fiction

Book Review: Ocean Eyes

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โœจOcean Eyes: Book Reviewโœจ
Author: Taubin Dupavillon

Mermaid romantasy? I will request it every single time. Indie author? Say less. I am here for them.

Premise: ๐’ฆ๐’ถ๐’พ๐’น๐’ถ ๐“Œ๐’ถ๐“ˆ ๐’ท๐‘œ๐“‡๐“ƒ ๐’ถ ๐“…๐“‡๐’พ๐“ƒ๐’ธ๐‘’๐“ˆ๐“ˆ. ๐’ฎ๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“Œ๐’ถ๐“ˆ ๐“‡๐’ถ๐’พ๐“ˆ๐‘’๐’น ๐’ถ๐“ˆ ๐’ถ ๐“Œ๐‘’๐’ถ๐“…๐‘œ๐“ƒ.
๐’ž๐“Š๐“‡๐“ˆ๐‘’๐’น ๐“‰๐‘œ ๐“‰๐“‡๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“ˆ๐’ป๐‘œ๐“‡๐“‚ ๐’พ๐“ƒ๐“‰๐‘œ ๐’ถ ๐“‚๐‘’๐“‡๐“‚๐’ถ๐’พ๐’น ๐“Œ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“ƒ๐‘’๐“‹๐‘’๐“‡ ๐“ˆ๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“‰๐‘œ๐“Š๐’ธ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“ˆ ๐“ˆ๐’ถ๐“๐“‰ ๐“Œ๐’ถ๐“‰๐‘’๐“‡, ๐’ฆ๐’ถ๐’พ๐’น๐’ถ ๐“ˆ๐“…๐‘’๐“ƒ๐’น๐“ˆ ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“‡ ๐’น๐’ถ๐“Ž๐“ˆ ๐’ธ๐’ถ๐“‡๐“‡๐“Ž๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” ๐‘œ๐“Š๐“‰ ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“‡ ๐’ป๐’ถ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“‡โ€™๐“ˆ ๐“‚๐‘œ๐“ˆ๐“‰ ๐“‡๐“Š๐“‰๐’ฝ๐“๐‘’๐“ˆ๐“ˆ ๐’ธ๐‘œ๐“‚๐“‚๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’น๐“ˆ ๐’ถ๐’ธ๐“‡๐‘œ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“ˆ๐‘’๐’ถ.
๐น๐‘’๐’ถ๐“‡๐‘’๐’น ๐’ท๐“Ž ๐“ˆ๐’ถ๐’พ๐“๐‘œ๐“‡๐“ˆ ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’น ๐“Œ๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ๐“…๐‘’๐“‡๐‘’๐’น ๐’ถ๐’ท๐‘œ๐“Š๐“‰ ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐“๐‘’๐‘”๐‘’๐“ƒ๐’น๐“ˆ, ๐“ˆ๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’ฝ๐’ถ๐“ˆ ๐“ƒ๐‘’๐“‹๐‘’๐“‡ ๐“†๐“Š๐‘’๐“ˆ๐“‰๐’พ๐‘œ๐“ƒ๐‘’๐’น ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“‡ ๐“…๐“Š๐“‡๐“…๐‘œ๐“ˆ๐‘’โ€”๐“Š๐“ƒ๐“‰๐’พ๐“ ๐“ˆ๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“ˆ๐‘’๐“ƒ๐“‰ ๐“‰๐‘œ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“‡๐’พ๐“‹๐’ถ๐“ ๐“€๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘”๐’น๐‘œ๐“‚ ๐‘œ๐’ป ๐’ฉ๐“Ž๐“‹๐’ถ๐“‡๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“Œ๐’พ๐“‰๐’ฝ ๐’ถ ๐“ˆ๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘”๐“๐‘’ ๐“‚๐’พ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ๐’พ๐‘œ๐“ƒ
๐’ข๐’ถ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’๐’พ๐“‡ ๐“‰๐“‡๐“Š๐“ˆ๐“‰. ๐’ž๐‘œ๐“‚๐“…๐“๐‘’๐“‰๐‘’ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“‚๐’พ๐“ˆ๐“ˆ๐’พ๐‘œ๐“ƒ. ๐’ฆ๐’พ๐“๐“ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’ช๐’ธ๐‘’๐’ถ๐“ƒ ๐’ซ๐“‡๐’พ๐“ƒ๐’ธ๐‘’.
๐ต๐“Š๐“‰ ๐’ฉ๐“Ž๐“‹๐’ถ๐“‡๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“ƒ๐‘œ๐“‰ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐“ƒ๐‘’๐“‚๐“Ž ๐“ˆ๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐‘’๐“๐“…๐‘’๐’ธ๐“‰๐‘’๐’น.

What a wild ride that was! What an absolutely fantastic debut novel!

A mermaid? Yes. A cursed mermaid? Say less. I didnโ€™t know what I was expecting going into this story, but I got way more than I bargained for the absolute best way.

I loved this book for all the questioning it had me do. The plot twists, the level of relationships and the way I had to think about the authenticity of each one. Amazing!

The world building is completely imaginative and international and the growth our FMC Kaida shows throughout the story is unparalleled. I canโ€™t wait to read more from Taubin.

This story is perfect for fans of
๐Ÿงœ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ Romantasy
๐Ÿงœ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ Found family/friendships
๐Ÿงœ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ Stong FMC
๐Ÿงœ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ Mermaids
๐Ÿงœ๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ Rivals

Thank you so much to the author @taubindupavillon and bookcoven PR @bookcovenpr for this e-arc. Ocean Eyes is out November 3rd.

Book Review: Defy The Dusk

/ Cassie / Leave a comment

โœจDefy the Dusk: Book Reviewโœจ

Author: Danielle L. Jensen

What can I sayโ€ฆDanielle L. Jensen has done it again!  Defy the Dusk was so amazing, I could barley put it down long enough to want to talk about it.  I just wanted to pick it up and read it all over again.  Is there anything that she canโ€™t write well?  I really think the answer is no.

Premise: ๐’ฒ๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“ƒ ๐’น๐’ถ๐“‡๐“€๐“ƒ๐‘’๐“ˆ๐“ˆ ๐“‚๐‘’๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“ˆ ๐’ธ๐‘’๐“‡๐“‰๐’ถ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐’น๐‘’๐’ถ๐“‰๐’ฝ ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐’น ๐“ˆ๐“Š๐“‡๐“‹๐’พ๐“‹๐’ถ๐“ ๐’น๐‘’๐“…๐‘’๐“ƒ๐’น๐“ˆ ๐‘œ๐“ƒ ๐“‡๐‘’๐’ถ๐’ธ๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ƒ๐‘” ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’น๐’ถ๐“Œ๐“ƒ, ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“Œ๐‘œ๐“‚๐’ถ๐“ƒ ๐“Œ๐’ฝ๐‘œ๐“ˆ๐‘’ ๐“‚๐’ถ๐‘”๐’พ๐’ธ ๐’ท๐“‡๐‘œ๐“€๐‘’ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐“Œ๐‘œ๐“‡๐“๐’น ๐“Œ๐’พ๐“๐“ ๐’ธ๐’ถ๐“‡๐“‹๐‘’ ๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐‘œ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’๐“‡ ๐“…๐’ถ๐“‰๐’ฝ: ๐’น๐‘’๐’ป๐“Ž ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’น๐“Š๐“ˆ๐“€. ๐’ฏ๐’ฝ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐’พ๐“ˆ ๐“‰๐’ฝ๐‘’ ๐’ป๐’พ๐“‡๐“ˆ๐“‰ ๐’ท๐‘œ๐‘œ๐“€ ๐’พ๐“ƒ ๐’ถ ๐‘”๐“‡๐’พ๐“‰๐“‰๐“Ž ๐“…๐‘œ๐“ˆ๐“‰-๐’ถ๐“…๐‘œ๐’ธ๐’ถ๐“๐“Ž๐“…๐“‰๐’พ๐’ธ ๐’ป๐’ถ๐“ƒ๐“‰๐’ถ๐“ˆ๐“Ž ๐’น๐“Š๐‘œ๐“๐‘œ๐‘”๐“Ž.

Absolute perfection.  11/10 no notes.  I have always been a big fan of dystopian fiction and fantasy, so after finding out the Danielle L. Jensen wrote one? I needed it immediately.

First and foremost, I loved that the FMC is a little older than the main characters we often get with fantasy and romantasy books and wrining.  As in she is 29. Which is almost 30.  And while my older self would never be able to survive in this world, not even for a minute, I do love seeing characters closer to my age defying all the odds.  Plus a slightly older MMC? Say less.

The enemies to lovers was alive and well with this one.  As in he actually talks about how much he wants to *unalive* her.  True enemies/nemesises to lovers pipeline was alive and well in this one.  And I ate up.  Every single bit.

This book was all the things: action packed, intense, insane, and freaking fantastic.ย  I seriously already canโ€™t wait for the next one. I will be requesting immediately when it is announced.

Defy the Dusk is perfect for fans of

โš”๏ธEnemies to lovers

โš”๏ธSlightly older main characters

โš”๏ธDystopian fantasy/romantansy

โš”๏ธSteam Punk Vibes.

Seriously, this book is EVERYTHING and is out November 3rd.

A very special thank you to DelRey Books, NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC.