4 Mini Reviews: An AI, A Con, A Siren, & A Girl

Seriously, where does the time go? I feel like I just posted the Heart of Iron review a couple of days ago but it has been almost a month?! Oops!

So, I’ve read several books recently but it’s been a while. If you noticed in my Heart of Iron review, I waited two months to try to write my thoughts out for that (not intentionally, again, time just flies away). Instead of trying to write full reviews for the other three books with a review due…here are some quick thoughts because I can’t remember everything!

ALWAYS FOREVER MAYBE
by Anica Mrose Rissi

*This one was an ARC

When Betts meets Aiden at the candy store where she works, their connection is like a sugar rush to the heart. Betts already knows the two of them are infinite. Inevitable. Destined to become an us.

Betts has only ever kept one secret from her best friend, Jo, but suddenly there’s a long list of things she won’t tell her, things Jo wouldn’t understand. Because Jo doesn’t see how good Aiden is for Betts. She finds him needy. Possessive. Controlling.

She’s wrong. With a love like this, nothing else matters.

I went into this one with absolutely no knowledge of what it was about, just that it was a contemporary.  It focuses on the relationship between the MC & the bad boy she met. I think what this book was trying to convey is important and should be talked about. (i.e. domestic abuse) but I don’t think it did a very good job at building it. It started off strong with several events used as warning signs for what will be an abusive relationship but fell flat at the end for me.

In trying to put my thoughts together for this book, I do want to put a bit of a disclaimer first: I think I went in expecting something more raw, more in depth, something a bit like Girl in Pieces. It ended up being a nauseating insta-love with nothing really resolved because a character developed, rather because a plot device happened and, well, that’s that. The end.

Overall, I’d say it did a good job at presenting a relationship with a progression of abuse but I had a hard time really committing to their specific relationship because of insta-love. Then the story crashed and burned.

RATING: 2/5

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ACE OF SHADES
by Amanda Foody

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted.

Frightened and alone, her only lead is a name: Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unraveling investment scam, so he doesn’t have time to investigate a woman leading a dangerous double life. Enne’s offer of compensation, however, could be the solution to all his problems.

If you read this book, do not go into it with Six of Crows in mind or you will be disappointed. I went in sort of laughing at their SoC comparison because, y’all, nothing will compare – and because of that, I actually enjoyed it!

It is told from 2 perspectives, Enne’s and Levi’s. I prefered Enne. She’s a character that, at first, can be a little too full of tears, but she grows on you. Her character makes sense and her development is wonderful. Levi is a character I had a harder time really connecting to because he wasn’t convincing as a Lord and he seemed to make a lot of mistakes that he really had no excuse to make because…well, again, he’s supposed to be a Lord.

My biggest criticisms are:

1. The book suffers from a really slow middle. They’re investigating things and that’s what the middle of the book is. Just. So. Slowly. There isn’t a lot of action that really kept me engaged – but I did love the beginning and the end.
2. The world building is awkward. Foody tells a lot, rather than shows. Yet, at the same time, I could have used a good info dump to really understand how the different gangs worked.

Overall, even though it took me a while to finish, I care enough that I will be reading the next book! If not for the story, for Enne. I’m excited to see how her character develops even more in book 2.

RATING: 3.5/5

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OBSIDIO
by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?

Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.

Don’t hate me: I am not a fan. Granted, I didn’t really like the first two either so this just solidified that I don’t like this trilogy (thank goodness it’s done so I can stop committing to it lol)

Obsidio dives right in,  quite literally. It had been a year since I read Gemina and I really would have benefited from a reread because this book does not even try to remind you about things. But you know what, I shouldn’t have to reread the previous one. This book should have done a good job on its own to subtly remind you who the f*ck everyone was and what just happened prior. Nope. It doesn’t.

Also, this book is full of lies. LIES. LIES. LIES. Just like a certain Marvel movie. Which just made me not give a crap what was going on because I knew there would be sunshine and f*cking dasies at the end.

I can keep going but I won’t because now I’m getting ranty.

RATING: 1/5 

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TO KILL A KINGDOM
by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever.

The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavory hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a drowning woman in the ocean, she’s more than what she appears. She promises to help him find the key to destroying all of sirenkind for good—But can he trust her? And just how many deals will Elian have to barter to eliminate mankind’s greatest enemy?

I loved this one! I wouldn’t say this a dark fairy-tale, though. Sure, it starts out pretty dark but it eventually becomes somewhat of a typical YA novel. Even so, it was just such an entertaining read for me. The characters were all fantastic. Lira was a bad ass, Elian was a “good guy” pirate, and the supporting characters were equally great. It was a really entertaining and short read – which made it even better, knowing it was going to conclude at the end because this is not a series. 

I do have some criticisms though, very tiny ones: First, why couldn’t Lira just tell Elian her new plan? Wouldn’t it have been a hell of a lot easier? Also, the final fight scene got a little muddled in my brain. I couldn’t clearly imagine the fighting. Which was actually disappointing since the rest of the book has very little vicious siren fighting.

Even so, I enjoyed it. It also put me into a NEED FOR MORE PIRATE BOOKS.

RATING: 4.5/5

Have you read any of these? Thoughts? Do you agree or disagree with my opinions? Let’s chat about them!