13. Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

#1 Empyrian

listened on Libby

498 pgs.  (21:22)

2023
Adult Dystopian Fantasy (now called Romantasy)
Finished 3/17/25
Goodreads rating: 4.58
My rating: 3

My comments: Well, I made it through hours and hours of what?  Arguments.  Hateful banter.  Battling tactics.  Young people dying.  And dying.  And dying.  Dragons.  I've never been a dragon fan and I'm still not.  And then after 2/3 or the book.....lust.  And more lust.  I'm certainly not opposed to lust, but when it's so much more of the story than the first 2/3 of the book it's a bit eye-rolling.  Major battles, exposed lying, lots of flying through the air and being attacked by creatures that cannot die.  And then, at the very end, switched points of view, from Violet to Zaren.  I refused to give up through all....what....20 hours? and I'm glad I completed it, but it seemed endless.  I'm not its biggest fan.  

Goodreads synopsis:  Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history. Now, the commanding general—also known as her tough-as-talons mother—has ordered Violet to join the hundreds of candidates striving to become the elite of Navarre: dragon riders.

          But when you’re smaller than everyone else and your body is brittle, death is only a heartbeat away...because dragons don’t bond to “fragile” humans. They incinerate them.

          With fewer dragons willing to bond than cadets, most would kill Violet to better their own chances of success. The rest would kill her just for being her mother’s daughter—like Xaden Riorson, the most powerful and ruthless wingleader in the Riders Quadrant.
          She’ll need every edge her wits can give her just to see the next sunrise.
          Yet, with every day that passes, the war outside grows more deadly, the kingdom's protective wards are failing, and the death toll continues to rise. Even worse, Violet begins to suspect leadership is hiding a terrible secret.
          Friends, enemies, lovers. Everyone at Basgiath War College has an agenda—because once you enter, there are only two ways out: graduate or die

53. Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren

listened on Audible
read by Grace Grant and Jonathan R. Cole
Unabridged audio (8:06)
2013 Gallery Books
352 pgs.
Adult Romance
Finished 6/10/2019
Goodreads rating: 4.22 - 65,882 ratings
My rating:  2.75 (3)
Setting: Contemporary NYC

First line/s: "When my old life died it didn't go quietly.  It detonated."

My comments:  Certainly entertaining....one of those contemporary romances with lots of steamy parts, but the author includes a little more storyline that makes it more interesting than just reading smut.  An interesting diversion that I seem to have tripped over a bit in the last few months....

Goodreads synopsis:  Escaping a cheating ex, finance whiz Sara Dillon’s moved to New York City and is looking for excitement and passion without a lot of strings attached. So meeting the irresistible, sexy Brit at a dance club should have meant nothing more than a night’s fun. But the manner—and speed—with which he melts her inhibitions turns him from a one-time hookup and into her Beautiful Stranger.
          The whole city knows that Max Stella loves women, not that he’s ever found one he particularly wants to keep around. Despite pulling in plenty with his Wall Street bad boy charm, it’s not until Sara—and the wild photos she lets him take of her—that he starts wondering if there’s someone for him outside of the bedroom.
          Hooking up in places where anybody could catch them, the only thing scarier for Sara than getting caught in public is having Max get too close in private.

41. Maneuver by Chelle Bliss

(Men of Ink: Southside #1)
listened on Audible
read by Erin Mallon and Lance Greenfield
Unabridged audio (5:29)
2018 self published?
Audio only
Adult Romance
Finished 4/30/19
Goodreads rating:  4.13 - 3054 ratings
My rating:  1/Crappy

My comments:  What a ridiculously silly piece of sexy fluff.  There is so much better out there!  Probably the un-believable story I have ever read.  The female reader was abominable, the ending to all of her words were long and drawn out tna just horrible to listen to.  Horrible.

Goodreads synopsis:  This isn’t how fairy tales typically begin, but it’s where mine starts…
     No money, no phone, and abandoned on the streets of Chicago.
     With my baby in my arms, I wander into a bar in a shady neighborhood and ask to use their phone.
     When my father turns us away and completely disowns me, the bar owner, and total hottie, offers us a place to stay…no strings attached.
     I’m leery at first.    

     Hot alpha guy.

     Down on her luck single mother.
     I mean, who wouldn’t be wary?
     Lucio Gallo isn’t like most men, though. He’s fiercely protective, loyal, and did I mention he’s covered in nothing but muscle?
     Above all else, he’s everything I need but never knew I wanted.

35. Saga: Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

illustrated by Fiona Staples
interlibrary loan from Fredericksen - book was in pretty bad shape and sort of gross, pages coming out and stuck together, even a bit of an odor.....
2012, Image Comics
164 pgs.
Adult Graphic Novel - explicit sex
Finished 4-12-18
Goodreads rating: 4.23 - 165,022 ratings (holy schmoley!)
My rating: 2.5
Setting: Somewhere out there....

First line/s:  "This is how an idea becomes real."

My comments:  Granted, I’m pretty new to this genre - trying to be an eclectic reader - but I’m yet to discover the joy that others seem to get from reading graphic novels. This one was easier to follow than my other Brian Vaughan read (Paper Girls), I had no questions or head scratching when I finished. And my borrowed library copy had pages falling out, stuck together, and a faint odd odor, which didn’t help. Think I’m going to try another graphic novel author before I give up,

Goodreads synopsis:  When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. 
          From bestselling writer Brian K. Vaughan, Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in this sexy, subversive drama for adults. 

MOVIE - Fifty Shades Freed

R

Wide Release 2/9/2018

Viewed February 12, 2018 at Carlisle 8

RT Critic:  12  Audience:  38
Critic's Consensus:  Fifty Shades Freed brings its titillating trilogy to a clumsy conclusion, making for a film franchise that adds up to a distinctly dissatisfying ménage à trois. 

Cag:  3.5

Directed by James Foley

Universal Pictures
Box Office:  96 million

Jamie Dorman, Dakota Johnson

My comments:  Two words.  Jamie Dorman.  That is all.

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Believing they have left behind shadowy figures from their past, newlyweds Christian and Ana fully embrace an inextricable connection and shared life of luxury. But just as she steps into her role as Mrs. Grey and he relaxes into an unfamiliar stability, new threats could jeopardize their happy ending before it even begins.