Short Take Reviews: The Queen of Nothing, We Own Tonight, Malice

I'm covering all bases today with a contemporary romance, a YA fantasy, and a YA contemporary with a sci-fi twist. While one missed the mark, the other two were big hits. 

    

WE OWN TONIGHT by Corinne Michaels | 4.5 STARS

Corinne Michaels was one of those authors that I’d been meaning to read for years. And after I finished We Own Tonight all I could think was, What took me so long?” Because I fell hard for this sexy/swoony story. Heather had a mind-blowing encounter with Eli, her teenage crush, after his concert. Her life was complicated and she had no room for a relationship but apparently Eli didn’t get the memo. I loved the way Eli pursued Heather – not in an overbearing, creepy way but with persistent charm and humor. What started as attraction and infatuation turned into something deeper and I loved watching these two get to know each other, trust each other, and make room for each other in their lives. I appreciated Heather’s selflessness and her devotion to her sister and Eli was an absolute sweetheart who understood Heather’s situation and did everything he could to make her life easier. Both of them were dealing with serious matters in their personal lives and those led to some truly emotional moments that had me tearing up more than once. There’s no doubt I’ll be reading more from Corinne Michaels after this gem.

THE QUEEN OF NOTHING (The Folk of the Air #3) by Holly Black | 4.25 STARS

The Queen of Nothing gave me more of what I loved about The Folk of the Air trilogy – the scheming, the plotting, the machinations – and then amped it up a notch by delivering more of what I wanted: more Jude + Cardan. The changes in them both over the course of the series were so subtle and so well done. These two had danced around each other for so long and the payoff here of finally – finally! – seeing them open up to one another and come together was epic. They truly came into their own here. But it’s not like Holly Black dropped the action in order to focus on the characters. There was still all the danger, the trickery, the twists, the situations I thought for sure there was no way out of. The pacing was nonstop and I enjoyed every minute of the ride. (Side note: Kudos to Black for creating some of the best morally gray (and downright villainous) characters ever and not feel the need to redeem them. *fist bump to Holly*) 

MALICE by Pintip Dunn | 2.75-3 STARS

I’ll start by saying that Malice wasn’t a good fit for me from the start. But Entangled sent me a shiny, new hardcover in a pretty PR box so I felt obligated to read it. So there’s that. While the premise is interesting – girl hears voice of her older self, telling her that a classmate will wipe out two-thirds of a population with a virus and enlists her help to stop him – the execution left me wanting. Main character Alice was way too willing to believe the voice in her head and was prepared to go to extreme lengths without ever really exploring other options. Plus, there were just too many events that were so unrealistic (even outside the time travel aspect) and outlandish that it lost any shred of believability. The reveal of the virus maker was a dud since it was glaringly obvious from early on. Side character Bandit was the bright spot. 

Have you read any of these books?