Evie
3.5 stars.
liked it better than haunting and hunting adeline. was a lot more tolerable. i appreciate the sexual abuse in the story not being depicted. was a lot easier to digest. still don't like the MMC in these books being borderline sexual offenders themselves with the FMC especially Zade and Adeline but i can say that Cage was a lot more bare able and a lot less creepy.
this book made me sob multiple times. it brought out some of my own grief that i try to keep buried because thinking about makes me wanna crawl into my bed and never come out again.
“i know how close death is. how it lurks. and who wants to know that? who wants to know we are just one carefree breath away from the end? who wants to know that the person you love and the need the most can just vanish forever?”
i lost my grandmother in 2021 and like our FMC Lenny, she was my Lou. although i didn't realize that until after she was gone. when i lost her i felt like i had died with her. i spent weeks just wallowing in my grief wishing i was some magical fairy that could bring her back.
thankfully through those tough times i had a Miles. my boyfriend. he helped me and held me through my grief he would listen to me while i sobbed and was just there through everything. shortly after reading this book i went to my grandmothers grave for the first time since the funeral. to say i lost it might be an understatement. she really was my best friend and i will spend the rest of my life missing her and hoping that when my time comes she will be there to greet me.
thank you to Cara Bastone for reminding me that grief is not linear and that im allowed to grieve no matter how much time has passed. and to my grandmother i miss you and hope your spirit is resting.
okay well for some reason my review on this book keeps disappearing so i'm writing it again. i started this audiobook a few days ago and was disgusted at the first chapter. what i listened to was nothing but sexual assault and rape. i'm so tired of these authors adding this harmful material in their books and calling it “dark romance” sexual abuse is not romance and needs to stop being sexualized. it's harmful on many many levels. sexual abuse is not a kink. if you believe it's a kink you need help. dark romance means one character is willing to do whatever for the other character not whatever TOO the other character. this is harmful and not romantic
well this is utterly disappointing. i've wanted to read this book for awhile. beautiful cover and has mystical creatures?? just what i was looking for. got about 33% thru the book when a good friend of mine who lives in canada saw that i was reading a book by this author and educated me on the inspiration for this book. imagine my surprise when i found out he wrote this book based off of the 60s scoop that happened in canada from 1950 to 1980s.
if you are unaware of what the 60s scoop is let me tell you. the 60s scoop was a period in which a series of policies were enacted in canada that enabled child welfare authorities to scoop up indigenous children from their families and place them in facilitates where white americans, canadians, and even europeans could adopt them. it is estimated that 20,000 indigenous children were taken from their families.
he took that tragedy and then added magic realism and white supremacy to it. i wish i would of known this before purchasing this book. i will not support a white man who thinks it's okay to profit off of other peoples trauma and tragedies. turning the indigenous children in this book into monsters is insane. he added the actual antichrist in the form of a 6 year old. it's a real shame that he decided this was a good idea considering i was really enjoying the story but now i can't even finish it with the way the main character describes the children and how he's terrified of them. leaves a nasty taste in my mouth.
edit since i kept getting an error message in the comments: i'm providing links for everyone to educate themselves on this tragedy and to donate to relief organizations if you can
https://sixtiesscoopnetwork.org/
https://www.sixtiesscoophealingfoundation.ca/community-resources/community-resources
https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-sixties-scoop
https://www.sixtiesscoophealingfoundation.ca/community-resources/funded-partners
https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/sixties_scoop/
this book was nothing like the first and i was definitely taken by surprise. the party scene had me on the edge of my seat and made me so nauseous and anxious to read. the moment she ate that meatball i knew it was laced. i don't think my heart has ever raced so fast at a scene before.
ms stubin is an ethereal character and i wish we were able to experience her more in the first book before she died. the notebook janie avoided until the end of the book made my heart break for our main character. she was cursed or gifted the power to be sucked into others dreams against her will but she can choose to help them and change the course of their dreams if she's willing and if she can but ms stubin reveals in the book that the more dreams she goes into the sooner she'll become blind just like she was when she died. her hands will also cripple and she can no longer drive. knowing there's nothing she can do to stop her fate from becoming this nightmare had me devastated and i'll admit i cried like a baby for her. sidenote: in the journal where stubin revealed that she killed a family of 3 when she was driving and was sucked into a dream made me gasp so hard. the way it was written was so good and went so hard it was unbelievable.
janie and cable. at first i was so confused bu his character and honesty didn't like him but he grew on me and his relationship with janie had me smiling and laughing a few times. cable is just a kid who's dad was super abusive and lit him on fire so his body is badly scarred and he doesn't like getting close to people but he falls in love with janie as they work together to solve crimes. i'm glad they came together at the end of this book even tho they went through so much together. i will admit him breaking up with her after the party incident with the teachers made me mad because i knew it would make janie feel like he was grossed about what happened to her (thankfully that wasn't the case)
the party. i know i mentioned it briefly at the beginning of my review but it deserves its own section. what the actual fuck was i reading? first off why was everyone okay with a grown ass man throwing a party for the chemistry students who are underage and were mostly girls??? did non of the adults have any common sense? this scene really had my sobbing for janie especially when she ultimately got roofied. i was begging for someone to save her and for her to remember the lighter to signal for help. when i found out that the gym teacher sexually assaulted stacy i sobbed so bad. janie throughout the book kept getting sucked into her dream well more so a nightmare about being sexually assaulted but someone and janie tried so hard to keep and eye on her at this party but failed due to being roofied herself i was devastated for both of the girls. please if you decide to read this book look up trigger warnings!!
all in all i loved this book and the way its written. i wasn't expecting to love this series as much as i am but here i am. onto the next book. wish me luck
i was reading a book that was unfortunately putting me in a slump so i decided to pick this book up instead and let me tell you it was exactly what my brain needed. it was cute and witty and the batter between the 2 main characters had me laughing. although the book is fast paced (which makes sense because the entire thing takes place over the span of one day) i still really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend
i love anything zombies and didn't know this was a book. i ended up with this book as a blind book date. the book is okay but could definitely live without them saying the n word or referring to the only black guy in the book as “the black guy” when he obviously has a name. i understand the book came out in like 1976 but still. it was just so bland i'd rather watch the 2005 movie adaptation