The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix Book Review

 

This book was good, not a funny laughing out loud comedic horror, but the premise was fun and I had a great time reading it.
While it did drag on around the middle part it was a relatively short read and the main character Lynette was super interesting.
I enjoyed the intrigue and the cast of varying characters the author wrote in this novel.
While it did take me a chapter or two to get into the book, once I had started I knew it was better to finish it in one sitting.
It’s the type of look you don’t have to think too hard about I really enjoyed the way the author wove the different mysteries and a different final girl scenarios for each of our characters. The way they (each of the final girls) dealt with their traumas into different ways and reacted to situations was very interesting.
Overall I had a good time it was an easy read and a perfect spooky season read.
3.5-3.75/5⭐️

Twisted Love by Ana Huang Book review

 This was a fun read, not a life changing or super original/unique story but a great one.

I love reading some tropes in my romances when I feel like reading one, having a morally grey MC and a sunshine (this is also her nickname from him) of a FL was lovely.

I had previously read Twisted Games (the second book in the companion novel Twisted series) and really enjoyed it. This one had more storyline and a lot less sex than the second book in the series. I was also surprised by a plot twist which I was not expecting as I had predicted most of the book. I laughed and enjoyed so many scenes from this book.

I believe it's a great read for anyone expecting a predictable, sometimes cheesy romance with an I hate everyone, but you love interest. I loved the sister/brother bond between Ava and Josh, the banter and how easy it was to get into the story. While there are spicy scenes with a mix of BDSM (as I expect most of the series will have some aspect of it after reading the first two novels), it is not just erotica, at least not for this volume & we know to expect a happy ending for each novel which is always nice when you want one.

I recommend this for fans of Lauren Asher's books, and lovers of quick easy read romances with happy ending.

A perfect pallet cleanser, a fun fact to point out is that each book has a playlist attached to it and a trigger warning collection to check out in case you need it!

4/5 stars

Bookarina

The Dark King by Gina L. Maxwell Book Review

 

This book had me so excited because of the blurb.

Unfortunately, it suffers a lot from "telling not showing syndrome"... 

While the concept was good, a Vegas billionaire also fae king marrying a small-town girl after hooking up with both of them having no memories of it in the morning. It failed to deliver, a lot was in there, things happened rather quickly for the size of the book, there was a lack of actual scenes showing what happens it was more a "let me tell you why" as a character appeared with the information or a "let me think of everything you need to know" so that we as reader would learn about the Fae world. This was disappointing as our MFC was as lost as us, it would have been better to learn the world with her, the laws, the events, etc. 

The writing was also not for me, it took me a while to get into it and once I was into it, it felt like there were scenes missing for the pace of the book or the events unfolding. The ending was also rushed and the last bit of it felt like just an excuse to set up the next book. Which I personally will not be reading, it did not leave me wanting more or even interested in knowing more about any character as we barely got anytime to know anyone. Our main characters have a flat personality, more (again) telling who they are are/mentioning it rather than showing it. All characters have a lack of character development, I didn't care about anyone. 

The sex scenes were all over the place, there are a lot but only half of them really made me enjoy the book, it was a half and half each time they came as to if I would enjoy it or not. They are heavy on BDSM, but not healthy in any way. While our MMC does mention the principles of BDSM he blatantly fails at respecting them in some aspect (even though he prides himself on it (knowing everything regarding it and being good at it) & his brother mentions that's the only thing he is good at in a relation with a woman), while it is reinforced throughout the book that he is a "young king" he is hundreds of years old and lacks emotional maturity in terms of romantic relationships as she is his first romantic interest. 

While I did have some fun with it, we never got explanations for some of the fantasy aspects of the book or if we did get some it still missed some information for us to really understand the Fae world. The ending left me meh, while it is not the worst book I have ever read, it is also not a read I would really personally recommend, there are books that just do it better in my opinion and this is simultaneously a very short and lengthy book.

I can see why some people loved it, but it unfortunately did not work for me. Overall, a disappointing read, I am happy some people enjoyed it.

2.5/5 stars

Bookarina

Dirty Dom by Willow Winters Book Review

 

underwhelming, fast paced, with no time for feelings ...  This book was so fast paced that we got no feeing for any characters, it felt like it was trying to have too much happen in too little time. The POV’s are hard to differentiate and often switch per paragraph which makes for a hard to follow read. I had heard so many good things about it and the only feeling to left me with is annoyed and how underwhelming the whole story is. This is a generic mafia book that you could read in the beginning of the Wattpad era, the plot is nothing really more descriptive than actually happening and jumping left and right. The sex scenes are short and repetitive, also very disappointing for something that was supposed to be BDSM. It felt like the author was just trying to check cases with what a typical mafia romance would have, they have sex within their first encounter/conversation if you can even call that a conversation. This mob boss conveniently called Dom also has no personality, no idea who he is meeting for collecting the debt he is owed and is bland overall. Our “Doll” Rebecca called Becca is not better, she never explains anything, and their “banter” is her asking questions to a monster like duh he won’t answer. The whole book was boring and predictable, simultaneously too long and too short due to the lack of plot progressing cohesively in a way that makes sense with the events and actually empathize with our MC’s. The writing was bad, something I expect from a frayed fanfic where the author has ideas for a story, but no actual experience as to how to connect all those ideas/scenes together. Overall, I don’t understand why people like this book, I found nothing redeemable, I have another more recent book of hers that I now don’t know when I’ll get to after this read. 1/5 stars  Bookarina