Tammy > Recent Status Updates

About to get started, so I can judge it for myself!

THIS is how you write morally-gray characters, authors!
They don’t commit ugly acts secretly “for the greater good.” They do it because it benefits their missions or someone they care about, and their authors don’t pull the “he was secretly good all along” nonsense.

That’s it—this book is my entire personality now. I’m dreading the day I finish it. 😭

I’m reading part two, which makes a lot of the seemingly insignificant things in part one more meaningful now.

I’m so mad at myself for waiting as long as I did to start reading this!
Riveting. I’m hooked. Can barely do anything else. 😯

Hooked from page one. 😯
I’m reading the book alongside the audio version. When I saw that Saskia Maarleveld was the narrator, I knew it was going to be amazing; I loved what she did with “Wild Dark Shored.”

Normally, I hate the MMC bait-and-switch in a romance-centered series (which is why I don’t read incomplete Romantasy series anymore—I have zero trust in the authors of that genre), but here? Methinks Sophie Jordan has accidentally made “the other guy” too appealing. 😅 Like, I actually wouldn’t be mad if the FMC ends up choosing him, though I know she won’t, because of true love (which I do love!).

Book 3. Let’s go!
I’ve spent the past three days completely engrossed in the first two books. Now we’re down to the last one. I hope this one won’t let me down; the previous two received five stars from me.

OH.MY.GOD.
Ahhh!!!
I’m not going to sleep tonight. Must.finish.book.

“Smolder builds in my chest. He probably thinks I’ll fall to my knees before him, grateful for whatever crumb he casts my way, salvation in this new friendless, lightless existence among my own kind.”

Such a strong second book (so far), oh my gosh. I just can’t put it down!

THIS is how you write a dragon-shifter Paranormal Romance. So good. I can’t believe the series came out in 2010; it feels so fresh! So far, the second book in the trilogy doesn’t seem to be suffering from the second-book-curse. It starts immediately where “Firelight” (book one) ends and has been fast-paced since. I hope that I’m not speaking too soon. ❤️

This is just rage-reading at this point because my dumb ass chose it as my Book of the Month. Never before have I hated an MMC more. Review to come.

YES, let’s gooo!!!
Stayed inside all day yesterday to binge on the first book; I seriously couldn’t put it down. Now onto book 2!

Oh, Jacinda! 😭😭😭
This world is just so unfair.
My heart. 💔💔💔

So, there’s a character named Cassian. He and his pride of draki live in the Cascade Mountains. There are plans to clip the FMC’s wings as punishment. Sounds familiar to a certain Romantasy series? EXCEPT THAT “FIRELIGHT” WAS WRITTEN IN 2007/2008 AND PUBLISHED IN 2010–long before “that” other one was even written.

Wow. Starts with a bang immediately. No meandering lore-dumping. This is really good and the prose doesn’t stagnate; it keeps pushing the reader forward. I aspire to write like this one day.

My journey through 2010s YA Paranormal Romance / Fantasy Romance (NOT the same as Romantic Fantasy and Romantasy) continues! That era was a total vibe.

2010s YA Paranormal Romance just hits so differently. I don’t even care that they were “mediocre.” Even my less favorite ones still have something that many today don’t: BIG FEELINGS.

I don’t want to be controversial and say that this is better than “Six of Crows,” but “Five Broken Blades” certainly is way more entertaining and gripping.

Where my eyes kept drooping shut while I was trying to read “Six of Crows,” “Five Broken Blades” is so unputdownable, I can’t even focus on my chores

“Show, don’t tell” is overrated and misused. People recite it as if it’s religious dogma, but here’s the thing: there are times when you NEED to tell. There are times when telling delivers a scene more effectively than showing ever can.

It’s not a matter of one being better than the other, but knowing when to use which, and using it well.

This book is annoying as fuck. HOLY SHIT. The review will be…something.

One of the most annoying contemporary romances I’ve read this year. My book is heavily annotate with all the annoying things about it.

Will finish this, but definitely will not keep it. George (MMC) is giving me major Rhysand vibes. A great thing if you love Rhysand, I guess, but, meh. The whole, “Girl, be what you want to be, be who you are” blah blah blah thing. Like, the message itself is right, but the way it’s written is so wish-fulfillment and performative, I hate it.

So excited to start this friends-to-lovers romance!
Ever since I was a tween and started reading middle grade fiction, this has always been my favorite romantic trope. There is expected safety in friendship, which makes betrayals (perceived or real) hurt much worse. 😈

Entertaining so far.

This trilogy is so unserious, lol. I’d be lying if I say that I’m not having fun reading it, because I am having fun.

Is it soulless and without any messages to send or commentaries to make? Yes.
But is it entertaining? Also yes.
If this trilogy were a person, it’d be the guy or gal you fool around with once or twice, before moving on.

👏🏻Verbal👏🏻abuse👏🏻is👏🏻not👏🏻”banter.”

Am I already in the middle of reading 14 other books? Yes.
But…I couldn’t wait to break into this one! Sadly, this is part of a never-will-be-finished trilogy (writer dropped off of the face of the earth after book 2, almost 20 years ago), but this is such a beautifully written book.

Dear Edward,

You are a delightfully silly and ridiculous man. 658 pages aren’t enough. I can’t believe I took five years to start reading what is decidedly the best in the series.

Wow, this book was so good. I need to process my thoughts before I can write the review it deserves, but I need to say this: a lot of the negative feedbacks seem to be from people who aren’t familiar with reading 3rd-person close narrative, so they think that the characters’ ugly thoughts and opinions are the author’s.

A romance novel at 60% is basically a ticking time bomb. The genre gods are probably looking at me right now and thinking, “It’s been nice, but we hope that you’re prepared for the 3rd Act Shitstorm.”

Mom, can you come pick me up? I’m scared. 😬