Book review: The Kiss Thief

Book: The Kiss Thief by L.J. Shen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Song: Rose Cousins – Lock and Key

5…
I hate you.
I like you.
I wish I could quit you.
…stars

I recently stated that I was tired of reading about hot rich alpha males. L.J. Shen made me take those words back and choke on them, because yes, even though Wolfe was all of that, he was also so much more. And Frankie was his perfect match.

I’d hate to compare this to Romeo&Juliet but you’d have to agree to certain parallels. Luckily this story wasn’t as tragic and the characters nearly as stupid and, forgive me Shakespeare, but I much prefer this story to the classic one.

The writing was simple and mesmerizing all at once I’m cautiously optimistic about picking up another book from this author, especially since I already have one on my tbr list.

For people discouraged of reading this book because of the apparent love triangle or cheating matter, I say this: It’s not what you think and if you miss out on this book because of some preconceived notion – it’ll be your loss.

Over and out

Book review: Colombiano

Book: Colombiano by Rusty Young

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Song: Fictionist – City at war

*Copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion*

I don’t want to lie – this book was hard for me to read. I wasn’t even thinking how hard it would be when I agreed to read it. Yes, maybe the characters in it were fictional but you can’t argue about the story itself being universally true and from my standpoint, where my country too is torn and divided by war, relatable.

I was blown away by the ease with which the author was able to pull me in and put me by Pedro’s side throughout the story. I was in his head the whole time, even when I really didn’t want to be.

There’s really something to be said about stories that draw from life, you can’t ignore and dismiss them as soon as you finish like you can your fiction. They stay with you for a long time, make you think and chew for yourself. That’s why, even though I really don’t like to leave my fiction bubble, sometimes I need to burst it just a little and books like this are the way to do it. I highly recommend it.

Over and out

Book review: Девушка с татуировкой дракона (Millennium #1)

Book: Девушка с татуировкой дракона by Стиг Ларссон

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Song: Larkin Poe – Ain’t Gonna Cry

Да, я в кои-то веки решила написать отзыв на русском. Скорее всего этого из-за того, что книгу я тоже читала на русском. Ну не дошла я ещё как-то до изучения шведского, а на английском читать нет смысла – всё равно перевод. Да и вообще, надо не забывать родной язык. Короче, поехали.

Есть книги, для которых нужно созреть. Начнешь читать в неподходящее время – ну просто не зайдёт, не оценишь. Эта книга стала для меня как раз одной из тех. Я на сто процентов уверена что прочитай я её на 10-15 лет раньше, рейтинг был бы совершенно иным. И дело здесь скорее не в содержании, потому как книга до чёртиков интересная, а в стилистике изложения автором материала.

Наверное нет смысла описывать суть сюжета – только ленивый не слышал об этой книге или даже фильмах (кстати, Шведский вариант в разы лучше), так что я лучше зайду с другой стороны. Я хочу поговорить о том как автор даже банальную бытовуху перевёл в разряд увлекательного пазла человеческой натуры. Кусочек там, кусочек здесь, фрагмент в углу стола и в центре. И вот уже из серой размытой массы складывается такой тонкий, невероятно сложный и притягивающий внимание образ – девушка с татуировкой дракона.

Что интересно, по сути ведь Лисбет в книге не так много как полагалось бы титульнуму персонажу. Её параграфы выдавались настолько дозировано, что казалось будто автор заманивает тебя, даёт понять что дальше-больше. Грустно осознавать что финал (если он будет) будет написан другими руками, ведь Стиг Ларссон был на редкость талантливым автором.

 

Book review: Catwoman: Soulstealer (DC Icons, #3)

Book: Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Song: Panic! At The Disco – Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Damn. This didn’t work for me at all.

The problem I found myself most bothered with was the medium, if you can believe it. I always thought some comic books could benefit from being given a full novel treatment, and wow was I wrong.

I kept waiting to be swept off my feet with the story, and I knew it would take Sarah J. Maas awhile to do that, I was willing to wait. But then half the book was through, two thirds, and still not a thing captured my attention. It was monotone and it was gloomy as the DC movies tend to be (before the last two came out). I caught myself thinking that if this was a movie – it would probably work just fine (I had Ann Hathaway in my head the whole time), the atmosphere, the mood, the whole shebang. As a book though, I was desperate to get out of it.

Anothing thing that bothered me was Batwing and Catwoman having a thing for each other. I always rooted for Batman/Catwoman pairing, so this felt like cheating. Not cool. Granted I am not a big comic book reader, for all I know somewhere in that pile of stories Catwoman and Batwing might have had a thing, but not in my universe.

Over and out

Book review: Fake Fiancée

Fake Fiancée by Ilsa Madden-Mills

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“God has been using his A game when he’d created my hero.”


Whoever doesn’t like Tim Riggins better stop reading now, ’cause I’m gonna use a lot of Tim gifs for this one. Fair warning!

Yeah, I was a big Friday Night Lights fan back in the day, so when I read Max’s description I immediately thought of Taylor Kitsch aka my honey pumpkin sexy bear Timmy.

You sexy beast you

What was I saying? Oh, right! So the story is that our Tim Max here is a big colledge football star who doesn’t have time or patience to deal with groupies, so he convinces his new neighbor to be his fake girlfriend to fight them off. There’s a big football prize looming on the horizon and a good stable relationship is always good for this sort of things. You know, optics. The girl, Sunny, is not ecstatic about that idea at first and she just had a bad break up with another athlete, so yeah, she has her doubts. But of course, who can say no to that face, right? They agree to keep it strictly platonic out of the public eye though, so no hanky panky.

Both exes are not happy about our new couple, especially Bianca, Max’s ex. She also happens to be dating Max’s teammate and archenemy Felix, who dreams of taking Max’s spotlight. There’s healthy competition and then there’s criminal intent. It’s a team sport, dude, trying to bring down your best bet at winning is a big no-no. Play nice!

You really thought I wouldn’t put this in?

While all of that is going on, Sunny and Max are growing closer together, trying to get to know each other better. Basic stuff really, like last time they had sex, fear of spiders, favourite colors, pets…

“You have a dog or a cat?”
“Pet unicorn in the bathroom.”

…and the important ones, of course, like why boys want to put “it” in the girls butts?

Getting caught up in the media attention Max takes it a step too far and proposes to Sunny in the middle of a game. For the whole world to see. Literally. It was on jumbotron and news stations, the whole shabang. He even involved Sunny’s unsuspecting grandma. Without discussing it with Sunny first. Way to put a girl on the spot.

Cue appropriate groveling and temporary cold shoulder. But that’s ok, they lived happily ever after in the end.

The story was a little sappy at times, words like fate and destiny got thrown around a lot, but I didn’t mind it much. The backstory to the characters kind of demanded it. I liked the way Max and Sunny dealt with the obstacles they were handed, that the level of immature behaviour was at a minimum, no unnecessary drama. All in all it was pretty entertaining and enjoyable read for me.

Over and out

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Book review: Aqson Level I

Book: Aqson Level I by Sreejib

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Song: P.O.D. – Youth Of The Nation

*The book was generously provided to me by the author’s brother in exchange for an honest opinion.*

This would make a great movie! I’d even buy a ticket to the movies to see it. The tug of war between God and Lucifer always fascinated me and the game they’re playing in this book is really something else.

So the concept of it is similar to the online games where people are divided in two teams, with team leaders, team colors, missions, rewards and weapons. Many games could be played simultaneously and the ultimate goal is to become the gardian of Nature’s creations. The goal for this particular game, Aqson, is for either Team God or team Lucifer to place their player in a chair of the Prime Minister of India and they have 30 years to accomplish that.

It was very interesting to see what kind of political climate rules Indian people as I am not at all familiar with that region’s political structure. Student politics playes a massive part in it according to this book and the influences it has on the country as a whole showes a colorful picture.

As for the main characters, I liked them and I didn’t. It’s like with any group of friends, sometimes you love them but sometimes you want to scream at them in frustration and then it’s back to normal. That’s how I felt about all of them. Except Sky, she was annoying all the time. I wouldn’t mind if each next book was switching POVs because this one was mainly from Toya’s perspective and I’d like to know other guys a little better.

The one thing that made me cranky was the overuse of abbreviations. There were too much. I hate when people do that and you have to break your head to figure out what they were talking about. Granted, the author always used the explanation for abbreviations when they were introduced but still.

I am actually excited to see where the series will go further, it makes me happy that something I was asked to review turned out to actually be good. So, Sreejiib, if you’re reading this, I’m game for the next book 😉

Over and out

Book review: Barbarian Alien (Ice Planet Barbarians, #2)

Book: Barbarian Alien by Ruby Dixon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This cracks me up so bad, it’s a good thing too because I needed something fluffy and fun after the last couple of books.

This one is about Liz and Raahosh. So Raahosh is resonating to Liz first time he sees her, no matter that she is all filthy and weak and a total bitch to him, apperently some men like that shit. He goes all neanderthal on her forcing her to take a cootie khui into her body and kidnaps her after for babymaking and stuff. And Liz is just as bad, giving a guy all this mixed up signals with keeping his head in her lower regions all the while saying how she doesn’t want him to go there.

But, I want to warn you that this is not the kind of book where your usual hang ups come for a ride. It’s a space porn, so what exactly are you expecting? It’s a fun ridiculous light reading for a quick pick me up and it surves its purpose and leaves you in a better mood than you were before. Good enough for me.

Over and out

Book review: I See You

Book: I See You by Clare Mackintosh

My rating: 3,5 of 5 stars

Song: 30 Seconds To Mars – Hunter

People are sick. That’s not news, really, but I’m feeling a new wave of gratitude for having an opportunity to escape public modes of tranportation and have my own car. Still, every time I’d have to use a subway I’ll remember this book and shudder.

It took a long time for the story to find its groove, a lot of pages were dedicated to the everage life of Zoe and her family and it didn’t really need that much. I’d rather read more about the detective – Kelly. She had a lot more interesting personality and vibe. But when the mystery part really took off it became gripping and exciting, too bad it took like half a book.

Over and out

Book review: You Are Here

Book: You Are Here by S.M. Lumetta

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So many problems with the book that I don’t know where to start. The first being that this book couldn’t decide what it wanted to be so it was all over the place.

The second, everyone seemed to go along with Lucie’s previews like it’s something quirky but normal. NO! When a girl wakes up with no memories and tells you she’s seeing her soulmate in visions you don’t pat her on her head and call her cute. It’s not a paranormal universe, people. You dial a psychiatrist and give your friend a help she needs. And if you’re an actual psychiatrist then DUH!

The third, Lucie is a stalker weirdo crazy person. We get it, you see visions of Grey on daily basis, there’s no need to club him over the head with them and then act all hurt and needy when he doesn’t immediately go along with your picture of future together.

The fourth, and I promise I’ll spare you the others, how convinient the people in Lucie’s life are all connected. I hate when authors do that, even when it’s not necessary.

The worst thing is – the book would have been actually good if only the editor steered the writing in the right direction and maybe gotten it a little more structure. As is it’s a lost potential.

Over and out

Book review: The Player and the Pixie (Rugby, #2)

Book: The Player and the Pixie by L.H. Cosway & Penny Reid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I may have been hesitant about this coupling at first, Sean was a real dickhead in the first book, but I gotta say I warmed up to the idea somewhere between yoga retreat and dog shelter. There’s something to be said about a reformed bad boy, no? And although I thought making him so bad at sex was a crime to human kind (or at least a female half of it), it was hilarious to read about the lessons Lucy gave him.

Really though, the book was sweet and funny and hot at at times, so you could do a lot worse. Personally, I want to continue with the series because I’m having a lot of fun with it. You might too.

Over and out