fanboyriot's reviews
907 reviews

Twisted Love by Ana Huang

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dark emotional funny medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Read For:
✓ Drama
✓ Family Secrets
✓ Brother’s Best Friend
✓ Murder (and revenge)
✓ Touch Her and Die Vibes 

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
Another hit with this book.  Not usually my type of read but I found myself loving the characters and invested in the plot.  I was not expecting there to be as much drama in this book as there was but the plot twists of murder and family secrets tied into the spice and romance somehow really well.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: Duel, First Person
Release Date: 27, September 2022
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Once Upon You and Me by Timothy Janovsky

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Read For:
✓ ADHD MC
✓ His Boss’s Ex
✓ Plus Sized MC
✓ Age Gap Relationship
✓ Wholesome and Spicy

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
Hear me out, this book felt like a cozy winter vacation to a cabin.  This age gap romance is so sweet and brings all the wholesomeness of a Hallmark movie but better because it’s queer and a bit spicy as well.

Enchanting and full of charm with humor laced throughout this book, giving a great balance of sincere emotion and lots of laughs.  It was so enjoyable to read.  These characters were all so well thought out and written wonderfully.  The supporting cast were even amazing too.  I loved the plot and how things played out.

Thank you a bunch to Afterglow Books for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: Duel, Third Person
Release Date: 29, April 2025
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Book Lovers by Emily Henry

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funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Read For:
✓ Book Editor
✓ Good Humor
✓ Amazing Banter
✓ Entertaining Read
✓ The Woman Stays in the City

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
Want a book with bookish tropes but with a twist?  If this ever got a Hallmark movie adaptation I would for sure watch it… they might just have cut the spicy parts 😂

The banter was like most of this author’s other works, and absolute hit.  It was a fun read with detailed and lovable characters.  I loved how this ended and really enjoyed finally reading a romance where the woman didn’t give up the career she clearly loved just to move to a small town after two seconds of an insta-love romance. 

Truly loved the vibe of this book so much.  All the shark comments and the mentions of Bigfoot erotica had me laughing so hard.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧
POV: First Person
Release Date: 03, May 2022
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Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

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adventurous dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Read For:
✓ Drama
✓ Dark Humor
✓ Urban Fantasy 
✓ Demonic Pulp Fiction 
✓ Escaping Hell… Literally

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
I really liked this book, the writing style felt laid back but had the perfect balance of plot and character all the while creating a good atmosphere to the book.  The mix of magic and a non-magical world worked well together.

If you like a fast-paced and fun read with some dark humor and a great group of main and side characters; then I suggest you give this a read.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: First Person
Release Date: 21, July 2009
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Asher and the Prince: The Apex Blade by Evan J. Corbin

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Read For:
✓ Forbidden Love
✓ Political Intrigue
✓ Medieval Fantasy
✓ Enemies to Lovers 
✓ LGBTQIA+ Characters

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
A failing kingdom with a peasant boy, handsome prince, and a witch who made their paths cross just might be what they need to win the war threatening to make its way to them and save their kingdom… but it comes with a price, will it end in more threats and betrayal or will it be just what they need to survive and save their kingdom?

I really enjoyed this book.  The mix of genres somehow worked really well together; combining the setting of medieval fantasy with hints of science fiction was so entertaining.

The characters and their development along the way was nice to read.  I especially enjoyed all the positive queer representation.  The sense of community near the end as Asher and Hunter worked on their (for spoilers sake) project friends helped them along the way.  

I also liked how kind the queen was.  Her and Asher’s mother sticking together had so many wholesome moments, especially to see how much they cared for their sons.

Thank you to PrideBookTours on Instagram and the author for this review copy.  I absolutely loved it and the map I got from the newsletter was a nice touch.

Spice Level: n/a
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: Third Person
Release Date: 28, October 2024
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You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Read For:
✓ 1960s
✓ Baseball ⚾️ 
✓ Good Humor
✓ Grumpy x Sunshine
✓ Gay Sports Romance

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
The dialogue was SO good!  I really enjoyed this book and all the characters.  Queer sport romance books will always have a special place in my heart and this is now added to that list.  While I know little to nothing about baseball this book suddenly had me interested.

There is such a good balance of coping with grief and maintaining a great level of entertainment.  The relationship was 10/10, Mark and Eddie had great chemistry and worked so well with one another.

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: Duel, Third Person
Release Date: 07, May 2024
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Later by Stephen King

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mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Read For:
✓ Dark Humor
✓ Coming of Age
✓ Seeing Dead People 
✓ The Sixth Sense Vibes
✓ Casual Queer Representation 

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
While I liked the atmosphere of this book I’m not sure I liked the book.  It felt like a short story that went all over the place and was somehow several hours of an audiobook listen. Jamie was a good character though and I did find the plot interesting.  The ending felt a bit random but also pretty amusing.

Spice Level: n/a
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: First Person
Release Date: 02, March 2021
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Corrupt by Abigail Davies, Yolanda Olson

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.0

Read For:
✓ Novella 
✓ Fast-Paced
✓ Adult x Minor 😐
✓ So Many Questions
✓ What Did I Just Read?

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
I have no idea how to review this.  There was so much random things that happened and all of it is left unanswered.  The FMC reads much younger than she is; I genuinely thought she was ten or something until it mentioned otherwise.  But seriously how did a junior in HIGH SCHOOL not know what a period was??  I know health classes are bad but really?  She wakes up and burns her sheets so her mom wouldn’t find out and blame her… this is the first chapter.

This felt like a preview of a book that left you asking “who are these people?” the whole time.  Why are the teachers so creepy?  Who is Mr. Ridley and what is up with him?  Who the hell is Miles and again what happened with him?

Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
Angst Level: 💧
POV: First Person 
Release Date: 24, August 2021
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Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Read For:
✓ LA Setting 
✓ Set Designer MC
✓ Good Friendships
✓ Sapphic Romance
✓ LGBTQIA+ Characters

˗ˏˋ ★ REVIEW ★ ˎˊ˗
This was pretty cute, I never really thought about all the details that go into setting up the sets of a  movie film but the main character having such a passion for set design was so nice.  The romance was good and the main character’s parents were really wholesome.

Spice Level: (mentioned)
Angst Level: 💧💧
POV: First Person
Release Date: 15, May 2014
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Forever by Maggie Stiefvater

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challenging fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.0

I genuinely liked some of this author’s other work but these books are the cringey YA books that get a bad rep rightfully so.  I’m ending the series here because I can’t read any more of it.  The ending was so bad, what the hell did I even read??  

Spice Level: n/a
Angst Level: n/a
POV: Multiple, First Person
Release Date: 12, July 2011
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