Category: reviews

Bre Writes Book Reviews: All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

I honestly didn’t expect to like this book as much as I did. I rented it from my library via kindle and started reading it just to see how the library app worked. Within a few chapters, I was hooked, and I read the book in a matter of days.

I read a book like I used to read books before I got busy and distracted with other things. I can’t remember the last time I read a book in a matter of days. It makes me really excited when I find books like that.

All Your Twisted Secrets is like an escape room meets The Breakfast Club, but they’re all definitely more effed up than the kids in the 80’s movie. Each kid has something going for them, and each kid is connected to each other in ways not even I saw coming. Each twist and turn was so well foreshadowed and yet, a lot of them I didn’t see coming.

The book follows Amber, an ambitious student who wants to go to music school to score movies. Her boyfriend is desperate for a baseball scholarship and thinks she can go to college with him wherever he gets in. Her best friend, who helped her get into the popular clique, Sasha and her previous best friend Priya are in the room, along with the stoner Scott, and the kid who ruined her dad’s business. Amber is connected to everyone in the room and as the book is told exclusively though her eyes, we get good connections and revelations that as I was reading made me go “Oh Snap!”

Oh, and did I forget to mention they’re locked in a banquet room of a hotel with a bomb and a syringe filled with a deadly poison and have to choose someone to kill before the hour is up?

I can’t give too many spoilers away or it would ruin the book, but boy do I want to! This book was crazy at times. But overall a really great book.

A few things I would have liked to see would be how the kids reacted after the revelations they heard and some consequences for the person who orchestrated the whole thing. I would have liked to see how they all handled the dark things they did while in the room and how their relationships changed after the ordeal. The book just cuts off on a cliffhanger after the kids that survive are let out. After all the build up of these seniors wanting to get into college, and the cutthroat tactics, there was no real follow through on their college plans.

Review: 4.5/5

Bre Writes Book Reviews: Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson

This Review Contains Spoilers for The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. And most likely Sing Me Forgotten. You have been warned.

I have to start this review by saying: This is one of my favorite books I’ve read so far.

I have never revealed this, but I am a huge fan of musical theatre and literature. The Phantom of The Opera was the musical that gave me the drive and spark to explore more musicals. Once I read the book, my obsession only grew further.

Sing Me Forgotten by Jessica S. Olson is a gender-bent, magic based, steam-punk retelling of The Phantom of the Opera. At first, I was a little skeptical. Retellings aren’t always my cup of tea (especially with how overdone a lot of retellings have been lately). I am happy to say this book did not disappoint.

I love the character of Isda. Her determination, her drive, her obsession with Emeric, all the things, Erik from POTO had, but with a feminine flair. Her growth in the novel from disfigured girl willing to hide and do whatever she is told to choosing her own destiny was such a beautiful read. Her personal growth with Emeric was such a delight. Their quips were so good and their growing relationship captured everything in a romance that I really enjoy. The only problem is I didn’t know how to pronounce her name. I’m guessing Iz-Dah, since her nickname was Iz, but I kept reading it as I(s)da.

Emeric was a delight. From his quips with the statues to his love of caramel and his pure sunshine personality, I found myself craving more of him on the page. With the novel told from Isda’s point of view, I really could feel the love between Isda and Emeric.

The music and the aspect of music bringing the characters together was such a fun tidbit and a great nod to the original Phantom of the Opera. The subtle and not so subtle references to POTO were such a joy that I physically reacted to so many of them. There was a love and respect for the original work and I am so glad there were so many small hints to pick up on.

The mechanics of magic was a little confusing at first, with the Fendoirs and the Gravoirs, but the more I read, the more it made sense. I enjoyed the magic aspect and especially the backstory of Les Trois. I would have liked a bit more history, and more connection to the true villain, but it was so well done that I can’t really complain much.

SPOILERS HERE.

The biggest complaint I have is the ending. I know how POTO ends, both the musical and the book. Erik is a terrible being that has done terrible things, and there’s no way Christine would ever stay with him (except in Love Never Dies, but we’re not talking about that). Deep down, I knew what would have to happen between Isda and Emeric, but I wished it didn’t. I wanted Isda to get everything she had ever dreamed of. My heart ached for her and Emeric.

SPOILERS END

I would love to read a sequel. Such a sad but satisfying cliffhanger and I can’t help but want more.

Rating: 5/5

If you liked this review, leave me a comment and suggest what I should read next!

Bre Writes Book Reviews: February 2022

This month, I managed to read two vastly different books. One I really enjoyed and one that was not my cup of tea. As a writer, I try not to DNF any books, even though the second one I really wanted to do just that. In my opinion, even books that aren’t the best can be learning lessons, and the second book I read this month was full of them!

Without further ado, here’s what I read in February:

Spellmaker by Charlie N. Holmberg

Spellmaker is the second novel in the Spellbreaker duology. I received the first book in a Scribbler subscription box, and quite enjoyed it. I bought the second one from Amazon as soon as I finished the first book and took my time reading it.

First of all, I love the characters. I love that each of them had their own personality and their own goals and drive. It was refreshing to have a female protagonist and other female characters in the late 19th century that had agency and weren’t just rewards for the men in the novel. I enjoyed that the men in the novel were dynamic and not all cookie cutter as the hero trope.

The setting, I thought was interesting, but I feel needed a bit more explanation or a bit more use as a character. Set in England where magic is real and several different kinds of magic exist, I wish there had been a better explanation for the setting and a more in-depth view of some of the magics. There were times where I was reading and going “Man, I wish I had taken better notes,” but that might have just been me, since I do tend to read quickly.

The plot was surprisingly good for the book being a sequel. The first book had a better plot, simply because it was the first book and there was a lot of introduction and excitement in meeting the characters and watching them find and reach their goals. I’m glad this series is a duology, because there was enough plot for a second book and it was nice to see the characters grow and change from the first book. The book has one of my favorite tropes of fake relationship that’s built on the basis of a real relationship underneath, and it was done absolutely beautifully.

Rating: 4.75/5

Bonus:

Here’s how I saw some of the characters in my head. I always enjoy when I can see the characters in my mind and can hear them as they speak.

Bacchus:

Ogden:

Elsie:

The Phantom of the Bathtub by Eugenia Riley

The Phantom of the Bathtub was a book I either bought or got for free from kindle a few years ago during my Phantom of the Opera phase. Let me say it is nothing like Phantom of the Opera except they share the word Phantom in the title.

I honestly expected a lot more from this book. The back blurb mentioned werewolves, ghosts and haunted houses, but it was very watered down and skimmed over in place of the romance and kissing ass to fit in with high society. I expected a lot more from this book, and I kept reading hoping to find it, but sadly the ending didn’t sit right with me at all. It felt forced and over rushed.

The characters were mainly caricatures of people one would expect to find in the south during the late 19th century, overplayed and underdeveloped. The setting of Savannah, Georgia was never really truly explored and used as a character itself. The ghosts were not as prominent as I would have liked and barely enough of a plot point to make a difference. There were plenty of erotic scenes, but even those were lackluster and made the characters even more wishy-washy. The ending was forced for a “happy ending” with little explanation.

This book was not my cup of tea, and I was honestly glad to finish it, but in reading it I noticed things I can improve upon in my own works, so for that I am thankful.

Rating: 1/5

Bonus:

How I saw some of the characters.

Maxwell:

Aubrey:

Viveca:

Stay tuned for what I’m reading next!