The Librarian and the Daunting TBR

Reading my way through the stacks…one book and cup of coffee at a time.

“What I love most about reading: It gives you the ability to reach higher ground. And keep climbing.” ― Oprah

Recent posts

Contact

theoverduelibrarianblog@gmail.com

  • Broken People Still Love: A Review of Reminders of Him

    Friendly warning that this review will contain spoilers.

    Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover

    My Rating out of 5: ☕☕☕☕.5

    What I am sipping: “Island Whip” an iced coffee with coconut from 

    The Forbidden Farm and Cafe 782 S. Brewster Rd STE A3, Vineland, NJ 08361

    https://www.theforbiddenfarmandcafe.com

    Immediately upon my first sip, I felt as if I was transported to an island that I am so desperately daydreaming of. The coconut flavor was there and paired well with the soft indulgent cream. At the same time these sweet flavors did not overpower the espresso flavor which definitely gave me the end-of-day energy that I was craving. The barista was very welcoming not only with me but with others in the shop. I got my punch card so I will definitely be back so I can redeem my rewards and enjoy another splendid brew.

    About: “After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild…The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward…The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.”

    — Description from the Amazon listing for Reminders of Him

    “Grudges are heavy, but for the people hurting the most, I suppose forgiveness is even heavier” (Hoover 231).

    Have you ever had a reading slump? You know, when you finish a really good book that you cannot put down. Then you spend what feels like forever trying to find another book just as addicting? Well with Reminders of Him is that book for me: I finally found one in a long time that I could not put down. This one came as a surprise. The name Colleen Hoover has been one that I have seen around bookstores and libraries since I could remember. I never purposefully avoided her books or disliked the idea of them. But I never fully gave the books the opportunity for me to explore them. That is, until I saw the movie trailer play at my local theater.

    The plot caught me instantly: a young woman who just got out of prison for killing her boyfriend in a car accident five years ago. She is on a mission that has been on her mind all those years in prison. Something that she cannot stop thinking about and has been weighing heavily on her physically and mentally. She wants to meet their child Diem whom she had given birth to while incarcerated and has never met. Sprinkle in romance with a hot bartender + forbidden love: I was hooked. Refusing to watch the movie before the book, I bought a copy and dove in. 

    What I enjoyed most about the book was the main character Kenna Rowan. She was such a well-rounded character that I felt as if I knew her personally. Her grief was written poetically and showing us her lens through her letters was a unique literary concept that worked. Like I hoped / expected, one of the letters reveals what Kenna went through the night of the car accident. We get a look behind everything, her emotions and thoughts, and how she was after the accident. I think Hoover revealed this letter to us at the perfect place in the novel. The buildup and reveal was strategic and it paid off.

    Ledger Ward was our other main character and we were able to see things from his POV every other chapter. In the past I never really liked other people’s POV in novels. But Ledger’s POV added to the depth and brought the story full-circle. I like that Ledger was conflicted with his feelings toward Kenna. I think that makes the whole story more realistic. Plus his relationship with Diem = 10/10 in adorableness.

    Diem. A character that is included and would be the third main character, is one that is needed in the story. She has unique ideas about things and a great sense of humor. I feel that she was also really well written. Having Diem just on the cusp of curiosity of her heritage was a choice that paid off. I think a child is naturally curious at Diem’s age of five. It makes sense to me that she would begin to ask questions, especially since no one had told her about her mother.

    There were many emotional moments in the story, represented in both the past, present, and uncertain future. Hoover did a splendid job of portraying all of these moments while making it still feel realistic. Kenna would cry or become upset at certain points and I found myself thinking: “I totally get it, girl.” I think that without a main character with deep-rooted trauma and pain, that the book would have had an entirely different vibe. I found myself rooting for Kenna and genuinely wanting her to succeed as a mother and to also heal.

    Now if I had to critique something in the storyline it would be the feeling that the story was rushed at the end. I think the correlation between the conflict and resolution needed to be drawn out more. Possibly into several more chapters. As with any novel, it is entirely possible that the editors asked Hoover to shorten up the end. But to me it felt too clean-cut. The happy ending we all wanted could have been delayed.

    As a whole, I was very pleasantly surprised with Reminders of Him. I felt the characters were well-rounded, relatable, and realistic. The story was complex and gripping in a way that had you wondering how it was going to end. I genuinely am hoping for a sequel.
    Hoover, Colleen.

    Reminders of Him. Montlake, 2022.

  • Humans = Prey: A Review of The Serpent and the Wings of Night

    Friendly warning that this review will contain spoilers.

    The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

    My Rating out of 5: ☕☕☕☕

    What I am sipping: Iced Coconut Cold Brew

    About: “The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her…To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival.

    Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s crown… and her greatest competition…but their blossoming attraction could be her downfall, in a kingdom where nothing is more deadly than love.”

    — Description from the Amazon listing for The Serpent and the Wings of Night

    Humans = Prey is the first thing I wrote down as I started the journey that is this book. This simple but incredibly complex equation would go on to adequately describe a primary conflict in the story. 

    “The king did not know then that his greatest love would also be his ruination–nor that either would come in the form of a tiny, helpless human child.” Page 1. Oh boy do I have a lot to say on the king and his relationship with his daughter. We are told that the king, Vincent, takes Oraya when she is a child and sort of rescues her from a destroyed village and adopts her as his own. But the whole time Oraya is a child and then teen into adult, she is treated with a ‘tough love’ mentality. Even to the point of him forcing her to kill her first love. (Whether or not he deserved it is another story). There were moments that I was shocked, from things he said to her or by his actions. Upon learning the truth, or part of it, at the end of this book, I can see a little of his reasoning to be tough on Oraya. But still, I wanted to protect Oraya from some of the hurtful words spoken to her from her father. Broadbent did a fabulous job of letting their readers into Oraya’s conflicted thoughts about him. She would oftentimes blame herself for any misgivings, a crime that I commit from time to time. But despite all of this, Oraya loved her father deeply. It was nice to find a relatable character as far as thinking too harshly on oneself.

    While staying on the topic of the king, there is a clever hint to the future / outcome of Book One in the very beginning of the story that I appreciate: “Hundreds of years later, historians and scholars would look back upon this moment. This decision that one day, would topple an empire.” Page 3. 

    A really creative aspect are the Hiaj and Rishan. Hiaj are vampires that have wings thin like paper. Whenever I pictured the Hiaj I pictured the wings similar to a bat. Rishan vampires have feathered wings and I thought of angels. I have read books with bat people (romantasy readers you know what I mean) but I think Broadbent was unique because they showed us two different classes of vampires. Each one had their own histories and traumas. It gets even more descriptive with markings and curses. This was a fun treat.

    Onto the subject of Ilana. Ilana is the older and sassy human friend of Oraya. “I honestly didn’t know how the old bat had survived this long, but I was grateful for it. The humans I had seen in the slums this morning were nothing like me, and the vampires that surrounded me even less so. Only Ilana lingered somewhere in between, just like I did.” Page 13. Oraya was planning on entering the Kejari, a tournament honoring the Goddess of Death, Nyaxia. She wanted Ilana to be safe while she was away. One thing to remember is that Oraya is constantly killing those vampires who are hunting humans there but seems to be the only one doing so. She then insists that Ilana goes to that same district, “protected district” to be safe. Ironically I wrote: “I bet she dies first” after Ilana agrees to leave. We later learn that Ilana is inevitably captured and put into the Kejari and ultimately dies. I cannot help but feel that Ilana was a character that was added subsequently. She represents the human side in Oraya but seems to be more of an after thought rather than a forefront side character, which may have been the point. I cannot help but feel that her death may have been more powerful to readers if she had died in a later point or even a sequel book. It feels that we were not acquainted enough with Ilana to fully grieve her. Additionally, it feels that Oraya’s character lacked the grief response that we would have expected. Oraya has been a tough cookie and has learned to harness her emotions and though we do hear of inner thoughts about it, I would just expect a little more. Otherwise it feels like: why include this character in the story? We did not really know her well, her death seemed like it was passed over, it affected Oraya but not as much as I thought it would.

    The other characters in the story also sat with me. Especially Ibrihim. Poor Ibrihim. I think I was more hurt when he died than Ilana. A big part of me wishes that Ibrihim was kept alive in the story. I could have seen him playing a major role in the other books or perhaps having his own spin off. 

    Now onto the action: the Kejari, “a tournament with the ability to change everything. Until I won, and it freed me. Or I lost, and it damned me.” Page 20. This tournament only happens every hundred years and anyone who enters is put through various deadly tasks. If you won this tournament you were able to ask Nyaxia for a gift. I found the scenes of the Kejari to be very detailed the entire time. Even after the battle scenes in the rooms or exploring the area, I liked reading. Without completely spoiling the end of this book, the result of the Kejari—wow, just wow, bravo, throws roses and bows. What a great way to end the first book while making you desperately want to read the sequel to find out what happens next. 

    And our love interest? Raihn, a handsome and “built different” vampire whose body still has that human build. Our enemies-to-lovers dynamic built up to steamy scenes and left me wanting more. I found myself liking him instantly and he was a well-rounded character with traits and an emotional past.

    Overall, The Serpent and the Wings of Night was an exciting and emotional start to this series. I especially enjoyed the worldbuilding surrounding the vampire houses and the intensity of the Kejari itself, which kept me interested the entire time. Oraya was a strong and relatable main character, particularly in the way she struggled with belonging and identity in a world where she was constantly reminded she was different. While there were moments where I wished certain side characters had more development, others stayed with me long after finishing the book (looking at you, Ibrihim).

    The ending left me with a lot of questions about what comes next and definitely made me want to continue the series to see how alliances, loyalties, and relationships change moving forward. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy deadly trials, vampire politics, morally complicated characters, and slow-burn tension mixed with high stakes. I am very much looking forward to continuing Oraya’s story in the next book.

    Broadbent, Carissa. The Serpent and the Wings of Night. Tor Publishing Group, 2024.

  • Overdue Introductions

    Hi everyone! You can call me the Overdue Librarian and in this blog I will be tackling my giant collection of To Be Read (TBR) books that seems to be growing quicker than I can read them. A little about me is that I am a Media Specialist at two middle schools and a novice writer.

    On this blog, I’ll be reviewing books from my ever-growing TBR list — which currently sits at 863 titles and counting. My reading tastes lean heavily toward romance, but I’ve been branching out into new genres lately (much to the relief of my overflowing bookshelves). I will also be writing about my experiences as a new Media Specialist.

    So stick with me as I balance stacks of books, sip endless cups of coffee, and wander through new worlds and old favorites — all while sharing a librarian’s journey through the magic (and occasional chaos) of reading.