Signs in the Dark

 I received a free copy of this book, Signs in the Dark by Susan Miura, from Dawn Carrington from Vinspire Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This review may contain spoilers so please read at your own risk.

Signs in the Dark is a cute and haunting story of a deaf girl named Haylie who gets abducted after receiving a text from Nathan to meet in the alley in 10. The story is told from the perspective of Haylie and Nathan.

I loved this book and could have finished it in one day except life kind of got in the way. This is a definite mom approved book and kind of reminded me of Angel Eyes by Shannon Dittemore by the faith these characters had in God and dealing with a similar theme (which is also why I mention mom approved because my mom bought me Angel Eyes because she thought I was not reading enough Christian novels). 

I fell in love with the characters from the first page and never stopped loving them.

Nathan, oh Nathan, he tried so hard to find clues on where Haylie was being held except everything he did made him look like more of a suspect to Haylie's abduction. You just want to hug both of them because they are so sweet and wholesome.

The writing is an easy pace and flows nicely. My only critique is that I wish the title played more in the book like if there were actual signs in the dark. Unless we want to count that it all happened mostly at night?

The book comes out October 15, 2020 so mark your calendar because this is one book you will not want to miss. It has enough of a Christian aspect to it that moms everywhere will approve, but is not so preachy that anyone can read it even if it is not your faith. This is my kind of book and I love how the author created a diverse cast of characters while getting input from people who actually are Peruvian or in the Deaf Community.

I cannot sing its praises enough and I cannot thank Susan and Dawn enough for allowing me this opportunity to read such a remarkable book.

500 out of 5 stars.

Tell Me A Secret: wrong Cover

 I received a free copy of this book by the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review. 

First off, I would like to thank Voracious Readers Only for bringing this book to my attention because I probably would have never have seen it otherwise. Secondly, thank you to Ann Girdharry for writing Tell Me a Secret.

The book itself was good I just wished that we knew Vanessa's name a little earlier instead of the woman because that would have been a lot darker by knowing the name because it really does show how much the character knows this person.

My only complaint about this book is that the cover had a gargoyle and there were no gargoyles in the story. I feel like maybe a half written letter or photos would have been more appropriate for the cover and would have added more ambience to the story. I am one of those readers where I want the cover to match the story so if there is a gargoyle I am totally expecting there to be gargoyles in the story even if it is a brief mention. I am weird like that, but other then the cover I loved the story. It is short and quick to read, so if anyone is looking for a quick read this would be a great book for you.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Beautifully Damaged: Aptly named

 I received a free copy of this book from the author via Voracious Readers Only in exchange for an honest review. This review may contain spoilers read at your own risk.

First off, Thank you to Laura Pavlov for writing Beautifully Damaged and thank you to Voracious Readers Only for allowing me to read this phenomenal book.

Hoo boy, you had better buckle down for the roller coaster ride this book will give you. It will make you laugh, cry, curse, pull your hair, and swoon over the sweetness.

I am a sucker for second chance romances and this book did not disappoint. From the moment Peyton (I hope I spelled her name right) sees Jackson again I fell in love and wanted to protect both of them while also wanting to shake them and shout that they belong together.

My heart broke when Jackson kept being all I need to leave her it is for her on good and never once did he realize that he made her happy until he did as he promised himself and left to go to Miami. When he realized what an idiot he was I kept waiting for him to come back and I was all he had better damn well be grovelling on his hands and knees begging for her to take him back. He didn't but what he did was sweeter.

I full on cried when it came to the letter Joseph wrote to Jackson because it was what he needed to hear, but was too stubborn to listen to. I can go on and on about this book, but I think it is best if you read it for yourselves. If you love second chance romances this book will not disappoint.

500 out of 5 stars.

Silvered Serpents (Gilded Wolves 2)

 I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review may contain spoilers so read at your own risk.

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi is phenomenal. Infinitely better than the first one and I devoured it in three days. I fell in love with almost all the characters (it took me a long time to love Severin with his whole I need to be a god to protect people phase and I could not stand Laila still because she is always whining about something).

Enrique and Zofia are my two new favourite characters because the way they interact is priceless and I wanted to wrap them in bubblewrap and place them high on a shelf so the author could not hurt them. (Spoiler: the author does hurt them). Enrique had me at the going into a volcano and coming out wanting chocolate and marshmallows (a boy after my own heart) and when he struggled to protect Zofia because he was all "not her" I was dying and in a puddle wanting to hug and stash them away somewhere. Hypnos is still a favourite because he is unabashedly himself in a world where people frown upon who he is.

Kudos to the author for having such a diverse group of characters and I never saw the twists coming. Not with the Muses or the Doctor.

This book hurt but it was magical and it immersed me wholeheartedly into the story. There were still a couple of inconsistencies but nothing that took away from the story. It was better than the first book because in the first one I forgot so many times that we were supposed to be in Paris, but with this one it was hard to forget because the author added details and reminded you of where you were. It was also a lot more diverse in settings, which I adored and now I need to read the third book. I need to know what happens.

500 out of 5 stars.

Highly recommend.

Gilded Wolves

 The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi is one of those books that you should not go into with high expectations. This book was so hyped that I could not lower my expectations and did not enjoy it as much as I wanted to. 

The beginning was slow and confusing with a lot of flowery writing that made me feel like I should give the book an extra star because it was not it's fault that it was so hyped up that I wound up with unrealistic expectations. However, the ending did pick up and I did enjoy reading it, but wished that the beginning did not exist.

I cannot express enough how much I did not like the beginning or Laila's character (she rubs me the wrong way). Be warned there are a lot of inconsistencies in the book to the point I could not figure what the characters were supposed to look like anymore. And Tristan's characterization suddenly went left field and I kind of wish there was more of a lead to into it because it was suddenly like bam he's the complete opposite of who he is.

My favourite character was Hypnos because he is such a delight to read. He never really strays from who he is and he embraces himself flaws and all.

This book is destined to be a four out of 5 stars. (It was going to be four to add to the three because of the hyped up aspect, but the ending saved it and brought it up to an actual four. Just to confuse all of you.)

This is a tricky book to recommend because the second book is infinitely better than the first and you need to read the first to get the second book. (Although there is a lot of retelling of what happened in the first so if you want to skip this one you probably could). 

Fairy Disappointing

Fairy Sight by Patricia Bossano is not an YA/Adult fairytale like it claims to be. 

I had to DNF at 25% in and most of it I skipped because holy hellmatoes was it hard deciphering what visuals the author wanted the readers to take away. The words were super flowery and long winded to the point I was getting a headache by the time the sentence ended.

There is also one point where the author must have copy and pasted because it was the exact same description for the fairyland as it was in the beginning. Also, it lies she is not seventeen but eighteen years old as well as eleven and fifteen. I kind of wish the book had started with her being whatever age she is supposed to be 17 or 18 and went from there.

I got so bored that I found myself taking multiple breaks to the point where I started to read other books just so I would not have to torture myself with this book. I wanted to be dragged in because I love fairy tales or anything with fairies and human princesses/princes.

Maybe one day I will continue to read it, but during these times it is not quite the escape I was looking for in a book.

2 out of 5 stars.

If it was for middle grade or younger it would be 4 out of 5 because it reads that way.

The Redpoint Crux: Giselle or Phantom of the Opera?

The Redpoint Crux by Morgan Shamy is interesting. I thought that when it said "dying girls" that the girls would be the ones dying, not the men. My main issue with the book is that it should have stuck with Giselle or The Phantom of the Opera, not both. And I found the reason for why the girls were dying a little far fetched. And I have so many questions the more I sat on the book and thought about it. Believe it or not I read this book over a month ago, and I am struggling to come to terms with the book. I bought a kindle edition hoping the formatting would not be so weird on that one, and maybe the book will make sense.

I liked Red and Liam, for me they were the most believable characters and I could see a love interest between them, but I could not see it for the characters that do wind up getting together. It felt false to me, but that could just be me.

It was not a "oh wow where has this book been all my life" story for me, and for that reason I am giving it a 3.5 star rating.