sup3r_xn0va_maya's reviews
364 reviews

Ocean Light by Nalini Singh

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

3.0

💬: "The wind blew her hair forward, surrounding him in a silken wave of deepest brown threaded with black. He closed his eyes, drew in her scent. “I can wait,” he said when he opened his eyes. “For you, Kaia Luna, I’ll wait an eternity.”

Singh, Nalini. Ocean Light (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 2) (p. 285). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: paranormal romance, romance, urban fantasy, adult

📚Page Count: 403

🎧Audiobook Length: 12h 52min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 

----

Silver Silence is the 17th book in the Psy/Changeling series and 2nd in the Psy/Changeling Trinity series both by Nalini Singh. Ocean Light is about human Security specialist Bowen Knight and Kaia Luna who is a former scientist turned cook where Bowen is being taken care of
because he suffered a major injury in the last book trying to save his sister
. Kaia is eventually kidnapped by those who mean to harm her and Bowen will do anything to save her. 

This book was interesting half of the time and boring the other half of the time. This book was more interesting than the one before it (Silver Silence) but it's still not as exciting as some of the original Psy/Changeling novels. Eventually Bowen and Kaia grew on me as a couple but it definitely took some time. I'm okay with the books being as long as they are, I just wished it was entertaining all the way through instead of only being exciting at select parts. 

I would say the spicy scenes were okay but I'm struggling to remember any of them, needless to say they weren't memorable. I'm giving it two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall, Ocean Light was just better than the last book in the series, Silver Silence, but half the time the book was a bit boring. I'm getting a little concerned because so far The Trinity series hasn't really impressed me. This wasn't a terrible book, but it wasn't amazing either. I'm giving this book 3 stars out of 5. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]

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Barda by Ngozi Ukazu

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

💬: "Be wary what you read, Big Barda. Knowledge without scrutiny is poison."

Ukazu, Ngozi. Barda (pg. 111) DC Comics. NetGalley Advanced Reader's Copy Edition.

📖Genres: comics, graphic novels, super heroes, DC Comics, romance

📚Page Count: 191

🎧Audiobook Length: 00h 00min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5 
----

Barda by Ngozi Ukazu is a comic published by DC Comics about the anti-hero, Big Barda. The story takes place on Apokolips and it's about the leader of the Female Furies on Apokolips, Big Barda. Barda has secretly thinking about the ideal of love, something that isn't talking about, accepted, or allowed on Apokolips. Granny Goodness the boss of the furies thinks that Barda is becoming too soft, so she's given Barda the task of torturing their new prisoner, Scott Free. Somehow, Barda finds herself allured by Scott Free. Will Barda be able to help Scott or will she stomp out this new ideal of love?

I think this graphic novel was entertaining and exciting. I loved that we get a backstory on Big Barda (even though it wasn't extensive) and that we get to see what it's like for her being the leader of the furies. Speaking of the furies, I really loved that each one of them had their own personalities. That was so pleasant. I also enjoyed the art style throughout the entire graphic novel. 

Overall I really enjoyed what this graphic novel had to offer. I love the art and I love that we get a Big Barda comic that shows the different sides to her as a character. This was an emotional story and it was told very well. I'm giving this 4 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4/5  Stars

Thank you [NetGalley.com], Ngozi Ukazu (the author), and DC Comics (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.

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Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

💬: He pointed at my drink. 
"What are you drinking?"
"Malibu Sunrise, it's delicious"
'It looks good but I can't be seen drinking that."
I blinked rapidly, "Oh?" 

Allen, Danielle. Curvy Girl Summer (Chapter 6, p.?). Bramble. NetGalley Advanced Reader's Copy. 

📖Genres: romance, contemporary, contemporary romance

📚Page Count: 210

🎧Audiobook Length: 12h 23min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
----

Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen is about Aaliyah James a plus sized 29 year old who wants to find a boyfriend for her 30th birthday celebration. Aaliyah's family members think that she's getting older and her time find a boyfriend, get married, and have children is running out. Annoyed with her family's comments, she lets them know that she does have a boyfriend and that he'll be at her 30th birthday celebration. She doesn't have a boyfriend yet but with online dating, how hard could finding one be? When the first date goes not as planned, the local bartender, at the bar where the date took place seems to be kind and funny enough to make Aaliyah feel hopeful about finding more people to date. The more she spends time with Ahmad the closer she feels to him. Will she find a boyfriend in time for her birthday and will he be from the online dating app "Tinderfish" or will he be the funny, handsome, and caring bartender?

Reading this book was such a great reading experience. This is my first slow burn romance novel and now I still why people like this trope so much. There's so much built up sexual an romantic tension and it feels as if everything will erupt during the climax of the book. I loved how Aaliyah and Ahmad teased each other relentlessly, it was so cute. It was so nice that they both loved concerts, live shows, and music in general. The miscommunication trope was in there and it was so annoying, like the situation was very obvious but the main character was just not getting it. That was annoying but the book was so good overall that I'm not going to change my rating because of that annoyance. Something the author did a really good job of including is what it feels like to be a plus size woman dating with dating apps and websites in the real world.  

The audio book narrator was really good, I enjoyed their voice for all the characters. Sometimes when an author voices several or many characters some of the voices sound off but that was NOT the case with Wesleigh Siobhan and their narration. All of the words are clear and concise and the individual voices they use for each character fits so well with the story. 

Talk about a slow burn! There are two spicy scenes and let me be honest, the spicy scenes don't start happening until well over 80% through the book. The scenes come late in the book but I honestly think it was worth it. I don't really like spicy scenes with unprotected sex with almost strangers or first time lovers, though I did like the scenes in general. I'm giving the spicy scenes four chilies 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️out of five chilies

This book was a pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed myself while listening to this audiobook. It was fantastic. I'm giving this 5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

Thank you [NetGalley.com], Danielle Allen (the author), and Macmillan Audio (publisher) for the arc (advanced reader's copy) of the audiobook.

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Silver Silence by Nalini Singh

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

3.0

💬: "The Trinity Accord is the fragile foundation of all their hopes and dreams of a future without war, without violence, without shattering loss. It is a noble ambition. But the past is not an old coat that can be discarded and forgotten. It is a scent that clings and clings and clings.

Singh, Nalini. Silver Silence (Psy-Changeling Trinity Book 1) (p. 1). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

📖Genres: paranormal romance, romance, urban fantasy, adult

📚Page Count: 479

🎧Audiobook Length: 16h 01min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 

----

Silver Silence is the 16th book in the Psy/Changeling series and 1st in the Psy/Changeling Trinity series both by Nalini Singh. This book is about Silver Mercant, a Psy and Valentin Nikolaev, an alpha bear. Silver is stationed at Valentin's bear compound where she's been helping keep an eye on things since the Trinity Accord as been established. Silver gets poisoned and almost dies as a result and now Silver along with the Mercant family and Valentin are looking for the culprit. 

This book had stuff going on but it really FELT like nothing was happening for the duration of the book. Silver gets poisoned at the beginning so I assumed this book would be about hunting down the culprit and they eventually do that but it takes so long. Valentine courted Silver and it was a cute story but it went by so slowly, this book took me 4 weeks (A WHOLE MONTH) to finish because there was very little action on the page. I'm actually disappointed with how boring this was. 

The spicy scenes were below average for me,  there were two of them and they weren't my favorite scenes. I'm not a huge fan of the virgin heroine and the painful first time, the second scene was a little better but still just "okay". I'm giving it two chilies 🌶️🌶️ out of five chilies

Overall, Silver Silence was just okay but it was definitely on the boring side. I'm giving this book 3 stars out of 5. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 Stars

I listened to this for free on the library app [HooplaDigital.com]

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The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy by Adam Nimoy

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

💬: "Of my friend, I can only say this...of all the souls I have encountered in my travels his was the most human."

Kirk's eulogy for Spock and "The Most Human: Reconciling with my Father's" opening quote.

📖Genres: non-fiction, memoir

📚Page Count: 272

🎧Audiobook Length: 09:18 

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  - 4/5


The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy by Adam Nimoy is a moving and emotional account of Adam Nimoy's experience of growing up with his famous father, Leonard Nimoy. In this memoir Adam Nimoy recounts the ups and downs that he had with his father growing as well as substance abuse issues and alcoholism that he and his father dealt with respectively. He uses the journey of writing this memoir to finally reconcile with his father and the struggle that Adam Nimoy had with a distant family member (his father) was very relatable. The audiobook was read by Adam Nimoy and his reading of his memoir was good. 

I don't normally give ratings to memoirs, but I'll give this 4 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  - 4/5

Thank you [NetGalley.com], Adam Nimoy (the author), and Dreamscape Media (the publisher) for the arc audiobook (advanced reader's copy.)

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The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.
💬:N/A

📖Genres: fiction, fantasy,  young adult, LGBT, queer

📚Page Count: 474

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: DNF

TW -
Abandonment, Gun violence, Death, Cursing, Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Blood, and Grief


Thank you so much to NETGALLEY and the PUBLISHER for my arc (advanced reader's copy) of this book. 

This story is about Venus, a Witcher (a person who controls a type of magic) and her family of Witchers. Venus is a powerful brewer and her and her mother sell illegal potions to people for money. At around 25% of the way through the book someone
kills Venus' mother.
Eventually Venus is offered a chance at revenge, will she take it?

The pacing in this book felt slow and I had a hard time caring about the characters. The side characters all seemed one dimensional but I'm putting this novel on hold until the audiobook releases, so I can't be for sure. The world building felt very heavy but not in a good way. 

The world building was interesting but the way it was delivered felt really clunky. At the beginning of each chapter there was exposition in the form of a newspaper article, an email, or some other source. On top of that at the beginning of every chapter, there was exposition littered throughout the conversations and through the narrator's comments. The information overload became too much. 

What I read of this book was just okay, I'm going to DNF for now and then finish it once the audiobook is released. 
DNF until later date.
All Systems Red (Dramatized Adaptation) by Martha Wells

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

💬: N/A

📖Genres: sci-fi, fiction, adult, fantasy, space, robot, space opera

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 02h 33min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5 
----

All Systems Red written by Martha Wells produced by Graphic Audio is the dramatized adaptation of the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series of the same name, All Systems Red. This is the story of an android SecUnit named Murderbot who's hacked their governor module so they can watch their favorite show, or serial. Murderbot wants nothing more than to be left alone but when a mission goes sideways, they have to get involved with the humans they're there to protect. 

I enjoyed the original novella, All Systems Red by Martha Wells. It was really interesting and a bit funny, I instantly liked Murderbot. The dramatized adaptation gives each character a voice actor and that adds so much charm to the story and the characters. I really enjoyed the story and the characters, it kind of makes me sad that
Murderbot decided to leave and journey to a new place alone, even though I understand the idea of them wanting to be free and not controlled in any way. I was just growing to like the crew of characters, but I know we'll meet new characters down the line.


Overall, the dramatized adaptation was entertaining, action filled, and funny. I enjoyed the time I spent listening to Murderbot and their crew of specialists. I'm excited to hear about what they get into next. I'm giving it 5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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Iron Flame (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation] by Rebecca Yarros

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

5.0

💬: N/A

📖Genres: fantasy, romance, romantasy, dragons, adult

📚Page Count: N/A

🎧Audiobook Length: 11h 39min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 4.5/5 
----

Iron Flame Dramatized Part 1 is the first half of the dramatized version of the novel "Iron Flame" written by Rebecca Yarros. The dramatized version of Iron Flame starts off where the dramatized version of the first book in the series, Fourth Wing, left off. It's Violet's second year of Dragon Rider College and there's a new Vice Commandant that's making her life hell, in addition to that she has to deal with the secrets that she learned at the end of Fourth Wing, including
the supposedly mythical creature the Wyvern is real and they have been attack towns and outposts on the edge of the country.
Will Violet be able to survive her second year and will she be able to help keep the secrets of the marked ones?

I didn't really enjoy my reading of the Fourth Wing novel but I did enjoy the dramatized adaptations. I think this time around, with Iron Flame, I'm going to continue listening to the dramatized adaptations because they seem to be more exciting than the author's writing and the original books. Part 1 of the Iron Flame adaptation was really exciting and it kept my attention for the duration of the audiobook. 

There's an intimate scene in here and because I'm a 33 year old woman listening to 22 year olds get it on, I'm not very interested or invested in the scene. Like Fourth Wing Dramatized Part 2, I'm giving the spicy scene 2 chilies 2🌶️ out of five chilies. 

Overall, Iron Flame Dramatized Part 1 was really exciting and entertaining. I think I'm just going to wait until part two comes out in two month, I don't want to bother reading the actual novel in this case because I personally do not like the author's writing style at all. This adaptation was great, I'm giving it 5 stars out of 5.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [Hoopladigital.com]

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Injustice: Gods Among Us, Vol. 2 by Tom Taylor

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense

5.0


💬:N/A

📖Genres: super hero, action, dark, DC Comics, graphic novels, comics

📚Page Count: 232

🎧Audiobook Length: N/A

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 
----

Injustice: God's Among Us Vol. 2 is a comic written by Tom Taylor and published by DC Comics in relation with the creators of the video games Mortal Kombat and Injustice. This is the continuation of Injustice: God's Among Us Vol. 1, in that comic Superman was
tricked by The Joker, into killing Lois Lane and their unborn baby.
In this comic Superman continues to force the world into what he considers a new era of "peace". There are those who oppose Superman and the people who support him.

There was so much action in volume 2, some of which I remembered and some of which I didn't remember. One reason why I liked Injustice: Gods Among Us so much is because it has so many well known and lesser known heroes all in one comic. The Justice League and
ex members of The Justice League and even villains from the past appear.


Overall, this comic was really interesting and so emotional. I cried twice, I was so sad at the losses we witness in these pages. 
I'm giving this 5 stars out of 5
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5


I own a copy of this comic, I didn't rent it from the library.

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The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

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dark emotional medium-paced

3.5

💬: “Perhaps some of us are simply born evil, and despite our best efforts we remain that way.”

― Alex Michaelides, The Silent Patient

📖Genres: mystery, thriller, psychological thriller, suspense, mystery thriller, psychological thriller

📚Page Count: 336

🎧Audiobook Length: 08h 44min

👩🏾‍🏫My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3.5/5 
----

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides is a psychological thriller about a woman who shoots her husband and then she becomes silent, refusing to talk to anyone. Alicia Berenson is a famous painter and she's married to a photographer, Gabriel. One night when Gabriel came home late, there was an altercation and he was then shot 5 times in the face. Criminal psychologist Theo Faber is determined to figure out the mystery to Alicia's story, he starts seeing her in sessions so he can unravel the mystery. 

The story took too long to get exciting, I didn't care about any of the characters or the storyline until about 55% of the way through. I found myself not really caring about any of the characters until I was a little over halfway through the book. Things felt very slow and they didn't feel really thrillers like until halfway through the book. I didn't DNF this book because I was reading it so I could discuss it with a friend, if I had read it on my own I might have DNFed it for taking so long to get interesting.

That ending was really good! I was trying to figure the mystery out before the story told me and I could only figure one part of the mystery out. I was so surprised by the time I got to the end, I had to rewind the audiobook a bit so I could make sure I heard what I heard. That was such a good ending, I'm disappointed that the majority of the book was lackluster. 

Overall, the novel was okay. I think it could have had more thriller like elements in the beginning of the story. The ending of the book was definitely a surprise, I didn't guess it at all! I'm giving this 3.5 out of 5 stars. 
⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 3.5/5  Stars

I listened to this for free on [LibbyApp.com]

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