelf #book review #books #book #book community #book collector #book recommendations #book recs #book blog #emily mcintire #reading #tbr #crumpledbookpages #new adult #new adult fiction

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez Review

The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez | check tw!!

5 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶.5

⚠️ Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed at your own risk ⚠️

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I truly didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. This book— and the next two books in the series— admittedly have been sitting on my shelf for an ungodly amount of time. But in my efforts to make my way through my physical TBR this year, I picked it up, and I’m so glad I did.

I literally loved all of the characters in this book, and the ones who were meant to be irritating definitely were written well enough to do their job. Both of the main characters are very likable. Josh is literally the dream man and Kristen is too hilarious for words. Though, I will admit that I got a little frustrated with her at times for not just talking to Josh.

This book definitely gives off Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren vibes. So if you read that one and enjoyed it, odds are, you’ll love this one! It’s literally the perfect mixture of raw and emotional with comedic banter.

Have you read this book? What were your thoughts? I’d love to hear them!📝

#book #books #book review #bookshelf #book reviews #book recs #book recommendations #book community #crumpledbookpages #new adult #new adult fiction #abby jimenez

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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The Cruel Prince by Holly Black Review

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black | check tw!!

4 out of 5 🌟 | NO 🌶

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

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Things I really didn’t need to do while attempting to read through my entire physical TBR: get emotionally invested in another fantasy series.

This book was pleasantly surprising. It’s always hard to read books that are popular on booktok and bookstagram because they are usually rated in the extremes. Like people that like them REALLY like them, and the people that don’t like them HATE them. But, I thought this book lived up to its hype.

As will all first books in a fantasy series, the world building is so much of the book that it takes a bit longer to read. I also had a bit of a hard time transitioning from how Sarah J. Maas portrays Fae to how Holly Black does. But both of those are more personal issues.

I also found that the middle portion of the book was a little long and somewhat slower than the beginning and the end. This book also kind plays into the trope that guys are mean to girls when they like them, which I didn’t really love.

Other than that, I liked the characters and the story line. They were both really well written. Jude is literally the baddest bitch in Faerie, and I can’t wait to read the next couple books.

Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?📝

#book reviews #bookshelf #book review #books #book #ya #book recommendations #book recs #fantasy books #holly black #the cruel prince #the folk of the air #crumpledbookpages

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco

Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco | 18+ check tw!!

4 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶🌶

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

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This was definitely my most anticipated read of 2022. I got the first two books for Christmas last year and quickly read them in anticipation for the release of the final book.

This was a pretty good conclusion to the Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy. Though, personally, I would say that nothing could top Kingdom of the Cursed and how reading that book made me feel. That book was literally top tier.

I loved the Wrath and Emilia dynamic, throughout all the books. But their relationship in this book just hit different. It was great to see Emilia take up the mantle next Wrath, which is something that I really looked forward to.

When it comes to plot, there was some really great plot points. The storyline of Vittoria and Emilia being the goddesses of Death and Fury was so well done and connected the other two books well. However, I felt like most of the book was focused on Emilia trying to break Wrath’s curse.

Within the same vein, I felt like a big part of the story conclusion and its resolutions came really late in the book. This made the book seem like it dragged unfortunately, which lead to me skimming some of the longer parts. And also having to take a break from the parts that felt like lore was being inserted in chapters with a heavy hand.

I was also picking up vibes that there might be a spin off, based on the bonus chapter from Envy’s point of view as well as the set up for Claudia, Pride, and Vittoria. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that, but we will see what the future holds.

Overall, this was a good end to Wrath and Emilia’s story. While it was definitely more new adult than young adult, I really didn’t see anything wrong with that. Though, this definitely wasn’t my favorite book in the trilogy, I still really enjoyed it.

Have you read this book? What did you think?📝

Remaining Series Ratings:

Kingdom of the Wicked— 5 out of 5 🌟

Kingdom of the Feared— 5 out of 5 🌟

#book #books #book review #bookshelf #book reviews #book recs #fantasy #book recommendations #physical tbr #tbr #book community #kerri maniscalco #kingdom of the feared #kingdom of the wicked series #new adult #new adult fiction

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 2 years

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Hideaway by Penelope Douglas Review

Hideaway by Penelope Douglas | 18+ check tw!!

3.5 out of 5 🌟 | 🌶🌶🌶

⚠️Potential Spoilers ahead! Proceed with caution! ⚠️

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Hmm, where to start with this book. I read the second book of the Devil’s Night series about a year after I completed the first, which I don’t know if that helped or hindered the way I read Hideaway.

To begin, I want to make sure that everyone— and I do mean EVERYONE— looks at the trigger warnings for this book and every other book in this series. This book is dark, very dark, and covers some pretty significant dark themes that I found I even struggled with. This is not a book for the faint of heart in the slightest.

I found this book to be quite long but a surprisingly quick read. Kai was one of my favorite characters in the first book because he seems somewhat more genuine that the other three horsemen. It was also nice to have some representation in the fact that Kai is half-Japanese. I also enjoyed Bank’s character as well.

As for the plot, much of this book is filled with the miscommunication trope. Kai doesn’t know who Banks is to Damon until very late in the book, which is kind of frustrating but also odd because it doesn’t deter Kai from Banks in the slightest. I also found that even though this book is Kai and Banks story, Damon seems to play the biggest part.

Damon continues to be a wild card following the end of the last book, where he tried to kill Will, Kai, Michael, and Rika. I find myself incredibly unsure of him and even more unsure of his potential redemption arc. To be completely honest, I’m not sure how you redeem Damon without years of therapy considering his heavily traumatic background. Even then, is redemption possible? That remains to be seen.

Finally, I think the best way to finish this review is to acknowledge that even though I liked both Rika and Michael’s story as well as Banks and Kai’s, this story is a very dark and dreary example of “romance”.

#book #books #book review #bookshelf #book reviews #book recs #book recommendations #new adult #new adult fiction #book community #penelope douglas #devils night series

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crumpledbookpages-blog · 4 years

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Book Review of Vincent Boys/Brothers Series

*Disclaimer: This book review may contain spoilers. Also, this review is in no way meant to be offensive to the author or anyone else who may otherwise have positive or negative feelings toward the book itself. These opinions are purely my own and are meant to instigate conversations.*

Books:

The Vincent Boys #1 by Abby Glines

The Vincent Brothers #2 Abby Glines

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Review:

This two-book series was definitely a quick read ( I read both of them in about two days). However, I do have my qualms with this series, particularly the second book. The dynamic between Beau and Ashton in “The Vincent Boys” is cute, not the healthiest, but cute. Two teens who arguably fell for each other in adolescence, end up falling for each other though she is dating his cousin. There is a sense of relatability toward Ashton with the issue of her trying to change herself to feel perfect for Sawyer and as the pastor’s daughter. But you do definitely end up feeling bad for Sawyer, as he feels betrayed by the two people he trusts the most: Beau and Ashton. Overall, this book fulfilled my need for YA romance and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

As for the second book, I can’t say the same thing. One thing I noticed while reading this book is that there seems to be a theme with Abby Glines and her descriptions of female protagonists. She seems to focus on traits that are supposed to make them conventionally unattractive. For example, Lana’s freckles are a big point of contention in this particular book (Similar to Tallulah’s weight in the Field Party series). It is actually repeatedly mentioned by Sawyer himself that Lana’s freckles are not attractive. I definitely think that this throws a wrench in this book, though it shows how truly unhealthy Sawyer and Lana’s relationship starts off.

What I think helps with the plot though is Sawyer’s character ark from the first book to the second. You go from feeling bad for Sawyer after the betrayal to feeling angry at the way that he constantly disregards Lana’s feelings. Though the ark isn’t a redemptive one, it adds a huge amount to the plot, which ultimately aids in me finding Lana more relatable than Ashton. And I can’t help but get frustrated with her when she just forgives Sawyer, no matter how he treats her.

I hope you guys enjoyed my first review. I really enjoyed writing it. Please let me know if there are any books you want me to review please let me know! Also if please follow me on my new instagram @crumpledbookpagess for more book related fun.

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