Hello, hello mersquad coven!

It’s ya girl, who has been avoiding writing blog posts for a few months. Here I am trying to write some mini-reviews while I figure out how I want to revamp my blog again. I gotta include reviews still, that’s a given. But I haven’t figured out what else I want to have. I love doing weekly memes and stuff, but sometimes I feel like I need to be up to date on all of them. And then when I end up falling behind, I feel like I’m failing at my blog again.

It’s a vicious cycle that I’ll need to get out of eventually.

But anyway! I wanted to catch up on some reviews for the books that I’ve read this year, and so I’m bringing back the Rapid Review Round-Ups!

Let’s try a mini CAWPILE for these reviews, and see if it works?

Wish me luck, fam.

Characters – Yeah, I did like them all, well no. I didn’t like them all but I appreciated them all, if that makes sense. I feel like they all had their purpose but could also stand on their own if needed. I liked Robin as the main character, and I feel like he was the best choice to have as the main character as well. I was sad though with everything they had to deal with.

Atmosphere – Gosh it made me wish that it was real life. Even though Oxford is a real place, the fantasy aspects of it just made it seem even more like a fairy tale. Maybe I wouldn’t want to live in it during that time period, but it just gave it that magical feel that I always see when I see photos and footage of Oxford. I liked the world.

Writing – Kuang’s writing is always immaculate. I felt like I was stupid though, because I feel like I wasn’t smart enough to understand everything that she talked about. Then again, I don’t always have to understand everything to know that the book is good. I just personally didn’t feel smart enough. I will always love Kuang’s writing, and I can’t wait to read more of her books.

Plot – The pacing was definitely decent. I know that doesn’t sound good or bad, but I think it worked out. Granted, I’m trying to figure this out after months of not writing reviews and I haven’t read this one in a HOT minute. It was a big book too, definitely a thicc baby. So for how big it was, I think that the pacing was decent. Maybe there were some parts that dragged a little bit but not too much to deter from the story. I definitely needed to listen to this one though, because I don’t think I would have been able to read this physically. I definitely saw this as a unique plot though, so that works.

Intrigue – I don’t remember how long it took me to get through this one but it was definitely intriguing enough that I wanted to make sure I dedicated time to read it. I also felt like I needed to make sure that I was actually paying attention to it because if I was even the slightest bit distracted, I would miss certain elements that I needed to understand. I think the worldbuilding was sufficient though, and I mostly understood what was happening when I could. Like I mentioned earlier though, I just felt stupid lol. Like I wasn’t smart enough to really understand it, but that’s my fault, not Kuang’s fault.

Logic – The logic definitely made sense. It made me think about how if this was real life, it would make complete sense. It actually would have made me wish I was fluent / grew up speaking another language other than English so I could be useful, but without the other element of being used… yeah that was the part for me. I think the logic was sound though.

Enjoyment – Yeah, I enjoyed it. It wasn’t a happy book by any means but I enjoyed the experience. I don’t think any of Kuang’s books are considered “happy” but they are a good time for what they are. Yet another book from Kuang that I enjoyed so I’m not surprised.

Okay so a mini CAWPILE did work, but that was also so long! Do these actually count as mini reviews if they are almost as long as my regular reviews? Or does it not matter anymore since I’m really only getting back into writing reviews again? Am I the only one that’s really worrying about this? Anyway!

Characters – I did like Nora, and a part of her reminds me of me if I ever got into the publishing industry. Ever since getting into the book world and writing reviews and doing all of that, it made me wonder if I would like being in the publishing industry. Being able to read manuscripts and get to work with authors and stuff. Now that I’ve matured a bit, I think putting a monetary responsibility on reading would take the fun out of it for me, and I wouldn’t want to read anymore. And I never, ever, ever want to get to that point in my life. So writing reviews and reading when I can and just sharing my love for books as a hobby rather than as a source of income seems to work better for me, at least for now. Maybe I’ll mature again and realize I can do it. But anyway, I did like Nora and Andrew and I liked their interactions with one another. It definitely wasn’t perfect, but I don’t think I would like it if it was. I honestly don’t remember a lot of the secondary characters though, so were they important? I know some of them did have some importance, but not something that really stuck with me months later.

Aaaand I’m actually going to stop here since I totally DID write a mini review on Instagram! I’ll link it here for your viewing pleasure.

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I will definitely say that I liked this book more than the next installment. This series was so interesting, and I liked that we got to follow an African-American musician that is amazing at what she does. Although, putting her in Ireland was pretty funny though. But then again, aren’t all the best ghosts in Ireland? Okay, that’s what I wanted to say first.

Characters – I’ll be honest. I didn’t really pay attention to many of the secondary characters. I do think that the murderer was definitely not obvious to me when I first read through it. Even the second time actually, so really downplaying their importance was a good misdirection on their part. I guess? I don’t really know. I did love Gethsemane and Eamon and how they were able to learn one another and be friends. It’s always great when you’re able to be friends with your resident ghost, am I right?

Atmosphere – I could picture the setting well enough. There wasn’t really much to it, probably because besides the fact that Gethsemane was in Ireland for a job, she didn’t really have much time to explore as much of her town as she could when she was trying to solve some murders and help her kids win this music competition. Her priorities were not to explore, which I totally understand that. Hopefully, she will have time to explore eventually, but we know how cozy mysteries go. You don’t get to explore much once a murder happens.

Writing – The writing was decent. This was the first book that I read from Gordon and it didn’t disappoint. It was nice to see another Black author write cozy mysteries since I haven’t really come across a whole lot. I also love the premise of her story, and her writing reflected what was happening very well. It wasn’t absolutely amazing or anything, but it was good for what it was, so I’m happy about it.

Plot – I liked the plot. I think for a paranormal cozy mystery it made sense. Being able to suspend belief for a bit to deal with the presence of Eamon and how he interacted with Gethsemane worked out in my favor. It wasn’t too involved but also not too plain. Just the right amount of good.

Intrigue – I was pretty into the story. There were times when I would rewind it if I wasn’t completely listening. Oh, the narrator for this book is more of my favorite than the rest of the series, so that’s what I’m sad about. But either way, I did find it pretty intriguing.

Logic – Again, if you suspend belief – or if you have had encounters with supernatural creatures yourself – then yes the logic is totally sound! And that’s the point of it. Other than that, I do think that the decisions of the characters throughout the book are logical for the type of people they are. I would do it if I were them, basically.

Enjoyment – Yes, I did enjoy it! I think I enjoyed this one a lot more than I did the second one honestly, but I also think it’s because of the change of narrator. I know I’m not talking about the second book right now, but if you ever not see a review for the second book, this is probably why.

Characters – Oh yeah, for sure loved all of the characters that I interacted with. Hmm… yes, yes I’m still sticking with that statement. Even with the jerks and bad guys of the book. I didn’t love them like I wanted to be their friend or anything but I definitely loved what they provided to the book. I still need to read the sequel – ugh I keep talking about other books while trying to review ONE, I’m sorry! – but there are definitely characters that I liked in this one that I hope I see again. Iris’s storyline was so damn interesting too! I like her a lot has a character and I want to learn more.

Atmosphere – Yes, definitely immersive as heck. It makes me want to live during this time period, kind of. I mean I love this time period for some reason when I’m reading books, but it’s not like I would have been treated any better than Iris was. But I like the added magical element that we get to see. The energy in the scenes was very palpable! Very, very convincing. I was INVESTED.

Writing – I always love Raughley’s writing, so there’s nothing really to critique about it. It was great. Loved it.

Plot – I feel like there were a couple of plots in here, and that they will eventually all come together. I liked all of it though, and it makes me wonder what the heck is going to happen in the second book. I’m so glad it’s finally out now. I really want to know more about Iris’s past though, because that in itself was very interesting. Like, I need more.

Intrigue – Yep. Yep I wanted to spend all of my time reading this. I hated having to put it down, and I hate that it took me so damn long to get through and pick up again but I’m glad I did. Excellent.

Logic – I think the decisions that the characters made were aligned with who they were as characters. There really weren’t any moments where I was like “why the hell would you do this?” to the point that it just wasn’t believable or acceptable to me. So yeah, I thought it was pretty logical for what it was and I liked it.

Enjoyment – I hella enjoyed it. ‘Nuff said.

Oh my gosh. I haven’t written out reviews in MONTHS! I’m so proud of myself for this. And I’m glad I was able to get some of my thoughts down on “paper” so to speak, and that I was catching up on my reviews. It’s definitely harder to remember what your thoughts are when it’s been months since you even thought about certain books, but they slowly came back to me as I was writing.

How many of these have you read? How many of these have you read this year? How’s your review writing going? I would love to hear from you.