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2/5

Dacian empath, Malina, is captured in the aftermath of battle where she failed to protect her Celtic adopted family and taken as a slave by the Roman general and dragon shifter, Julianus.

The combination of relationship dynamic and power imbalance between Malina and Julianus with the ancient Roman inspired system of slavery, was too off-putting for me, and I just couldn't get past it. It was also a darker romance than I had expected.

A look at the lives of J.M. Barrie & neighbours, the Llewelyn Davies family, whose five boys were instrumental in the development of the story of Peter Pan - especially Michael, their fourth son, on whom the main character was based. At first the friendships were thought to be of little concern but eventually Arthur Llewelyn Davies moved his family out of London to get away from Barrie's influence. (continued)

I listened to the audiobook for #WithTheBanned and I‘m including it with #Read2025 because I actually finished the book and for #SeriesLove2025 because it‘s the first book in a trilogy that I won‘t continue. I gave it two stars on Goodreads because the unusual style of poetry and prose is the only thing I liked about the book. There are several reasons I didn‘t like it. I‘m tired of YA and teenage angst. I‘m tired of multi book series. (cont)⬇️

TLDR: Not a bad book per se, but the MC spoiled it for me.

This could have been a really dark, almost gothic, mystery thriller - all the ingredients were there, but it was a bit of a miss for me. I think the issue is that the main character, Alex Kelly, is difficult to like. She does all the clichéd things: drinks too much making her unreliable, rushes into situations without thinking, thinks she's the only one who can solve a cold case, (cont)

This is the second book in the Mayhem series and I was expecting another great story since I enjoyed the first one. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. Both of the MCs acted immature for their ages and they annoyed me. Not sure if I will continue this series. 2.5 - 3🌟
#SeriesLove2025 @Andrew65
#Read2025 @DieAReader

January 2025 Book #11
This retelling for me is poor integrating and even boring. I‘m not the target audience but didn‘t like it. However, the illustrations are beautiful made by the author. 2⭐️

I expected to enjoy this book, but I actually found myself having to force myself to pick it up and continue. It all felt a bit too preachy. Shriver is, as far as I‘m aware, a hugely respected writer, so I‘m not sure if she‘s just not my thing or if this is not her usual standard. I think I need to read We Need to Talk About Kevin.

Book 34/60 Page 11.033/18,000 #Read2025 @DieAReader

I normally zip through Douglas's books. In this one, I reached a point where I guessed what was going to happen and I couldn't finish. Therefore, I put the book down and picked it up again a couple of days ago. No surprises. Just as expected. The plot was good just predictable. 3.5🌟 #Read2025 @DieAReader At just over 500 pages this is one for #ChunksterChallenge2025 @Amiable #AllergicToChunksters @julieclair