Young Plum is shocked to discover that she's been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. The Guardian masters teach Plum and her friends how to communicate with animals and how to use meditation to strengthen their minds and bodies. All the kids also learn to fight, so they can protect the defenseless if needed.
There really isn't much to say about this series other than it was a cute middle grade series that sort of reminded me of Avatar The Last Airbender. There is a heavy focus around inner-strength, friendship and community as well as a great overarching plot surrounding conservation.
I think many young readers would enjoy this series since it is so fast paced and not too heavy handed with the underlining message. Plum and her friends are built on classic foils that influence their Guardian forms and their powers. Christina's creativity really shines when she gets to dive into the idea of how power manifests beyond just this fantastical ancient magic. To also have a plot focus on nature conservation too was such a great idea and honestly started to briefly touch upon colonialism as well. Super fun concept!
Like I said it is VERY fast paced, so we don't always get to explore everything in great detail, which was kind of a let down, but at the same time not a total deterrent for a middle grade series.
With tight technical skills and a strong vision for his program, Roderick has a good shot at qualifying for the Olympic figure skating team while balancing college and personal life.
Christos, a minotaur fresh from minor league hockey, is hungry to build a new reputation for the worst team in the college league. But a late night chat on a dating app has Roderick intimately familiar with ‘Coach Chris’ before the season’s start.
They have everything to lose but denial is hard for two go-getters.
I am not one for sport-romances just because sports in general don't really interest me, but when you dangle a minotaur in front of me, I'll give anything a chance LOL I was more surprised that this was a novella, nothing wrong wit that, but I went in with a mindset of this might end up being more spice than plot. Boy was I wrong!
This had a lovely narrative sequence that centered on emotions and flaws that just so happen to surround the spice. If that makes sense. It is a fast pace set up with exploration surrounding Roderick and Christos' own desires and hesitations in being vulnerable over something that was suppose to be just a hookup. While the spice was enjoyable with the inclusion of a role reversal, Christos being the submissive, which I understand was a huge draw with this story.
Roderick was a bit more fleshed out than Christos character wise, but I think that was just because we solely followed their POV. His frustration felt genuine and readers could relate to any number of problems that came up. Especially when the theme of expectations were being discussed. Christos was such a gentleman so 100% I swooned many times LOL
Personally I think the stakes could've been a tad higher since everything wrapped up pretty quickly. I would've loved to have moments drawn out more so we could explore deeper, however, I think this is still a well put together story. It delivered what was promised, Low-angst with the right amount of spice.
While setting out on an adventure, David and his friends are captured by an orc scouting team. In hopes of escaping and saving his friends, David agrees to trial by combat: The Ritual of Steel & Thunder. He opens the fight strong, but when his competitor, Captain Ironstorm, manages to overpower him, things start to heat up and he realizes he may have signed on for more than he bargained for.
If it wasn't obvious, I love me some orc romance, and so I was excited to get into this because I knew I'd have fun and my group chat would want to hear all about it (which they did haha).
I want to start this off by saying that this does the thing where the set up is very dub con. The ritual is very much assault and I was not a huge fan of that attempt to establish a power dynamic. Have I read fanfiction and other stories, like Yaoi/BL, that follow a similar trope where I didn't quiet grasp the concept well enough yet, yes. I'm specifically looking at OKANE GA NAI, YOURE LOVE PRIZE IN THE VIEWFINDER, and MAIDEN ROSE. That being said, erotica and dark romance are valid genres. Check trigger warnings and understand what you are getting into.
With that out of the way, I enjoyed this. It was exactly how it was advertised, a Dom/Sub erotic story that made attempts to explore the world, character emotions, and include minor subplots. It touched on stereotypes, an aspect of coming-of-age regarding masculinity (specifically with David's background) and this idea of redemption. I loved Captain Ironstorm, obviously, and appreciated how the narrative tried to confront his wrongdoing during the ritual. It eventually becomes a minor plot point that I'm honestly kind of hoping gets furthered explored in the rest of the series and not just brushed off as "miscommunication".
While I believe it doesn't completely negate what Captain Ironstorm has done, it was nice to see.
Personally I felt the balance between worldbuilding and spicy moments was pretty well distributed, I think what lost me a bit was the rather repetitiveness of certain moments. David, having experienced trauma and navigating feelings, was a bit shallow of a character and Captain Ironstorm, was also a little flat. Their cycle of adjustment coming back to, basically, the same arguments was a bit tiresome, even though the story takes place within a short time frame which would explain it because emotions would still be really raw. Also David's constant inner speech wasn't my favorite 1st person POV. That's just me I guess.
The spice was enjoyable though. Wish I had a clearer picture of the world because I kept flickering between DnD themed and modern day with tech. Pretty minor though.
Overall, I can see why some folks may have issue with this sort of story, but for a steamy, specifically erotic, romp, I liked it and will be checking out the rest of the series.
Set in and narrated by the same house, Number 8 Sunflower Street, and in three different decades -- 2000, 2010, and 2020 respectively -- This Is Our Place is a novel about queer teens dealing with sudden life changes, family conflict, and first loves, proving that while generations change, we will always be connected to each other.
The way this author has made me cry TWICE, I can't with them! :'D
Normally I'm not the biggest fan of time line stories, only because I'm not the brightest bulb and can miss a lot of details, but this was done is such as beautifully charismatic way that I enjoyed a lot! Having the house narrate as an omnipresent character was such a fun idea, tailoring it for each MC while avoiding unnecessary repetitiveness.
I cried during all three stories equally lol
Ana's fears over the move. Greg's anxiety about finding meaning. Beto's frustrations over COVID lockdown. Each plot explored themes of community and identity in such fun, humorous ways that heightened the emotional resonance between character and reader. I felt it extra hard because I lived through all three time periods!!!
The ending with Beto and Greg connecting was a bit hallmark gimmicky, but other than that I was so in love with this book.
Camellia Beauregard is a Belle. In the opulent world of Orléans, Belles are revered, for they control Beauty, and Beauty is a commodity coveted above all else. In Orléans, the people are born gray, they are born damned, and only with the help of a Belle and her talents can they transform and be made beautiful. But all is far from beautiful, a growing political threat looms over Orléans and it's targeting the Belles. Secrets and lies will come to light as Belles fight to survive a broken world where the price of eternal beauty could mean one's life.
Phew where to start because damn did I love this more than I anticipated. Dhonielle has such a way to paint a beautifully tragic world for a royally damning story. THE BELLES was I think the strongest in the series as the stakes are planted and quickly grow like weeds. Camellia was such a likeable MC, you couldn't help but sympathize for her as she traversed such a fragile system of expectations for being gifted. And god Sophia, I loved to hate her, fuck. The narrator did a PHENOMINAL job at making her so twisted and sweet.
THE EVERLASTING ROSE was an equally fun time in getting to explore more of the world and the growing tension between Belles, Orléan citizens and the monarchy. I think I would've enjoyed this installment more if we got more in the ending. The inclusion of how The Web has been involved in this "secret rebellion" faction did a great job at adding another layer of stakes, but the ending came off as compact and almost rushed? The standoff between Camellia and Sophia I thought was going to be something bigger than it was and while narratively it made sense, especially when you get into book three, idk I was left wanting more out of the ending.
Moving into THE BEAUTY TRIALS was a bit of an adjustment because we're now focused on Camellia's sister Edel, who was with Camellia for the previous books. A vastly different character from Camellia's more sensitive persona. Edel, rightfully so, was a more aggressive narrator and thus explored the world with a strong contrasting opinion. I liked that about her. My biggest struggle, and this could be a me thing, was fully understanding the Beauty Trials. Each was very creative and interconnected with the lore, but at the same time, I found myself lost with certain concepts and themes surrounding some of the world building. Still a fun installment, especially with how the stake of finding a new queen were set up.
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