The Rogue Book Reviewer

  The Wedding Date Disaster – Avery Flynn 5/5                   It is super rare that books get a full 5/5 rating but I discovered Avery Flynn when her novel Parental Guidance came out and I’ve been hooked since. Buyer be aware – they are short. I can read the books in their entirety in about three hours. I once read three of her books in the same day because I was hooked on the Hartigans. Also, all of her books seem to come in trilogies, but most of her back catalog seems to also be loosely related. In this case, Hadley’s roommate Fionna is a Hartigan so it ties into the Hartigans series that I mentioned reading all of in one sitting before. As far as I have found, all of the characters through the book live in the fictional Harbor City, somewhere on the East Coast. That being said, she is a little bit unique in the fact that all of the books in all of the trilogies are also standalone. It’s a v...

  Peace Talks – Jim Butcher 3/5   I almost rated this lower but I needed some time between finishing it and actually writing the review to come to terms with the fact that this is a set-up book for Battlegrounds which comes out September 29th. In terms of the book itself, I was not overly thrilled. It seemed like the same kind of fight over and over again, though I was happy to see more of McCoy and the white council. I liked the introduction of the new characters, I found them varied and interesting and should be fun to read about as their powers are pretty cool. It was decent for a set up book, if a little repetitive from previous books (ie. Harry having White Council issues, more drama than was really necessary with Thomas – though I think that was a plot device for the next book). I find Harry being so quick to anger annoying. He was always mouthy and sarcastic and didn’t edit himself but I really am not a fan of the addition of the personality traits that he has r...

Midnight Sun - Stephenie Meyer 4.5/5  I’m not going to be concerned about spoilers in this post because as we all know, this is a rewrite of Twilight from Edward Cullens perspective. If you haven’t read Twilight , start there – not with this review. I will be the first to admit that I was legitimately shocked by how much I enjoyed the book. When it was finally announced that Meyer was releasing Midnight Sun , I rolled my eyes so hard I checked out my own ass. All I could think was oh look, another cash cow . But once I started reading, Midnight Sun made me hate Edward so much less because I could delve into his motivations for why he is the way he is with Bella. He’s a much more complicated character this time around which is great. The whole controlling me-Tarzan-you-Jane thing from the original saga got very old, very fast and is one of the major reasons in the anti- Twilight column for most readers. Because we can’t see into his head in the original saga, we don’t really h...

*This post contains very mild spoilers for The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes * The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Suzanne Collins 5/5 I am not at all surprised by how much I enjoyed Suzanne Collins’ novel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . Collins has a very particular flare for imagination and writing that drags you in and makes you forget that you’re reading. The story is immersive, and ties in enough elements of the original series to make you feel like you’ve returned to Panem without feeling like she ripped off her own story for the money that additions to popular series can bring to an author. As anyone who has done any research knows, this book centers on the 10th annual Hunger Games and the main character is none other than the reviled President Coriolanus Snow, from the original series. In The Ballad though, Snow is an 18 year old student who has been roped into being a mentor for the girl tribute from District 12 while he is completing his final year at the Aca...

Chain of Gold - Cassandra Clare 3.5/5 I have not read anything by Cassandra Clare since The Mortal Instruments series which I read many, many years ago. I didn't read The Infernal Devices or The Dark Artifices series, though I did read The Red Scrolls of Magic recently which I absolutely loved. I was in school, and getting my life started when they came out and I just didn't have time time or money to devote to new series. So to say I am no longer overly familiar with her writing style would be an understatement. I am still familiar with the general world of the Shadowhunters as I am a huge fan of the Netflix show, even though I do recall that the show deviated a great deal from the books after a while. Overall, I liked the book. I liked the plot, the diverse cast of characters and familiar last names like Herondale, Fairchild, and Lightwood. I always appreciate Clare's take on love, her inclusion of LGBTQ characters (Magnus Bane is, and always will be, one of the ...

One With You by Sylvia Day 4/5 This post contains mild spoilers. I have finally completed Sylvia Day’s Crossfire series, which ended with One With You . It took years. I think when I first got my hands on them it was right in the middle of the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon and only the first two or three books were out. So, this is quite literally years in the making. One With You has been out for quite a while but I hadn’t picked it up off of my book shelf. It was a mix of having other stuff to read and having no interest in continuing Gideon and Eva’s story. Anyways. I finally decided to commit to finishing the series but it had been so long since I’d read the other ones that I had to go read a synopsis of the novels and then it all just came rushing back. I remembered the books in detail. As far as conclusions go, it was pretty satisfying. Eva and Gideon had made massive strides with their mental health and really bloomed as a couple. I still find it absurd that al...