Can’t Get Enough by G.A. Aiken

July 17, 2025Book ReviewDragon Kin, Dragons, G.A. Aiken, Medieval fantasy, Paranormal Romanceskyebjenner

Title: Can’t Get Enough
Author: G.A. Aiken
Series: Dragon Kin #0.1
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Dragons, Medieval fantasy, Paranormal romance
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2008

Shalin and Ailean are honestly a hilarious couple, and I really enjoyed their romance. They definitely break the mold of the dragons in their world, plus, I love that, having read Dragon Actually, they are the ancestors of one of the characters. It just drives home the beautiful layers that have been constructed in this world. And drives home that I need to read some more of these books at the moment, rather than leaving them in the TBR pile…

To start with, it felt a little like Shalin the Innocent was a somewhat suited title, but I love how quickly Aiken is able to completely dissolve that notion. I love how gently Aiken is able to lead the reader to the realisation that this is a very misleading title. And then, you realise just how vindictive and violent Shalin actually is at times. It takes the story from the whole virgin to the rake feel, right into a tale of two well-matched dragons falling in love and finding their own, unique version of happily ever after.

As with many romances, as the story unfolds, you realise that not only is Shalin’s reputation unearned, but so is Ailean’s. His might have been sightly closer to reality, but it is still kind of harsh in moments. I like that his reputation is a big part of just what his character development needs, and the not-so-quiet voice that makes him strive to be better. And also destroys his self confidence at times. The clash between Shalin and Ailean’s perceived realities and the way in which they fuel some of the conflict was brilliant, something I absolutely adored and felt like drove the story beautifully.

Everything about Ailean’s clan and family is absolutely insane, which, if I’m being honest is what I pick up the books by Aiken (Laurenston) for. I mean, ultimately, when they decide that Shalin is one of them, they just… effortlessly band together to kill the competition. With no hesitation, no judgement, just unrestrained glee. It was somewhat manic, but I loved it anyway.

<- More G.A. Aiken

A Tale of Two Dragons ->

Image source: Kobo

White Rose by Kip Wilson

July 16, 2025Book ReviewHistorical fiction, Poetry, Warskyebjenner

Title: White Rose
Author: Kip Wilson
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Historical fiction, Poetry, War
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2019

This was a whole story, written entirely in verse. Which I’ve never really had the pleasure of reading something like this before. I’ve read collections of poems, but not the entirety of a story being told in poems. I wasn’t sure what I was going to think, but I found that I really loved this. The lyricality of it was just beautiful and made a pretty sensitive topic a little bit more palatable.

White Rose is based on the true story of peaceful resistance to the Nazi regime in WWII. I honeslty didn’t know this was something that had happened, and I loved reading about it. Something about the beauty and lyricality of the words made the horrors of what I was actually reading a little less painful. On the surface, it also made the emotionality of it all a whole lot more intense.

I really enjoyed this novel, although I probably won’t read it again. It was fairly intense, and the flickering of the timelines really made me think in depth about the results of the Nazi regime and all of its horrors. Not something that I want to sit in for too long if I’m honest. I normally read as an escape from reality, not to remind me how much people suck.

Image source: bol.

Owl Be Bear For You by DJ Jennings

July 15, 2025Book Reviewskyebjenner

Title: Owl Be Bear For You
Author: DJ Jennings
Rating Out of 5: 2.5 (Readable, but not worth reading again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Shapeshifters
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2017

I read about a third of Owl Be Bear For You before I totally lost interest and started to skim read it. I mean, the premise was great, the writing was really good (which is why I got a third of the way through). But, I just couldn’t get into the storyline. There was so much potential, but it just took too long to get to anything interesting. There was all this build up to the sex, then there was the moment when he shifted… and then there was just tonnes of expose in between that felt clunky and boring.

I wanted to love this so bad, and I definitely kept trying to like it long past when I would normally stop trying. But, I just couldn’t do it. And I love this author’s other pen names, so I was even more disappointed than usual…

Image source: Amazon

My Fight / Your Fight by Ronda Rousey

July 14, 2025Book ReviewBiographies, Memoirs, Ronda Rousey, Sportskyebjenner

Title: My Fight Your Fight
Author: Ronda Rousey
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Biographies, Memoirs, Sport
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2015

As a Martial Arts practitioner, I already knew who Ronda Rousey was – I mean, you can’t really follow Women’s UFC without knowing who the woman is. But, I didn’t really know much beyond she was awesome. Actually, reading this kind of put me to shame in my knowledge for the birth of Women’s UFC (of which I really enjoy following). For starters, although I knew Rousey was a pioneer in the sport, but I didn’t realise that she was literally the first woman to fight on UFC Card. It was really fun reading about this while I actually watched those first fights that Rousey talks about. And then constantly sharing the extra bits of information with my poor partner who is not interested.

I always love reading a good memoir, partly because it’s just interesting how other people live and function. But, it also helps to solidify some of my understanding of myself. In the case of Rousey’s story, it really just solidified for me that I’m not a competitor. The dedication and commitment alone is pretty intense, but also that unwillingness to lose. I just… don’t care if I win or lose a match, as long as my opponent finds me interesting. But Rousey’s dedication and literal inability to lose is just astounding. It speaks so highly of her commitment, but also shows just how driven you really have to be to rise to the top like this.

Before each chapter of My Fight / Your Fight started, there is a bit of a quote from Rousey that kind of highlights the theme and the topic that is about to be uncovered. I really liked this. It was a way to give context, but also provide an extra snippet from her life that otherwise wouldn’t have fit into the overall chapter arc. It was a great way to set the tone and start you off in the right head space for each snippet of her life that she was about to impart. Some of these small chunks were actually my favourite parts of the whole memoir. They gave a great insight into some of the daily life and struggles of a Pro MMA fighter. And just into Rousey’s life and thought process as a general.

I absolutely devoured My Fight / Your Fight, not only was it subject matter that I am intensely passionate about (and live daily to a degree), but it was also just a really interesting and well written memoir. There is a cost to being at the pinnacle of your sport, and Rousey does not shy away from this. Rather, she fully embraces that there are many sacrifices you have to make. And she’s willingly made them. But, even more powerfully, she’s shared those sacrifices and challenges in her writing, showing us the dedication and commitment it takes to be a trail blazer in Women’s Sports and MMA.

<- A Woman in the Polar Night

Gogo Mama ->

Image source: Penguin Books

The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey

July 13, 2025Book Reviewskyebjenner

Title: The Dead Take the A Train
Author: Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey
Rating Out of 5: 2.5 (Readable, but not worth reading again)
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2023

I absolutely loved the start of The Dead Take the A Train. It was chaotic, it was gruesome. It was truly insane. I was immediately drawn in and couldn’t wait to keep reading this book. But, sadly, that feeling really quickly dissipated. This novel just failed to keep my focus. I was finding that it was dragging on and there was a whole heap of information and competing story arcs that just seemed absolutely pointless. Plus, the focus on describing the gore without it actually doing anything for the story line started to feel a little meaningless.

Don’t get me wrong, I love gore. I love insanity. And I have absolutely no issue with characters who abuse drugs. But only if this furthers the story, which I just found that this didn’t. So after halfway and not feeling like anything was actually happening, I decided that maybe this just isn’t the book for me. It was just trying to do too much well, rather than a little bit brilliantly.

Image source: Booktopia

A Cup of Water Under My Bed by Daisy Hernandez

July 12, 2025Book ReviewDaisy Hernandez, Immigrant, LGBTQI, Memoirsskyebjenner

Title: A Cup of Water Under My Bed: A Memoir
Author: Daisy Hernandez
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Immigrant, LGBTQI, Memoirs
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2014

This was such an amazing biography and memoir – there was something about the lyricality and non-linear story that I just absolutely devoured. Not only was Hernandez able to share her story and experiences, but she managed to do so in a way that was entirely unforgettable. I mean, there was just… something about her writing style that hit my deep in the soul, worming it’s way into my daily thoughts and dreams.

A Cup of Water Under My Bed was one of those memoirs that really made me stop and think. It just wormed my way into my mind and wouldn’t let go. I can’t say that many author’s actually have the talent to do this so thoroughly. And the part that stuck with me the most was how Hernandez talked about language and how she felt, as a child, that she had to hate Spanish to be able to move along to English. It’s a stark reminder of the intensity and confusion that comes along with a total upheaval of your life and culture. One that I still can’t understand, but definitely have Big Feelings around.

Not only does Hernandez unapologetically talk about her experiences as the child of immigrants, but she also talks about her bisexuality as a Latino women, and the unique challenges that this comes with. Rather than being a big deal, this part of her story is seamlessly woven in amongst the rest of her tale. She discusses how differently her aunts dealt with her sexuality and, that, ultimately, it was something that was kind of just… ignored. Hernandez is honest about how her sexuality sits in amongst her daily life, then and now.

The first read through of this was wonderful, and this felt like one of those layered tales that I would love to read again. Gaining something new in the lyrical prose that I wasn’t expecting, learning something and seeing the moments that I’ve missed. It might be a little while, but I can almost guarantee that this will be one that I will actually read again in the future (not something I frequently do with memoirs).

<- Blackout

The Not So Subtle Art of Being a Fat Girl ->

Image source: Gulf Stream Lit Mag

Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg

July 11, 2025Book ReviewCelebrity, Family, Memoirs, Whoopi Goldbergskyebjenner

Title: Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me
Author: Whoopi Goldberg
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Celebrity, Family, Memoirs
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2024

Bits and Pieces is one of the most beautiful literary love letters that I’ve read in a long while. Whoopi Goldberg’s love for her mother and brother just leaps off of the pages with every single word. I mean, I picked this up because I wanted to learn more about Whoopi, someone I grew up watching and was definitely a household name. And it was a really interesting biography, but what I found the most intriguing and amazing was the fact that everything comes back to her mum. We are shaped by our families, and this connection is absolutely clear in the way that Goldberg is able to write about it.

I’m not going to lie, as someone who has recently lost her dad, there were parts of this that I found a little difficult – I mean, this is literally a biography that centres around a beloved parent, and I’d just lost mine. However, I did find that the final chapter of Bits and Pieces was actually really helpful. I love the way in which Goldberg is able to deal with loss and death with compassion and kindness. Honestly, when I started this final chapter I was kind of filled with trepidation, but I actually found it really supportive and helpful.

Although I grew up knowing Whoopi’s name, voice and face, I didn’t really know much about her early career. Mostly because I just wasn’t alive at this point. It was absolutely fascinating and introduced me to another side of Hollywood that I hadn’t quite anticipated. I really enjoyed learning more and finding out how she rose to fame. I didn’t even know that Goldberg was a mum, so the idea of embracing your fame and chance, whilst also trying to single parent was pretty intense.

Whoopi Goldberg is wonderfully honest about the challenges of juggling motherhood and a career. Not only in her own life, but the empathy she feels towards her mum in her own challenges. I particularly found her compassion for Emma (her mother’s) breakdown and how she was committed to hospital against her will. I just can’t even imagine the fear and uncertainty that the whole family experienced and how strong these women were to pick themselves up from such an upheaval and move forward in their lives.

I knew that I liked pretty much everything that I had seen with Whoopi Goldberg in it, but I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy her biography anywhere near so much. I absolutely demolished this in a really short period of time and I was really disappointed when it finished. This is definitely parts of a fascinating story and a life well-lived so far, and I’m disappointed that there wasn’t more to digest!

<- The Gap

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families ->

Image source: Target

Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler

July 10, 2025Book ReviewHorror, Octavia E. Butler, Science Fictionskyebjenner

Title: Bloodchild
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Rating Out of 5: 3 (On the fence about this one)
My Bookshelves: Horror, Science fiction
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novella
Year: 1984

Bloodchild was a seriously uncomfortable and awkward science fiction story. It made me seriously uncomfortable, but yet, I actually really enjoyed it at the same time. Something about this majorly uncomfortable story called to me, something about it made me not want to stop reading. Even while I was feeling really quite icky about the whole thing.

I found it really interesting the afterword by Butler at the end of this novella. All of my preconceptions that I developed during reading this were shattered. Where is thought of this as a bit of a coming of age tale, and a story that was about the imbalance of power, particularly within age-gap relationships. Butler stated that this was a bit of a love story. I just… still can’t get my head around that approach. But I loved learning the difference in perceptions and thinking deeply upon this.

There were so many nuances within this short novella. It might not have been my favourite story to read, but it definitely makes me intrigued to potentially read more of Butler’s stories in the future – it was just so wondrously layered and unexpected…

<- More horror

More science fiction ->

Image source: Moonshake Books

The Book Shop Girl and the Billionaire by Jennie Kew

July 9, 2025Book Reviewskyebjenner

Title: The Book Shop Girl and the Billionaire
Author: Jennie Kew
Rating Out of 5: 1.5 (Couldn’t get past the first chapter)
Pace: Slow
Format: eBook, Novel

Honestly, I seriously dislike any story that just constantly emphasises the curviness of a female character. I’m all for body positivity, but after ten chapters, I wanted to know more about the lead. I didn’t actually care that she was a handful of woman, had curves for days, wasn’t the conventional “pretty”. Women are more than their looks, and I just can’t stand that when a book is trying to be “body positive”, it is still just focusing on the woman’s body.

So yeah, after ten chapters, no connection and no lessening of the body focus. I absolutely decided to DNF the crap out of this one…

Image source: Goodreads

Howl for It ReRead by Shelly Laurenston & Cynthia Eden

July 8, 2025Book ReviewCynthia Eden, Howl For It, Paranormal Romance, Shelly Laurenston, Short Story Collections, Werewolvesskyebjenner

Title: Howl For It ReRead
Author: Shelly Laurenston & Cynthia Eden
In: Howl For It (Shelly Laurenston & Cynthia Eden)
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Paranormal romance, Short story collections, Werewolves
Pace: Fast
Format: Anthology, eBook
Year: 2012

Howl for It is a great anthology with two fun and engaging novellas. Even on the reread, I absolutely adored both of these stories. They were a whole lot of fun, quite light and a fantastic way to leave aside the whole adulting thing for a little while. Both paranormal romances featured werewolves, but in starkly different ways – one was part of a greater series and filled in aspects of Laurenston’s Shifter World. The other, a story about Hunters and Shifters ultimately coming together.

I picked this up as a reread as part of my Laurenston ReRead, and there are zero regrets about this decision. I always love revisiting a well-loved anthology of stories, and Howl For It definitely ticks those boxes. It’s a great reminder of why I love reading anthologies – the novellas and short stories just work as a brilliant window into another world. Into a new author, or a great way to revisit someone that you have read before, and just want to return to again.

<- Wed or Dead ReRead

Like a Wolf with a Bone ReRead ->

Image source: Penguin Books Australia

Earth and Skye

The ramblings of a bibliophile.