Sparkly New Friends (Unicorn and Yeti: #1)

Sparkly New Friends: An Acorn Book by Heather Ayris Burnell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This a a fun book for kids who are making the transition from picture books to chapter books. The graphic novel format makes the story easy to read and follow along with for young readers. Finishing each chapter help create a feeling of confidence and accomplishment.
Following along as Yeti and Unicorn meet each other, learn to get along, and become friends is fun for readers, and the bright illustrations add to the story. (My daughter, who is not a confident reader, loved the book, has read it multiple times on her own, and can't wait to read the next in the series.) I would recommend this to young and/or struggling readers, or anyone who loves unicorns, magic and things that are sparkly.


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The Living God (The Living God: #1)

The Living God by Kaytalin   Platt
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
I tried with this one. I really did. The cover is gorgeous. But as soon as I started reading, I was confused, more confused, and then disappointed.
Saran is a princess and a mage, and is seeking to overthrow her tyrannical father along with the help of her true love Keleir, who happens to be possessed by a demon. The two must keep their love a secret, along with their plans to lead a revolt.
It sounds like a promising and exciting story. But just a few pages in I felt like I was missing something, The farther I got in the book the more I felt like I had missed important backstory, to the point where I double-checked to make sure this was not the second installment of a series. It just seemed like A LOT of important things happened in the past, and instead of characters just referring to those things, the reader should have experienced them along with the characters. The literal world-jumping was a bit of a shock, too, and instead of adding to the story it just took me right out of it.
This book was just not for me. I would not recommend it.


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Special Agent Maximilian

Special Agent Maximilian by Mimi Barbour
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

As a newcomer to the Romantic Suspense genre, I was looking forward to reading this book, because it sounded very interesting. A man finds out he has an identical twin and then discovers he must impersonate his FBI agent twin in order to solve a crime, along with his twin's partner.
The story just started off rocky for me, however, and never really recovered. We were told a lot of things in the story--the twins' backstory, the personality traits of each character, the development of relationships--instead of being shown. That took away from the emotional connection to the story and the characters. Also the way the characters talked felt jarring and unnatural. There were way too many exclamation points at the end of statements, and things that just did not sound like something a normal person would say in the course of an actual conversation. The two main characters attraction to each other also felt very inorganic and forced. I found myself skimming by halfway through.
I would not recommend this book and will not read anyting by this author again. I was disappointed.


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Those People

Those People by Louise Candlish
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
Having read another book by this author I was excited to read this book. It was original and I did not want to put it down, but in the end I was left a bit unsatisfied.
When new neighbors move in to the house at the end of the street, the rest of the people in the surrounding houses are taken aback, first because they didn't realize the house was even for sale, and then because these new people just don't seem to fit in. They play loud music at all hours, keep junk vehicles in their yard, don't abide by the neighborhood "rules," and are standoffish at best--rude at worst. The resentment the original inhabitants of the neighborhood grows and escalates, causing tension in their own personal lives. And then one day someone loses their life. The first half of the book deals with the weeks leading up to the suspicious death, and the second half deals with the aftermath and the search for the truth behind what really happened.
The author does a great job creating the people who live on this street, and their motivations behind keeping their neighborhood a safe haven. The story threads and plot are woven well through the 1st half, if not the first two-thirds of the book. But when the book begins to move toward its conclusion, and the mystery begins to be unraveled, the story begins to feel underwhelming. I kind of had the feeling of, "Hhmmmm...oh well!" What should have been a twisty-turny exciting ending was not that at all.
It was not a bad book, it was just not an amazing book. I would recommend it if you enjoy mystery and domestic thriller novels. And I will read more by this author.


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Cursed

Cursed by Thomas Wheeler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book.
As a huge fan of Arthurian lore and legend I was very excited to read this book. It was a "fresh" take on the story from the point of view of Nimue. She has always been treated as an outcast in her tribe, despite the fact that her mother was the leader of their Druid village. One day after trying to make her escape, Nimue is faced with the massacre of her village, the death of her mother, the discovery of an ancient magical sword, and the meeting of a young man named Arthur. She feels her only option to save the rest of her land from the same fate her own people suffered is to get the mystical sword to a fabled sorcerer named Merlin. The story follows Nimue on her journey to find Merlin and discover for herself why fate has tied her to him, to Arthur, and to the sword.
While to book started off great, it didn't take long for the story to seem disjointed. The narrative followed several different characters, from their points of view, including Nimue, Merlin, Uther Pendragon, Morgan, and others. By the middle of the book it never felt like the story was moving to a set, cohesive point. It just felt like everyone was wandering about the countryside, wondering what they should do next. When the "climax" of the story finally came, it was underwhelming. What was supposed to be an epic moment and exciting cliffhanger just came off, to me, as a bit disappointing. By the end, I wasn't really sure what the "point" of the story was supposed to be. Without giving away spoilers, Nimue's "origin story" just left me saying, "Oh...really...that's it? Okay..."
The version I read was an ARC, so I'm sure the illustrations will change for the final version. They were very interesting, however.
If you are a fan of Arthur and the legends surrounding him, this might be worth checking out for you. Many of the characters' names will be recognizable, if not their "traditional" roles in the legends. I will probably give the next book in the series a chance, just to see if some of the things I found lacking in this book are made up for in the next installment.


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Every Last Breath (Final Hour: #1)

Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fun quick read. I don't read too many romantic suspense novels, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one, and would like to read more by this author.
Maddox is a covert black-ops officer who finds herself tasked with stopping a dangerous mercenary from handing over a virulent strain of small-pox to a terrorist. Her only option for success in her mission is trusting Cole, the man who broke her heart and devastated her world years earlier. Both Maddox and Cole must learn to put their feelings aside in order to hunt down their enemy and save the United States, and the world. They might just be able to resolve their issues and find a way to trust each other again.
I enjoyed this book. Maddox and Cole were relatable (as much as incredibly fit, well-trained back-ops officers can be!). But their actions and motivations seemed organic and realistic. I usually don't enjoy books in which the characters share a past that the reader was not privy to, but in this case their past was revealed in a timely manner and did not slow down the story or make me feel as though I was missing out on anything by not knowing was was going on from the beginning.
The action also really added to the story. Sometimes descriptions of fights or hand-to-hand combat can get boring or seem like filler. The author did a great job of describing the actions scenes in a way that helped the reader picture what was happening and contributing to the personalities of the characters.
I liked the secondary characters as well. Maddox's team was made up of people who I would like to read more about, and the villain was appropriately scary and borderline psychotic.
The chemistry between Maddox and Cole also contributed to the story and helped the reader feel a connection with the characters. I believed their relationship was complicated, intense, and unavoidable.
I would definitely recommend this book to fans of romantic suspense, and I would also love to read the next books in this series.


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