I sadly ended up stopping this book at 46%.
When I requested this book it sounded like something I would enjoy. But sadly I just never got into it.
The characters were flat and I kept mixing them up. The story never gripped me. I was expecting more action packed.

I really wanted to love this because the cover is simply stunning! However, there were so many characters and I couldn’t fully keep track of the POV switching. This also could be because I was studying for an exam at the time I was reading this… But if I pick it up again I will adjust my review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me an advanced copy of this book to read and review.

I tried and failed with this novel I'm afraid. The synopsis sounded incredible and I was so keep for this but sadly it just didn't hit the mark for me. I'm sure people absolutely love it though and do not let the fact that I didn't enjoy it put you off.

DNF at 18%

Writing and execution wasn't for me. One thing is to not be able to get into it but the other thing is that the Writing didn't confused me at most.

Isoldesse - Kimberly Grymes

Kenna

Notes 📝;
Best friends, Meegan, abduction, aliens, Sci-Fi, magic, secrets, stones, moons, adventure, schemes, dreams, intriguing, I LOVE THIS 🙌🏻💕.

Kenna is a hard working student that lives together with Ally one of her friends.
Meegan is her best friend and together they end up in a adventure they will never forget.

The storyline, characters are super intriguing and I was sucked in this story big time,
definitely a 5 star ⭐️ read and I can’t wait to read book 2.

i really enjoyed reading this book, it was a great start to the Aevo Compendium series. The characters were well done and I enjoyed going on this journey with them.

Gorgeous book, I really enjoyed it!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me access and advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

this was a DNF for me- ended up not being something i enjoyed. maybe if i was younger- but i could not get over the characters

I‘m afraid this was not the book for me. I found it to have a slower pacing so it did take me a while to get through. It was also a bit confusing to be honest.
I also had some problems distinguishing the characters from each other as I kept forgetting their names.
So unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this, even though I really wanted to.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Isoldesse has a such a beautiful cover! Honestly, it really does. I wont say that it's the main reason why I wanted to dive into it.. because have you read the synopsis? If not, please do because that's what got me hooked.

After diving into this, I'll admit that I wasn't disappointed one freaking bit. I will say that I was confused a bit here and there but that's mostly because we have a lot of characters to keep track of. Maybe the next book will lessen the load on my brain because I don't know if I can handle anymore characters at the moment.

In it, you will meet Kenna. She is a young college girl from Earth and one day her life is completely changed. For the better? Maybe. At least she isn't alone though because her friends are sort of dealing with the same thing. I wont necessarily dive into what happened because honestly - so much did. I'll say that I never felt bored because there was so much going on. It's like my brain got mini whiplashes with all of it but I was happy in the end.

It was definitely a page turner and I can't wait to dive into the next book!

From the cover and synopsis, I had high hopes! Sadly it wasn't for me, the premise was great but the execution was lacking. It was more of a contemporary with a bit of fantasy, there was more focus on relationships and I wanted more world-building and character development as I struggled to put them them apart sometimes.

I would say I loved the dark, almost-witchy, atmosphere I got from this book, would've loved for it to go full witch/fantasy but it was more of a secondary plot devise which is a shame.

Darkly funny, original, and creative. Isoldesse is one of those books that draws you in with the cover and keeps you with the story. Will be purchasing this title and the rest of the series as it is published for the library's YA collection.

This book has such a brilliant synopsis but for me, it didn't quite hit the mark. It felt a bit dull and slow in places.

This wasn't the book for me. It had a great premise but the execution was lacking. I wanted more world-building and more development of the characters and plot. I think this has great potential but for me it needed more.

Sadly I had to DNF this book, the characters were very hard to tell apart and the plot was stalling. The idea had potential, and maybe the story would have picked up at some point but it was too late for me.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

Isoldesse (The Aevo Compendium Series, Book 1) by Kimberly Grymes
ARC provided by Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op
Genre: Romance | Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
Release Date: March 2, 2021

Isoldesse is the first book in The Aevo Compendium Series by Kimberly Grymes.

Can we take a second to take in how beatuful the cover is? Wow! I hope this is one of the books that keeps its cover and doesn't change with each publication.

Ok, back to the book....this was fascinating. This is one of those books that once you start reading you can not put down. There is so much going on and it is amazing! The characters are interesting and the story is fascinating. Bring on the next book, please!

I'm so grateful to Kimberly Grymes, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I went into this book thinking this would be a fantasy novel, and fully expected it to be fantasy oriented and boy was I wrong. The cover looks very fantasy and so the premise sounded majorly fantasy, so you can imagine I was incredibly thrown off by the massive Science Fiction elements in this book. I'm not the biggest sci-fi reader, however I am definitely open to other genres, I just didn't feel these two meshed together all that well..

With the multiple points of view, which in many other books didn't bother me, I found jarring. It was slightly hard to follow to jump from a "normal" life on Earth to an alien perspective on another planet. That being said, I think this book would've done well with just one or two points of view instead of four.

At the beginning of the book, you are completely thrust into this Sci-Fi/Contemporary world without any explanation. I think that was the book's biggest fault. It didn't hook me, it just left me confused.

The idea behind this novel was good, just poorly executed and didn't draw me in.

Initially, Isoldesse grabbed my attention because of its gorgeous cover. This book is a contemporary, witchy, sci-fi, focusing on a group of college-aged friends who are destined for an alien run-in.
Isoldesse reads like a YA but features 20 somethings, making it more of a New Adult novel. Don’t go in expecting the steam level or heavy romance many New Adult novels center around. While there are some romantic subplots woven into this multi-pov novel, the focus is on friendship and the attempted sabotage of the Aveo Compendium.
This novel features more fantasy elements than sci-fi, especially with the heavy focus on souls, the afterlife, and the goddess Isoldesse. There’s some political intrigue, enough that my palate’s whetted and craving the next in this series.
At the end, I set down the book and still had so many questions—but in a good way. It’s a good read. Not my absolute favorite, but it does feature some diversity and a magic/spiritual system that I’m looking forward to visiting again.
This novel was provided by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.