Ray
I love how all the books in this series are literally 99% smut with the tiniest bit of plot but they don't feel like it, if that makes any sense. It doesn't feel too sex heavy (but it totally is). Idk, literal magic I guess.
Anyway, this was a brother's best friend + hidden identity + size difference romance. I'll admit I wanted to shove Gabe a little bit, he was pretty toxic at times but otherwise solid 4 star romance.
This is a book that reads like a culmination of a lifelong of experiences and discrimination and payback and feminine rage.
Going in I was not expecting much from this book except eyeball horror (which there is plenty of) but this was so much more.
Settling on a 4.25 rating because I found the first half a little boring but wow, I was actually SEETHING with rage for our character during the second half.
Also I feel like this part is when you know you've finally grown up, so well written.
I know now that I was wrong to blame my mother for what happened to our family. And I don't resent her for her grief. It comes from a place of weakness, of powerlessness. Umma allowed the men in her life to control her, to tell her what to do, to make all the big decisions foe her. Without them, she's lost. Adrift at sea.
you know in some movies there's like this somber moment where the protagonists are sitting down, back against the wall, looking at the ceiling, it's pin drop silence and then one of them blurts out something extremely vulnerable like “my brother killed himself when i was 10 and it really changed my life” or something, that's what this entire book reads like to me.
i know i'm in no place to judge the journeys that the characters take and the author makes it very clear but from a reader's standpoint, it felt like we were going round and round the same conversation in different ways. i just wish the story moved forward instead of drawing everything out.
Also the dynamic with having both broken characters (instead of having one broken and the other trying to fix him) was interesting to see, they're both toxic and push each other away.
Anyway just know going in that this is more of an emotional story than a romance.
This book has completely shattered me, I have NOT recovered from that ending. Even though i knew it was coming from the very start i couldn't face it, probably a true representation of what an execution is like.
The writing is punchy and an emotional rollercoaster, because it takes you through so many different facets of a killer's life. You not only get to read Ansel's POV but also the women whose lives have been ruined because of him, a detective who is solving the case and also has a personal connection to him, and his mother, who is probably the only one who has seen his true, pure form as a child. There was so much nuance to this story.
Some parts of Saffy's story felt a bit dragged on and took me out of the story, otherwise this is a 5 star book for me.
A thousand miles away, justice is being served - but justice is supposed to feel like more. Justice is supposed to be an anchor, an answer. Justice does not feel like a compensation. It doesn't even feel like satisfaction. As Saffy takes a long breath of alpine air, she pictures the needle pressing into Ansel's arm. The blue pop of vein. How unnecessary, she thinks. How pointless. The system has failed us all.
There were quite a few problematic things with this book, firstly the fact that Blaise and Cole were literally identical to me. They both had the same toxic immature energy that immediately turned me off to them. Secondly Allie and Mia could've been blow up sex dolls and it wouldn't have made a difference to the story, they were both so dimensionless and had nothing going on for them except being stupid and clingy and slutty.
Especially with the first half of this book, it seemed to me like the boys were more interested in fucking things up with the girls to see just how far they can take it, instead of building chemistry with each other.
Also it was super repetitive with the “Allie/Mia doesn't really do it for me anymore, I feel nothing for her” like ok I got you the 12th time you said it
I honestly wanted to dnf but I had to find out if it had the same cliche of a third act break up and then the asshole dad comes back and harms one of them which forces them to band together amd eventually end up together and not really resolve any issues and i was absolutely right.
I'll check out other books by these authors but this wasn't it for me.
Super fast paced, devoured this one almost entirely in one sitting! The chemistry between Kyran and Silvano was SIZZLING, probably some of the best enemies energy I've gotten in a while. And i mean, these two casually plot each other's murder, multiple times, before deciding “eh maybe I'd rather not” it was so fun to read.
I wish the ending was more satisfying though, I feel like I've been dropped off the middle, probably could've been wrapped up a little better.
I swallow her as if she were a sword, little by little and with enormous care
Beautiful writing. Heavy with themes of motherhood and growing out of a relationship, but also funny sometimes.
Nice little novella for those in the mood for a toxic literary sapphic story.
How many centuries have to pass before a woman can give birth without it looking like an experiment?
Sweet home (desi) alabama aside, this was actually a beautifully well written book. If you asked me to explain to you what happens i probably couldn't tell you very well but all I know is that colonial Calcutta setting, middle class Indian upbringing and the weirdness undertones delivered in an eloquent writing style captivated me for the time I read this.
