Ash
I wish this was longer. I also wish Katee was as good at writing the storyline of her books as she is at writing the smut. Nothing pulls me out of a story faster than constant incorrect words, grammar, and spelling mistakes. I wanted this book to be about 200 pages longer. I wanted to see them fall in love. Instalove in fantasy is such a waste. All the world building, zero love building. I liked it, obviously, but I'm always left wanting with this author...
Most of this book made me cringe. The vapid mc's, constant talk about Taylor Swift (literally mentioned 9 times and there's a full playlist in the back), and complete fumble with awkward usage of euphemisms and slang during the heated scenes. I hate Charlie. This was an absolute no for me. The bare bones and the cultural aspects were the only saving grace. Never a good sign when I keep catching myself saying, “Please let this end soon.”
The people who gave this one star because of the joining, have not been paying attention to the series as a whole. The joining has been on the horizon since early on and the impending intimacy for the three mains is not in the least bit surprising. It was done well and could have been like 3 chapters longer for me tbh. The ending of this one was fantastic. It's not my favorite of the series, but I'm not mad. This is classic for the genre it belongs to. I can't wait until the next one is released. Also, for those that are putting down middle-aged women readers, we are the market babes. For almost every genre of reading. It's us.
This book sucked me in and I wasn't expecting it to. Family drama isn't a genre I usually go for. I liked how the chapters fed into each other when switching pov and I liked how easy it was to fall into the next character's head. The ending felt abrupt and I wanted an epilogue or something. Even though I can infer what will play out next for the Brennans, I wanted the satisfaction of the children's book being published, Sunday and Kale getting together again, Jackie selling his art, and Theresa and Molly moving back in. I wish that Maura and Vivienne had at least some redeeming qualities. They were so 2 dimensional and irredeemable. Conversely, I wish that Sunday had at least one negative trait. Just being selfless the entire time is boring. The male characters at least were fleshed out more realistically. It was an okay read.
This was hard to get through. It reads like fanfic and not the good kind. Persephone is supposed to be 25, but reads like a 16 year old. That makes the romantic aspect real cringey for me. And Hades is boring. There's no love building. I'm not rooting for either of them. The only character I almost cared about was Hermes. Unfortunately I bought the next one so I'm going to try to see if it gets better.
There are so many things that I love about this book and series as a whole. All of the characters are so lovable. I cried a few times. I was surprised by how much I would love and mourn Idir. He may have been my favorite part of the story. And I love Ife and Caracal/Tabansi. Some of the love story parts made me skeptical. Karina is still flirty and wants to trust Malik every time they come in contact even after he has broken her trust over and over. Even getting Malik's perspective and knowing he had no choice but to betray her, I was still mad because she didn't have the full insight but was ready to jump in his lap constantly. Regardless, I wanted them to be together so I don't know why I'm complaining. Lol. I loved the author's recap of the first book and her sense of humor in her writing. This is a great series.
An interesting take on Dracula's brides. I liked the way it felt like we were simultaneously reading a journal entry/confession/love letter for the duration of this book. It held my interest from start to finish as I read it in one sitting. I feel like I'm still processing it. I don't think I loved it, but I also didn't hate it. It existed and told me a story, but it won't stick with me.
This book was adorable and it gave me an excuse to doodle and make cute post it's with my husband. I liked that each perspective was written in the way that they would think it. Leon's lacked pronouns and the dialogue read like a script and Tiff's was more traditional British writing (including the apostrophes in lieu of quotation marks and the British spellings of “any more” & “apologise”). This book was cute and fluffy for the most part. I'd love a spin off with Rachel and Richie. I liked the comedic aspect too. I was only a little confused by the way the author insinuated that the mc was plus size at the start of the book, but then it was just that she was tall and proportionate... Overall charming read.
The storytelling in this book is fantastic. So many characters to follow, but you're never confused and none of it could have been edited out. There were several moments in this book that brought tears. Some of the sad, some of them outraged, and some of them touched by the story. It reminded me of a Miyazaki movie. Poignant plot lines with plenty of adventure, but also serious environmental and social issues sprinkled throughout the whole way. I loved this book.
My notes while reading this were: I love Lila Bard! I think the most interesting person to follow is always Lila. Kell and Rhy and their angsty petulance are why this fits into YA. I love them, don't get me wrong, they've just dragged out the tortured prince trope through the whole series thus far. I love Alucard and his cat. I love his and Rhy's connection. This series is so good, but for some reason, it reads slow. I have to start the next one right now because, hello cliffhanger.
There are aspects I loved about this book and some that left me wanting. I loved the nonbinary language. It was great being able to see they/them in actual writing format. I thought it was interesting that at no point in any of the dialogue was someone corrected for accidentally misgendering or stumbling where they start to say her instead of them, but correct themselves and apologize. I feel like this happens frequently when I've been in group conversations with some of my nb friends.
It felt like there was some missing angst in the situations the two main characters found themselves in. I wasn't gripped in wondering what would happen next because everything read as informational instead of emotional. It could have been the perspective shifts. The angst in romance is what makes it addicting. This was a good book, but it wasn't as great as it could have been imo.
I've finally pinpointed why I dislike Colleen Hoover's writing. All of her female characters are pick me girls and all of her male characters are dude bro Chads. Her characters are narcissistic and fat phobic. It's just not it for me. That being said, I liked Atlas and I liked that she ended the cycle of abuse. Side note: anyone who still idolizes Ellen is a walking red flag. Might as well describe Ryle as looking like Chris Pratt. I think I've given her books the old college try and I'm good.
This book ended so completely that it feels like a stand alone. The disjointed layout of the chapters and constant switching of characters made this a difficult book to fall completely into. I am too easily distracted. I ended up putting the book down more often than I wanted to. The story itself and the writing is fantastic, as per usual for this author, it was just the style and arrangement that messed me up. I love how plucky and cutthroat Lila is and how conservative, yet rebellious Kell is. The brotherly love was also great. I'm going to go straight into the next one, hopefully it will read more cohesively for my scattered brain.
I wanted to like this book so badly... Finally, a bi poc main character in a fantasy, but it lacked the addictive quality that you expect from YA Fantasy and being kept in the dark about what is actually happening for 70% of the book just didn't work for me. The real letdown was the romantic aspect. They haven't really said anything to each other or had any sort of flirting, but they want each other so bad. There was no romance or anything. No meet-cute. No meaningful interactions. Just that they were both beautiful. I need a squee moment. Just one. Convince me that they are attracted to each other just a little bit please! And why was Briseis' mom so weak? She didn't say anything or try to fight back or comfort her daughter and then just died. Like...for what? This whole book happened in the last 3 chapters and cuts off right before an actual story seems like it's going to start. I feel like I'm being tricked into reading a sequel. I liked the Greek mythology, specifically the tie in to Hecate and Medea and Circe. Three women vilified throughout history. Everything was just too convenient at the end and it just wasn't enough. I hope the second one is better conceptualized, but idk if I'll even pick it up.
Okay oops. Didn't mean to spend the last 5 straight hours reading this entire book. Lol. It was cute. Enemies to lovers tropes are always addictive. The several fading to black scenes hurt my feelings (even though tiktok fully prepared me for them...) Some of the cultural references went over my head as a millennial and not a gen xer, but I still enjoyed the banter. Loved that they settled on death cab. The vacation setting was perfect to go with this gloomy wet Monday morning in LA. I loved In a Holidaze and I really liked this one. I'll have to pick up more books by Christina & Lauren.
I think I'm too anxious for this brand of mystery novels. I can't handle second hand embarrassment or trauma, especially when it comes to weight. It makes me pause too often when trying to read. I have to calm down between chapters. The first half of this book was an unenjoyable read. The second half picked up and while the twist was obvious from very early on, I liked that at least their mom wasn't horrible...I wish I could ask Fern for some book recommendations.
Sera is decidedly more petulant and annoying than Poppy, but outside of that they are interchangeable. I was really excited about this book before reading it. I love the Blood and Ash series, but I wanted more contrast between the two storylines. At this point I feel like I'm just being picky, but I'll keep reading this series as the books come out.
All the tropes and clichés aside this was book was cute. It served the unrealistic escape that you go to the romance genre for. Sure there are cringey bits, but none that were dnf worthy. (Got a star knocked off for the slur though.) The cover design artist clearly didn't read the book. Not robin's egg blue, their eye and hair colors are wrong...weird choices overall. The spice was real nice.
The pacing in this book hurt my feelings. It wasn't interesting until about halfway through. I liked the twist, though I was kind of hoping for ghosts or for Eloise to really be Bee, but I accept the real story. I wish we had more of a backstory on the characters that Levi made up for Maggie/Calla and Travis/Theo. Why those names? And how did it take 7 years for someone who gardens to find something that was shallowly buried? The mystery genre always seems to be lacking for me.
Let me preface this with, these are just my opinions and I am a nobody. I had too high of expectations going into this one. The constant name dropping, the technical language during the spicy bits, just all of it was trying too hard. It read like satire and I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to. Most of the characters felt unreal to me because of the lack of descriptive language. It was inadequate overall. The bare bones of the story had so much potential. The independent single black mother with an invisible disability who is raising her daughter with mindfulness of her mental well-being, rekindles the love she had with the first person to truly see her. Said person is also broken from traumatic life experiences. Ughhhh. All of the potential. So frustrated that this wasn't written better!!! The only character I genuinely liked was Audre. She was one of the only characters not spouting pop culture allusions in every dialogue. You'd think the 12 year old would be the one who would. I feel like this story would have been better if it was written by someone else.
There's a reason the enemies to lovers and marriage contract tropes are used so frequently. They're just so satisfying. Combine that with a female lead that can fight and some fantastical elements and of course it'll be enjoyable. I liked this one more than the first. Already starting the next one...
This book had me bouncing back and forth between loving it and cringing super hard. I couldn't handle some of the outdated and contrived tropes. The virginal main character with the rakish, centuries old immortal, hit way too close to the obsession with purity culture that skeeves me out about YA vampire books. That being said, the parts that I liked outweighed the uncomfortable bits. I liked the twist, even if I was glaringly obvious the whole time because every character hinted at it. I also like the lore and her powers. On to the next one.
