Denise
I liked this way more than Part of Your World. Briana and Jacob at least both have baggage that make them more interesting as characters. I'm still not sure I love a both sides POV romance. Being in both heads just takes out the mystery and leads to way more naval gazing. I love pining romances but it does get repetitive when you have 2 whole characters stuck in their heads thinking about how much they can't stand to be apart from the other.
Some scenes felt really contrived, even for a fake dating trope. I'm still not sure I like Wakan's magical realism vibe. It always feels tonally out of place when it happens and I just wish it wasn't there at all.
It's overall a very feel good/fluffy romance. I loved the letter writing back and forth in the beginning and really wish that had continued throughout.
This one was fun though the writing style didn't quite grab me at first. It wasn't until things started to really escalate that I got hooked into the story. I did not realize this was YA when I bought it. Not against that, but the formatting was bothering me until I realized it's meant for a younger reader. I'm just irrationally bothered be a 3 page chapter that is just a conversation while walking down a hallway.
The puzzle/mystery part of it is entertaining, some of the character motivations seem questionable and the entire back story with Emily was just hard to buy. I guess these are teenagers though and I should just accept that they are going to do silly nonsensical things. We've all been there, amiright?
I really like the Hawthorne estate as a character of it's own, and I'd love to see that properly mapped out. I'm fascinated by the idea of a house built around mysteries. Take me there!
