Emi

4.5/5 stars

I probably would round this up to 5 star if I hadn't read the epilogue, but urgh I did and I hate epilogues. I need ambiguous endings to satisfy my desire to dream. Fuck it. I'm giving it 5 stars. It's been almost four months since I've given a book 5 stars. It's time. What epilogue????

Maybe I don't hate romance. Maybe I just need romance to involve sports and slowburns.

Anyways, this book was far from perfect and usually I rate things super critically but we're making an exception and rating based entirely on vibes and the fact this book made me smile almost too much.

3.5/5 stars

There were moments when I thought this book was absolutely phenomenal. This is definitely a book that creates a lot of intriguing and debatable discussion on ethics, race, and motherhood. It really paints a picture that life and situations aren't strictly black-and-white but a very, very messy shade of gray.

However, the writing and the constant time jumps got annoying to me after while and I found myself kinda just ready for everything to wrap up.

4.5/5 stars

For some reason this book actually really disturbed me. Idk what to think. I don't feel right.

4.25/5 stars

It only took me 7 years to get this book off my TBR but I did it guys. I read it. And like, why didn't I read this 7 years ago???? I hate myself.

3.5/5 stars

I said it in an update, but I'll say it again. I am too stupid for this book. It did start to click eventually and the words and story were absolutely beautiful, but I never felt like I got more that a superficial understanding of anything.

3.5/5 stars

When it came to the plot and the characters and the representation, I adored this book. It was so, so good. But the writing and me never really connected.

4/5 stars

Was there times that I was too stupid for this book? Most definitely. But I understood most of it on a philosophical level.

2.75/5 stars

Asexual and aromantic representation? : absolutely fantastic

Plot and characters?: somehow both over dramatic and incredibly boring at the same time.

2.75/5 stars

Now this book is a lot to take it, and a lot to think about, but it was absolutely beautiful in the most heartbreaking of ways.

4/5 stars

I want to, soooo so badly, to give this 5 stars. Because it's VE Schwab, my favorite author ever and I love everything they do, but I don't give out 5 stars as easily as I used to and we've got to be honest with my rating.

But let's be real here, I'll probably go back and give it 5 stars. I'm just such trash for Schwab that it's not even funny anymore. And there were definitely parts that were 5 stars here, especially the writing, which was absolutely gorgeous (as per usual with VE Schwab) and the story between Olivia's parents. If this story was just about Olivia's mother and father, it might be one of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given out, but, unfortunately, it probably would have been too reminiscent of Addie Larue and we got this book instead.

And, also as per usual with VE Schwab, the plot and the world are so beautiful and complex and unique. Truly unlike any other book out there.

I loved all that, but I was left wanting more (and not in the good way).

I just think the story was rushed and the characters didn't seem very fleshed out. And there were a few times here and there where I was bored. I wasn't compelled to pick it up.

2.5/5 stars

This was such a disappointment, especially following The Risk. I didn't really see the chemistry between Demi and Hunter. And the representation felt forced and fell flat.

3.5/5 stars

I was actually considering giving this book four stars. Me, a girl who doesn't even like romance novels. Unbelievable. But Brenna and Jake were cute.

3.25/5 stars

3.75/5 stars

The way my soul left my body and hasn't returned after that ending is the reason why I'm rounding up to 4 stars.

Two years? I have to wait up to two fucking years for book #3? I can't. I'm suing SJM for emotional damage.

But the way my girl Danika was treated as a plot device? That is the reason why it's not gonna be 5 stars. Someone has to stick up for her and her storyline.

Things I liked:
-The ending. What. the. fuck.
-Ithan. Maybe my new favorite SJM character since Manon and Dorian? I just loved him so much. It was such a pleasant surprise.
-Also Ithan and Therion? Maybe I'm just wayyy desperate for more LGBTQ+ relationships in a SJM book but I definitely convinced they are gonna fall madly in love with each other.
-Literally every side character and their banter. Like let me New Girl it up in Ruhn's house
-SJM's worldbuilding. It's intense but it's honestly a rare talent.
-about how a door was opened up, very widely, and now the loves of my life, Dorian and Manon, might come back. I might get to read about them and their perfect selves. Please do this to me Sarah. Please. I'm a loyal fan since 2015. I deserve this.

Things I didn't liked:
-The ending. What. the. fuck.
-Danika being insert as a plot device MULTIPLE TIMES. Like she's dead. Let her rest. I loved the relationship Danika and Bryce had in book #1 and how through love, all is possible. But at this point I'm just like? Were the even friends?
-Hunt. He's boring. Too possessive. Lack any sort of character development. And he was even more one-dimensional this book contrasted against the secondary characters. My boy Ithan is Oz compared to Hunt's Kansas.
-The concept of mates and how I finally thought we were going to get a SJM book without that BUT THEN IT HAPPENED. Andthe conversations around it were beyond cringey. And I can literally give a Ted Talk about how heteronormative SJM makes the idea of mates and how the concept seems to almost take consent out of love. Let it die Sarah. Please.
-It was too long. It could have condensed.
-I am on the computer so insert puke emoji's here but the phone sex scene. It was just not what I wanted to read at that moment. Just get back to the plot please and thank you.
-How stupid this book made me feel during the last chapter LIKE IT WAS SO OBVIOUS THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN WHY AM I SO SHOCKED
-about how a door was opened up, very widely, and now the hate of my life, R*wan, might come back. I might have to read about him and his stupid bird-self. Don't do this to me Sarah. Please. I'm a loyal fan since 2015. I don't deserve this.

4.25/5 stars

This was even better during the second read when the world building actually makes a lot more sense.

This book is soooo so close to being a 5 star read, but Hunt exists and I just can't bring myself to give a book with Hunt in it 5 stars. He is just so, so, so boring. And doesn't really add much to the story. He can just go.

Original Review (March 18th, 2021)

This book was kind of a lot weird but I liked it. I think.

RTC.

4/5 stars

This book was just a snapshot of the main character's life, and honestly it wasn't anything super unique, but it felt so real and raw and thorough that I absolutely adored it.

2.5/5 stars

Did I read a different book then everyone else? I am seeing a lot of 4 and 5 star reviews and I'm so confused.

The same thing happened with [b:Defy the Night|50022883|Defy the Night (Defy the Night, #1)|Brigid Kemmerer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1620924420l/50022883.SY75.jpg|71638471] so maybe Brigid Kemmerer just isn't for me.

Honestly, I know this book is YA, but it felt so juvenile for me. Like it would have been better as a middle grade series, the characters aged down a few years. the entire thing where Harper convinced an entire coutry she was a princess from a different country they never heard of??? What even??? How stupid are the citizens of Emberfall to believe that??? I can't. My eyes hurt from rolling so much.

Everything that happened in the book was just sooo convinent tbh. Her brother dating a doctor? Meeting into a man that used to be in the army and having him join the guard? The entire county of Emberfall not doubting their obviously ridiculous lies? Lol. There was no problem solving skills found anywhere in this book.

Anyways, I'm still gonna binge the rest of this series bc I'm trash for buying books and already own books #2 and #3.

2.25/5 stars

3.75/5 stars

3.25/5 stars

This book started out really good, but by the end, I just stopped caring. I think it was because there didn't seem to be much of an actual plot behind all the action.

But the feminist themes and representation of different romantic relationships were worth an entire star.

2.5/5 stars

I can definitely see how this book is so popular, and I'm sure I'm gonna love the adaptation, but overall the entire thing just felt pointless to me. I failed to get attached to the writing or characters and I spent more time wondering when it's gonna be over than actually reading.

2.5/5 stars

Not me saying that this book reads like a TV show before it was revealed that everything I'm this book was a TV show .

Anyways, I was actually liking this book up until we got answers, but then the answers made me hate everything.

2.25/5 stars

I read this because it's been on my TBR for like 7 years now. It should have just stayed in my TBR. This was 300 pages of absolutely nothing profound happening.

4.25/5 stars

My new biggest reading flex is that I read this in one day (in 8 hours, 24 minutes, and 47 seconds to be exact, spread across 11 hours of on-and-off reading). I'm gonna brag about this accomplishment forever. I hope it is written in my obituary one day.

But court politics and dragons are a weakness of mine and this was so, so good.