Review: The Final Strife

The Final Strife by Saara El-Arifi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for gifting me a copy of this book. The following is my honest review.

I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the concept and the representation, but I wasn't a big fan of the main character, the weight comments, the slow pace, or the weird love triangle involving adopted siblings.

It just wasn't for me, but I think a lot of people would enjoy it, and I wish the author the most success!

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Review: The Locked Room

The Locked Room by Elly Griffiths
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Mariner books for gifting me an advanced copy. Below you'll find my honest review.

I really love Elly Griffiths Ruth Galloway series. I'm heavily invested in the characters and their lives... so this one threw me for a loop because, just like the rest of us, this world was shaken by Covid-19.

I figured out the murderer, but I enjoyed the story... even if the Covid-19 parts brought back some trauma and made it less of an escape than I usually want from my books.

I'm interested to see where it's going next, because of how it ended.

Guess we'll see soon enough! (Fingers crossed)

Definitely recommend this series, but please read from the beginning. There's a lot of history here and you'll be at a loss if you don't read the rest.

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Review: Locklands

Locklands by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Ballantine for gifting me an advanced copy of this novel. Below you'll find my honest review.

Clef is such an interesting character and I'm glad we got to know more of his backstory, and the history of how this world got to the point it is at in the novels.

This was a pretty satisfying ending to the trilogy, but boy was it hard to read that last bit. You always know in war that not everyone will make it out alive, but sometimes you just hope that the plot armor kicks in!

I deducted a star because, for me, the first quarter of the book was really hard to get into.

All in all, a really good trilogy that I highly recommend, but please start with Foundryside and not this one.

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Review: Trouble with the Cursed

Trouble with the Cursed by Kim Harrison
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for gifting me a copy of this book. The opinion expressed below is my honest opinion.

I am so glad that Kim Harrison decided to return to the world of Rachel Morgan! She's got some seriously interesting plotlines going through the last three books, the new ones, and I am loving where the story has been taken.

This one cleared up a few questions we had, sets up some new things, and really digs deep into Rachel's life. A long game is revealed, and it's so fun to read (but man, poor Rachel, yet again! lol).

I don't want to reveal any more, because there's some big stuff happening in this one. I can't wait for what comes next!

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Review: The Omega Factor

The Omega Factor by Steve Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central for gifting me an advanced copy. I provide my honest review below.

I'm really glad that Berry decided to take a break from Cotton Malone and write a palate cleanser with a new protagonist. I adore the Cotton Malone series, but the last one just felt off to me, and this was the breath I needed to return to Cotton next year with a fresh perspective.

Nick Lee was a fun new lead, but honestly, it didn't feel like he was a solo lead. It felt like an ensemble cast, which I also really liked. While I get the feeling that he's probably the only major player that would make a return if we get more Nick Lee adventures, I did very much enjoy getting to follow a large group of principals heading towards an inevitable clash.

All in all, a great read and a lot of fun. Definitely recommend.

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Review: A Rip Through Time

A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, and have yet to pick up one of her other series. When I saw this available for request at Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to try a new one.

That's my mistake, not because the book is bad, but because it was REALLY good and now I have to wait who-knows-how-long for book two!!!!

Mallory is a fantastic character, well developed, brave, intelligent, and thoughtful. The supporting cast members are all interesting, and the plot definitely was a good mystery. I also enjoyed the setting, the world-building, and the excellent pacing of the story.

I did guess the solution a little early, so couldn't give it a full 5 stars, but 4.5 (had to round down for Goodreads/Amazon) is still great! Absolutely worth picking up.

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Review: Deep Water

Deep Water by Emma Bamford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery/Scout Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, an honest review is what I have to give. I didn't care for this one. It opened with a fantastic hook, but quickly jumped back in time and then spent countless pages on mundane details like fixing up the boat, sailing, spending time on the water, etc before any of the meat of the story happened.

I feel like this would have been a better hour and a half movie, rather than a book that took more hours than that to read. I also feel like I've seen this movie and read this story before, but executed better.

The only character I found really likeable was Gus, the dog. The rest were either unlikeable or not fleshed out enough to cause me to invest. The setting was good, but was definitely underused, and the details of the history of the island were a huge waste of words. The specific plot "twists" were all predictable.

I did like the "much later" epilogue that closed out the story decently.

Overall, it was a bore with a few random redeeming qualities, such as the setting and the hook. So, two and a half stars rounded down.

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