shaykay's reviews
693 reviews

Paradise Lagoon by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

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dark emotional tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

 I'm just kind of slowly falling into reading the book to find out where we end up versus actually enjoying it. This one took me forever to get through and it's following the previous book where every good thing was followed by boring or repeating issues we already solved. I just feel like it's kind of following the same pattern as Zodiac Academy that kind of wore me out. Don't get me wrong, I like the back and forth and a good slow burn but when we start redoing the same issues over and over it just wears me out and that's what this series is doing. These aren't small books; other than the prequel they are all over 500 pages and there are 6 books in the series. I'm just getting a bit worn out on it. I just think their books aren't for me when they’re longer series like this one and Zodiac Academy. I still want to eventually go back and finish ZA. I just feel like that one kind of balances a little bit better because the cast is bigger, and we're not as held tight into one harem as we are in here. But there were still some moments in here that I couldn't put the book down. 

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Carnival Hill by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

 
I like how each book is named after important places for this group. It's a fun little tie-in. But I'm starting to feel like the slow burn is getting a bit too slow for me. It's like for every good thing that I'm obsessed with, there's another thing that takes forever! So, it's turning into an up-and-down battle for me. 

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Dead Man's Isle by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
It's not bad. I'm still really interested in the story. We have some mystery going on and also still trying to figure out how this whole harem is even going to work since the guys don't even get along. But the overall pacing is slowing down especially compared to the first book and I'm just ready for this harem to start coming together and focusing on the real bad guys. 

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Sinners' Playground by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Well, no one ended up where we thought they would. This author duo does do a really good slow burn, and I love that it is kind of to the point where we have no clue how or if they are going to end up together. It was definitely hard to put this one down! 

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Devil's Pass by Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with these authors and I wanted to try something outside of the Zodiac Academy world. This prequel was so good. It was hard to put down and I cannot wait to see how they are even going to get back together after all of this. Plus, I really need to spend more time with the MMCs. Altogether we have 4 main male characters and I'm so curious about their personalities and overall connections plus how the whole harem is even going to work here. But it was a pretty solid start to this new world/story. 

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Cane's Promise by Victoria Gale

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

3.5

For a completely random book to pick up this one wasn't bad. I really liked it and it had a lot going on. It is a dark book. Thea has suffered through so much. I do wish we had a little bit more motorcycle vibes in here but overall, it was a super wild read. 

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Cherished by Emilia Emerson

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is one of those books that I wish I read right after finishing the original duology here. But it's also one that I didn't know existed until now which is why it took me forever to get to it. The Luna & Sol series is such an interesting world to read about because it's so different from other omegaverses that I've read before, and the characters' disabilities are a huge focal point here. I just love everything we learn about this world. But it is a tense series, and they deal with a lot of heavy topics. 

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The Pucking Bad Boy by A.J. Summers

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3.0

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Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 40%.
This was a reread that I started while driving home one day and it was going fine, I just didn't have enough time to finish it before I got home and once I got home I just wasn't going back to it. 
Always You by J. Morales

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emotional funny sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
It wasn't a bad book; I just think I went into this one thinking that there would be a little bit more going on. It's a contemporary book and leaned more into the contemporary side. The review I saw on TikTok was really good and is what made me want to pick it up. 

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