Smashbomb

Search

Search results

All (4653)

Content

Kristina (502 KP) rated Lux (The Nocte Trilogy, #3) in Books

Dec 7, 2020

Contains spoilers, click to show

Mind. Blown.

What the holy crap did I just read? I'm completely satisfied, yet my mind is still reeling from all the unexpected twists and turns I just experienced. Seriously, what just happened? Cole literally said the ending can be interpreted how the readers wants and I have my interpretation (though I would never attribute it to real life; I'm really good at suspending my beliefs for a good story). The whole family was cursed. They continued to multiply with one another, creating children out of incest, therefore the curse never ended. If Laura hadn't been with Richard, I feel like the curse would have ended. Or maybe not. Either way, I want to believe that Dare, Calla, and Finn went round and round in an endless cycle, one that changed ever so slightly every now and then, until they finally made the decision that put everything into balance. I loved the ending, though there was a dark time when I would have accepted anyone's deaths other than Calla's and Dare's. I've given Lux a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It would originally be 5 out of 5, because the story is absolutely crazy and the author is a complete lunatic - in all the best ways. I understand that she chose to rewrite certain scenes from both Nocte and Verum to show that moments kept repeating themselves, even if there were slight changes. It was just hard to concentrate, considering I'd already read those scenes just before this book. I think I would have enjoyed those parts better had she tried to word them differently or focused on a different aspect while playing out the same scenario. Other than that, Lux was a continuous whirlwind of confusion. Cole was great at allowing the reader to see the finish line, to get close enough to taste it, only to pull the rug out from underneath us and make us start the marathon again. It was exciting, intimidating, daunting, and fun. There were so many ways Lux could have ended and all of them probably would have matched up with the plot of the entire series, but I'm very happy with the ending she offered - even if I was a little upset to say goodbye to Calla and Dare.

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated The King's Men (All for the Game, #3) in Books

Jan 11, 2021

4.5 stars

This one picks up a few days after the second book with Neil a battered mess and on his way to the Foxhole Court for training. He has some explaining to do to his team mates about where he disappeared to over Christmas and about the state he's in. Add in the tension that's sparked between Neil and Andrew and the budding friendship between the rest of the group and this is a roller coaster.

Everything was now out in the open and the shit had hit the fan, pitting Neil against his abusive father, and I was honestly waiting for Andrew to come kicking the door down to rescue him. (I'll let you read it to figure out if that actually happened) It was some crazy stuff but God, I was hooked. I'm just glad that nobody I'm come to care about in this series died in this one. Good riddance to the evil ones though.

I haven't been this invested in a series or bunch of characters in a long time. I was literally bouncing in my seat when the final match between the Foxes and the Ravens began, thinking "Come on, guys, you can do it!" and what a ride it was! I actually had to put it on hold while i went to work at 98% and couldn't stop thinking about it on my half hour walk, waiting for when i could finish those last few pages. It was killing me! Luckily I had a little time before I started and binged it and wow! I wish that there had been a separate little epilogue with just Andrew and Neil to see them now that the threat had gone. (I totally understand why people have written fanfic about this series!)

Every single one of the characters grew in one way or another as people, thanks to Neil's urging - okay, maybe not Andrew as such, he's still a little psychotic at times - and I feel like most other people who've read this book that i may have to reread it once a year or so just to relive this amazing series. Yes, it is dark in places but you can't help caring for this team of friends and urging them to come out of the other end after their crappy upbringings.

Kudos

Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated E.R.A (HayleAnna Rising, #1) in Books

Jan 11, 2021

Contains spoilers, click to show

DNF @ 61% - REVIEW DOES CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS (AND A BIT OF A RANT)

This sounded rather good so I downloaded it but the more I read, the more I disliked it. That sounds bad but when I generally enjoy almost 95% of books I read, I think it's fair. It might be because it was self published and needed a really, really good proof read and edit as the amount of misspellings and simple errors drove me mad.

So this starts with HayleAnna waking up for her first day of training to join E.R.A - America's army of the future - so she can follow in her dads footsteps. She meets the trainers, a group of five, and makes friends with her roomie, AZ, before embarking on her schedule of training throughout the days and weeks so she can help stop the crazy madman who is trying to rule America after the government collapsed a handful of decades ago.

I had a couple of other issues with this book, just simple things I didn't understand.
One: Her name is HayleAnna but everyone calls her Anna. Surely Hayle with it coming first would be her shortened form?
Two: The romance. I didn't buy it. One minute they're sharing looks and winks and then the next they're pretty much dating and getting married?
Three: The continual use of the word "setting" instead of "sitting". "Setting up in the bed..." Maybe it's because I'm British but that made no sense to me. I set an object down but I sit down.
And four: I felt like I missed something in that 61%. She leaves the training completely to go see her mum amid a possible threat, but when her birthday rolls around everyone from the training is there wishing her well, including the instructors who told her she would be kicked from the program if she left? And then she actually gets a place with E.R.A?

WTF?

That was about the point where I gave up with the story. It wasn't making sense to me anymore. None of it was. I didn't buy the romance between the characters, either, and I wasn't a fan of the explained conversations without having it written in full.

It did have a promising storyline and I'm sure if the authors gave it a full proper once over that it has the potential to be a good book but currently I really wasn't feeling it at all.