Anne
Fun romcom book, not the best-written one I've read in terms of plot and character depth, but it was a cute, relaxing read.
Fun romcom book, not the best-written one I've read in terms of plot and character depth, but it was a cute, relaxing read.
DNF at 87%
I tried to finish it, but it got too much. I don't like any of the characters (except maybe Lana? She seems to have brains and a personality at least), none of them have more than one personality trait, Graham is grumpy because the hates tourists, Zoey loves everything about Alaska, Killian and all the other resort people are just rich, and all the townspeople are grumpy but supposedly good people. The main characters seem to only like each other because the think the other is hot and/or cute, they don't have any actual chemistry. And unless there's a big reveal in the last chapter, we don't ever find out why Zoey is so obsessed with Alaska, I don't care about the actual reason, maybe she just wants to escape her small town and thought Alasky would be beautiful or whatever, but give me something. It just seems weird that there's never a moment where someone asks her why she's been saving for literal years and quit her job to come there, since it's clearly so important to her.
The main characters are also so inconsistent, Graham is apparently not looking for a one-night stand but keeps seeking her out because...? She's pretty? She's there but not obnoxiously rich? Zoey is broke and supposedly barely had enough money to eat, but spends a ton on a Brazilian wax at the expensive hotel so she can have sex with Graham?
Also I don't love how violent Graham is, constantly offering to fight people, the weird hitting thing with his friend, hitting the wall when he's upset, beating up some people instead of handing them to the police.
Not the book for me.
DNF at 87%
I tried to finish it, but it got too much. I don't like any of the characters (except maybe Lana? She seems to have brains and a personality at least), none of them have more than one personality trait, Graham is grumpy because the hates tourists, Zoey loves everything about Alaska, Killian and all the other resort people are just rich, and all the townspeople are grumpy but supposedly good people. The main characters seem to only like each other because the think the other is hot and/or cute, they don't have any actual chemistry. And unless there's a big reveal in the last chapter, we don't ever find out why Zoey is so obsessed with Alaska, I don't care about the actual reason, maybe she just wants to escape her small town and thought Alasky would be beautiful or whatever, but give me something. It just seems weird that there's never a moment where someone asks her why she's been saving for literal years and quit her job to come there, since it's clearly so important to her.
The main characters are also so inconsistent, Graham is apparently not looking for a one-night stand but keeps seeking her out because...? She's pretty? She's there but not obnoxiously rich? Zoey is broke and supposedly barely had enough money to eat, but spends a ton on a Brazilian wax at the expensive hotel so she can have sex with Graham?
Also I don't love how violent Graham is, constantly offering to fight people, the weird hitting thing with his friend, hitting the wall when he's upset, beating up some people instead of handing them to the police.
Not the book for me.
I tried to finish it, but it got too much. I don't like any of the characters (except maybe Lana? She seems to have brains and a personality at least), none of them have more than one personality trait, Graham is grumpy because the hates tourists, Zoey loves everything about Alaska, Killian and all the other resort people are just rich, and all the townspeople are grumpy but supposedly good people. The main characters seem to only like each other because the think the other is hot and/or cute, they don't have any actual chemistry. And unless there's a big reveal in the last chapter, we don't ever find out why Zoey is so obsessed with Alaska, I don't care about the actual reason, maybe she just wants to escape her small town and thought Alasky would be beautiful or whatever, but give me something. It just seems weird that there's never a moment where someone asks her why she's been saving for literal years and quit her job to come there, since it's clearly so important to her.
The main characters are also so inconsistent, Graham is apparently not looking for a one-night stand but keeps seeking her out because...? She's pretty? She's there but not obnoxiously rich? Zoey is broke and supposedly barely had enough money to eat, but spends a ton on a Brazilian wax at the expensive hotel so she can have sex with Graham?
Also I don't love how violent Graham is, constantly offering to fight people, the weird hitting thing with his friend, hitting the wall when he's upset, beating up some people instead of handing them to the police.
Not the book for me.
I tried to finish it, but it got too much. I don't like any of the characters (except maybe Lana? She seems to have brains and a personality at least), none of them have more than one personality trait, Graham is grumpy because the hates tourists, Zoey loves everything about Alaska, Killian and all the other resort people are just rich, and all the townspeople are grumpy but supposedly good people. The main characters seem to only like each other because the think the other is hot and/or cute, they don't have any actual chemistry. And unless there's a big reveal in the last chapter, we don't ever find out why Zoey is so obsessed with Alaska, I don't care about the actual reason, maybe she just wants to escape her small town and thought Alasky would be beautiful or whatever, but give me something. It just seems weird that there's never a moment where someone asks her why she's been saving for literal years and quit her job to come there, since it's clearly so important to her.
The main characters are also so inconsistent, Graham is apparently not looking for a one-night stand but keeps seeking her out because...? She's pretty? She's there but not obnoxiously rich? Zoey is broke and supposedly barely had enough money to eat, but spends a ton on a Brazilian wax at the expensive hotel so she can have sex with Graham?
Also I don't love how violent Graham is, constantly offering to fight people, the weird hitting thing with his friend, hitting the wall when he's upset, beating up some people instead of handing them to the police.
Not the book for me.
The book is nice as a relatively quick cozy read, but it does have some issues that stopped me from really loving it.
The worldbuilding was fine, pretty basic, but it worked well for the story. I liked all the magical creatures, they all had their own personalities and were quite cute. I also liked the side characters, Tanya is such a good (very forgiving) friend and I'm glad she had her partner who seemed very supportive of her (especially since Aila sometimes seemed to forget Tanya had her own stuff going on) and Luciana was great, I'd love to know those two irl. I also really like how supportive Aila's parents were, I kinda wish they were featured a bit more. I would have loved to see a scene where they meet Luciana, both before and after they know about her crush.
My main issue is with the main character. I didn't like how she treated other people. In the beginning I could deal with it, expecting some character development, but after a while, with little to no improvement, it started to really grate on me. I don't think her social anxiety was always an excuse for how she interacted with other people, for example she was quite rude to the unicorn keeper, purely because of some superiority feeling over thinking unicorns are boring. And while I don't think it was an unrealistic portrayal of what social anxiety can look like, it did not make for a relaxing read (I have social anxiety myself, I don't like being in my own head when it's bad, so I don't find reading about social anxiety this bad, without improvement, particularly cozy). I think it would have worked better for me if Aila's improvement started a bit earlier in the book.
I would have like seeing Aila work on herself more (the therapist was shown once, with useful tricks even, and never again) and have some revelations a bit earlier in the book, so we could spend more time on her working through them and her repairing the relationships she'd unknowingly kind of neglected. Including how she saw the zoo guests. While I completely understand the hatred towards the general public in a job like that, some small positive interactions earlier on would have been nice. Maybe a guest asks a really interesting question and actually listens to her explanation, or maybe she sees some people gently interacting with one of the animals that shows they must care about them and she realizes not all people are bad (although the bad interactions were also funny, like that dumb couple with the engagement ring, I'm just saying have both!). Since the crowds were such a big part of her anxiety and one she works on in the story, it would have been nice to see some more of that.
Since it was kinda obvious how everything was going to play out, it was a bit frustrating at some point that they kept Conner around so much even after he was clearly a dick (and a poacher...), instead of clearing the air with Luciana (I get why Aila felt the way she did about Luciana, but it was clearly a misunderstanding, especially since Tanya didn't even seem to mind her even though she's so supportive of Aila). I get that she was anxious to break up with him, but it got a bit frustrating when she went of a bunch more lunchdates even after she basically ghosted him and was ready to ditch him for what seemed like months? (time passing wasn't always clear). I'd rather have seen some more interactions with Luciana, some slow bonding and flirting, and see her make more friends.
The book is nice as a relatively quick cozy read, but it does have some issues that stopped me from really loving it.
The worldbuilding was fine, pretty basic, but it worked well for the story. I liked all the magical creatures, they all had their own personalities and were quite cute. I also liked the side characters, Tanya is such a good (very forgiving) friend and I'm glad she had her partner who seemed very supportive of her (especially since Aila sometimes seemed to forget Tanya had her own stuff going on) and Luciana was great, I'd love to know those two irl. I also really like how supportive Aila's parents were, I kinda wish they were featured a bit more. I would have loved to see a scene where they meet Luciana, both before and after they know about her crush.
My main issue is with the main character. I didn't like how she treated other people. In the beginning I could deal with it, expecting some character development, but after a while, with little to no improvement, it started to really grate on me. I don't think her social anxiety was always an excuse for how she interacted with other people, for example she was quite rude to the unicorn keeper, purely because of some superiority feeling over thinking unicorns are boring. And while I don't think it was an unrealistic portrayal of what social anxiety can look like, it did not make for a relaxing read (I have social anxiety myself, I don't like being in my own head when it's bad, so I don't find reading about social anxiety this bad, without improvement, particularly cozy). I think it would have worked better for me if Aila's improvement started a bit earlier in the book.
I would have like seeing Aila work on herself more (the therapist was shown once, with useful tricks even, and never again) and have some revelations a bit earlier in the book, so we could spend more time on her working through them and her repairing the relationships she'd unknowingly kind of neglected. Including how she saw the zoo guests. While I completely understand the hatred towards the general public in a job like that, some small positive interactions earlier on would have been nice. Maybe a guest asks a really interesting question and actually listens to her explanation, or maybe she sees some people gently interacting with one of the animals that shows they must care about them and she realizes not all people are bad (although the bad interactions were also funny, like that dumb couple with the engagement ring, I'm just saying have both!). Since the crowds were such a big part of her anxiety and one she works on in the story, it would have been nice to see some more of that.
Since it was kinda obvious how everything was going to play out, it was a bit frustrating at some point that they kept Conner around so much even after he was clearly a dick (and a poacher...), instead of clearing the air with Luciana (I get why Aila felt the way she did about Luciana, but it was clearly a misunderstanding, especially since Tanya didn't even seem to mind her even though she's so supportive of Aila). I get that she was anxious to break up with him, but it got a bit frustrating when she went of a bunch more lunchdates even after she basically ghosted him and was ready to ditch him for what seemed like months? (time passing wasn't always clear). I'd rather have seen some more interactions with Luciana, some slow bonding and flirting, and see her make more friends.
