Arya's Recent Read Reviews
Hello fellow ink drinkers and welcome back! So today’s podcast episode is an audio version of our The Raven theory post, so since we don’t want to repeat ourselves, I have decided to do a recent read post. Now that being said, I’ve read a few different books with the hope of using them for a review on this blog. However, none of them seem quite right to do a full review on. So instead, what I’m going to do for each book is write a mini review and some of my thoughts when reading each of the books. I’ll try not to go into spoilers too much and if I do, there will be a warning beforehand.
Neon Gods
Ever read a book and part of you likes it, but the other part of you thinks it's more meh. That was my thoughts about this book. This book is another Hades and Persephone retelling but this one is a lot darker and a lot more on the spicy side of the track. Things that I loved about this book: I enjoyed how the relationship between Hades and Persephone was developed. I thought that the concept of how the gods existed was also interesting. From my understanding essentially the “gods” are elected and they rule over their own domains. However I wish there was more of an explanation as to how these gods are chosen and what exactly they do. I know that at the end of the day, everyone cares about the spice but a little more lore sprinkled in would’ve made it a lot more enjoyable for me.
The Silent Patient
Even early on in the book, I really don’t know how I feel about it. There were points in the book where I thought Theo, one of the main characters, was losing his mind. I do not want to spoil this book at all, so all I’ll say is that my reader's senses were tingling at some points but I didn’t understand why. The twist was not at all what I was expecting. I feel like I should’ve picked up on the twist a lot quicker than what I did. After finishing it my mind was blank and I did not have any words to describe what I read for the longest time. All I can say is that this is not the kind of book I typically read and I really can’t say if it is good or not.
Where Dreams Descend
This book reminded me of Phantom of the Opera in a weird way. Even though this is a YA book, it was a very slow read for me. I had high hopes for this book because it seemed to be the kind of book that was right up my alley. There were some parts of this book that I loved, however there were also some parts that were more on the meh side. This book was a slow burn for me and even though I do love a good slow burn, there weren't enough explanations as to what’s going on to keep me entirely interested. I was trying to theorize as to what was happening and I couldn't because I felt as though I was not given any information to do so. By the end of the book, some questions are answered, there are still many questions that need answers. Part of me is intrigued to see how the next one goes. However, I did try to start to read it and I automatically put it down. I didn’t feel like going through another tough read, especially if it should be at least a little bit easy to follow. Maybe I’ll give the next book a chance another day. However, this may end up being a book whose sequel I let fall by the wayside.
The Ex Hex
This book was a super easy read and a nice palette cleanse after When Dreams Descend. It was really cute and had a few lines that I thought were hilarious. I read this book relatively quickly and didn't really take any notes on it as I read because I was having a good time reading it. I honestly wasn’t sure if I should include it, but I figured I may as well since I’ve read it. If you are looking for a cute little romance that has it’s humorous moments and not an overwhelming amount of spice, then this is the book for you.
That sums up my mini reviews of the few books I’ve read so far that we aren’t going to talk about in future podcast episodes. I’ve read a few others as well, but they will have a dedicated podcast episode for them. I’ll admit it was fun to do more of a “rapid fire” style of post this time around. Any time we do an audio version of a post we have previously covered, I’ll probably do another post like this unless I stumble across a book I absolutely adore and can gush over for ages. If you have any other suggestions for what you would like to see for future posts though, please let me know. I’m always open to suggestions. Until next time dear readers.
Arya