MINI REVIEWS: Kindle Unlimited Reviews [Part 1]

I recently went to the Kindle Store to buy a Kindle book and was offered a free trial of Kindle Unlimited for two months. Since I had a few weeks off of school and my work hours are shorter in the summer, I figured I would give it a try. Here are some of the books that I’ve picked up (& DNF’d).

If you have any KU recommendations please leave them in the comments! I have one more month of my trial. I am specifically interested in anything by BIPOC authors or LGBTQ+ Own Voices authors, romance, poetry, or anything you LOVED.

Love the One You Hate by R.S. Grey
R.S. Grey is an author I’ve started reading recently and her books are a lot of fun but do tend to get repetitive. This is my fourth book by her and unfortunately my least favorite that I’ve read. This book follows a girl down on her luck who gets an opportunity of a lifetime to basically just live with a rich old lady. Her grandson is suspicious due to prior employees tacking advantage of his grandma. Typically, with romance, the reader has to suspend some level of disbelief, but for this one…it makes no sense and would never happen. I am not opposed to reading a book like that, but in addition the characters had like no build up with their chemistry and then there was like no tension or anything except that they “hated” each other for like a tiny bit. Once they get together, I stopped caring and only kept going because Grey’s writing is so easy to consume, and I hoped we would get a more in-depth explanation why the old lady took in our main character (we don’t). This was the book I was planning on buying and let’s just say I am glad I did not buy it… 2/5 stars

The Fine Art of Losing Control by Ashley Shepard
I picked this one up because I enjoyed Faking it Under the Mistletoe by this author, see my thoughts here. The books take place in the same “universe” and you can read them in any order, but characters from this one cameo in Faking it. In this one, we follow Willa who has gone to New Zealand to meet the father she has never met. However, things do not go as planned and she ends up traveling with a famous YouTuber, a famous Japanese actor, and a guy who thinks he can play the guitar. Willa is very high strung and this whole situation stresses her out. I enjoyed this one, it isn’t like an amazing book, but it was a lot of fun. I will say I am trash for road trips in books so that obviously helped. I did think Willa was stuck in her mindset for a bit too long which is why I did not give it 4 stars. It was nice seeing Willa make new friends and the banter she has with all of them is hilarious. The romance is also super cute. This is less of a romance novel and more a novel about a girl finding herself. 3.5/5 stars (maybe almost 4 stars)

TW: slut shaming (a lot), victim blaming, emotional abuse, manic/panic episodes, cancer (brief mention)

Only When It’s Us by Chloe Liese
I really enjoyed this one! A win for KU! I picked this one up because I saw it on Bookstagram and was curious. I started a few romances that did not stick before this one and on a whim, gave this one a try. I got invested super quickly and it was great. We follow Willa (another Willa what the heck) who is a female soccer star with a mom who is struggling through cancer treatments. Willa is struggling in a class and an unsympathetic professor tells her to ask Ryder for notes. Ryder is rude to Willa and she is not pleased. Ryder is struggling with his purpose in life since his own soccer career was cut short when he lost his hearing. However, after they are forced to do a project together and end up spending a lot of time together, maybe they will find comfort with each other. This one is full of banter, they call each other frenemies for most of the book, and roast each other at every opportunity. It’s a funny, swoony, and emotional read. 4/5 stars

TW: Cancer, parent death, deafness

Legendary Ladies: 50 Goddesses to Empower and Inspire You by Ann Shen
I love Ann Shen’s art style! Her Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World was both beautiful and interesting. Reading this one on Kindle was probably not the best choice as the art was really small, but I love Shen’s colorful and whimsical art style. I also learned a lot because I am very unfamiliar with goddesses. This book would make a nice gift or would be a gorgeous addition to any collection. Low key want a copy for my future coffee table… She is also great on Instagram! 5/5 stars

Coffee Girl by Sophie Sinclair
DNF @53%
One of my pet peeves in novels is when authors make all of their female characters (except their main characters) terrible people. It is so frustrating and leads to the I’m NoT lIkE oThEr GiRl’s trope which is so passé. Here are the female characters

Kiki: Main Character; NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS OKAY (honestly did not dislike her)
Sarah: main character in the sequel so actually a decent person
Jess: Kiki’s boss and is always rude to her. Of course, Kiki does not like her. (I see her being a decent person in the end, but DNFd so idk)
Savannah: Love interest’s ex gf, a terrible person, spreads rumors about guy, PSYCHOTIC OKAY
Maren: SLUTTY, wears trashy clothes and NOT CLASSY, throwing herself at guy

Look I have no issue of women being depicted these ways, it is just frustrating seeing the author relying on stereotypes to describe the female characters rather than explore why they are acting that way. Also, I wouldn’t have an issue if there were likable female characters aside from the MC, but making only the MC a decent person? Fishy. I was really enjoying the plot and found the story enjoyable, but was getting so frustrated about how only the MC is portrayed as good. Also, the gay best friend is so stereotypical that it made me uncomfortable.

*Also, I only read 53% of this book so they might change, all I know is I did not want to stick around and find out*

Will You Be Mine by Rilzy Adams
This romance was so much fun! We follow two best friends, Hallie and JT. JT has been in love with Hallie for years and is starting to lose hope that they will ever have anything more than a friendship while Hallie refuses to fall for a guy friend after her childhood guy friend broke her heart. However, after getting an invite to said guy friend’s wedding, Hallie asks JT to come rather than brave the wedding alone and maybe they do have a romantic future together. This was a quick and fun romance that is full of the best tropes, fake dating! Fake wedding date! Friends to Lovers! Plus, this book is written by a Black author and supporting Black women in romance is so important! I definitely can see myself reading more from Rilzy Adams! 4/5 stars

Thanks for reading! I still have three more KU titles to review plus another month of this trial so keep an eye out for at least one more post with mini reviews!!

xoxo, Tree