TESSA TALKS BOOKS

Thriller

• One-word review: wild
• Emojis: 🥴🫣🤫
• Rating: 4 🌟s

My thoughts:

Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen kept me on the edge of my seat for a fast-paced, thrilling ride to figure out who killed Mary’s estranged husband. That said, I’m sitting here wondering how much more I can really say about it without giving anything away. But that in itself is something to remark on – everything in this story is essential – every relationship, every detail – it all means something.

It sounds like the perfect thriller – right? But why did I rate it four stars? My only disappointment was that there were no shocking twists or turns for me. Of course, there were twists and turns, but I felt like I saw each one coming before they were revealed. This didn’t impact my reading – it just left me with a “huh” feeling once it was over.

But don’t let that dissuade you because this is a wonderful thrill ride from beginning to end. The pacing was perfect, the characters developed just enough, and the relationships were delightfully complex. The relationships are really the story’s focus, and they are stunning.

Romantasy

• One-word review: Breathtaking
• Emojis: 🫣🥰🥹
• Rating: 5 🌟s

My thoughts:

Heartless Hunter simply took my breath away – from its detailed world-building to its emotional love story and every point in between. I found myself instantly pulled into its world and sped my way through all of the action, tears, and subterfuge, and now I have to patiently wait for its conclusion. In saying that, I LOVED that the story ended in a soft conclusion or a transition point. It would have made me even more of an emotional wreck than I already was had it ended with a cliffhanger.

The story is a loose retelling of the Scarlet Pimpernel, but you see that the most in the tragic aspects of the tale more than anything. Unlike Scarlet Pimpernel, Heartless Hunter has magic and witches, which I loved. The magic system is well described, and the power struggles between the witches and the humans are described just enough for the reader to understand the situation, but not in so much detail that it slows the pacing of the story down.

The enemies-to-lovers chemistry between Rune – the main character and camouflaged witch – and Gideon – our male lead and witch hunter – is palpable, making their story much more emotional. I loved that will-they-won’t-they angle with the added complication of Gideon’s brother being one of Rune’s best friends who loves her in secret. It’s such a deliciously messy situation, and watching it play out took me on a complete emotional roller coaster.

This fantastic story swept me away into a world of witches and witch hunters, and I can’t wait for book 2 to come out!

Romantic Comedy

• One-word review: Frustrating
• Emojis: ❤️‍🔥🥹😤
• Rating:  4🌟s

My thoughts:

What a roller coaster of emotions I felt while reading this story. I loved Lexi and Jake, and then I was frustrated with Jake and, at my wits end, with Lexi. I don’t even know that I was happy with the ending either because after going through all those emotions, I felt like I needed a bigger ending one way or the other.

The story begins with Lexi, a culinary school student, and Jake, a local musician, meeting at a local bar and experiencing instant love that people only dream of. Then Jake goes to LA to record a demo and gets discovered while there. Lexi graduates from culinary school and procures her first job as the lowest person on the kitchen totem pole in a well-respected restaurant.

I loved the pacing of this story, which was consistent and quick due to well-balanced amounts of exposition and dialogue. I also enjoyed the instant love at the story’s beginning. Still, I wished for more witty and mature dialogue from all characters. I loved the behind-the-scenes peek into a culinary career, but I wish I was given the same peek into a music career. 

Overall, though, I enjoyed this quick story that took me on quite an emotional journey.