Mini Reviews Wrap Up August 2025

 

Here at Chapter Break, we don’t always write a full review of every book we read. Well, now we decided to do these monthly wrap-up posts with roundups of our reviews this month and mini-reviews to fill in the gaps. Enjoy!

Mini Book Reviews

 

Julie’s Mini Reviews:

The Reckoning: (An Academy Bully Romance) Zodiac Academy, Book 3: This series is getting better and better. I see the hype now. The full cast audiobooks are so good – though I wish they didn’t separate them into two parts. I am really getting to enjoy all of the characters that I absolutely hated in the first book. Darcy/Blue is my favorite FMC and I have to say I am partial to Orion though Caleb is a close second for favorite MMC. And I’m even warming up to Darius, which I wasn’t sure was possible. Getting the POV from the boys really helps to hate them less because the decisions they made in the first book felt unforgivable to me. It helps to have context. And wow the way this book ended. Finally we know the girls’ orders and just how powerful they are. The villains are villaining and the spice is spicing. Thank you booktok for convincing me to continue past the first book.

A Verse for Witches (The Song of Tsing): I got this book from Adopt an Audiobook. Premise: The story starts with an accidental drunken encounter due to drinking a forbidden wine between a dream walking witch (in-training), Erin, and a mercenary, Tsing, followed with a joint quest and the expected awkward tension. But while they seem to be falling for each other, the FMC is forbidden from falling for him based on the prophecy she is tasked to help come to be and is keeping as a secret.

Characters: I didn’t like Tsing at first, he appeared to only be a brute for hire. But I got to know him more through the eyes of Erin and her sister, Shia. Then we got to know Tsing better and the man he really is. I think Erin’s little sister is more mature and understands the world better than Erin. But I still liked Erin enough as she struggles to understand and try to follow the task given to her, while burying her feelings.

Plot: The prophecy about the sword that sings is brought up several times, and yet it is a small part of this book’s plot overall. I know this plot line will continue to develop in the future books in the series, but this book focused more on the slow burn relationship between Erin and Tsing. Overall it was a sweet ending between the two but I was wanting more of the plot to be developed in this book. It did end in quite the cliffhanger to pick up the plot in the next book. I will also add that the horse that seems to understand everyone is a fun character! I enjoy animals who are more than they seem.

Audiobook: I love the voice narrator for the FMC but am not a fan of the voice narrator for the MMC. Her voice is so enjoyable to listen to, while his is the cadence of voice I have noticed I tend to tune out. I wish the entire book was only narrated by the woman’s voice.

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women: A Novel: This is a good book club choice – a historical fiction set in Imperial China about one woman and the impact of other women around her. The book even has a murder mystery and other secrets, the power of female friendships, and is apparently inspired by a true story.

 

The Dragon’s Gift: A Heartwarming Dragon Bond Fantasy Romance: (I received this as an ARC.) I would have expected to much more enjoy a book about dragons and a romance, but alas. This is a quick short book (like 200 pages) so it’s more novella really. In that, there is very little world building, character development, or romance. The book relies on past lives and awakened memories to spark everything that happens, so the reader doesn’t go on a journey with the characters to feel what they feel. And I need to feel. I am here for the vibes. The writing was quick and fast-paced with lots of action, but not a lot of vivid description. It was mostly in quick sentence fragments to show urgency and intensity throughout, with repetitive patterns. It honestly reminds me of the book I read last month in the writing style and quick, urgent writing. I was hoping for more, but I did like the story.  The story is about ancient bonds, ancient magic between dragons and humans. The FMC is changing the way society and dragons interact by surviving trials and battles. It just felt like everything was sudden, trial after trial, battle surprises, storm attacks. But I was missing the story in between that endears you to the characters, their plight, their feelings.

In The Shadows of Crowns: An Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Romance: (I received this as an ARC.) In The Shadows of Crowns is a short read, around 150 pages, so the story is fast paced and quick. The story is about an Elven princess, followed by a prophecy that she is to be murdered before she becomes queen and the throne to be taken over by humans. She is given a trusted human guard to protect her, but he has other orders. With the novella length, we only get a glimpse of the struggles Humans have faced under Elven rule. The book is told in alternating POV, which really helps get to understand the inner struggle Edwin the guard is facing. He is tasked in secret to slay the princess and take his rightful place as ruler, but would you know it, he falls for the princess. Likewise, the princess falls for him, though very lustfully at first, but her character and feelings aren’t as developed. It seemed sudden, their feelings and desire for each other, especially given he was meant to betray her. The book is spicy, but otherwise is written in a YA style (narration style, not overly detailed battles, etc). It was a very easy and enjoyable read. And I have to say the cover art is beautiful. This is a cozy, quick, spicy book for those who enjoy these tropes: enemies to lovers, fated mates, dark magic, strong FMCs, protective MMCs. I do wish there was more world building and fullness to the story though.

Circus of Dreams (Crimson Carnival): (I received this as an ARC.) An eerie story with vampires and secret magic. A circus that appears once every 15 years to bring in humans for thrills and allure, with a darker purpose. Our main character’s mother was unalived by a vampire (and she was the only witness as a child). Now, she is going to this circus to find and slay the vampires responsible. Except she finds herself bonded to one of them, and is now stuck competing in trials to become a Familiar, or die. The story was dark, alluring, and drew me in right away. The trials were filled with the humans own dreams, or nightmares. It was all intriguing and deliciously dark. And spicy. But, the ending was abrupt and confusing. I don’t understand what happened to Danni, and what the vampires were actually doing. Did she completely fall under the vampire’s magic? It was a quick read, dare I say I read it in one day. I wish it wasn’t so confusing at the end, and I am not a fan of abrupt incomplete endings. It didn’t feel like it was setting up for plot in book 2, it just skipped forward and all is well? What about avenging her mother? And what happened to the other’s in training to be Familiars?

Court of Light and Dark: A Slow Burn Urban Fantasy Romance (Hidden Courts of the Fae): Urban Fantasy is my genre of choice! But when they say slow burn… they mean it. Plot and World building: Tessa is a horse girly working on the farm when a weird fae male finds her and tells her she’s the Chosen One to help save his people. Oops, turns out she’s half fae and mommy has been keeping secrets. Her powers awaken when she adopts a badly injured horse, who is way more than he seems. There are portals between the human realm and the fae world, which one has to have a magical map to find as they move around. I enjoyed the set up of the worlds yet the world building wasn’t super extensive. This is book 1 so not much has happened with the overall story arc, but this book was one side quest and the ending sets us up for another side quest in the overall path to save the realm. Characters: We have the stereotypical grumpy fae male and our warm-hearted wants to help everyone human (half human anyway) girl. Well, woman, actually. She’s in her late 20s, yet acts like a YA character if we’re being honest. I like having a FMC that’s not a teenager but the overall book reads more YA than adult. There’s an obvious attraction between them, and it’s forbidden. Rules are rules, says the fae Guardian. But Tessa acts on her emotions and is constantly reacting and then regretting her actions. I love that she wants to help everyone, but she goes about her decisions in the most reckless way. But she’s so friendly with everyone and wins the favor of everyone she interacts with. The overall villains who are hurting the fae are the villains in this book’s quest, and they’re definitely some nasty shadow monsters. I’m definitely curious to see how this healer softie half human woman will defeat them.

---

Lynn’s Mini Reviews:

  HEARTLESS HUNTER: Conflicted with my feelings on this one. Trope-y. Plus not a fan of the dating brothers love triangle trope, even if Rune thinks of Alex (first brother) as more of a an actual brother than Gideon (the other brother). Characters were ok. Rune is a bit of a martyr, which becomes tiresome. I actually liked the brothers, Alex and Gideon, and the stark contrasts between the two. Plot mostly predictable. But the last hour or so flipped the whole story for me. I was pretty meh until the twists at the end. If you are struggling to read, stick it out. I’m not in a huge hurry to see what happens in the next book. But I’ll probably listen to it eventually. Grace Gray’s narration is well done.

  MIDDLEBRIDGE MYSTERIES: Another Audible original. A cute offshoot from the MISTLETOE MURDERS (which I never got around to listening to.) This one with Violet, a college-age sleuth. Light on the danger. But I was ok with that. Clever stories. Enjoyed Anna Cathcart’s narration. Quick listen. Would totally listen to more of these stories!

  GUNCLE: Cute. More emotional than I was expecting. Could probably be used by grief counselors as a great tool. Loved Patrick, Maisie, and Grant. Patrick for his sassiness. Maisie for her clever and brave spirit. And Grant for his inquisitiveness. Heck, I even loved JED, the throuple next door. Part of what I appreciated in GUNCLE is that it reads like ‘real life’. No magic. No super heroes. Just daily living and trying to move through your grief. Th audio is narrated by author Steven Rowley, who brings all of the characters to life. Go ahead and read or listen to this one. It’s fab.

 

---

Books we reviewed in full this month:

• [8 Aug] Ellie Wants to Draw: A Doodle Dilemma (Ellie The Chick Book 5) by Avery Smart
• [19 Aug] Disenchanted (Ruinous Reign, #1) by Brianna Sugalski, Briar Somerset ★★★★
• [19 Aug] Disillusioned (A Lay of Ruinous Reign, #2) by Brianna Sugalski, Briar Somerset ★★★½
• [25 Aug] Grandma Yogini by Raven Howell
• [26 Aug] Vicious Princess by Karolina Wilde ★★★★
• [30 Aug] Flight Test 101 (Mischief) by Amanda M. Thrasher ★★★★½

 

Don’t forget to join our Book Bingo.

• Chapter Break Bingo - January 2026
• Chapter Break Bingo - December 2025 Completed Cards

Subscribe to Chapter Break posts.