cat

TW: grooming, sexual assault
DANG THIS BOOK WAS GOOD
the characterization was phenomenal. Jolene and Adam are both so well fleshed out & my heart absolutely ached for them. I think I cried for the last like 100 pages. you hate some of the decisions they make but the decisions make so much sense for who they are and what is going on in their lives. Jolene was especially a stand out character for me and is probably one of my new fave female characters. she just absolutely came to life and seemed so real to me. that being said, Adam is an absolute sweet baby muffin and needs to be protected at all costs!!!
I absolutely loved that while there is a romance in here, the main relationship was entirely built on friendship. Jolene and Adam just cared for each other so much and ow my heart. I also loved the development of the relationships between Jolene & Shelly and Adam & Jeremy.
this is definitely a slow burn read and I was unsure in the beginning, but this totally hooked me and is def a new favorite.

likes
- Ronnie's personal growth

dislikes
- the plot is utterly ridiculous & unrealistic. Ronnie & Bailey tip cows, have their car stolen, go to a strip club, get cornered/”kidnapped” by anti-abortionists, get constantly stalked by Ronnie's bf, TAZE BAILEY'S DAD FOR JUST BEING SHITTY??
- the abortion plot line/discussion of the abortion rights took a backseat and I would say this story is really about friendship
- Ronnie's friends constantly talking about wanting to fuck her bf was so strange
- none of this was funny & the parts that were meant to be were honestly just cringe-y
- I didn't like any of the characters & no one besides Ronnie and maybe Bailey are really well fleshed out
- 100% read like adults trying to write like teens
- didn't notice this was co-authored by a man, truly not interested in reading male authored stories about reproductive rights

this shit was soo dark
the antagonist was more interesting to me than the one in the first book but the pacing was off in this. so much good lead up but the climax is over so quickly and then the ending was too dragged out for me. def will still continue the series!

this was pretty fun & steamy but I didn't really like either of the main characters and the relationship moved waaay too fast for my liking. also, the baking was minimal!

super intriguing in the beginning but just ends up falling flat & being repetitive

3.5 stars. quick & pretty fun, probably would have benefitted from being a lil longer. I liked Meg & Adam, Meg's coworker was insufferable.

DNF @ 75%. I honestly just can't anymore.
mom don't read this review thx

- there was really no reason for Cat to be so connected to Merry & want to go there - it would have made more sense plot-wise if this was her hometown or something?
- the only reason Noah disliked Cat was because she's pretty & on TV?? all his rants were misogynistic, annoying, & over the top
- Noah literally lays on top of Cat and clamps a hand over her mouth to keep her from leaving/talking
- way too fuckn long & I'm not even finishing it
- not Christmas-y at all; I'm sure this would have changed if I continued but based on the title & synopsis I expected this to be mostly surrounding Christmastime and much more holiday-esque
- no lead up to Cat & Noah getting together - they hated each other & then they were kissing

on to the horrible sex scenes
- constantly describing Cat's nipples as “pebbled”
- constantly referring to her vagina as a “sheath”
- her orgasming multiple times in succession just from penetration after like ...36 seconds
- “Milk it for me.”
- “She fisted a hand around the root...”; “...he fisted his erection...“
- “Wanted the feeling of being impaled...“

just a big no to this book. v confused at all the rave reviews.

hm. this was a really strange reading experience. all of the characters felt half-baked and the entire story felt so unrealistic, even though it's really not. I felt so disconnected from the whole thing. the “twist” was very obvious to me, but may be more surprising to someone who doesn't read as many mystery/thrillers or watch far too many episodes of Criminal Minds. the choice to keep things anonymous and referring to things like “No Name High School” and “New England State” felt awkward and always took me out of the story. I don't really understand what the point of this story was meant to be and don't feel like I got anything from it.

3.5 stars

3.5 stars?
another one of Riley Sager's books where the ending saved it. this was sooo slow & really wasn't hooking me until the climax. who was involved didn't surprise me at all which was disappointing but what was actually going on definitely did & was super interesting.

minor spoilers
- they didn't meet until about 80% of the way through the book
- Daniel is the most white bread boring ass character I have ever read
- the guy Nadia dates that is included in maybe 4 chapters was more interesting & appealing than him
- Daniel was given virtually no character traits other than having a dad who died & having a shit roommate
- Nadia was given virtually no character traits other than being in an abusive relationship & having 2 friends
- situations are constantly written in seemingly with the sole purpose to show you that Daniel is a Good Guy™
- the political & social commentary felt so out of place and not organic
- what was going on w/Nadia's friends felt so obvious to me and like?? didn't add anything to the story at all
- the constant “omg they're in the same place at the same time but don't know! omg they almost went on a date but didn't! omg almost met but didn't!!!” was EXHAUSTING and again, felt so inorganic
- so many grammatical & spelling errors like what!!
- MISSED CONNECTIONS ARE FOR PEOPLE YOU DON'T THINK YOU WILL SEE AGAIN NOT FOR THE GIRL WHO IS ON YOUR TRAIN EVERY FUCKING DAY JUST WALK UP TO HER AND SAY HELLO
- who tf wears a waistcoat with nothing underneath to a movie like Nadia come get your mans

there were so many pages in here that were either blank or just fluff. the rest was fun to flip through but meh

if you're looking for a fun, light holiday romance that truly reads like a Hallmark Christmas movie, this is it chief
it was pretty predictable & formulaic but honestly I don't care

this being pitched as a gay Grease did not disappoint
likes:
- the friendships!!
- queer rep (MC is gay, side character is bi, love interest is bi)
- how Will still being in the closet was dealt with. I was hesitant about this plot line b/c I feel like it usually makes for an uncomfortable read w/someone getting mad at that person not wanting to come out. but Ollie was so understanding & only got frustrated when Will was truly being a shit - not for him wanting to stay in the closet.
- Lara's character growth
- the side plot of Ollie's aunt being sick. fucking WRECKED ME

dislikes:
- I don't think Will was fleshed out enough; he didn't really have too much of a personality IMO
- Ollie's friends back in California were kind of pointless - they were brought up in the beginning then p much completely forgotten until the end
- kind of the same thing w/Ollie's bandmates - we never learn anything about them besides their names

this doesn't do anything crazy but was just such a fun read. their jobs & lives were p unrealistic but I didn't really care lmao. I loved Emi & Charlotte's friendship, and although I didn't really like Ava & Emi's romantic relationship, I liked their friendship as well. quick, light, cute & fun!

3.5 stars. didn't hate, didn't love. I think people closer to the age group could feel more connected to the story!
Likes:
- this is YA that truly feels like YA.
- female/female relationship & bisexual rep
- the story is important to this age group - losing friends can feel like an intense break up and isn't something that is really talked about.
- all the characters felt very realistic to me!

In the middle?:
- both James and Kat were super frustrating to me - they both played a part in their friendship kind of falling apart but neither really wanted to own up to it. all of their issues could have been solved if they just communicated better BUT isn't that just a part of being young, a little selfish, and not having relationships completely figured out yet? I think this was a pretty good representation of friendships and how they can fall apart when you're young & dumb.

Dislikes:
- the non-linear narrative (James' chapters are told from end > beginning while Kat's are from beginning > end). it was pretty confusing at first and to me, didn't add anything to the story.
- this felt a little too long for what it was.
- the ending was way too ambiguous for my liking.

I don't get this

this was interesting but didn't really do anything crazy for me.

mira grant really did that

- cool science-y ocean shit
- killer mermaids!!
- so fucking well written, legitimately felt like a real recollection of an event at some times
- female/female relationship!!
- autistic gay character!!
- 2 deaf characters who were represented rly well

Hmmm. This is a hard one to review. I enjoyed a lot of it, but felt like the discussion of “a woman's right to choose her future” that is promised in the synopsis never really happened. Most of the girls did exactly what was expected of them in that time. I also found the switch at the end to current day abrupt and it went way too quickly. The characters were well fleshed out and I mostly enjoyed reading about them, and some important topics were touched on, but overall it was just okay for me and not exactly the reproductive rights story I was hoping for.

god damn this book!!! I loved SO much about this. I connected so much to Lottie & her anxiety. I loved her parents, Abe, her friendship with Em, her aunt, the discussion of mortality and the meaning of life. I think a lot of my feelings about this book are just based on my ability to emotionally connect to so many aspects of it but shit. I didn't jive with the magical realism as much as I have with it in Katrina Leno's other books and didn't really care for that part of the story but other than that, this was so fckn good.

Likes
- depiction of teenage alcoholism

Dislikes
- Natalie
- 17 yr old involved with a 38 yr old?? no thanks

....wtf

dang

avg. rating: 3.1 stars (even tho my ratings average out to 3.1 I'm bumping it up to 4 stars based on my overall enjoyment!)
favorites: In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan, Sleepless by Jay Kristoff, & The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu

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In the Forest Dark and Deep by Carrie Ryan - 5 stars
Emmaline by Cat Winters - 2.5 stars
Verse Chorus Verse by Leigh Bardugo - 3.5 stars
Hide and Seek by Megan Shepherd - 1 star
The Dark, Scary Parts and All by Danielle Page - 3 stars
The Flicker, The Fingers, The Beat, The Sigh by April Genevieve Tucholke - 4 stars
Fat Girl with a Knife by Jonathan Maberry - 1 star
Sleepless by Jay Kristoff - 5 stars
M by Stefan Bachmann - 1 star
The Girl Without a Face by Marie Lu - 5 stars
A Girl Who Dreamed of Snow by McCormick Templeman - 1 star
Stitches by AG Howard - 4 stars
On the I-5 by Kendare Blare - 4 stars