Madame X (Madame X #1) by Jasinda Wilder

Title: Madame X
Series: Madame X
Author: Jasinda Wilder
Genres: Romance/Drama/Dark/Adult

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING: TRAUMA TRIGGERS* 

Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Madame X lives in a plush world of sophistication where she caters to only the privileged and most elite of society-but it's not in the way that you might expect. She's a mistress in the art of class, confidence and control; her job is to impart this knowledge to the entitled yet thoroughly ignorant sons of her clientele. However, her carefully constructed reality and identity threaten to come crumbling down when a few chance encounters force her to question her lifestyle and circumstances.

Micro Review: I typically don't like doing micro reviews because I feel that they do a disservice to the book and author. That being said, I also realize that most people don't give two flying craps about technicalities. I get it and I can appreciate it. So, I'll try the condensed version out for a while. We'll see how long it lasts!
On to the juicy bits though-
Madame X is probably going to be unlike anything you've read in a while and I say that purely from the standpoint of the writing style. There are certain aspects of the story told in a kind of diary-style second person; it takes a while to get used to, but it certainly adds a richness to the story. On top of that, I can't think of many authors that would be brave enough to tackle that point of view and then go on to excel with it.
That's just the tip of the iceberg here; the most compelling aspects of the book are the characters themselves. The titular character, Madame X, is a veritably complex woman and you can't help but to feel an emotional connection to her the deeper you find yourself immersed in her world. The supporting cast of characters each come with their own skeletons and emotional baggage, and X's interactions with each of them spark a slow shift in her perspective. These interactions alone will probably have you reading all night just to see what X will get herself into next.

You're hurting my heart, X!

I will say that I personally was disappointed with a few of X's choices, but the fact of the matter is that everything made perfect sense, And honestly, as a reader, you can't really ask for anything more. There are several difficult topics explored within Madame X, and each one is handled with a certain poise alongside a dose of harsh reality that you just don't see as often in modern romance novels. Don't get me wrong; there's plenty of romantic fantasy to be had within the story, but it's grounded by the heavier issues that Ms. Wilder introduces in a seamless way.
In line with the majority of reviews that are already out regarding this book, I too do not want to give too much away. It's a book that has to be experienced with a fresh pair of eyes.

My Icing on Top:
It's really rare for me to rate a book at five stars. This is only the second book I've rated as such for books I've read in 2015. To put that in a bit of perspective, I've rated 83 books this year. I know that this book won't be for everyone, as the subject matter is on the graphic side; however, if you're up for reading a superb modern drama with a twist of dark romance and plenty of thought provoking moments, please pick up Madame X the next chance that you get.

Check out my informal review on goodreads!

As always, happy reading!

-K

Very Bad Things (Briarcrest Academy #1) by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Title:  Very Bad Things
Series: Briarcrest Academy #1
Author: Ilsa Madden-Mills
Genre: Young Adult/Romance/Dark

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING: TRAUMA TRIGGERS*
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Nora Blakely seems like she has the best of everything; she's talented, smart, beautiful and comes from a well-to-do family. But Nora is harboring excruciatingly dark secrets, and she's tired of having to put on a face of perfection. She's ready to give in to her darker side.

Enjoyment Factor:
This book had me seriously scratching my head over what constitutes being a new adult book. In my head, I always considered new adult as being anything that happens post high school up until the late twenties, early thirties range of adulthood. But this story, which was promoted as new adult fiction, focuses entirely on a girl who is still in high school. Sure, she's nineteen, but she's still in high school. There's still locker-side talk going on. This book read like a young adult fiction that desperately wanted to be in the big leagues of adult fiction but settled for calling itself new adult. I'm not buying it.

A cotton candy book playing with trauma triggers?

Mislabeled genres aside, this book just came across as weak. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fantastic either. The main characters felt so extraordinarily cookie cutter and I just didn't connect with them the way I would have wanted to. I was actually more invested in what happened to the supporting characters; perhaps the author was more invested in them as well since she goes on to tell their stories in subsequent books.
My main problem with Very Bad Things is that it puts a nice veil on a very serious topic. Everything is handled so incredibly casually and with such shallow convictions that the story lost quite a bit of its much needed poignancy. Everyone deals with trauma in their own way, but I feel like Very Bad Things glamorizes the after-effects. Instead of actually dealing head on with what Nora was going through, everything seemed more like a long-coming rebellious phase that was due to an overbearing, evil mother.To make matters worse, there definitely was some rose-colored shading going on as well. I could understand if the author didn't want to focus much on Nora's traumatic past, but the fact of the matter is that she made it a huge plot point that was only brought up when it was convenient. If it weren't for this indelicate handling, I'd probably rate the book slightly higher. As it stands though, I do realize that there's an audience out there that would eat this up without batting an eye, so it gets a solid two stars from me!

Technical Rating:

Character Building:
I touched on this a bit in my initial response, but to reiterate, the main characters needed quite a bit of work. Both Nora and Leo are extraordinarily flat in their character builds; any complexities that they had felt like mere ornaments to their personalities instead of having actual intrinsic value. The supporting cast of characters were a bit more grounded, which was refreshing, but disappointing at the same time. If only the main characters had been developed as much!

Plot Strength:
I'm not sure if you'll recall when I explained what a cotton candy book is, but I'll redefine that here. A cotton candy book is one that looks amazing, sounds like it's interesting, but when you read it, you realize that even though it might fulfill a base desire, there isn't actually much there to it. Very Bad Things is one such book. There's no actual edge to this book, and the plot elements are as weak as the character builds of the main characters. The climax? Anticlimactic. The resolution? Loose at best. However, the elements are there so I gave it half a star.

Sincerity:
The supporting characters save Very Bad Things from getting a big fat zero in this category. The main characters are borderline unbelievable in their actions. A lot of pieces don't really add up when it comes to the pair, and I can't even chalk it up to fairy tale syndrome.

Editing:
I can't particularly recall anything that made me cringe or stumble, so full marks here.

Pacing:
The only time that I took real issue with the pacing was towards the end. Everything was speedily wrapped up for the HEA (Happily Ever After). I did skim a few parts, but to my recollection it had nothing to do with a slow paced story, I just was getting fed up with the main characters! So an okay pace overall, I give it a half star.

My Icing on Top:
In all fairness I read this from the anthology Devour, which I mentioned in a previous review. Unfortunately, the anthology is no longer available for purchase (it was a limited time kind of deal) so you'll have to settle for buying this lovely tale on its own. For the reasons stated above, this book was not my cup of tea. However, I do know that this will come as a happy diversion book for many readers out there. If you (like me) take issue with traumas taken lightly, don't read this book. But, if you're just looking for your next fluff piece that has decent insta-love, give Very Bad Things a shot.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

As always, happy reading!

-K

Drawn by Lilliana Anderson

Title: Drawn
Author: Lilliana Anderson
Genre: Adult/Romance/Dark

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING*: VERY GRAPHIC SCENES
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Henrietta is suffocating under the overprotective thumb of her father. However, she finally gets the chance to make her own rules; when she turns 18 her father agrees to let her leave the nest. While enjoying her freedom, she meets the highly attractive Damien and sparks fly. But, is Henrietta simply trading in her new-found independence for the shackles of lust?

Enjoyment Factor:
Oh, boy. What the hell did I just read? I'm not going to lie; I skimmed through portions of this book (namely the multitude of sex scenes). I can't recall being this incredibly naive when I was 18. I don't even recall anyone I knew at the time being this dense. I honestly just wanted to slap Henrietta. And her mom. And her dad. Just line them up and we can get this over with quickly. The book started off okay and it seemed like it had some good material to work with. But then it just kept devolving until it was unbearable. The sad thing is, I can still see why others would enjoy this read. For that and the ending alone, I give Drawn two stars.

How I felt for at least 75% of the book.

I understand that the story is supposed to be dark, but I didn't see a point to any of it. I didn't care about these characters. At all. If they have any redeeming qualities, they're all lost in the swamp land of a plot.







Technical Rating:

Character Building:
Ms. Anderson's characters do have potential. There are the faint beginnings of foundation elements for her main heroine/hero, but they aren't as strong as they could be. A lot of their personality traits feel forced on the reader, to the point where I was more annoyed than sympathetic. The supporting characters are full-on terrible though; Aaron's role didn't sit well at all.

Plot Strength:
Was there really a plot? If so, I missed it. Maybe their relationship in itself was the plot? Seriously, I'm at a loss here; why did I just spend time reading about a naive girl and her controlling boyfriend? There's nothing there to keep a reader engaged (unless you're reading it for the smut). The attempts at plot elements were weak and uninspired; I'm honestly surprised I finished the book.

Sincerity:
I still have a difficult time believing how someone could be so naive, but it works (to a point) in terms of how Henrietta grew up. The "darker" parts of the story felt the most sincere, oddly enough. But everything else just seemed so shallow and fake. I had a hard time believing that Henrietta's father would condone Damien being around his daughter at all. And Aaron was just so lackluster! So much for having someone to root for!

Editing:
There was a lot of awkward wording and dialogue in Drawn. Sometimes I wonder if it was due to a cultural disconnect; the author is Australian, so I did stumble over some of the slang. I'm not discrediting the editing for the slang though; it's always interesting to learn new things. However, I think overall Drawn was just a little too verbose in places and stiff in the presentation.

Pacing:
Too much smut and too little story-telling made the book drag in a bad way. There were spots where Ms. Anderson did okay keeping the book moving forward, but it's hard to keep a good pace when there are so many plot holes to stumble on.

My Icing on Top:
The epilogue felt a little rushed and jumbled; it seemed more like a preview into the next book instead of an actual epilogue. That being said, apparently Ms. Anderson is writing two separate concluding books in a "choose-your-adventure" kind of fashion. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that; although, then again, I'm not sure I care enough to read on anyway. I'd suggest Drawn to readers who want their fix of dominant male smut, but don't necessarily want to be bothered with too much story.

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Fading (Fading #1) by E.K. Blair

Title: Fading
Series: Fading #1
Author: E.K. Blair
Genre: Romance/Dark/New Adult

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING*: TRAUMA TRIGGERS
Overall Rating:

My Quickie Synopsis: Candace Parker is entering her final year at college and she's excited for the opportunity to continue her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. However, a brutal assault at the beginning of the school year leaves her broken and struggling to pick up the pieces. Ryan Campbell, the owner of a nearby bar, meets Candace by chance and sparks fly between the pair. Ryan wants nothing more than to be the rock that she needs, but his own demons may doom their relationship before it even starts.

(Enjoyment) Factor:
This is not a book for enjoyment, but rather inspiration. I'm going to be blunt; Fading is a story about a rape and how it affects a young woman. You'll see her spiral down, but you'll also see her build herself back up. It's incredibly moving, and extremely honest to the point where you may be left just slightly raw.

Fading is not an easy read by any means; it is profoundly sad at times.

Even through the dark subject material, Ms. Blair was able to keep me hooked onto the story. I wanted to keep reading for the sake of Candace. I wanted to see her obtain as much closure as she could, and I wanted to know that she'd be okay. The only issue I had was the slight twinge of disbelief some of the happy coincidences caused.




Technical Rating: 

Character Building:
I can only imagine how exhausting it must have been to write these characters into being. Both Candace and Ryan are beautifully complex both individually and together. Ms. Blair does an incredible job of making sure that Candace's character truly isn't defined by her assault. There are multiple layers that are explored; we see everything from how she works, her goals, her interactions with her friends, her family dynamics, and how she falls in love and learns to trust. Ryan is just as well-thought out as a character, and even though the focus isn't on him, you still understand everything you need to about him. However, I'm glad Ms. Blair is devoting a book to his perspective.

Plot Strength:
The plot in Fading is concrete, easy to follow and works very well with the characters. I'm not sure what more you could ask for in a book! I have seen reviews that fault the author for having the plot revolve around the assault, but, in my opinion, that's the heart of the book. Should a reader fault Twilight for revolving around the concept of vampires and werewolves?

Sincerity:
Even though I'm not entirely satisfied with how Ms. Blair decides to handle the outcome for the rapist, I can't say that it actually harms overall feel of Fading. There was never a point in time where I thought that these events and these characters didn't fit within the realm of the book. The entirety of the story is full of heartbreaking sincerity.

Editing:
The editing gets an A from me.

Pacing:
The pacing was perfect for the story. The romance wasn't rushed and the story flowed quite naturally. There's a bit of formulaic writing in the book in terms of pacing, but Ms. Blair does it well; it doesn't detract from Fading at all.

My Icing on Top:
I usually try to avoid books that are this heavy for a variety of reasons, but I recently purchased Devour, which is an anthology featuring 8 full length new adult novels. It was only $0.99 and it benefits First Candle. In other words, I couldn't help myself; eight full books AND the profits go to a charity? Sold! I just didn't actually read any of the book summaries. So sue me; I went in for the surprise element!
This book is not a romance of the "bodice-ripper" genre, but rather a story of survival and love. That being said, don't be scared off from reading Fading, even if it isn't your normal cup of tea. As a matter of fact, I encourage you to read this book, or any book that goes into the devastating aftermath of sexual assault. As the end of the book states, "Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted. Approximately 2/3 of assaults are committed by someone known to the victim. And only 46% of assaults are reported to the police." That's just in the US alone; can you honestly afford to not seek to understand how this affects everyone? So, what are you waiting for? Start reading!

Check out my informal review on Goodreads!

Happy reading!

-K

Unravel by Calia Read

Title of Book: Unravel
Author: Calia Read
Genre: New Adult/Romance/Mystery

Maturity Rating: 17+
*WARNING*: THIS BOOK CONTAINS TRAUMA TRIGGERS. 
Rating: 5/5

My Quickie Synopsis: Naomi Carradine finds herself institutionalized at a psych ward after a series of unfortunate events. She's sure that she doesn't belong there, but she can't seem to unravel the mystery surrounding her circumstances.

Character Building: 1/1
Well hello there, new author! (Well, at least new to me!) Ms. Read takes on quite the challenge in making these characters believable. You sympathize with the plight of Naomi and find yourself right along side her trying to figure out what in the world could possibly be happening to her. Lachlan is adorable, Max is steamy and Lana provides the perfect balance to Naomi.

Plot Strength: 0.5/1
There are definitely occasions when it's hard to follow what's going on in the story. It can be a little all over the place. However, that being said, I think that it was partially intentional in trying to portray the instability in Naomi. While I understand the concept, I don't think it helped the story mesh very well and detracted from the amazing book that Ms. Read has created.

Sincerity: 1/1
Unfortunately, this book is steeped in believable situations. I only say unfortunately because some of the issues at hand are extremely dark. Ms. Read handles them well, and she does it with tact, so the difficulty of the topics add to the overall story instead of detract or distract.

Editing: 1/1
I am a firm believer than an editor should not only be reviewing grammatical issues, but they should help an author achieve a better flow. Honestly, I could take off points here for those moments of disorganization I mentioned earlier. However, as I already took off points from plot strength, I will give a full score to editing. I'm not heartless, I suppose :)

Pacing: 1/1
This is another one of those "stay up all night to finish" kind of books. Even if you think you know what's going on, you're going to want to keep reading until you get that confirmation. The only downfall of the pacing comes at the end. Once the mystery is fully revealed, the rest of the book starts to feel very stiff. But the climax is so intense, that I think that it's inevitable for the book to take on that impression.

Bonus! Thought-Provoking: 0.5/0.5
I can't truly get into all of the ways that this book is thought-provoking without giving away major plot points. I will say this though: Never judge a person too quickly because you never know what they're going through or what they've already endured.

My Icing on Top:
I would advise any prospective readers to avoid spoilers like the plague. This book relies heavily on its "AHA" moment, and if you already know what's going on, I truly think that the book would lose part of its appeal. Also, please heed my warning! I was highly upset that this book did not come with a trigger warning. I went into it reading it as a normal psycho mystery, but there are definitely darker elements there that may prove to be too much for some readers.

If you're looking to add a little mystery to your book line-up and can handle some darker elements, give Unravel a try! Happy reading!

-K