I loved this books. The characters were very well developed and I was completely invested in their journey. The romantic tension in this one was chef's kiss. Reading this book was like watching a movie unfold in my mind. I cannot wait for the sequel. I would recommend this book not only to fantasy readers but also non fantasy readers that have always wondered if they should give the genre a try.

There's been a lot of different Fae stories in recent years. I usually try to stay away from the one's that layer the fae world over the real world, but I like the way this one was done.

I loved the aesthetic of this book but, to be truthful, it was mid. There was so much potential Neysa but it just never built for me.

I wanted to love this book. I loved that Neysa is 35 years old and that the book involved fae, but ultimately I just couldn’t get into this book and ended up DNFing.

I received an eARC of this book from GenZ publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed are mine alone and other than the free book, I was not compensated in any way.

Genre: New Adult
Spice: 2 out of 5 (this is still shareable with mom)

This is the first fae book I have read (I haven't read SJM's book) so this was an interesting introduction to the genre. I liked that the MC was a strong sword-yielding independent woman, and that she didn't take any shit from the male characters. I liked the side characters as well as they were well developed and interesting.

I didn't particularly like the addition of the two chapters on the twin's POVs to then never get them again, I thought it was irrelevant for us as the reader to see it whether it was from the MC's pov or not. So removing that would be best imo.
I didn't understand the reasoning behind the MC's mom and dad's decision to separate them, we're told that they were at risk, but at risk of what? What were they being threatened by that even their birth was kept a secret and then they were separated? Who broke the seal of the veil in the first place for the MC and her father to be able to cross it? Why did the father take the rock if that protected the veil?
I liked the relationship the MC creates with the love interest, but I also struggled with the amount of animosity they had between each other and the way their bond started.

Overall, I liked the story, the ideas were great, and the characters were realistic and lovable, but I think that some more developmental editing could have been used to patch up the holes in the story

Simply put, I found that this book was fine. I didn't find anything particularly unique about it, and while I was intrigued by the synopsis, I felt like the story needed more shaping.

I don't read alot of fantasy stuff like this. I started watching shows of this nature on Netflix and thought I'd give reading something like this a try again. I'm not sure if it was the book or I just wasn't into this genre but I didn't care for it.

I'm a total fae fan these days so when I was presented with this book's synopsis of course I jumped in feet first..or eyes first,lol! Anyway, the author weaves an intriguing story with all the feels,action and struggles. The MC grows through here experiences with the help of some new friends and the world building was excellent!

I requested this book a while ago from NetGalley, mostly because of the beautiful cover and the promise of a good Fae story. I’ve had a hard time finding one that I really enjoy for quite a while now. Frankly, I’m having a hard time thinking of one I’ve enjoyed more recently than “An Enchantment of Ravens” which I read several years ago now. Alas, this was not to be the one to break that streak.

When Neysa quits her home of Los Angles to spend time in a remote section of England she does it only with the mind to clear her mind and heal her heart after her recent divorce. Quickly, she befriends a local family. But as she grows to know them better, she uncovers mysteries beyond her wildest dreams. Soon enough, she’s drawn into a brewing conflict between two worlds and begins uncovering an untold history of her own past. And while the danger escalates, Neysa begins to realize that her injured heart may be ready to love again.

I knew almost immediately that this book wasn’t going to be it for me. It’s always such a disappointment when this happens. A slow start or an uninteresting leading character can grow and change as a story develops, so while disheartening to start with, I don’t necessarily count the book out with just that. Alas, stilted, poor writing is almost never to be recovered from and this book had it in spades right from the start.

There was an abundance of a “telling” style of writing, with readers bluntly informed how they were meant to feel about certain characters and their relationships. Scenes would jump from one place/time/plot to another with absolutely no transition. Very little attention was given to describing the setting or atmosphere of any particular scene. And the magic system was a garbled mess. At one point, a character sprouts wings and this is never commented on further. Can all Fae do this? How does this even work in what before this point had seemed a fully human body? Obviously, as a reader of fantasy fiction, I’m happy enough to bend the laws of physics, but I do need a bit more effort done to make it feel as if the author hadn’t simply plopped down bullet points of fairies she found from Google.

The pacing was also very off-putting, seeming to crawl at certain points and then jump immediately into the action at others. There is no time devoted to carefully cultivating the relationships between the characters, and the romance suffered most from this. There is a love triangle (sigh) and most frustrating of all, the author resorted to creating situations where her heroine is sexually harassed as a way to create drama and force “romantic gestures” from said love interests. I absolutely hate this tactic, and if I hadn’t been already feeling pretty poorly about the book before, this would have been the final straw.

This book ultimately seemed as if it were in sad need of editing. I don’t like comparing books to fanfiction because I’ve read so many excellent fanfiction stories that have writing as good as if not better *side eyes this book* than actual published works. But that was the comparison that came to mind: lack of effort in world-building, juvenile tactics to build romantic drama, and clunky writing. I always hate writing reviews that are as harsh as this one has been, but I truly did not enjoy this book and was so, so disappointed, especially by the romance.

For those who do enjoy love triangles and Fae stories, this may, may, be something that interests you. But I do think there are better examples out there. Even books like “The Cruel Prince” by Holly Black that I didn’t personally enjoy would be better. At least that one was well written.

Review: A big let down, worst of all falling into terrible tropes of using sexual harassment as a romance-building tool.

For my review I looked at the synopsis again, and I don’t think I even got to the actual plot of this book, but I just hated this reading experience. I recently heard someone talk about the 10% rule for DNF’s, and I actually think that’s a fair rule. If a book is over 10% and has failed to capture you yet, maybe it’s just not for you. I read 11% of Another Beast’s Skin and was mostly frustrated. I was so frustrated that I started writing down my frustrations to make sure they were just and it wasn’t a mood thing.

So here we go… And remember that I can only talk about the first 11% of this book (aka the first 3 chapters). I don’t think I can really spoil anything.

First point, I think the author is most likely a great author but at the same time also wanted to show it off with their use of adverbes and adjectives, and literary descriptions. I’m not against them, and sometimes I will point them out in a book because they’re beautiful and I like how it was worded. But in this book it was non-stop and since we’re still dealing with POV chapters, it was clunky writing. No one’s inner dialogue goes from one metaphor to the next.

Next point… Oh, how I dislike the “Not like other girls” trope. I get it, and a lot of YA literature heroines have this going for them, and most of the time I can let it pass. But here it was combined with some sort of inferiority complex where her inner thoughts were negative about herself but in a weird and off-putting way. I kept trying to understand why it was annoying me so much, and then I realized… It’s not relatable. I’ve gave books five stars because of similar characters that were writting in a way where their low self-esteem made me bawl my eyes out. Here it’s clunky and awkward, and I’m not sure if the main character even believes it? Does that make sense? It came across more as “Oh, please notice me. I’m blushing.”

FULL REVIEW on blog

I received an ARC copy of “Another Beast’s Skin” from GenZ publishing through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of potential and I was super excited to read it. Portal fantasy, fae, and an adult kickass main character to boot? Hell yes! And the cover was also gorgeous. Also, many people said they thought this was a YA fantasy, but I’d say it’s an adult fantasy especially since the main character is over 30. I’ll put more information on the sections below, but overall, the story was decent and I enjoyed it! There were some parts which I found a little problematic and it took me out of the story a little, but there were also some great details and plot points/elements that kept me reading.

Would recommend, and I can’t wait to see what happens in the next book!

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THE STORY & WORLDBUILDING

I will admit that I found the beginning a little hard to get into because it felt slow and there was a lot of information to digest early on. The amount of information didn’t quite bother me, but it slowed down the pacing. (I should note that this was addressed by the time it was printed!) After that, the story did pick up, but it felt a little jumpy in the sense that I wondered sometimes why certain scenes were talked about in more detail compared to ones that seemed maybe important as a reader, but didn’t feel important from the writing.
That said, there were some really great plot points and elements throughout the book which kept me reading and intrigued. You can tell that this book was well-researched and a lot of time went into world-building which was fantastic. I think it just needed a better editing hand to bring it together in a more effective way.
Essentially… I LOVED the world, I just felt a little confused within it sometimes.

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THE CHARACTERS

I really liked the relationship between Neysa (the main character) and Corra. A friendship that had multiple layers always makes me happy and adds dimension to the characters and the story. Honestly? I loved Corra! I didn’t really want her to leave the page, haha. Really, I loved the family trio and their interactions. I felt like they were developed well and their actions made sense.

Regarding Neysa? I love her name. I’m just drawn to it! I also like that she is an older main character – in her 30s – who was pretty unapologetic for who she is once she finds her footing. There are moments when you’re cheering for her and you’re worried for what she has to face next! But there were also moments when I felt it harder to connect to her because she sometimes felt younger in many ways. Even though a 30-year old could feel those things, I think what just made it harder to connect is that we didn’t have the character development to make it plausible. I personally needed more character development to explain what drove Neysa to do what she does, make certain decisions, and why she’s very accepting of everything that she is introduced to. I was curious why she didn’t really question anything and maybe this will be addressed in a future book of the series, but this could have added another layer of development and establish stakes for her as well. Because the moments weren’t explained, I questioned if I missed development early on. For instance, did her dad tell her a story and show her something to prove magic she recalls and now she must find it? Is she just someone who now follows her gut no matter what because it hasn’t steered her wrong before? This would’ve made a huge difference for me!

The ending though? Ah! I won't spoil it, but I can say that I can't wait for book two to arrive.

I was expecting much more for this book,but it turned out to be a boring book despite its potential.
The first pages were very confusional, so I was very frustrated.
The world could be explained better, as well as the relationships between the characters.
2 stars.

ABANDON /5
DNF
(english review below)

Résumé :
Lorsque Neysa, une commerçante de Los Angeles, loue un cottage sur la côte anglaise, elle n'aurait jamais imaginé les secrets qu'elle découvrirait et un nouveau monde au-delà de celui-ci.
En se liant d'amitié avec une famille en ville, Neysa apprend qu'ils sont des émissaires d'un royaume Fae, chargés de protéger le Voile instable entre les royaumes. Et les quatre cristaux qui maintenaient le Voile en sécurité ont disparu.
Dans une course pour protéger les royaumes, Neysa doit en apprendre davantage sur le nouveau monde dans lequel elle a été plongée et découvrir des secrets la concernant. Heureusement, le gardien Fae Caderyn et son cousin sont prêts à aider Neysa dans sa quête. Mais même s'ils peuvent récupérer les cristaux, il pourrait y avoir de grandes conséquences pour l'avenir du royaume Fae.
¤
Sur 390 pages, j’ai arrêté ma lecture presque à la fin après en avoir lu plus de 250. Et franchement, je ressors de cette lecture frustrée.
Si maintenant, j’accepte de plus en plus d’abandonner les lectures qui ne m’intéressent plus, de ne plus me forcer à finir une lecture, c’est toujours frustrant. Surtout car très souvent, j’abandonne seulement quand l’intérêt n’est plus présent et non parce que l’histoire n’est pas bonne.
Dans ce roman, l’autrice nous plonge dans un nouveau monde à découvrir avec décors féériques, des Faes et une course contre la montre. Honnêtement, même si l’intrigue me paraissait peu originale car elle me rappelait bon nombre de romans déjà lus avec les mêmes thèmes, la manière dont était écrite l’histoire me plaisait beaucoup. Le style d’écriture était immersif et fluide et j’ai apprécié les informations distillées au fil du roman qui permettaient aux lecteurs de mieux imaginer l’environnement dans lequel la protagoniste évoluait. De sa confusion, son incompréhension face aux secrets que Neysa découvre à son adaptation, sa maturation, la jeune femme m’a emportée dans ses aventures.
Pourtant, si j’ai trouvé, au début, l’histoire plutôt dynamique, j’ai fini par m’ennuyer dans la seconde partie du roman. J’avais l’impression que les choses avançaient au ralenti et plus je lisais, moins j’étais entraînée. Cela dit, même en ressentant ce changement de rythme, j’avais décidé de continuer ma lecture jusqu’à me rendre compte que je n’en avais plus rien à faire du dénouement. Et c’est si dommage.
Ce roman avait du potentiel et j’ai apprécié la première partie. C’était une lecture agréable au début, mais je n’ai pas envie d’en connaître la fin.

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ENGLISH REVIEW:

Blurb:
When Neysa, a market trader from Los Angeles, rents a cottage on the coast of England, she would never have imagined the secrets she would uncover and a new world beyond this one.
In befriending a family in town, Neysa learns that they are emissaries from a fae realm, charged with keeping guard of the volatile Veil between realms. And the four crystals that kept the Veil secure have gone missing.
In a race to protect the realms, Neysa must learn about the new world she’s been thrust into and uncover the secrets in her blood. Luckily fae guardian Caderyn and his cousin are willing to help Neysa in her quest. But even if they can get the crystals back, there may be great consequences for the future of the fae realm.
¤
On 390 pages, I stopped reading almost at the end after reading over 250 of them. And honestly, I come away from reading frustrated.
So now I'm more and more willing to give up reading that I'm no longer interested in, not forcing myself to finish a reading… But it's still frustrating. Especially because very often I only give up when the interest is no longer present and not because the story is bad.
In this book, the author immerses us in a new world to discover with magical settings, Faes and a race against time. Honestly, even though the plot seemed unoriginal to me because it reminded me of many previously readings with the same themes, I really liked the way the story was written. The writing style was immersive and fluid and I appreciated the information distilled over the course of the story that allowed readers to better imagine the environment in which the protagonist evolved. From her confusion, her incomprehension in the face of the secrets that Neysa discovers to her adaptation, her maturation, the young woman took me on her adventures.
However, while I found the story to be rather dynamic at first, I ended up getting bored in the second part of the book. I felt like things were moving slowly and the more I read, the less trained I got. That said, even as I felt the change of pace, I decided to read on until I realized I didn't give a damn about the ending. And it’s frustrating again.
This book had potential and I enjoyed the first part. It was a pleasant read at first, but I didn't want to see the end of it.

What a fascinating #fantasynovel !!! 😲😲😲

I must admit, the beginning of this book was a little difficult to get into at first. It is #adultfantasy with the female main character being 35 years of age - something that I loved about this book! And you can definitely notice from the writing style that this book is intended for a mature audience. There aren’t many explicit scenes (only two short ones to be exact), however, the writing was intricate, detailed, sometimes I really had to use my brain to understand everything that was happening, because not only is the writing intricate and really beautiful, as it completely transports you into this different world, it is also super intelligent, talking about difficult topics in such great detail! I don’t want to know how much research went into this, but it must’ve been a lot.

Now, the world and the characters were… enchanting! The female lead accepts this world and everything coming with it, there’s no teenage drama, which was refreshing. There were many characters, a handful of main characters, but also so many interesting side characters! I loved all of them. Even the antagonist!😳
The relationships that developed between all of them were so interesting to read about and the story in general just gripped me. I was sucked into this world and I probably forgot drinking the entire time, because I didn’t want to put my book down.🙈

And a lot was going on! This book has 390 pages, but it (positively) felt like it was more than 500. Not because it was dragging on - not at all. The story fascinated me, there were twists and turns, adventures and quests, romance, friendship, battles, political intrigue, mysteries and I don’t know how #JessicaGreweGlover packed all of this epic fantasy in only 400 pages. It had my mind spinning, but I loved it a lot!

The only point that I didn’t 100% agree with was the love interest I guess? Don’t get me wrong, I loved him. A LOT. But I felt like Silas had that Casteel charm and the banter going on and I guess he was just more my type.😂

All in all, this was great fantasy, with an ending that left my mouth stand open and that left me needing book 2… sooo, when is that coming out?😲😂❤️

Many thanks to GenZ Publishing, Jessika Grewe Glover and NetGalley for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another Beast's Skin had much potential and offered an exciting YA fantasy filled with romance and world building however what is given appears much like a rough draft, with a main character who acts much younger than her thirty-something years, a wealth of inconsistencies and plot holes throughout the novel and a poorly explained magic system.

Ultimately, the title could be much better with some more revisions but, as it stands, this is not a title which is ready for publication.

Though this book was very slow to start, it did start to get better. I like the world that has been built here, but I just don't think this book was for me. I wish there had been more of a build-up to her discovering the whole fae thing and their whole world, but again that is me personally. I enjoy the tension and build-up, especially if it had been hinted when she was younger that they might exist. This book was okay, the characters didn't really bring anything to make them memorable to me and it took me a while to finish this book too.

This was not for me so I did end up DNFing halfway through. I just found myself not reaching for it. The characters, depth, plot...I struggled with it more than I wanted to for how fascinating the description was to me.

I DNF'd this one pretty quickly. I am sure I would have enjoyed it more if I got into it further, but the initial setup felt weird and I just couldn't vibe with the writing style here. The exposition was way too "tell-instead-of-show" and the interactions between characters did not feel organic. I am sure the author knew where she planned on taking this story, but I was just way too confused.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me!

I enjoyed this one. The only downside is the fact that I cannot read a book during finals because I will forget everything I read during that time. But I like This book, I definitely plan to reread this book before I read the second one. The banter was fun and the plot was interesting.

Another Beast’s Skin Review

“This is not new for me, Neysa. You are like this great ocean, and I had fought to stay up above the water, but all I want is to drown in you.”

After the loss of her father, Neysa puts a hold on her life and career and moves to the coast of England. There she makes friends with a family, and ends up finding out about her connections to the fae realm. She joins them on their mission, forms deep connections with them, and falls in love.

This book is a slow burn that weaves its way deeper and deeper into your heart as you read. I felt strongly connected to these characters, and very invested in their lives and emotions. The only down part for me is that it ended on an intense cliffhanger that had me wanting to throw my kindle across the room. I am so desperate for the next book. I highly recommend this one and give it 4.5 stars.

This review has been posted to Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and will be shared on my bookstagram account.