Melissa_R

Haven’t Killed in Years is an unexpectedly fun thriller that I really enjoyed for its unique tone and compelling protagonist. Gwen Tanner(once Marin Haggerty, daughter of a notorious serial killer) lives a quiet, controlled life until a severed arm appears at her door, forcing her past into the spotlight. I loved how the story balances dark humor with suspense, making even unsettling moments strangely entertaining. Gwen’s complexity, along with characters like Porter and Dominic, kept me invested, and the mix of present-day mystery and flashbacks added depth. It’s a fast-paced, original read that kept me hooked throughout.

I cannot thank BookBrowse and NetGalley enough for this gift - my favorite ARC to date.

What a beautiful book. It is about loss, but really, it is about what is found. Tilly’s grief overwhelms her, until she realizes that living her life is not a betrayal of the love she lost, but instead a tribute to it.

I loved the characters and their flaws, the relationships Tilly had as well as those she made through her adventures (the Parisians were among my favorite parts) and how books were the ribbon that ties it all together.

Can’t wait for the rest of the world to get the chance to read Tilly’s story, and make it part of their adventures.

I am not a cozy fantasy reader, but this was just what I needed! So light, so fun...and so me. A bibliophile princess who is cursed to be trapped in a bookstore? A need to unlock her heart's desire to break the curse? Princes sent to rescue her, who all fail miserably at delivering true love's kiss? A band of side characters that had banter, humor, and lightness to every scene?

The characters! A teenage emo assistant who looks like every teenager I have ever known, other than being part dragon; seven bumbling and narcissistic princes, with one who uses the WRONG WORDS every time he forms a sentence; a handsome but cunning pirate who is cursed to fear the sea; a cat who is there, but NOT really there...the list goes on. They are hilarious, sarcastic, and delightful. An ensemble to rival the best fairy tales.

As someone who can honestly say that a bookstore has saved me from the stress and monotony of everyday life, I found this book perfect for me in every way. It is my Princess Bride and my Spaceballs all rolled into one. I finished this book with a warm glow and a feeling of peace that lasted long after the last page. What a gift.

I wanted to like this - I really did! I take reading ARCs very seriously, and every indication was that this would be right up my alley.

And it was - under a ton of different titles. This is the same fantasy fae story we have seen so many times before, and honestly, the others were better done. I felt like I was reading a lesser combination of several of the most popular romantasy series out there, but with far less appeal.

It has a SUPER slow start, where you really have no idea what is going on and need to wait for the world to build. I put it down and picked it back up again several times, and each time was a struggle...I had so much trouble sitting and staying with it. And I am a binge reader; I will read for hours at a time when I can. This could not keep me reading for more than 15-20 minutes before I lost interest.

Once I got about 15 of the way into it, I felt like I could write the rest because the story was so familiar.

I will absolutely give kudos to the atmosphere that the prose allowed me to envision - it felt true to the cozy fantasy vibe, and evoked really great visuals in my imagination. But overall, the book was too much effort for very low payoff.

Mouse was not an endearing FMC. I never connected with her. She was never really fully-formed as a character. And I was never invested in her success, happiness, or even her well-being. And Thornwood never evolved into the MMC that we could not resist - he is just an ass. Yes, he had his mother to consider and his plan to engage, but the character could have been made much more appealing, and he was not. He does not jump off the page, and feels like a weak version of some of the most engaging romantasy MMCs.

I hope that others will feel differently, but for me, this was a 2/5.

Cannot thank BookBrowse and NetGalley enough for this gift - my favorite ARC to date.

What a beautiful book. It is about loss, but really, it is about what is found. Tilly’s grief overwhelms her until she realizes that living her life is not a betrayal of the love she lost but instead a tribute to it.

I loved the characters and their flaws, the relationships Tilly had as well as those she made through her adventures (the Parisians were among my favorite parts), and how books were the ribbon that ties it all together.

Can’t wait for the rest of the world to get the chance to read Tilly’s story and make it part of their adventures.

I was up and down on this one. I found myself really loving it at some points and frustrated with it at others. My heart wanted to rate it higher, as this was obviously a labor of love for the author, but I just couldn't give it more than a 3-star rating from my own personal perspective. I think others who have had different experiences with death may feel differently.

At its core, this story is about loss and how those left behind deal with it. I have experienced loss in my life, but as an adult, I have not had to endure losing someone close to me the way Poppy did. That may be why I struggled a bit with understanding her journey - I could not put myself in her shoes. That said, her arc was told with wonderful prose - the descriptions of how she felt, and how her sister really shadowed her life, even while she was alive, but especially in death, were so well-written.

It's really Jake that bothered me the most. I suppose that he saw parallels to his mother's early death in Dandelion's - or at least he imagined that there were parallels. But there were not; he created the ties in his own mind, and I am not sure that his character was in any way sane. His arc made very little sense to me, and I found him very unlikeable as a character. I think that I would have rated this book much higher if I understood what his character was supposed to be. I really just did not get him at all.

Overall, this was a well-written novel. I would read others by this author in the future. I didn't really connect with the characters on a personal level, but I believe others may.