Sunderworld Vol 2: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs

Sunderworld Vol 2: The Unfortunate Responsibilities of Leopold Berry by Ransom Riggs

I was excited to dive back into Sunderworld and see what Leopold Barry would get up to next. I did have to give myself a refresher on the first book, though, as I found I wasn’t remembering enough of the details.

Overall, I enjoyed this installment, and we definitely get some important information and answers to questions left hanging from the first book. I was surprised by the direction things took with Leopold’s father, and that storyline turned out to be quite the development!

A few new secondary characters are introduced, and while I enjoyed them, I felt they could have been fleshed out a bit more. I would have liked a little more time to get to know them and see their personalities develop, rather than feeling like we were only getting glimpses of who they are. Hopefully, they’ll have more opportunities to shine in the next books.

There’s still plenty of action, and while we do get some answers, I sometimes found it difficult to follow all the different plot threads, especially when so many questions were left unanswered for much of the book. At times, these side plots took away from the main storyline rather than adding to it. The big emotional revelation at the end also didn’t quite land for me the way I think it was intended to. Instead, it felt abrupt and, honestly, a bit farfetched. I could understand some of the reasoning behind this person’s actions, but other parts didn’t quite make sense to me. Sorry, this is difficult to explain without getting into spoilers!

Overall, I’m still enjoying the Sunderworld series, and I’m excited to see how Leopold and his friends will help save the failing magical community. However, I didn’t enjoy this installment quite as much as the first. I’m hoping the third book will bring back some of the magic that initially drew me into this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC.

Synopsis: Sunderworld isn't finished with Leopold Berry—not by a long shot. In the aftermath of the incredible cliffhanger that ended Vol. 1, Leopold, Emmet, and Isabel will begin to unravel the mysteries of Sunder and the secret history of Leopold's family. Vol. 1 left readers breathless, and Vol. 2 promises even more magic and suspense.

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Hallowed Bones by Lucy Smoke

Hallowed Bones by Lucy Smoke

I’ve read other books by Lucy Smoke and enjoyed them, so I decided to give this one a chance. I often enjoy reverse harems, and this one had the added bonus of witches, so I was definitely intrigued. Overall, I enjoyed the book, the characters, and the magical world the author created. I especially liked that these witches are descendants of Salem, where some of the most famous witch trials and burnings took place. Add in creatures from the Veil and an unsolved curse, and this ended up being a fun book to kick off spooky season.

I do think this book could have used a bit more substance, though. I understand that things are being kept secret, but I think a few too many secrets were being kept from the reader in this first book. It was unclear why the Gods have abandoned this coven and why they are being punished. The Salem witch trials, maybe? But it could be something else entirely.

Then there’s the fact that only four out of the five types of witchcraft are explained. The fifth is mentioned multiple times as being scary or wrong, but we’re never really told anything about it. I understand wanting to build suspense, and I’m already expecting something to come from this, but I also think it could have just been explained to us. The mystery felt a little too vague rather than intriguing.

And then there’s the cliffhanger ending, which was super confusing. It seems to be wrapped up in magic, but since we don’t fully understand the different types of magic or the coven’s history yet, it didn’t really make sense. Rather than just wanting to see what happens next, I need the next book to explain to me what is even going on at the end of this one.

While I enjoy an insta-attraction story and overall enjoyed these characters, I do wish there had been a bit more character development. It’s not bad in this book, but there were definitely moments when I wanted a longer chapter or more time inside one character’s head so I could really get a feel for their personality.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I’m interested to see where the story goes. The characters aren’t my favorites, though, and I’m not exactly dying for the next book. I’ll probably continue the series, but mostly because I want some answers to all of these questions!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book.

Synopsis: Four men. One girl. Five families accused of witchcraft. A dark secret they all hide.

Their souls are damaged, hiding secrets and harboring just as much hate as I am.

Ezra Bishop , Cameron Goode, Lyall Corey, Reyes Scott, And me. Haven Wardwell.

They are the monsters hidden in the shadows, but I am no novice when it comes to monsters.

We are all legacies, but there’s one grand difference between us. I am the first female witch born in four hundred years.

Now that I’m here, there’s no telling what the dark gods will ask for in return.

Death and ghosts haunt the corridors of Ipswich Academy. If I’m not careful, I might become one of them.

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Vesselless by Cortney L. Winn

Vesselless by Cortney L. Winn

I was quickly sucked into this romantasy with an enemies to lovers trope. An heiress to the throne and the half-dead king whose throne was stolen by the heiress’s father? Add in spirits lending powers and the Death God requiring the half-dead king to steal the heiress’s soul in order to save his people? Sign me up.

As I mentioned, I was quickly sucked into this book as the writing and pacing were easy to read and engaging right off the bat. I had a hard time making myself stop to go to bed and thus finished it in only two days. The two main characters were developed very well and had relatable conflicts. Nizzara is good and kind and truly cares about the people she will one day lead. She has to play a part to satisfy her cruel father, but she still remembers kind moments with him and loves him at times. She has become a true warrior but refuses to kill, even when it may mean she will die instead in the dueling tournament she must participate in as the heiress. Dagen is a wicked flirt, but is also sacrificing himself to save his people. He starts to realize that Nizzara isn’t as she appears but how can he give up his entire kingdom for one person? I enjoyed how things slowly developed between them as they learned different truths of the other and wow, did it create a complicated ending!

There were a couple of things that made me only give this book four stars instead of five. First, the world building needed a little more explanation at times. I was still confused at the end of this installment on how the soul-bonding happened with spirits and how some become possessed but others don’t. I was also confused by the magic or power as a whole. There are those that have vessels and thus gain a certain magical power. And yet, there are also gem stones that can create power but only in certain ways and they can lose their charge but there is no explanation on if they can be recharged or not? There is somehow a car-like vehicle that runs on these gems but there are still horse-drawn carriages because this world still lacks a lot of modern luxuries or inventions. I didn’t understand how both could be true when there was such a large gap between certain situations. So I was left with several questions and the ending further confused me since it became a bit rushed.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this book and the characters. I know I’ll be picking up the second installment once it’s released, what a cliffhanger to live with until then!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel.

Synopsis: She’s heiress to the throne. The throne her father stole from him.

Nizzara has always been able to perceive spirits better than the average caster. When she enters a deadly tournament to end her betrothal, she's determined to win without succumbing to the addictive spirit magic she channels or taking a life in the duel ring. Finding herself outmatched, Nizzara must face her fear of power and team up with Dagen—an enemy who is half-ghost and all charm—to survive the tournament.

Dagen, the last King of Zarr, was killed by Nizzara’s father ten years ago. Now a half-ghost—able to phase between his human and spirit form—he is stuck in another realm, hunting wretched souls. When his keeper offers him a chance to reclaim his freedom in exchange for Nizzara’s soul, Dagen takes the deal.

There’s only one catch: she must freely give it to him by the tournament’s end or his own soul is forfeit.

View my Review on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7117528476

Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson

Kill Your Darlings by Peter Swanson

I’m sad to say that I was disappointed in this book. I really enjoyed “The Kind Worth Killing” by Peter Swanson and was excited to read this book, but felt the execution was lacking and the characters were flat.

It was clever to tell this story in reverse, and with the reveal at the end it tied it together well, however before the reveal the story just drags and is quite boring. Thom and Wendy are certainly not the good guys which we find out very early, however they weren’t even interesting villains. Again, I was just bored with their characters and annoyed by their personalities.

Nothing really happened in the first part of the book that added to their characters or the overall story. Things started to pick up in the last fourth of the book but by then it was too late to really be excited by anything, and it didn’t tie in the first part really. I didn’t have any moments where I was like oooh, I get why it was slow or now I see why that scene happened. Nope, you only get one tie in from the very beginning and very end.

So I’m sorry to say I won’t be recommending this book, but I’ll still give Swanson a try on other books.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Reptitive - explaining same moments from both POVs but nothing new added in the second recollection

Synopsis: Thom and Wendy Graves have been married for over twenty-five years. They live in a beautiful Victorian on the north shore of Massachusetts. Wendy is a published poet and Thom teaches English literature at a nearby university. Their son, Jason, is all grown up. All is well…except that Wendy wants to murder her husband.

What happens next has everything to do with what happened before. The story of Wendy and Thom’s marriage is told in reverse, moving backward through time to witness key moments from the couple’s lives—their fiftieth birthday party, buying their home, Jason’s birth, the mysterious death of a work colleague—all painting a portrait of a marriage defined by a single terrible act they plotted together many years ago.

Eventually we learn the details of what Thom and Wendy did in their early twenties, a secret that has kept them bound together through the length of their marriage. But its power over them is fraying, and each of them begins to wonder if they would be better off making sure their spouse carries their secrets to the grave.

View my Review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7884322577