Mike Calkins

Not quite as good as its predecessor, with a rather rushed finale dragging it down. Still loved the dynamic, the writing is still sexy and funny.

You know, when I heard there were going to be more Hunger Games books, I asked if we should just leave this series alone but genuinely this might be my second favorite book of the entire series. The way this delves into Haymitch and the tragic and viscerally upsetting journey he goes through in this book to become the character we meet in the original book is gripping. I was listening to the finale at work and almost had to take a lap. My Collins played with my heart this entire book, and at the end she crushed it. Incredible work.

Man. I was NOT expecting to be this disgustingly invested in this. I laughed frequently, really enjoyed the main characters dynamic. I found myself very tense during a few sequences, and I was muttering "wtf are you doing you absolute moron" (or some variation) as I cooked food or got water at 1 AM with soundproof headphones and listened to either person miss signals or overthink.

I had never read smut before really. Closest I ever got to it was the first ACOTAR book and that was extremely tame so this was a but of a surprising experience but one I had a really good time with, to the point that the next two books NOT being about Rowan and Sloan makes me a little less interested to read them (but I probably will anyways). I thought Weaver did a great job painting violent, sultry and delicious canvases with her words (the last one is not ironic, one of the characters works in food service). I will say that some dialogue is really cheesy, particularly early on. But for the most part the banter and such is so much fun and investing.

Did not expect to love this as much as I did!!

Now, what did we learn class? If you find a piece of paper with words in a language you do not recognize, perhaps abstain from reading them aloud.

LOVED this. Definitely top tier Goosebumps. Fantastic finale.

Still a certified BANGER of a slasher novel. Lacy's dialogue is sharp as a knife and the kill sequences are genuinely jaw dropping. The finale of this is breathless. I still have not read Tastes Like Candy 2, but I got that mofo on pre-order and cannot wait to read it!

As an aside, I love how this handles the way that social media and influencer culture is warping society and completely fucking our sense of self confidence and tying it to algorithms and views/likes/subscribers/followers...but through the lens of a thoroughly gruesome and extremely fun slasher yarn! Check this out if you want a badass slasher book to curl up with for Summerween!