All the Pretty Monsters by Kristy Cunning
The books in this series that I did read were done so when I was still a teenager (I think, I can’t be bothered to do the maths), so I wasn’t really aware of the issues with one specific word of this series that I won’t include anywhere in this post as it’s a racial slur. The details of this series are very hazy as I read a lot of pretty terrible books back then.
Kindle Unlimited had a real reverse harem thing going on for a while, which if you look at my read books back in 2019, you can see I stumbled upon them quite often without meaning to. This was all way before I reviewed books too so I didn’t really think about what I was reading in such a critical way. One thing I can tell you is that I absolutely would not have made it through even the first book of this series if I tried to read it today.
I’ve just looked at my Goodreads and apparently I read five (?!!!) of the books in this series. Was I ok? The fact that they were ‘free’ with Kindle Unlimited is the only reason why I even gave them a chance. This was also a long time before I started DNF’ing books
Synopsis: I’m not all that special, really. Or uncommon. I’m sure there are a lot of girls with old blood who see the dead, have killer cults hunting their family, and turn into something that gets scary when they panic. Yep. Completely unoriginal, if I do say so myself.
Move along. Nothing to see here. Nope. I’m just an ordinary girl.
I wish people would believe that.
I’ve been labeled as one thing or another for most of my life:
Death Girl.
Crazy Girl.
Gothic Chick.
Monster…
It took my mother’s death for me to finally start getting answers about what’s really been going on. Unfortunately, most of the answers come from men…who aren’t just men. Somehow, I’ve gone and landed myself in a world truly filled with monsters, and I’m starting to think this is where I should have been all along.
Only…I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m walking into the middle of a story that’s thousands of years old, and I’m the new girl on the block who doesn’t have a clue how this world even works. My only guides happen to be the most lethal of the bunch.
They decide who lives or dies. They decide who gets stabbed or tortured.
Yeah…
I’ve gone and drawn attention to myself, and the ones paying attention are the ones everyone else seems to fear.
How do these things always happen to me?
Unfortunate Soul Chronicles by Stacey Rourke
This was another Kindle Unlimited series and honestly, the biggest reason why I never finished this one was probably because I didn’t have a subscription when the final book was published and I then forgot about it completely. Another big reason for some of these older series as well is that at a certain point I started reviewing everything I read and only reviewing the final book in the series would have been strange.
I remember quite enjoying the two books of this trilogy that I read and they’re probably one of the reasons why I enjoy retellings so much. The Little Mermaid has always been a favourite of mine so getting a back story for Ursula was really fun.
Again, I don’t know how far I would have gotten with these if I were to read them today, but at the time they were great – if forgettable.
Synopsis: Details of the sea witch’s banishment have been exaggerated. The body count that preempted it was not.
Once an illustrious princess, her hands and tentacles were stained with the blood of thousands. No one could comprehend how the hooks of madness dragged her down from her life of privilege. Born Princess Vanessa of Atlantica, the ambitious young royal was one of two children born to the great King Poseidon. She and her brother, Triton, were groomed from birth to rule. Yet only one would ascend that coveted throne.
While carefree Triton flits through his training with a cavalier demeanor and beguiling charm, Vanessa’s hunger for her father’s acceptance drives her to push herself to the limits of magic, and combat to become a leader worthy of her people.
When war against the humans ravages their once regal kingdom, political sides are chosen. Factions from the seven seas challenge the existing leadership, pitting Vanessa against her brother in a vicious battle for the crown. Traitors are exposed, dark family secrets revealed, and a once strong sibling bond is strained to its breaking point. Only when the ink black waters from the ultimate betrayal rescind, will the truth be known of how the villainous sea witch rose with one name on her vengeful lips–Triton.
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