Tag Archives: bethlylou reads

Review: The Ruined by Renee Ahdieh

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***Contains Spoilers from this book and possibly from the series as a whole.***

I want to say first that as a whole, I enjoyed this series. I found it to be very entertaining with some interesting characters. That being said, I didn’t like the final book. The Ruined is fine but to me, definitely the weakest of the books. In picks up, right after the end of the Righteous and our main characters are all separated. Celine is with her mother, who was just shot. Bastien is with the dark Fey, Arjun, is in mourning because Poppy is thought to be dead because she was last seen being bitten by a werewolf and carried away. That’s the problem. They all spent the entirety of the novel away from each other. In particularly, Celine and Bastien, they have only one chapter in the book that they have an actual conversation with each other. The rest of the book, they are either in different places or just happened to be in the same room. What made these books work for me, was their chemistry. Their witty banter back and forth. Even in the second book when Celine had lost her memories, they still had that chemistry and it was very much was lacking in this book. As for Arjun and Poppy, we get a couple of chapters from their POV’s, they get reunited and then not seen again until the end and even then, they barely had anything to do with the final battle. That’s a shame, because with Poppy beating the odds and not surviving a werewolf bite but turn into one. So much could have been explored in her transition and we got none of that. Not to mention, the Court of Lions are completely missing for the final battle for the most part, even though it takes place in New Orleans. In fact they are pretty sidelined for the whole book. We never really got a sense of what Odette is feeling after what she had been through. It’s just disappointing, that a good series ended like this. I do appreciate that after all that Celine and Bastien did to each other and to others, that they didn’t just get the stereotypical happy ending. The deserved to face the consequences of their actions but also leaves things open should the story want to continue.

Review: A Wilderness of Stars by Shea Ernshaw

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I didn’t know much about this book when I started it. I got it as a part of a mystery bag I bought last year at NYCC. That’s what I love about getting books like this because they can surprise you. I am not sure I would have picked it up on my own. Vega is the Astronomer. Like her mother before her and her mother before her, she is the only one who can read the stars. The world has been consumed with sickness and it is said that the Astronomer will read the stars and save them. The action begins when Vega sees two stars in the sky that were not there before. This is the sign. She must find the Architect to take her to the see. A couple of issues. She doesn’t know how the Architect is and she has also never left her home in the valley. She runs into Cricket and then Noah, who help her out but there is a group of men, who will do anything to find her. The Theorist, basically a gang but run by a man who obsessive in finding the Astronomer because he more then anything wants to save himself. Vega, who has been sheltered her own life, is very brave. She doesn’t hesitate when she sees the stars even though her mother just died because she knows what’s at stake. Despite all the advisory she faces, she never wavers from her mission and keeps going. The twist at the end, I’ll admit, I did not see coming and the ending does leave it open for a sequel. The part of me that wants a happy ending hopes there will be but I also do like an open-ended ending. Life keeps going no matter what happens. Even in fiction.

Review: The Righteous by Renee Ahdieh

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Poppy is on the case. Everyone should have a friend like her. When Celine goes missing, she will literally go through a looking glass to find her. Arjun just wants to save a friend. Picking up after the end of The Damned. The Court of Lions are reeling from the fight with the werewolves. Odette is barely hanging on to life and Celine and Bastien are in the among the Fae to escape the the French detective who came to take her back to Paris. Poppy knows something strange is going on. She witnesses Michael wolfing out but what she really cares about is Celine and finding her before she gets married. Following Arjun, she crosses over to another world and to save her, Arjun pretends they are engaged. I do love a fake engagement trope. I got the vibes these two had chemistry and were stoked to read their adventures. I was not disappointed. I enjoyed their witty banter back and forth. Poppy may seem like your typically British aristocrat but she has real grit. Just like everyone, she has a secret and will do anything to save her family. Which makes sense since she will do almost anything to save her friend. It shouldn’t surprise you that they fall in love. Things don’t turn out the way they hoped and now peace between the fae courts is broken. Celine is about to enter in her villain era and I’m here for it. I can’t wait to pick up the final book in the series because it’s going to be a wild ride.

The Review: The Songbird and the Heart of Stone by Carissa Broadbent

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Vampires. ✅ Enemies to lovers ✅ Journey through dangerous lands ✅ Yep, this checked off a lot of my boxes. This book takes place maybe a year after the last Crowns of Nyaxia book. It follows Mische, who left the Night Court because she wants to find herself but also she knows she killed the Prince of the Shadowborn and she doesn’t want the consequences coming for her friends. Of course, we find her that she has been caught by the Shadowborn and is about to be executed until the bastard son, Asar, of the King shows up and says I need her to complete my task from the Goddess Nyaxia. In Mische’s human life she was a priestess to the Sun God. Her God abandoned her when she was turned into a vampire but now shows up and gives her the task of sabotaging Asar’s mission. So of course, they go on a long journey between the world of living and the dead to collect what they need for their task and of course they fall in love as they go. In typical fashion, Asar’s reputation is he is ruthless, which you know right away that he isn’t going to be that. I like the banter between the two of them. They have good chemistry. The ending did leave a pretty nice cliffhanger. Not to spoil anything but things did not go as planned. Thank goodness, the next book in the series is already out so I will be reading it soon.