Short AF Book Review | Hell Followed With Us

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Hell Followed With Us" by Andrew Joseph White. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Prepare to die. His kingdom is near.

Sixteen - year - old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him - the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world's population. Desperately, he searches for a place where the cult can't get their hands on him, or more importantly, on the bioweapon they infected him with.

But when cornered by monsters born from destruction, Benji is rescued by a group of teams from the local Acheson LGBTQ+ Center, affectionately known as the ALC. The ALC's leader, Nick, is gorgeous, autistic, and a deadly shot, and he knows Benji's darkest secret: the cult's bioweapon is mutating him into a monster deadly enough to wipe humanity from the earth once and for all.

Still, Nick offers Benji shelter among his ragtag group of queer teens, as long as Benji can control the monster and use it's powers to defend the ALC. Eager to belong, Benji accepts Nick's terms... until he discovers the ALC's mysterious leader has a hidden agenda, and more than a few secrets of his own.

A Furious, queer debut novel about embracing the monster within and unleashing it's power against your oppressors."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because as y'all know I'm trying to consume as much LGBTQIA+ media as possible this year and when I saw the description on Netgalley I thought I would absolutely love this story. I'm not gonna lie friends, I was a little meh about this book. We'll start off with the good parts about this book. 1: If you want a book with a lot of diversity this is absolutely the book for you, there's so many different characters and I'm sure almost anybody would be able to find someone that they could relate to within this book. 2: The concept of this book was really cool and interesting to read, and I really wish we got to know more about "the flood". 3: The way the author discusses LGBTQIA+ issues within this book is incredibly thought through and I love that Andrew was able to take from his own personal experiences. Now onto the bad, unfortunately, as cool as a concept that this book had, I didn't enjoy reading it. Yes, there's a lot of diversity in this book, but there was so many characters name mentioned I was struggling to keep up with who's who. I also found that this book was a little to juvenile for me (yes, I'm aware this book is a YA BUT I usually love YA books) especially for the topics that this book was hitting. I ended the book wanting to know so much more and I feel like so many questions weren't answered. Will I pick up another book from this author? Absolutely, I think I have two more ARCs of his to read. Was this book my favourite? Unfortunately not.

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is already out!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | A Dark And Drowning Tide | ARC Received By Netgalley

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "A Dark And Drowning Tide" by Allison Saft. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"A sharp - tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants go harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she's only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when it's leader - Lorelai's beloved mentor - is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia Von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again - and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth - and resist their growing feelings for one another - they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I saw the description of it on Netgalley and thought it would be something I would love. As much as I appreciate receiving it I'm not going to lie friends, I actually found the first half of this book quite boring. Until the main plot point happens (and even a little bit after that) the book was just unfortunately too slow for my liking. I really wanted to love this book because we all know how much I love queer storytelling especially in fantasy settings but I just couldn't bring myself to do so. With that being said, when you do fully get into all the action and adventure of this book, it is really enjoyable and does pick up the pace a fair bit. I had a love/hate relationship with the enemies to lovers aspect of the story, I feel like until we got to the lovers part of it, it was just a little too much. I absolutely adored the twists within the story and the adventurous ending. Unfortunately though, because of how long it took us to get there (more than half the book) I don't think I'll be picking up another Allison Saft book. I might try one of her YA stories but just going off this book, I wasn't overly fond of how long it took to get into the nitty gritty of the story.

I gave this book a 3/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is already out!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Songlight | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Songlight" by Moira Buffini. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Star - crossed lovers, against - all - odds friendship, and a brutally unforgiving world makes this first in a trilogy utterly unforgettable.

We're two songs joined. And there's a word for that. A harmony.

Elsa is used to hiding the most important parts of herself - her feelings for Rye, her distaste for a world ruled by men, and, most crucially, her gift of songlight. She buries that secret deep inside. In Brightland, those with songlight are called Unhumans and are abhorred. Rye is the only other person Elsa has known with songlight, and their shared bond has brought them together.

Elsa's world begins to fall apart one desperate, heart - wrenching day and she doesn't know where to turn until a girl appears before her. But the girl isn't really there - her songlight has been drawn to Elsa's fantastic grief.

Elsa lives in a remote seaside village; Nightingale, her new friend, lives in a city hundreds of miles away with her father, a government official responsible for rooting out Unhumans. The two never expected to connect via songlight. But when they do, and when they realize the extent of their power, they'll be thrust in the middle of a war that threatens their very existence.

From an award - winning screenwriter making her novel debut comes the powerful, page - turning trilogy perfect for fans of Sabaa Tahir and Adrienne Young."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I read the description of it on Netgalley and it drew me in so quickly. So I applied for it and was lucky enough to receive it. Friends, I've not had a book this fast paced and well written in a long time. Every moment of this book was full of action, surprises and secrecy, and I just continuously wanted more. I spent quite a few nights up until the early hours of the morning reading this one and that is not something I have done in a while! The multiple POVs we got of this book were incredible, this is such a flushed out and information filled story that I don't think we would of got everything without it being multiple POV and the way that they wrote it made it so that it wasn't confusing at all of who was speaking. This book fully played on my emotions, there were so many times where I was rooting for the characters but also so many times where my heart hurt for them. I loved every single moment of reading this book and with a cliff-hanger like that, I can't wait until the second book comes out!

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is already out!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | As Good As Dead

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "As Goof As Dead" by Holly Jackson. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind! Even more so as this is the third and final book in the series.)

"The final to A Good Girl's Guide to Murder series. By the end of this mystery series, you'll never think of good girl's the same way again...

Pip is about to head to college, but she is still haunted by the way her last investigation ended. She's used to online death threats in the wake of her viral true - crime podcast, but she can't help noticing an anonymous person who keeps asking her: Who will look for you when you're the one who disappears?

Soon the threats escalate and Pip realizes that someone is following her in real life. When she starts to find connections between her stalker and a local serial killer caught six years ago, she wonders if maybe the wrong man is behind bars.

Police refuse to act, so Pip has only one choice: find the suspect herself - or be the next victim. As the deadly game plays out, Pip discovers that everything in her small town is coming full circle... and if she doesn't find the answers, this time she will be the one who disappears..."

So the reason I wanted to read "As Good As Dead" is obviously because I loved the other two books in the series, but what really pushed me is the TV show is finally out! Friends, I know I've said this before with the last book but I really did not know how Holly was going to continue from the last two books. When I tell you I was trembling from anticipation throughout the entire book I am not lying, my hands were literally shaking (more than they usually do) whilst I was reading. I was not expecting the story to unfold the way that it did at all and it really had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Every moment I could feel myself feeling all of the emotions that Pip would be during that time. If she was anxious, I was anxious, her happy moments, made me happy and Holly does such a good job of putting you in those moments that Pip is having. I finished this book in 2 days and that's the quickest I've gone through a story in these last couple of months, I could not put it down. Friends, if you want an emotional rollercoaster of a mystery series I would 100% recommend the "A Good Girl's Guide To Murder" series and I will absolutely be binging the tv series now!

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads.

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe

Short AF Book Review | The Palace Of Eros | ARC Received By Netgalley

Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Palace Of Eros" by Caro De Robertis. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as aa wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever be cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.

When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfil her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.

Before long, Psyche's nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros's true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both - and transforms the very heavens.

Told in bold and sparkling prose, The Palace of Eros transports us to a magical world imbued by divine forces as well as everyday realities, where palaces glitter with magic even as ordinary people fight for freedom in a society that fears the unknown."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I ADORE Greek mythology retellings and I also love LGBTQIA+ fiction so mash them both together and I assumed this would be an incredible book. Friends, I was not wrong. This book was stunning. The romance in this book was beautiful, and fluffy, and flowery, and just so poetic. There is some spice in this book, however, it does not feel like a smut book because even the spice is poetic and flowery. There was so many times I was just smiling ear to ear reading Psyche & Eros's story. I will say, if you are to read this book, please do read up on the trigger warnings for this book, because as beautiful as this book is, it does hit some heavy hitting topics especially due to it hitting the point of how differently women were treated in that time. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who loves romance and/or Greek mythology retellings and I will definitely be buying a physical copy of this when I get paid!

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is already out!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | The Lost Story | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "The Lost Story" by Meg Shaffer. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"Inspired by C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles Of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown - ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes - just in case - from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they'd gone or how they'd survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons' investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie's sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for buying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie's sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months - for only then they can get back everything and everyone they've lost."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because the synopsis sounded amazing and I saw that it was under the LGBTQIA category and we all know how much I love queer storytelling so I applied for it. I'm not going to lie friends, the start of this book is a little slow because it is getting us to learn more about our 3 main characters but please give this book a chance and power through it because the ending is so worth it. This book honestly made my heart so happy and took me out of a little reading slump that I was having. One of my favourite things about this book was the "storyteller's corner" and I've never seen something like that implemented in a book before and I found it so fun to read through. This is the first Meg Shaffer book I've ever read and I will 100% be picking up her other book (as well as this one) when I next go to the bookstore because her storytelling is stunning! It was nice to have a mixture of mystery and fantasy and so much happened that I was just not expecting. Other than the slow beginning, I loved every moment of reading this book and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wants a good mystery/fantasy! 

I gave this book a 4/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is already out!

What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!

Short AF Book Review | Middle Of The Night | ARC Received By Netgalley

 Hi friends! So today I'm going to be doing a review on "Middle Of The Night" by Riley Sager. This review is going to be short and sweet (like the title suggests) and spoiler free (however there will be the Goodreads synopsis in this and sometimes it can contain spoilers so please keep that in mind!)

"In the latest jaw - dropping thriller from New York Times bestselling author Riley Sager, a man must contend with the long - ago disappearance of his childhood best friend - and the dark secrets lurking just beyond the safe confines of his picture - perfect neighbourhood.

The worst thing to ever happen on Hemlock circle occurred in Ethan Marsh's backyard. One July night, ten - year - old Ethan and his best friend and neighbour, Billy, fell asleep in a tent set up on a manicured lawn in a quiet, quaint New Jersey cul de sac. In the morning, Ethan woke up alone. During the night, someone had sliced the tent open with a knife and taken Billy. He was never seen again.

Thirty years later, Ethan has reluctantly returned to his childhood home. Plagued by bad dreams and insomnia, he begins to notice strange things happening in the middle of the night. Someone seems to be roaming the cul de sac at odd hours, and signs of Billy's presence keep appearing in Ethan's backyard. Is someone playing a cruel prank? Or has Billy, long thought to be dead, somehow returned to Hemlock Circle?

The mysterious occurrences prompt Ethan to investigate what really happened that night, a quest that reunites him with a former friends and neighbours and leads him into the woods that surround Hemlock Circle. Woods where Billy claimed monsters roamed and where a mysterious institute does clandestine research on a crumbling estate.

The closer Ethan gets to the truth, the more he realizes that no place - be it quiet forest or suburban street - is completely safe. And that the past has a way of haunting the present."

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley, however all opinions are my own.

So the reason I wanted to read this book is because I was scrolling on Netgalley and had heard so many good things about Riley Sager's writing so I decided to apply for it. Friends this book blew me away. I'm not going to lie, halfway through I got into a bit of a reading slump due to getting back into streaming and life being hectic but this sure brought me right back out of it too! This book was very mysterious and captivating throughout and left me wanting more every time I had to put it down. Nothing could have prepared me for the twists and turns throughout the novel, even the ones that weren't about Billy's disappearance really took me by surprise. Honestly, if I hadn't of been so busy I would of 100% read this book so much faster because I was eating it up every time. I loved that we got to jump between the past and the present and the jump between first person and third person for each (present being first, past being third) it really allowed us to get all sides of the story without just focusing on our MC. The writing also truly made me feel very empathetic to everything the MC was feeling to the point that when he was scared, I too was scared, when he was sad, I too was sad etc. I've had a good mix of mystery/thrillers this year and this one definitely is currently in my top 3. I would recommend this to anyone who just loves a good mystery/thriller.

I gave this book a 5/5 star rating on Goodreads!

This book is going to be released 2nd July 2024!

 What did you think of this book? Who were your favourite or least favourite characters? Do you have any books you'd recommend for me to read and do a review on? Please let me know down in the comments below!

Have a wonderful day!

Love, Doe!