Tag Archives: beth reads

Review: The Long Game by Rachel Reid

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The next season of Heated Rivalry is going to wreck me if this is anything to go by. Damn. While Heated Rivalry was Shane’s story of his struggle to embrace who he is. The Long Game is Ilya’s story of his finally confronting the trauma of his childhood. We pick up with Shane and Ilya about three years after the end of Heated Rivalry. They are still in a secret relationship. Ilya signed with Ottawa, the worst team in the league, but it allows them to remain close. However, their arrangement isn’t starting to wear on them. They are both tired of hiding but also afraid to come out. Ilya is fighting depression and, for the first time, really dealing with the trauma of the death of his mother. I would argue that Shane is dealing with an eating disorder, but it’s not really treated as one in the story, so I might be reading too much into it. In the first book, it’s heavily implied that hockey is the villain of the story because it is the culture that is not only preventing them from openly coming out, but also Shane’s internalized homophobia that has prevented him from truly being himself. This one is no longer implying but coming right out and saying it. Shane is not out publicly but is to his team. Word has gotten back to the commissioner of the league, and he basically threatens Shane with never coming out while he is still playing. *Spoiler* Shane and Ilya are accidentally outed by Hayden when one of his videos goes viral. Ilya’s team is much more supportive, while Shane’s worries about coming out come true when his team not only isn’t supportive of him but blame him for losing a playoff game and accuses him of throwing it for Ilya. This is, by the way, the season after they have won the Cup for the third time. The unfairness of it all is crushing, but honestly, probably a more realistic outcome if this were to happen in real life. There is a very satisfying scene at the end of the book when Shane tells the commissioner off. This book was a lot more emotional for me than Heated Rivalry, and if the show adapts it as loyally as it did the first one, we are all in for a very emotional ride. I do think I should read Role Model before the new season, as it is rumored that the book’s main characters will be the B-couple, like Scott and Kip were in the last season. It makes sense because from what I gathered from this book, it takes place at the same time, and their plots intersect in a couple of key moments.

Quick Review: Brimstone by Callie Hart

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This book was good, but Quicksilver was better. It took a bit for me to get into this one. Saeris is now half fae, half vampire, and is the Queen of the vampires because she killed the king of the vampires. This obviously complicates things because of the half-fae, but also mated to the man the vampires have been fighting for centuries now. The other issue I had with Saeris and, to a certain extent, Fisher ae becoming too powerful. It seemed like Saeris was discovering a new power that no one had seen for thousands of years to save them at the last second. It was all a little bit too convenient, but also, if a character is too powerful, it starts to take the suspense from the story because you know they will win, because no one can possibly overpower them. You know what I mean? Superhero movies have the same issue sometimes. The second issue was that there was a minor subplot of Fisher and Carrion going on a side quest to retrieve Saeris brother, but so far nothing has really come from it. Hayden is kind of a brat. She did so much to protect him, and once she was gone, he was quick to believe the Queen’s propaganda about her. But anyway, once he is rescued, he isn’t really a part of the rest of the book. I kind of forgot he was there. I assume he will play a bigger part in the next book. All in all, it was a satisfying romantasy but not as satisfying as the first book.

Review: All Hail Chaos by Sarah Rees Brennan

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Chaos indeed. I really enjoy Sarah Rees Brennan. She has written so many different kinds of books, and yet they are all well thought out and well crafted. I always get lost in the world. Much like Rae, who is actually lost in the world. Okay, she isn’t lost. She knows where she is, but she failed to get out of the book when she had the chance and now the narrative of the story is out of order. Rae tries to make the most of the situation. If she can get the story back on track. Make the Key the hero, she can get back home, but the thing the story wants what it wants, and the more she tries to change it, the more it fights back. I do love the exploration of Villain vs. Hero. Rae’s character is written to be a villain because she is seen to be promiscuous and manipulative, but the King in the previous book was just the same way, and he was considered a hero to many. Key has done some pretty inexcusable things, but he is also a man that poor and told his whole life he was bad and wouldn’t amount to anything, so is it really shocking that now he is living up to it? It goes deeper than that, but I hope you get the gist. The two books together are just a fun story of people trying to navigate complicated circumstances and trying to make it better. It’s well written, and the world-building is so on point. That even though I have never read the book she is lost in, I feel as though I have. And that ending! I do love a good cliffhanger, but damn girl. The game has really changed and sets up a pretty exciting finale.

Review: Quicksilver by Calle Hart

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Saeris Fane is a thief who is a thief to survive. She steals from the wrong person and gets arrested by the Evil Queen, but wouldn’t you know it, she has special powers that save her. She then discovers there are other worlds when she is taken to a land of fairies and meets Kingfisher, our hero with a dark past. This is pretty much your typical Romantasy. Human girl, supernatural love interest. She has powers or abilities that no one else has. An authoritarian-like government. And fated romance. It’s all there, and I liked it. Saeris is strong, plucky, and resourceful. Kingfisher is brooding, sexy, and empathetic. Just what you want in your heroine and hero in a book like this. While there is nothing new or revolutionary about this book, I argue it doesn’t have to be. It was entertaining. It had good characters. Funny scenes in between intense battles and just enough spice. I didn’t expect how it ended. It leaves so many possibilities for the sequel, which I currently have on hold at my library. All and all, it was just what I expected and what I wanted from a book like this.

Review: This Will be Interesting by E.B. Asher

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The sequel to This Will be Fun is just as cute. This time, we are following Galwell, recently back from the dead, Queen Thessia, tired of being the damsel in distress, and River, an assassin with a moral code. The mystery starts when River is assigned to kill Galwell. The Guild she works for only supports targeting villains, but what evil deed could Galwell have committed? He is, after all, the heroic Galwell the Great. So he has to get out of town, and wouldn’t you know, Queen Thessia and her new husband, Hugh, are going across the sea on their honeymoon. So Galwell sneaks onto the boat, and Raven follows, and soon, everyone is in a new country. They meet the Princes, who both want to change their country for the better, but then one of the princes is killed by someone who looks like Galwell, and now new mystery on top of the other mystery. Galwell has no choice but momentarily stops being heroic by hiding at Mona the Merciless place. Hijinks ensue. Romance is had. The bad guys are unmasked, and the good guys win the day. Just the simple, fun book that everyone needs to read every once in a while. I particularly enjoyed the chemistry between Galwell and Mona. They were truly fun. Galwell, a man from out of time and a misunderstood villain. It just works. Thessia and Hugh are also a great couple. I enjoyed both books, and I wonder if there will be any other books in the series.

Review: Alchemised by SenLinYu

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I wished I liked this more. For one thing, it was way too long. Secondly, over the course of the novel, I started to get really annoyed with Helena. Kaine clocked her when he said that she made so many promises that she gets to pick the ones she wants to keep so she can feel better about herself. She often goes back on her word once she gets what she wants. Her hero complex of wanting to save everyone ended up barely saving anyone at all. I swear, every decision she made only made things worse, not just for her but for everyone. If she had just listened to Kaine in the first place and stayed put, they could have been spared two years of suffering and two-thirds of this book. I didn’t know this when I started reading it, but this started as a Hermione/Draco fan-fiction. As fun as that is, Hermione was ten times more clever than Helena. True Helena eventually figures out how to win the day, so many people suffered because of her and Kaine along the way. If you want to take the time to read, know that there is an upsetting subplot in The Handmaid’s Tale, and because it is about war, there are a fair number of depictions of violence. Honestly, it’s not worth the time.