Novella Reviews: Infinite Repeat by Paula Stokes & A Dawn Most Wicked by Susan Denard

From Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Micah Foster is looking forward to the return of his girlfriend, Amber, who’s been away in Los Angeles recording an EP with her band. But when Amber returns home on the anniversary of Micah’s dad’s death, something feels different and Micah pushes her away.

Over the next week, as Micah tries to repair his relationship with Amber, he relives the events of the past few years and recognizes a pattern. His friends and family are right–he self-destructs every April, right around the time his dad died, hurting people he cares about in the process. Will Amber be this year’s casualty? Or can Micah escape his past in time to fix his present?

Review…

I love loved loved loved loved loved (you get it, right?) loved Micah in The Art of Lainey. I thought his personality was amazing and he was a totally swoon-worthy guy.

I was afraid I would dislike this story, as it’s a novella and I paid $1.99 for it. I thought that my one-click decision would’ve been in vain. But once I read the first few pages, I realized that I could not have made a better decision!

This novella is not short; it has 128 pages, and it’s chock-full with an amazing story.

While it’s a prequel and doesn’t have Micah-Lainey moments (my absolute favorite thing about The Art of Lainey) the fact is that I really enjoyed reading more about Micah’s past. This story definitely gave me some “closure” because I finally feel like I solved the enigma that was Micah.

I felt so much for him in this short amount of pages! I wanted to hug him constantly because I felt like everything was so unfair for him.

My girlfriend is coming to see me after three weeks of being away, and all I can think about is death.

I enjoyed reading more about his family (and his awesome sister, Trinity), as well as see more into his relationship with his girlfriend, Amber. It really showed Micah’s development into the mohawked and closed-off fellow we meet in The Art of Lainey.

You can honestly read this book before reading The Art of Lainey because I think in the long- run it’ll make you love Micah all the more. This was a short but sweet and hopeful story about a really wonderful guy.

*If you thought my review was helpful, please consider voting for it on Amazon or GoodReads*

From Goodreads:

Daniel Sheridan is an engineer’s apprentice on a haunted Mississippi steamer known as the Sadie Queen. His best friend–the apprentice pilot, Cassidy Cochran–also happens to be the girl he’s pining for … and the captain’s daughter. But when it looks like the Sadie Queen might get taken off the river, Daniel and Cassidy have to do whatever they can to stop the ghosts that plague the ship.

Fortunately, there happens to be a Creole gentleman on board by the name of Joseph Boyer–and he just might be able to help them …

Review…

Excuse me, what are these things coming out of my eyes?

Let me clear something up though. This is not technically a prequel. The first chapter takes place after the end of Something Strange and Deadly. So if you don’t want spoilers for that book, read this after!

Anyways, I absolutely loved reading this from Daniel’s perspective. Throughout the series I’ve always wanted to know what goes on through Daniel’s brain, so finally getting my wish is both good and heartbreaking.

Daniel is such a broken character. We get to see why he thinks of himself so lowly, and it hurts. Because we know that he’s a wonderful soul.

His relationship with Cass is definitely very surprising. I was expecting not to like their relationship, but I ended up rooting for them, even if I knew how it ended. Speaking of, I thought the way they ended wouldn’t have affected me, but DANGIT it broke my heart.

“In that moment I had her attention, and she had my heart.”

This book is different than the others from the series because it exposes steampunk much more. The whole story revolved around a ship, and I loved reading about how the contraptions worked and whatnot. I was never lost and my attention was captured.

Overall, as far as novellas go, this is one really amazing one. Expect a heavy dose of feels with this one, and prepare to fall in love with Daniel even more! 

*If you thought my review was helpful, please consider voting for it on Amazon or GoodReads*