Sensational Happiness

Warning: This review contains spoilers, read at your own risk.

Sensational the accompaniment to Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok has left me feeling completely content.

The prose was elegant enough, and the characters all had me rooting for them and feeling their pain as if it were my own. The world-building with the Exposition and the theatrical world of the 19th century Paris made me crave more.

I was worried briefly because the beginning was a bit rockier from the first book and felt like the author assumed we knew who certain characters were (like Jules, who I thought was a female friend of Nathalie's because I know five girls named Jules and one male fictional called Jules. There were no pronouns of who Jules was except that Jules circled a map of the Exposition, or maybe that was Nathalie? Because she did that more throughout the book, but case in point, the beginning was disjointed and left me feeling confused.) Also, Christophe was still engaged to be married to a girl that Nathalie said she met, but later claims to have never met save for knowing the girl's name. (There is a lot of discrepancies like this in the book, such as it's two years after, but it'll act as only a year has passed.) And Jules is Nathalie's beau, so that brought out some of my bookwork prejudices (such as, if Christophe did not get together with Nathalie, the book would not be as high as the first).

I am happy to report Christophe, and Nathalie gets together at the end of the book, and I am on cloud nine now. (No more scheming required). These two characters will always have my heart and are in my top ten favorite character couples ever.

I knew the killer was working in the morgue, but I never ever thought it was who it was. I was guessing the one who saw her when she was at a low point or the new apprentice (oops).

I wish I could shut off the writer part of my brain because the ending left me with the perfect idea for the "next" story (which if the author happens to read this post is more than welcome to use because I could never do the characters justice). It's years later, and Nathalie and Christophe are married with kids of their own, and one of the kids has manifested an Insightful ability, and the story follows the kid. (Okay, okay, I just really want to keep reading about Christophe and Nathalie, but can you blame me?)

6 out of 5 stars (because they finally got together and I was in a bit of a reading slump before these books)

Spectacular Spectacle

Spectacle by Jodie Lynn Zdrok had me devouring the entire book. All I wanted to do was keep reading and be ensnared in the twisty roads of 19th century Paris. Nathalie and Christophe have my heart, and they are so cute together. Still, the author had to throw one little bump into that romantic endeavor (if you want to find out you have to read it). Now I am hoping something happens, so they get together in the second book (yes, I am shameless and have no heart because for it to repeat someone else has to get hurt).
The characters had me enthralled from the moment I met them, and I would love nothing more than to delve into that world over and over again. I also loved how it stayed true to the theme of death and questioning what a person wants to sacrifice to continue going through life. (You can all relax I am not going to go all English students on you and give a very detailed analysis of what the book could be about. Although, this book would be perfect for English classes).
I am so happy that both Spectacle and Sensational were on the read now list on NetGalley and that I got both copies to read because I would probably cry otherwise.

I will try to stop babbling, and you go read these books so I can go read the second one. Deal?

5 out of 5 stars.

all Hail Rebellions

All hail rebellions in Jennifer Gruenke's Of Silver and Shadow. How is it possible for there to be rebellions, yet none of the named characters die on the rebellion side? That is what happens in this novel and in many stories, I have read that involve rebellions. Why is that? Shouldn't there be thousands of deaths in a war?
I feel in love with all of the characters, and each had their own unique personality. Although I had a hard time picturing them because their descriptions would change like they would be black and then white, then another skin color.
I will admit it took me a long time to catch onto the love interest, but when I did it was like okay, what made me so resistant in the first place? My only other issue with the book is that it took too long. It did not need fifty chapters and could have been done in maybe thirty if they took out all the repetitive things.
The first half of the book repeated itself a lot, and I found myself being like, okay, we get it. Can we please move on. Some of the twists took me by surprise like the fact that the whole royal family is not magical (I won't say who it is though and why the person is not magic because that leads to the biggest twist of all. If you want to find out you will have to grab a copy for yourself and read).
The prince that wanted nothing to do with his family was my favorite character, and I hope that if there is a second book, there is more of him in it because he was the thing that made me keep reading, especially since he was so clueless on some items.

4 out of 5 stars

Maybe not a fairytale part 2

The Dragon Choker, the second installment in Stephanie Alexander's Cracked Glass Slipper trilogy, is the biggest disappointment of them all. Granted, I had read a collection of 24 romance novels before reading this book and had a chance to reflect on the story as a whole.
I feel terrible for saying this, especially since the author spent so much time on the books, but the story as a whole is weak, childish, and immature. None of the two things I wanted to have happened in the first book happened in the second novel. If anything, the characters became even more like petulant children, not the adults they were claiming to be. I can no longer root for Dorian and Eleanor because of that, which is the whole reason I wanted to read the second story.
To make matters worse, instead of resolving any conflicts, puts even more in that do not feel believable at all.
I read only the first five chapters before skipping to the last two chapters to see if it was worth my time. I also previewed the first three chapters of the final book that were also included in the copy, and yep, it is a waste of my time.
So if you are bored and want to waste your time, then this is the book for you. The sad fact is that it is not this book series time to shine, and it shows.
1 out of 5 stars.

Maybe not a fairytale part 1

The Cracked Slipper by Stephanie Alexander is one of those books that should have been published in 2009, not 2019.
The thing that intrigued me most about the book was that it was supposed to be a Cinderella retelling based on after she marries the Prince Charming, and he is not as charming as one would think. Also, Eleanor was supposed to have anxieties and things that "real women" go through. It did not fall flat on the Prince oh not Charming but tripped up on everything else.
I only wanted to read the second book to see if one of two things happened:

1. Eleanor and Dorian get together.
2. Gregory dies.

The reason why I say this book would do well in 2009 is that it's the kind of book you'd expect to read in that year. The places in the book felt like the author did not try at all to stimulate anyone's imagination. The conflicts did not feel necessary in the book, but like the author was trying to be, all "I need to make life difficult for my characters".

I groaned whenever we were introduced to conflict because it was, like "of course, the only way to divorce is by death, and of course, it's the women who die". It made it hard to suspend my disbelief over anything when it felt like the author didn't care, but obviously, she must have if it took her ten years to write it. The first book has left me feeling so conflicted because I expected so much more than the author was willing to give.

2 out of 5 stars.