Grace

I liked this short novella because it provides a little more context on what is happening in other parts of the world directly after the new Desolation comes by (AKA right after the events at the end of WoR). You are given an introduction to Lift in one of the interludes, and I do find her so funny 😁 I just wanted to eat pancakes 🥞, it also gives a little bit of info on how other orders work, specifically the Skybreakers and Edgedancers by following Lift as well as Darkness's both actions and intentions (spied upon by Lift herself).

It does give some mystery into who could be that Joe/Jane Doe Darkness is hunting through the city, as well as trying to figure the role each character Lift interacts with multiple times will play later on. I thought the mystery guy in the alley would be our favorite world hopper, but the twist in that AND Darkness's target totally surprised me (I didn't connect the dots until Lift explained herself once she figured out who might that be).

Wyndle is my favorite character, I just love how he is still there, even when he makes it clear he doesn't want to be there and would rather be making art. Every interaction is so enjoyable, although he reluctantly obeys whatever Lift asks him to do, in the end he admits he doesn't regret his choice of Radiant.

One of my favorite scenes: "Did you hear me not-whimpering?" like a comic relief right after a high tension moment 😆.

Also this small novella introduces new characters that I'm sure will be important in the main Stormlight Archives, and I was so excited when there was the hint about Ym, I loved his interlude in WoR and I got to have a little Easter egg regarding him and his ultimate fate.

It's got so much, and so many exciting things happening. Then why 4 stars? I didn't find it as strong, it is more on the entertaining side COMPARED to the main books (in and on itself it is great, even more complete than 500 pages or so of other books in the genre). Maybe once I read Oathbringer my rating will change to a 4.5, I know Sanderson doesn't write just entertaining stories, they do have a purpose to serve, so I'm looking forward to how this short novella serves its purpose for the next 3 Stormlight Archives books, but for now I'll leave it at 4 stars.

This is my new comfort read. It has been a while since my last rom-com read, I'm more into epic fantasy and getting into fantasy/sci-fi, but I am a sucker for Hallmark Movies.

The story is enjoyable, and although Liz was at times annoying I can see why. She lost her mom really young and hasn't accepted that painful fact, she wants to live up to what she thinks her mom would've wanted and that puts a lot of heavy rocks in her travel pack, and because if that she tends to overthink, have a hard time making decisions put of her comfort zone, and even try to stand out somehow just to feel like she's worth it. I find all this narrative deep and realistic, I haven't lost anyone as close thank goodness, but I was about to when my dad had a heart attack some years ago and I felt my world upside down for those couple of days of being in the ER and then having an emergency open-heart surgery the following day. Not being able to say goodbye, feeling like your favorite person has been taken away from you unfairly and especially at such a young age (I believe Liz was around 8 years old) may make you as clingy and perfectionist.

So having said that, I liked that she was annoying, it provided a good foundation for all the problems that became the plot for the book, and it is not unrealistic at all IMHO.

The development of the story took me through my teenage years, with some good laughs and some painful tears, as well as some WTF moments, and ultimately that is life as well. Yes, I admit I didn't see much character development really, spoilers ahead......

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... Liz didn't actually learn anything, other than she must follow her own path, but we weren't shown that path because by the end of the book she was starting to do that.

Wes also didn't do anything different, we were told by Liz that he was an ass but we found through the story that it was just her own perception based on mischievous acts he did when they were children, it was difficult for her to accept the fact that he had grown out of that little kid state, but he didn't develop throughout the story itself.

Joss also was kept pretty much the same from start to finish.

I don't have any problem with the character development (or lack of thereof) considering the story takes place in a matter of 2 weeks, it is hard to grow into something that different without a life-changing event happening directly to you in that span of time, but I wanted to mention it just in case you are expecting that and wonder why my 5 stars if it is lacking that point.

So this is meant to be a comfort read, where you already know who is ending up together, and you only are here to read how they overcome their challenges to make that happen, and I needed this kind of read to change air a little bit, maybe I was just in the right mood for it, but I loved it so much.

Only problem (if you can call it that) I had was Michael, like why would he suddenly look at "Little Liz" when he clearly liked Laney, and then accepted in the end that he'd give it a try after Liz confirmed Laney was onto him? Maybe there's some gap I am missing, but to go from "you should give Wes a shot" to "let's go to prom" and then "thanks for getting me Laney", in a matter of hours made me so confused.

This is not a deal-breaker, but I think it is something worth fixing for upcoming books.

A story to enjoy through and through. This book follows three characters: Ashlyn, a book store owner specialized in rarities; Belle, author of "Forever, and Other Lies"; and Hemi, author of "Regretting Belle".

Ashlyn gets both books at her shop, and without a name, copyright info or else except for the characters' names she gets the need to dig as deep as it takes to find the authors, and forgive herself and move forward in the process.

I particularly enjoyed how both books weave in and take me as a reader to a journey between both POVs during WWII, when marriage for convenience, and antisemitic ideas were defining to some people's lives. One might think it has been so long but it has been less than a century, and even in today's world we still live it. It does take courage to confront that and make a change forward, and Belle does just that by informing herself of the war and it's effects, specifically in children's lives, rather than staying in her cozy life -as Hemi put once.

I also loved how Ashlyn starts to peel the layers to find the truth around 43 years worth of deception, resentment, regret... and finally look for a closure. There are so many things happening, but all making sense and building for the very end... that it's just such a masterpiece in the execution of the idea and plot development.

Definitely a beautiful read!

Pensé que leería un cuento para niños, pero a mediados del libro encontré escenas medio oscuras que corrigieron mis expectativas.

El desarrollo tanto de la historia como de los personajes me dejó con un buen sabor de boca, y pensando mas y mas en el libro caigo en cuenta de que tiene una narración simple comparada con la real complejidad de la historia, es decir, que ideas y capas complejas de cada personaje se expresan de manera clara y simple por lo que habrá quien no sienta que la historia amerita ser considerada compleja y eso en sí requiere de gran habilidad de escritura.

Me encantó 💕

Loved every part of it! Thea gave us magic, danger, betrayal, friendship, revenge, growth, acceptance, unconditional love and, of course, good spice.

I enjoyed following the characters along the world created by Critical Role, and it was so well balanced that it felt a little too short. This made the book a little rushed through the end, a couple of chapters for a big problem to be resolved, I would have wanted more tension and hardship in that part, BUT for the rest of the book, and even the culmination, I ended pretty much satisfied with the story.