Worst Reads of 2025šš¼
Kiss of the Basilisk - Linsday Straube
Credence - Penelope Douglas
Lightlark - Alex Aster
Shadow Princes - Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Kiss of the Basilisk - Lindsay Straube
Pages - 525 (Kindle Edition)
Spice - š¶ļøš¶ļøš¶ļøš¶ļøš¶ļø
ā (DNF)
Available on Kindle Unlimited
This one started out strong. I liked the FMC, the plot seemed sexy and interesting. Then it went downhill. The main character, Temperence or Tem, became absolutely insufferable. I understand that she's only like 19 years old, never had a boyfriend, never even kissed a guy. But her immaturity had me feeling like I was reading from the POV of a 12 year old. She was too good, too hot, too perfect for the one guy, yet not good enough, not hot enough, not perfect enough for the other. Tem's constant twisting of Caspen's words and pity parties of not being enough for him is what caused me to stop reading.
This was an erotic novel, yet there was too much sex. Every damn chapter, and it was getting really repetitive. Look, I know it's a book and it's fantasy. But this girl has never had sex before, and you're telling me she is going for like 10 hours every single night without stopping? Nah, I'm sorry. This was not at all for me. I just couldn't get into it.
Credence - Penelope Douglas
Pages - 470 (Kindle Edition)
Spice - š¶ļøš¶ļøš¶ļøš¶ļø
āā (DNF)
Available on Kindle Unlimited
I picked this up for an easy, palette cleanser after finishing a very dense Fantasy novel. While this was easy, it was not enjoyable. I've come to realize these types of books are not for me. I need an in-depth, well rounded plot. Not a book that centers around people banging. Credence made me understand that I like books with spice, but not spicy books (yes, there is a difference).
Usually when I DNF, the book gets an immediate one star. However, I gave this two because there is some pretty heavy trauma that the main character has gone through and she had a lot of good character growth throughout the story. If spicy books are your thing, you'll probably enjoy credence, but this was a No for me.
Lightlark (Lightlark #1) - Alex Aster
Pages - 409 (Paperback)
Spice - š«
āā
This is a good book if you want to just shut down your brain and read something. It's a very easy read, no major world building, nothing that's going to blow your socks off. However, the main reason I had an issue with Lightlark, is that the entire book is basically a plot hole. The Centennial, which the whole story revolves around, is completely pointless.
Our main character, Isla, was not super likeable, and really had no depth. She is the ruler of an entire realm of warrior women and has completed years on years of torturous training, yet she is essentially useless. We're told the FMC is deadly and strong, then author writes her as the opposite. This novel was unfortunately the victim of bad story telling, and I will not be continuing on with the Lightlark series.
Shadow Princess (Zodiac Academy #4) - Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Pages - 678 (Kindle Edition)
Spice - š¶ļøš¶ļø
āāā
Available on Kindle Unlimited
*Minor spoilers if you haven't started the series*
I started the Zodiac Academy series and was immediately hooked. I flew through the first three books and happily started the fourth. However, upon finishing Shadow Princess, I needed to take a break from the series. This entire book was basically just filler. Very. VERY boring. Nothing of real value actually happened until the last maybe 50 pages.
Tory Vega. Lord. I have never been so infuriated with a character since Nesta Archeron in the first and second ACOTAR books. She somehow de-volved as a character. The constant pity parties, unnecessary, over the top bitchiness and shit fucking attitude had me wanting to DNF. I couldn't stand her chapters.
*That said, I could read an entire book about Darcy and Orion. Their relationship and romance was the sole reason I finished the book and gave it 3 stars.*
I will definitely be continuing on with the Zodiac Academy series. Tory and I just need some space for the time being.
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