Review: The Love Interest

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Do you like the premise of this book but see too many bad reviews? Do you really want to read this but are you afraid of disliking it? Well, YOU'RE IN LUCK. I HAVE ADVICE FOR YOU.

Don't take it seriously.

Forreal. It's a parody. It's so obviously a parody when you read it. All the bad reviews talk about how it hits every bad YA dystopian trope and how it has horrible writing at some points. That's the point, my friends.

This is practically every generic YA, dystopian, love triangle book with a twist: the two men end up falling more for each other instead of the girl they're trying to win.

This was done really well (considering how "bad" it is). The writing style is very easy to read, there's enough plot that you're not too bored, and the characters are fun and hilarious. The amount of times it breaks the fourth wall sort of stresses me out (lmao), but as I have said before, that's the point.

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Review: The Last Star

The Last Star by Rick Yancey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm really upset because I loved the first two books of this series! Maybe it was the writing style, maybe the audiobook readers? Whatever it was, this book fell flat for me.

The writing style seemed awkward and "young." I know this is a YA book, but I've seen so much better writing for YA books than this. The characters fell flat and I didn't end up caring for any of them this time around??

Also the ending was stupid.

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Review: Nyxia Unleashed

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley, for an ARC of this book. My thoughts in this review are all my own and are not influenced in any way.

Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen is the second book of The Nyxia Triad. I have a review of the first book, Nyxia. This review has spoilers from the first book. There will be no spoilers for this book, though.

The characters you know and love from Nyxia are back and pushed to their limits. They make it onto Eden to mine the foreign substance nyxia, but slowly find out that things aren't what they seem. Babel's true intentions are slowly revealed as the two Genesis crews form an alliance with Adamites, the residents of Eden. In a war between Babel and the Adamites, the Genesis crew must work together and choose a side, both of which may have dire consequences.

Emmett, the main character, is as delightful as ever. This book has you rooting for him the whole time and agreeing with every decision he makes. We learn more about the rest of the crew through their growing relationships with Emmett.

The writing was difficult to get through at first, but I adapted pretty quickly to the writing style. Reintgen is very straightforward in his writing. There weren't many poetic quotes that had me swooning and grabbing the nearest highlighter (let's ignore the fact that I read this on an e-reader), but the writing still stuck with me.

This sequel introduced so many new things (animals, traditions, characters/development), but it still left me feeling lacking. So much could have been explained more or introduced again later on, but the ending fell flat. Perhaps the next book will cover more.

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Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

WOW!!!! This is probably the most beautifully-written book I've ever read. Every word enchanted me and transported me into the circus.

"But Clare, why only four stars?" The beginning was way too complicated and almost turned me off of this book. There are too many points of view forced on you at once, and you're just supposed to remember them. Fortunately, I got the hang of it all ~25% in.

The romance here was nothing sexy, per se, but it was still wonderful and heartbreaking. Morgenstern has you rooting for each character -- there's literally no way you can pick a side once getting to know both Marco and Celia.

This book may take a while to read, but it's definitely worth the read!

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Review: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was such a stunning read. I hope I can give it a glowing review. (I'm so sorry.)

The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is about women in the 1900's-1930's working in radium dial factories. Radium had just been discovered by Marie Curie, and its effects weren't well known. The glowing substance was used in paint to make clock dials glow in the dark, and business was booming. It gave many women jobs, but it turned out to be very dangerous. The radium girls suffered severely from putting the brushes (full of paint) in their mouths.

This book documents the fight for compensation and workers' rights. These radium girls ended up with sarcomas (tumors), pulled teeth, jaw necrosis, hip pains, spine pain, and so much more.

The whole story is so interesting and so inspiring. I would 100% recommend it to everyone. This is nonfiction, and any scientific terms are explained well, so don't let that put you off reading it.

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Review: Ruthless Magic

Ruthless Magic by Megan Crewe
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you read only one book this summer, this should be it.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an e-book ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

NetGalley advertised this as a cross between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and The Hunger Games, so of course I had to request it. Lo and behold, that was pretty accurate.

This is about two characters: Finn and Rocio. They both come from two completely different worlds, but they meet each other through a competition to get into a magical college. If they don't win the competition, they get Dampered (lose their magical abilities).

This was such a breathtaking book - I really didn't expect to fall in love with Ruthless Magic so much. The writing style was beautiful. The plot was intense enough to keep interest without burning me out. The characters were absolutely amazing and developed and beautiful.

There is so much competition, much like Throne of Glass, Hunger Games, Battle Royale, etc. There is more of a group aspect in this book though, which makes it much more interesting. Do they fight for themselves or try to keep the group alive? Morals are questioned, which always makes a book more interesting in my opinion.

Please go read this book!

Release Date: May 30, 2018

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Review: Midnight Wolf

Midnight Wolf by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley, for a free e-book copy of this book!

Midnight Wolf by Jennifer Ashley is a romance novel about Angus and Tamsin. They are both Shifters (like werewolves). It starts out as a mission for Angus to find Tamsin, but they end up falling in love and fighting the government together.

The romance wasn't amazing in this book. The characters seemed boring and/or done before. The plot wasn't great. I understand that Ashley was going for a strong, female character, but Tamsin just ended up being annoying.

I wouldn't recommend this to anybody in the mood for a good romance book, but I would recommend it to people who like slow romance and Shifters.

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