OYENTE

T

  • 301
  • opiniones
  • 143
  • votos útiles
  • 430
  • calificaciones
Fractured Fates Audiolibro Por Hannah Haze arte de portada

Series Review (5 books)

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-28-25

𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗲 - Rhianna
𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀 - Azlan (a state enforcer, aka the man in black), Professor Phoenix Stone, Tristan Kennedy (hot, beautiful, god of campus and heir), Spencer Moreau (werebeast shifter and dueling captain- it’s a school sport), Renzo Barone (serial killer, crazy, assassin)
Pip (pet pig)
Winnie (heroines bff/academy roommate)
𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 - Lord Protector/Christopher Kennedy, the Chancellor, Principal York (morally grey)

𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲: 🌶️🌶️🌶️ (descriptive, but not frequent or erotic) 

𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴: meh. Even though this series all comes down to an epic battle between 'good' and 'evil', 3 books take place exclusively in a supernatural academy (college really, the average age is 20). It has a classic school hierarchy (cool kids like cheerleaders/jocks, nerds, poor kids). There are magical sports/class names but none are vividly described. Weirdly, the nature of the magical beings in this world is never made clear (I didn't even realize until the end of book 3 that they simply consider themselves humans with magic). Also the geography of the world is not clearly built. There's the city of Los Magicos (😬 name ever), Europa (overseas, how original), and The Wastelands (where the heroine grew up) but all other place names are directional (ie. from the north or armies of the west). I was also a little disappointed to find they were fighting for a nameless 'country' not a realm or dimension. It made the stakes feel low. As for each person's powers, the list grows as you read on, but the only one consistently used is Stone's mindreading, everyone else's power is about as reliable as data in the countryside.

𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Excellent, the best it gets

𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: I absolutely HATED the heroine of this series. She's nothing but a chaotic, frustrating, naive, stupid, slow, ignorant, lying, trifling, powerless, self loathing individual. But hey, at least she's young and modern... 🫠 .  I call Rhianna's personality type ‘self harm by proxy’. She's one of those people who inflicts pain on herself by making bad decisions and being the victim to others. This chick was bullied to within an inch of her life, and never once stood up, defended herself, or got justice. Also unforgivable, she was still playing dumb about being fated to 3 of her men by book 4!!!! She drove me absolutely insane. No matter the level of her power she NEVER USED IT. She was too hyper-moral and indecisive to be some prophesied leader. Crimson magic? More like crimson fizzle. Such a disappointment.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗺: There are five men in the harem, but it's never really a harem, more like a herd of cats doing wtf they want. There's no mate telepathy, no group brainstorming, no communal living or group bed, one threesome, zero group sex scenes until the end of book 5. I was so disappointed by the lack of emotional development. Also Stone was clearly the favourite. Which, in a nutshell, is why I sometimes avoid reading RH. I can't think of anything more gutting than being the least liked person in a polyamorous relationship. In summary, the men don’t really know, like, or compliment each other throughout the series. They aren't even in a room all together until book 5.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: Low. I can’t rate this series highly. The author used miscommunication and omission to stretch it out to 5 books. It was very devious manipulative plan 🤑. But hey, it worked on me because I hung in there out of curiosity even while screaming with annoyance. Given the amount of frustration and filler, the series really is a 2 star read. If an editor had whittled it down to a trilogy it would’ve been a 4 or 5 star read.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟭
Best Scene: there aren't any, honestly just put your head down and get through this book (or DNF and be free)

Sloooooooooow start (I actually skipped forward because there were literally 6 or 7 chapters of eating, sleeping, and assholery during the trip to the academy). After that brace yourself because this is a bully book. BULLY. Bullying from start to finish. Juvenile name calling. 'Mates' that are so cruel you'll have MANY wtf moments. Pro tip: this is where you should turn and run. Get out while you can. Because the meanness really sets the stage for an addiction, you'll NEED to know how the hell the author is going to redeem these absolute degenerates.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟮
IMO this is the best book of the series. It doesn’t have any answers, but it’s like a refreshing glass of cold water after the drought of the first book. The sex between Rhi and Azlan really worked for me.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟯
Best scene: Tristan and Rhianna combine their magic at the school ball like two casting badasses

Well it 𝘸𝘢𝘴 a beautiful scene until Rihanna left her mates fighting for their lives to save her bully. then left another mate bleeding out on the floor so she could go rescue her pig. That’s the level of apathy we’re dealing with folks.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟰
Best scene: Tristan’s mother’s sacrifice 

This book had the best piece of writing/most touching scene in the whole series (not surprisingly the heroine was absent from it). And the second best scene followed that, when Winnie took control of everyone, revealed all Rhianna’s stupid secrets, and forced them all into the first bit of teamwork of the whole series. This would have been the best book if the harem wasn't COMPLETELY separated for most of it.

𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟱
Best scene: all 6 harem members playing 'never have I ever', and the 'back to hogwarts' part of the ending

But what a dud final battle. And two sickly sweet (kinda weird) epilogues (all the characters seemed so old, but by the math the heroine is still in her 20s????). Spoiler: they all become teachers 😵‍💫. It reminded me of that adage "those who can't do, teach"

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Blood Oath Audiolibro Por Morgan B Lee arte de portada

This was a 5 star until it was a 4

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-21-25

But 4 is still pretty damn good, so you should definitely read this book. Here's my rationale:

For the first half I was loving everything. FINALLY a well written complicated but engaging fantasy-pnr world. FINALLY a heroine (Maven) who knows how to be cool, calm, collected, and mission oriented, not a stupid body betraying romance novel bimbo. FINALLY a harem of 🔥🔥🔥, strong, scary men-monsters (Crypt, Baelfire, Silas, and (sorta) Everett) who know what it is to pursue a woman relentlessly and needily, without becoming either toxic or wimpy dishrags. FINALLY an academy setting built for grown ups. FINALLY an author who knows that if sex isn't forthcoming anytime soon, she can still infuse her world with sexuality and adult situations.

And then the second half kicked in. And while the writing and plot were still ace, the purposeful character holes (I mean, who is anyone???? and what are anyone's motives????), combined with an intense lack of honesty/intimacy inside the quintet started to really bother me. Bother me as in I couldn't concentrate, I was that irritated. Holding back ALL of the details was a literary choice that didn't work IMO. And as a consequence, I think it's safe to say that there is NO romance here... yet. Maybe you're cool with that, but I wasn't. I might read the next one in the series, or I might just choose to savour finding one good book. Not sure.

In summary: by the end of book 1 you'll feel thoroughly entertained, but very manipulated. Because instead of following the usual trend of this sub genre (a rushed final chapter cliffhanger) this cliffhanger feeling ran for the entire 9h 19 minutes.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Just Last Night Audiolibro Por Mhairi McFarlane arte de portada

Holy crap!

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
5 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-17-25

What an exquisite thesis on the aftermath of tragedy and finding love. 

I say this only for people like me: don't be afraid to read this and be blindsided by the pain or angst of this book. It DOESN'T make you fall in love with a character and then coldly X them out. Rather it's a beautiful, organic (mostly posthumous) telling of the dynamics of a long term intimate friend group/trivia klatch that suddenly loses a member, and then finds themselves. 

This book was SO deep. I listened to it all at once in some kind of zombie trance. It was truly a masterclass on the human condition: love, loyalty, betrayal, secrets, lies, insecurities, manipulation, and the full spectrum of emotion. These characters (Eve, Susie, Ed, Justin and later Finlay) felt absolutely EVERYTHING, and so did I. How one author managed to come up with so many truisms, incisive metaphors, and 'pause the book' pieces of wisdom is beyond me. Like, the amount almost felt unreal. And yet the characters never lost their connection to pop culture and humour. I mean, of course they were all way too sharp to be true. But having one character pick up what the other was putting down, made it so good.

It is heavy. And yes, I could listen to another 10hrs of just Eve (h) and Finlay. I'm a romance slűt. A passion ho. And this wasn't romance in the traditional 3-acts-with-sex sense, but it did have romance. The last 3rd of the book is about the thing that happens when two people drop the artifice and lay themselves bare. But, as this is my fourth Mhairi McFarlane book, I grudgingly accept that writing ONLY romance isn't her jam.

PS. though they're different genres and target audiences, for some reason I always think of Donna Tartt when I read this author

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

My Big Fat Fake Marriage Audiolibro Por Charlotte Stein arte de portada

Chatty as hell, but worth it

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-17-25

This book is a quirky, lolling, ride. It gives those chick litty vibes, only with more heart AND EXPLICIT SEX. ding ding ding, I was totally sold.

Setup: (in London) the heroine Connie/Hazel/Hazy is a wary, slightly neurotic copywriter who lives next-door to the hero Beck; a dorky, fashion challenged American, who is a book editor and a cinnamon roll. His sweet, nerdy, Ned Flanders-esque nature makes him an easy mark for vicious people, specifically one of his co-workers. One day the heroine witnesses it and steps in to rescue him, and yadda yadda yadda ends up his fake wife at a writer's retreat. Which leads to a forced proximity/single bed situation. Which leads to trust. Then sexcapades. Then love.

Ngl, this book is pretty plotless. It's more about a slooooooow sex-calation. I did occasionally wish the heroine would ZIP IT so we could just enjoy the budding intimacy, but all in all her incessant thoughts were amusing. Is it just me, or did everyone think of Rob Delaney when reading this hero?  He’s a 6’3 American expat, living in Britain, who often sports a large dark 70s moustache, is more than occasionally goofy, and loves Ishiguro 🤔. Don’t ask me how I know all that, I’ve only seen him in one show. 

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Fallen Academy: Year One Audiolibro Por Leia Stone arte de portada

Ummmm... Sacrilege?

Total
3 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
3 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-17-25

This is a series review. Sort of. I DNF'd book 4. So overall it was good but not great.

And my title ☝️ is a joke. Sort of. 

This series is based on the pseudo-biblical "war in heaven" from the book of Revelations. You know, where the angels fought, and some were cast out, and a particularly infamous fallen one became Christianity's Satan. Book 1 asks the question: what if that celestial war spilled over into the human realm, and the magicks of angels and demons infected a generation of humans on earth - giving them supernatural powers, and messing with the social order. Since I don't believe in angels, at least not in the weird modern woo-woo way, I enjoyed book 1 (mostly), and all of the worldbuilding.

The best thing about Leia Stone books are the ultra modern, funny, 1st person POV, NA heroines. It makes all of the books a super light read. But in this case maybe too light, as the topic were biblical characters. The more the story progresses the more ridiculous the biblical characters get. Some context: The h (Brielle) is a unicorn because she is both angel AND demon gifted, in a world that has previously only seen one or the other. From the moment her unique status is discovered, so are prophecies about her importance to 'the war'. She enrols in mandatory college (Fallen Academy) and meets the H (Lincoln) who is both a ranking army official, and a teacher. Their relationship threads through the story, but it isn't the main topic. Their intimacy and sexual encounters are few and pretty vague (🌶️). 

I think Brielle starts out well but gets irritating. She's so powerful and yet so useless. She makes a lot of awful decisions. She's too loyal to family. I kept waiting for her to show some consistency or ease in the way she used her gifts, but she never did. Every battle she fumbles around like "oh golly I have magic". And brace yourself, book 3 is an extremely BOOOOOORING 3 hr trip to hell.

Other things I hated: that all of the angels (even Satan) were depicted as hot white guys 🙄 (though I shouldn't be surprised given the author's penchant for blonde heroines). I also hated that these famous biblically authentic angels had day jobs as college bureaucrats. I hated that these angels supported the military recruitment and exploitation of kids (eighteen IS a child). And I hated that by the time we hit book 4 we find out that top tier angels are ?!married?! to rude human women, have human children, wear jeans, and take staycations... jfc... IMO it's too much sacrilege, even for a fantasy-comedy series.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

The Witch's Wolf Audiolibro Por Heather K. Carson arte de portada

This writer has a lot of maturing to do 

Total
2 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
2 out of 5 stars
Historia
2 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-16-25

This is my second Heather Carson book. I DNF'd the first one, but I like to give an author a couple of chances. The premise of this book had A LOT of potential. By shifter standards the setup was very unique: it’s a dystopian world where everyone lives in a perfect gated city that’s a scientific utopia (ie. genetically scanned ‘pure’ populace, man made (not mined) building materials, solar powered cars, designated green zones, government controlled climate/air quality, ‘soylent green’ end of life solutions, fountain of youth technology, highly educated/purposeful populace). All this was created supposedly because of radiation fallout in the rest of the world, but the heroine (Sage) soon finds out the world beyond the gates was not destroyed, only overrun by magic and shifters. Also I think that the moral that ran through the book: that a person can't truly see until they're ready, was a strong one.

But the writing style makes it almost unbearable to read. The setup is wasted and left undeveloped, instead it’s just HOURS AND HOURS of repeating inner monologue. I kept wanting to increase the speed to move it along, but there's no way to escape that many irrelevant words. After 11 chapters we were still trapped in a boring loop with a heroine who didn’t trust, touch, or have normal fluid conversations with the hero. By chapter 17, yup, she was still a fretting space cadet. By chapter 23 they still “don’t even know each other” 🙄. Finally the couple 'gets together' (🌶️ out of 5 sex), but the stalling, the frustrating conversations mid action, the badly timed fights, and a heroine obsessed with her sister (some tedious Anna/Elsa 'hoes before bros' bs) was so irritating. This is supposed to be a romance it’s more like random milliseconds of lust mixed with hours of mistrust and miscommunication. The author even jokes about the miscommunication trope, while clueless that she's built her annoying book on it. At the end the pack sigma and enforcer, the hero (Maddox) - who IMO should have challenged for Alpha - was DISGUSTINGLY weak, trying to rally everyone to run away. The final battle was truly messed up.

So much lost potential. So little raw emotion or real world conflict. I don't care enough about Coral or Kera to keep reading the series. They ruined this book! But I made it through this without DNFing so that's something.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Releasing the Gods Audiolibro Por Leia Stone, Jaymin Eve arte de portada

# f***ing stupid

Total
1 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
1 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-11-25

Plot: Maisy (h) drunkenly frees Cronus (H) a 1000yr imprisoned titan, and as a consequence she is magically tethered to him and must accompany him on his missions or die. All the while she’s a total bimbo and a complete liability. The h’s uselessness makes the book unreadable. She’s just a vapid, empty, stupid woman. Add to that her constant use of hashtags (I mean, hashtags are embarrassing on Twitter, WHERE THEY WERE CREATED, imagine using them unironically in all of your conversations and thoughts). I cheered when that ditz got sick and hoped she die. Spoiler: she doesn’t ☹️. All of the titans and gods in this book were purged of their badassery and immorality. I mean the hero is arguably most well know for the Goya painting where he is CANNIBALIZING HIS OWN CHILD. That’s morally black folks. So yeah, his role in this book as a grumpy tour guide was not it. Greek mythology wept.

Maybe Maisy will have a redemption arc, maybe Cronus will find his balls, but ain’t nobody got time that. I won’t be finishing the series.

Vanessa Moyen is exceptional as usual.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Alpha Girl Audiolibro Por Leia Stone arte de portada

Maturing

Total
5 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-07-25

This book kind of hit me sideways. It was a really solid NA fantasy offering. Where our heroine (Demi) finds her balls and comes into her own as a leader, a magic wielder, and an alpha. And leaves behind the 'spoiled racist little princess in a Range Rover' attitude. I was a little sad to see the extent to which her personality shift deprioritized her relationship with her mate (Sawyer). I mean, Sage (her bff) was far more of a mate to her in this book than Sawyer ever was. So yeah, major lgbtq overtones without just coming out and saying it.

Personally, I read M/F romance FOR M/F RELATIONSHIPS that give me feels! But *shrugs* this author went a very different way ☹️. Anyway, even though this book is an UTTER FAILURE AS A ROMANCE, it deserved high stars for being something else entirely. For legitimately portraying a spirit quest, for legitimately portraying the very real sacrifices that going on a mission to find one's soul entails. For radically maturing the heroine in an unexpected way. And for doing all that within 5 hours, using basic prose, and without the heroine losing her funny, modern, irreverent voice.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Lost Girl Audiolibro Por Leia Stone arte de portada

Let them eat cake (spoilers)

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-07-25

In this continuation the heroine (Demi) faces adversities while trying to stay alive on her own. And we (the reader) get a round trip ticket through the magical realms as she escapes her captors in vamp lands, and flees to troll territory, then onto dark fae lands, then to light fae lands, through the wild lands and back to the hero (Sawyer) in Wolf City - who has been going nuts since her kidnapping in book 1 (which was his fault FYI). The separation lasts more than half the book. Also there's a secondary character death.

It becomes clear in this book that while Sawyer is a fixture, and their relationship motivates the heroine, THIS IS NOT PRIMARILY A ROMANCE BOOK. I wish it were. I wish the two powerful leads had a more elemental and passionate relationship, but they hardly see each other (though they constantly mind communicate). The heroine does mature a little though. And she meets new ride or die friends. But she doesn't hold Sawyer to account enough for the shitshow that ended book 1, or, let's face it, his completely bigoted attitude about her Paladin heritage and people.

There's a very "let them eat cake" feeling to the end of this book. As Demi does her best to act like her bigot of a boyfriend and ignore the suffering of her people, tossing the Paladins a few rations (instead of giving her leadership), acting like some superficial first world nightmare.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

Wolf Girl Audiolibro Por Leia Stone arte de portada

4 NA shifter stars

Total
4 out of 5 stars
Ejecución
5 out of 5 stars
Historia
4 out of 5 stars

Revisado: 04-05-25

which, to be clear, are NOT the same as 4 "grown ass adults who are written with complex emotions and wisdom" stars

Okay, so if you love NA shifter romance you know that finding a readable one means you have to wade through a minefield of crap. This book (series) is the best of a bad bunch. I’m glad I found it. Setup: the heroine (Demi) is 20yo, and has been exiled from her pack in Wolf City her entire life because of something her parents did (they’re exiled too, and making a life in the human world). She goes to a college for supernatural rejects called Delphi, where she's the only wolf and is bullied. She's also magically handcuffed so she can’t shift. One day she meets the hero (Sawyer). He’s heir apparent, so future alpha of Wolf City pack, and he's smitten with her. He asks his dad to end her banishment, and brings her into a world of privilege where they fall in love. Slowly her past, parentage, and powers are revealed.

There's tons of drama here, but it’s extremely simple story telling. It relies on plot twists, fights, and shallow angst to move everything along. Some of the scene changes and pivotal moments aren’t properly described so you’re all "wait. What?” Like in the end, when the couple had barely finished pledging love, and were already breaking up. Can you say literary whiplash? The spice is also pretty awful, it's one scene and ill timed, but at least it's there, I guess 🌶️🌶️. Still, once you start reading this book is like falling into river rapids. You’re swept away and can’t get out.

Denunciar

Se ha producido un error. Vuelve a intentarlo dentro de unos minutos.

Has calificado esta reseña.

Reportaste esta reseña

adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_webcro768_stickypopup