erin

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.0★

Honestly, I’m not 100% sure on my feelings for this book, and I don’t know whether 4.25 is an accurate rating, but I’ll change it later, if needed.

While I certainly enjoyed this book, I never felt particularly inclined to pick it up. I wasn’t bored while reading, and I didn’t dread picking it up, like I felt with The Right Move, but it wasn’t how I felt with Caught Up, where I just wanted to be reading it all the time, and was excited about reading it. I think that if I didn’t like the characters a lot, though, then it would probably be a similar rating to The Right Move, which I rated 3.5 stars.

Speaking of the characters, I loved Isaiah. The funny, sweet character who hides their true feelings is probably my favourite stereotype of character, as two of my favourite characters ever are like that. He was so sweet towards Kennedy, and out of all the MMCs so far, I think he’s the best boyfriend/husband. I wish his complicated relationship with Dean had been more developed, personally. I felt like there was a lot of implication that Dean was quite a big problem with Isaiah’s issues, but then it was brushed over pretty easily near the end. It also felt like it was built up to be something in Caught Up, so I guess I was just kind of expecting more in that regard.

Kennedy Kay wasn’t really what I was expecting. I feel like she’s not as cold as the book was trying to make out? She’s certainly very aloof and kind of standoffish, but I don’t think cold really covers her personality. Maybe it’s just because she’s different with Isaiah, and we never much get to see her around people she’s uncomfortable with, other than her parents, but even then she just seemed to be that: uncomfortable. Not cold. I also feel like, other than her fear of intimacy, there’s not a whole lot to her character, other than her issues with her parents and the problem of sexism* in her line of work. I don’t know, compared to the other characters, she feels kind of boring to me, but I also relate to her in the way of fear of intimacy. I think she’s also the best girlfriend out of all the FMCs so far. Her giving Isaiah the colour blind glasses in the epilogue was so sweet.

*I really loved how Tomforde spoke of such an important topic. I’m not in sports, but I know how much misogyny is involved in lots of women’s jobs regarding sports and also the world of medicine.

Overall, I think I’d give this either a 4 star or a 4.25. I don’t think it’s any higher than a 4.25, nor is it any lower than a 3.5. If it weren’t for the fact that I wasn’t particularly intrigued, and the fact that I had fairly high expectations (as I’m pretty sure this is the fan favourite in the series), it probably would’ve been rated a little higher.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.5★

I bawled, blubbered, wailed, and all the other disgusting synonyms for crying you can do at this book. Simply because my heart couldn’t take seeing two people so in love lose each other, even if it was only for a short amount of time.

Kai Rhodes was genuinely such an awesome character. While he was just as protective as Zanders and Ryan, there was a gentleness to him that set him apart from them, and that was what made me love him so much more, as a MMC and love interest, than the other two. He’s such a good guy and a great dad and I loved watching his character and feelings towards Miller grow. Miller was the snarky FMC we all know and love. Again, she’s vastly different from the previous FMCs of the Windy City series, and honestly, she’s probably my favourite yet. Watching her heart grow towards Kai, and most specifically Max, made me want to cry from cuteness. And I did, as I mentioned at the start of this review. I also loved witnessing her relationship with her dad, and her complicated feelings of guilt around him quitting his job for her, and how that resolved in the end. You don’t understand how much I <i>loved</i> Miller and Kai’s dynamic. Like, the final night she was with them before she left, I was crying so pathetically. I got so attached to them throughout this book, it hurt my heart to see them separated.

As a romance book, I think the pacing was amazing. There was hardly a moment where I was bored, which was refreshing after the long as hell first book and The Right Move, where I was bored after the first 45%.

Overall, this is my favourite book so far in the Windy City series. It was just…so good. Like, I can’t even explain it. There’s hardly ever any romance books that make me sad to finish, but this is absolutely one of them. Kai and Miller and Max hold my heart right now, and I just need to sit with them for a few days before I move onto Play Along. I think Play Along does have potential to dethrone this book as my favourite, as I’m pretty sure Isaiah and Kennedy are the fan-favourite couple, but I’m not gonna get my hopes up too high. But I already adore Isaiah, and I’m intrigued to see how Dean will play a role in their dynamic, because we already know he’s a dick who likes to play with Isaiah. Anyway, please read this book, it’s so good.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 3.5★

As much as I loved this book, and it's characters, and the couple overall, there were two main issues that stop this book from being a four star.

The first one is that I got really bored, like, 45% through, and was honestly dreading picking my kindle up a lot of the time. It's disappointing, because I really liked the first 40%, and was even laughing out loud at some moments, but then I suddenly found myself disconnecting from the story, for some reason.

The second one is that I found the conflict to be a bit unbelievable. Like, I know the pregnancy test was quite sudden and all, but, Ryan, babe, you bought her a house. For you and hers' kids. You paid for her fertility treatments. So she could have children. And we know Ryan, he's told to us to be an unimpulsive guy -- if this man was not planning on having kids with her, and is going to freak out the moment he sees a pregnancy test, why even buy her a house? And pay for her fertility treatments? Also, for thirty pages they were having a whole arc about trusting each other, only for him to turn around and basically accuse her of trapping him? I have immense sympathy for the guy, don't get me wrong, and I know it was probably a trauma response, but this just doesn't seem very thought through on Liz Tomforde's part.

Onto the things I liked.

I loved Indy. She was basically an improved Allie Hayes. And she also reminded me a lot of one of my friends, so I think I honestly just kept reading because I loved reading a book where the main character reminded me so much of someone I adored. I enjoyed her whole arc, but I didn't like the part where she was like Oh is it really worth me having kids if I can't have them with Ryan. Look, I've never been in love, so I can't really put myself in her shoes, but I do know that Indy wanted kids her whole life, and it seems ridiculous to me that she was planning to throw away her dreams of having kids just because Ryan didn't want them. Though, it does fit into her character with her catering to everyone else's needs, but I don't think that's what Tomforde meant by this internal monologue.

Despite my rant, I really did like Ryan. While his actions towards the end aggravated me and didn't seem to line up with his actions, I liked him as a character and how protective he was. He did seem really similar to Zanders in that regard (and other traits as well, to be honest) though, so I'm hoping the next MMCs differ a little from them in terms of personality.

Overall, I did like this book, but as I said, I found myself bored and I didn't like the way the conflict between the two characters was crafted. I'm excited to move onto the next books, and I'm excited to learn about Kai.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.5★

As a teenage girl, I never thought I would be able to fully enjoy adult romance books until I was older. Aside from a few exceptions, I could never connect with the main characters and their life struggles, nor did I particularly enjoy the couple, as it just seemed like they had sex and had a few meaningful conversations and then decided they were in love.

But this book changed that for me.

First of all, characters.

Evan Zanders really is the most lovable jackass to ever lovable jackass. Not only is he an absolute softie on the inside, he's also pure girl-dad energy, both with Ella and his dog, Rosie. He's so protective over his family and friends, and that sentiment is extended to Stevie almost immediately (like, 25% in). I love the way he was so reassuring about Stevie's body-image issues, and that the fact that she was curvy never even crossed his mind when it came to how attracted he was to her.

I'll admit, even though it was necessary for character development, him fumbling when Stevie asked him whether he could believe that she loved him really pissed me off. This guy had been trying to get her back for, like, weeks, and then as soon as he had a chance to win her back, he threw that out there. But, at least he's honest, which we love.

Next up: Stevie Shay. I think Liz Tomforde did such an excellent job of portraying body-image issues. I feel like eating disorder representation is fairly prominent in literature (from books I've read), but I feel like there's very rarely any curvy-representation in terms of struggling with body image (again, from books I read). I'm not an expert on this, so keep that in mind, but I think Tomforde handles it really sensitively, and I love that, as it's so difficult to find with some books.

Let's talk about character development and trauma development. I really thought this book would be somewhat similar to Off-Campus in terms of development, and I honestly don't think Elle Kennedy wrote that very well, neither trauma or character development. But this book was very pleasantly surprising. Not only is character development obvious by the end, it also happens throughout the book, instead of just giving us a paragraph about how they've changed near the end. Evan's development with his anger issues, his abandonment issues, and his relationship with his father (and mother) are all very excellently written. Stevie's development with her confidence, and her negative relationship with her mother are both well-handled, too.

Stevie and Ryan's break-up was honestly heart-breaking, I can't lie. I sobbed. Because this book is longer than most romance books (almost 500 pages), you connect more to the characters and their dynamic, so seeing them apart makes it all the more painful. I'll admit though, as aforementioned, I feel like their break-up period could've been over sooner, and that this book could've finished around the 85% mark, rather than continuing on for another 70 pages.

Overall, this book was really impressive to me, for reasons I've already stated. I love the characters, I love the development, I love the couple (which, side note, I was re-listening to the Lover album by Taylor Swift today, and almost every song is them-coded), and I love the book. Going into this book, I was kind of trepidatious, because so many people said they weren't a big fan of this and gave up, and despite the fact that it's (I guess) kind of slow in pacing, I was hooked almost immediately. Maybe it's because I read it on kindle, so I read it quicker than if I would've if I had a physical copy?

As I've said, I think it could've been a bit shorter, so that's why it's knocked down half a star. But overall, great book, and I'm excited to continue the series.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.25★

CHARACTERS

Sabrina James: She was very interesting, which was certainly a breath of fresh air after Allie, who I found a tad boring. I like how her trauma was (fairly) developed without specifically saying she had abandonment issues, and how it was stated how she was still struggling with them towards the end of the book, as it's not something that just disappears (unlike Dean's grief because hello what happened there??). I feel like her character actually clearly progresses over time, without there being a regression of a third-act breakup. You can see by the end, specifically the final three paragraphs, that she's grown as a person, and I love that because I don't think we really got that with the other FMCs.

John Tucker: He and Garrett are currently fighting it out for top place as my favourite MMC in this series. He's so respectful and sweet and patient, and just the dream guy, really. The only thing that kind of cringed me out was when Sabrina called him an 'alpha' early on in the book. I know I'm so nit-picky about things, but I feel like wording is important and it made me roll my eyes a bit.

SABRINA AND TUCKER

These guys are a good example of how the pregnancy trope can actually be done well. There's backstory to their relationship, and there's actually a date which is mind-blowing because there's been no dates, apart from the one with Logan and Grace. I feel like they had a strong emotional connection because of the date, and that their relationship wasn't just built on sex.

OTHER

Timeline: One thing I appreciated is how this book actually feels like it's over a span of a year. Maybe it's just because we get the months above a lot of the chapters, which we don't in the others, but the others' relationships sometimes seemed rushed to me.

Beau Maxwell: I think Sabrina's relationship with him deepened the grief we feel over his death, but at the same time, did Sabrina's grief just disappear too? I feel sorry for this guy - his death is being treated as a milestone for other characters and then he's just forgotten like what the hell 😭

OVERALL

Out of all the books in the Off-Campus series, I think this is the best written. The backstory, the characters, the writing, the development - I think it's Elle's best work in terms of this series. It's definitely not my fav in terms of the books, or the couple (That belongs to The Mistake + GraceLogan), but I just love it so much, and it comes second overall in the books.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 3.5★

CHARACTERS:

Allie Hayes: I really liked her, but I wish her co-dependent tendencies and her (implied) self-esteem issues had been addressed and fleshed out more. It felt like they were thrown in but they weren't developed as they should have been. I think it's sort of similar with her grief as well - I may have felt more sympathetic towards her in her lash-out to Dean after <spoiler>Beau died</spoiler> if we had known more about her grief about her mother.

Also, like, maybe I'm just not thinking this through the right lens, but is she not a hypocrite? Her father had been saying that Dean wouldn't stick around when times got tough, and he didn't - not mentally anyways - but then Allie breaks up with him because <spoiler>his friend died</spoiler>. I understand, I really do, she needs to put herself first, and I'm not against that. But her reasoning can't be her father's because, she broke up with Dean when times got tough as well.

Dean Di Laurentis: I love a man that's good with kids, like my heart was melting when he was teaching. I honestly wish we'd gotten more moments of it because it was one of the highlights of the book, in my opinion. And also it would let us see more of the joy he gets out of coaching, instead of the perspective of Allie viewing it.

I cried over his reaction to <spoiler>Beau's death</spoiler>. I know it's horrible, but I wish we'd gotten a longer POV over it, because it would've helped me feel it more. And similar to Allie, his grief wasn't finalised properly. Like, to me it felt like "Oh, he grieved for three weeks and got shit-faced, but now he's fine". I just don't think that's a healthy or realistic way to present grief, to be honest.

DEAN AND ALLIE

I hate to say this, but I was so disappointed by them. Don't get me wrong, they're cute, but I wished their relationship hadn't started off as fuck-buddies. Maybe it's just because I'm a fluffy-romance girl at my core, but the constant sex made me roll my eyes. I said this in my review of The Mistake as well, I think, but, like, they're are other ways of comforting each other guys!! Just so you know!!

I still think they're so cute, but they may be my least favourite couple so far.

OTHER

Hannah and Garret: I adored the extra content of them so much. They're so sweet, and Garrett being protective over Allie is just so special to me, idek why.

Tucker: Seriously wish I didn't know about the plot twist with him at the end, it could've gotten the rating up another quarter star.

OVERALL

I'm going to give this book a 3.5 star. Unfortunately it just doesn't reach four star territory to me. I think it could've been a 3.75 or a 4 if it weren't for spoilers + how Allie reacted during their break up. I also just think this book isn't as well-written as her others? Their characters + their traumas don't feel as developed as they should be by the end. It doesn't help that I had high standards for them either. Still, I don't dislike this book at all, or their characters, and it doesn't perturb me from reading the final book in the series.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.75★

"I love you, you stupid jackass."

CHARACTERS:

Grace Ivers: Oh my god, I love her so much, genuinely. Almost immediately I connected and related to her with her socially anxiousness, and her rambling. The fact that she had one friend she's known her entire life was also very relatable to me, because I tend to be more drawn to extroverted people myself, even if that means they're dragging me around. I think Grace's character is such a good way of showing "girls protect girls" because even though Grace wasn't that close with Ramona anymore, she jumped to her side as soon as she heard Ramona was in trouble. Girls don't necessarily have to like all girls, but we protect each other.

I like that her character development was fairly early on. While it feels like it's a bit rushed, in a way, it makes it easier for Logan's character to development cleanly and the way I personally wanted Hannah and Garrett's too.

John Logan: If you read my review for The Deal, you know I came away from it not really being fond of Logan because of his crush on Hannah - it just felt a little gross and sleazy to me, even though I know you can't control who you like. I found that the fact that he just "craved what Garrett and Hannah had" to be a bit of a cop-out, but I'm not complaining, as it made way for his grovelling for Grace to commence which I just loved so much.

As briefly mentioned, in The Deal, I wasn't a big fan of how Hannah and Garrett's trauma was cleared up, because it kind of felt brushed over to me. Like, not fully finished. But with Logan's it was, and it was done really well, in my opinion. It shows how addiction can affect the people around you, and that people who are addicted aren't always bad people, and I'm glad that his father got the help he needed. Even though it's only in the last ten-ish pages, I still think it was done brilliantly and handled accordingly.

JOHN AND GRACE:

I came out of Hannah and Garrett's book thinking no one would be able to beat them as a couple. Boy, was I wrong. Every single moment they were on the page together, I was in love with them. Their dynamic, their banter. Logan's grovelling when he was trying to get her back. Ugh, they hurt my heart to think about.

This is such a minor thing, really, but I didn't think their argument needed a big grand gesture thing to be cleared up. I understand Grace was angry, and that she doesn't get Logan's POV, but I think him feeling insecure about his life/future and feeling anxious over his relationship/future with her was completely valid. I thought that Grace should've had some compassion in that situation.

OTHER:

Dean and Allie: I'm still so excited about their book. Like, I really hope they're going to live up to my expectations.

Language: Again, such a minor thing, but why do they say frick so much 😭 It genuinely makes me cringe, like, Elle, you're talking about sex, you can make your MCs think/say the f-word.

OVERALL

I know I said this for Hannah and Garrett, but I really think this is going to be a hard book to beat. I adored the characters, the couple, and the writing just flowed better for me this time around. I'm excited for the next books, I feel like I'm gonna devour this entire series in, like, a week, so we'll see. I'll probably start the next book straight away, as I'm very excited!

(no confirmed rating yet -- in the 4 star zone!)

"Sometimes people sneak up on you and suddenly you don't know how you ever lived without them"

HANNAH WELLS

Her story was very hard-hitting, especially since you find out almost immediately about how she was raped. Like, it's literally on the first page. I like that Elle Kennedy focused on injustice within the police force, about how so many rapists go unconvicted. While it's dissatisfying that we don't get to see Aaron go to prison, at least a person who helped him get off got punched in the face. I wish the fact that she wasn't able to have an orgasm wasn't sidelined though. I know it was "fixed" due to Garrett, but I wish it had been wrapped up more cleanly than what we got.

The whole thing with Garrett's dad asking her to break up with him reminded me of Fake Skating by Lynn Painter (yes, I know this book came out ten years before Fake Skating came out but I read Fake Skating first), but it was done a lot better in my opinion, because there genuinely was no way (that Hannah knew of) to explain to Garrett why she had to break up with him.

I really liked her character, she was very easy to root for. Like I said though, I wish her trauma was wrapped up better by the end of the book. It felt like there was character development, but it was sort of, like, undiscussed, in a way?

GARRETT GRAHAM

I'm sorry, but every time I see an ambitious MMC who wants nothing more than to be the best at their sport/job, I immediately think Johnny Kavanagh (from Boys of Tommen). The way he constantly called Hannah "baby" definitely added to this as well. But fortunately, Garrett wasn't like a complete blueprint, copy-and-paste of those ambitious male main characters either. He had depth because of his father, and also hockey wasn't his entire soul before he met Hannah. He had other things as well -- like him being a history major. It always makes me roll my eyes a little at the triteness of a guy who only has interest in a sport or their ambition and the only thing that can tear their eyes away is a girl. I'm glad that Garrett wasn't like that -- not completely anyway.

Similar to Hannah, I wish his trauma with his father had gotten wrapped up better than it did. I understand that he doesn't want to give his abuser the time of day, but it came off as lazy writing to me. I would've rather the book been a little longer to see his dad get what he deserves rather than it just end with his father standing by the bus, waiting.

OTHER

Logan: I don't know how I'm gonna feel about this guy. His book is next, and I got a sneak peek at his book, and he's still crushing on Hannah. Quite frankly, if I'm going to have to read a book where the first 50% is him pining after his best friend's girlfriend, I don't think I'm going to like it much.

Dean and Allie: I just want to say how excited I am for their book. I love Allie so far, and I'm intrigued about her dynamic with Dean as in the bonus chapter, she said she'd kill Dean in a game of fuck, marry, kill (between Garret's roommates). That's just interesting to me, and makes me wonder if they'll have a, like, enemies-to-lovers kinda thing? She's with Sean right now, so I'm interested to see how he's gonna go bye-bye.

Inconsistency: This is such a non-issue really, but this is just something that bothered me when I read it. Garrett said that if Hannah went to sleep on his couch (after the Breaking Bad binge-watch) that his drunk roommates (Dean, Logan, Tucker) would come home and "grope" her. Considering these are our LIs of the next books, I don't know how I feel about that. Especially when later on in the book, Garrett states he'd rather "rip his own dick off than force himself on someone". Would he not hold his friends to the same standards? I know that grope does not mean SA, but it does mean unwanted touch, and I'm not a big fan of that. However, grope also does mean "search blindly for something", so maybe that's what he was trying to say? I don't know, but I wasn't a big fan of the wording with it.

Spice: I'm not really a girl who enjoys spice, but I like that the first few sex scenes were at least important to the plot. I feel like after the fifth one I started rolling my eyes because, like, there are better ways of comforting each other than blowjobs, gang! But again, I'm not one who likes smut, so I know I'm not really the target audience for those scenes.

OVERALL

This book is definitely at least a four star, or maybe 3.75? I think as a couple, Hannah and Garrett are going to be hard to beat for my favourite, but for favourite characters, people aren't out of the running just yet. I've already spoken of my dislikes and a couple of things that irked me throughout the book, which is why it's not much higher than a four. I'm definitely excited for the next books, but I'm going to take a break to prepare myself for Logan's book because I'm just too irritated with him right now to go straight in to his book.

4.25 stars!

"To live well, you must learn to see yourself first."

CHARACTERS

Alice Sun: Honestly, when I was reading the part where the whole kidnapping thing came up, I could just feel the hate from readers. And, like, as much as I hate to say this, I get it so much. Desperation makes people do some really insane things, and honestly, if I were in that situation, I might've done something similar. All she wanted was to look out for her family, and that's just so relatable to me; I just want to make sure my loved ones are happy and safe and healthy. I loved her ambition. I loved her relationship with Henry. I loved her character development, even if it happened in just thirty pages. I just loved her. It's been a long time since I felt this way towards a FMC, and I missed this feeling so much.

Henry Li: Ugh, I read his bonus chapter and it just made me love him even more. And when he said that Alice was the most important person to him...ARGSHSBQWSAJNK. His obliviousness toward Alice's "hatred" was legit so funny to me, like, "Wait, we hate each other?" I loved that he basically helped Alice, no questions asked, and didn't even get that angry at her when she confessed she wanted to kidnap someone. We love a man who does everything for their girls.

Chanel Cao: I'm literally so excited for her book, you have no idea. I'm going to add it to my calendar + add a reminder to buy it so I don't forget. She reminds me so much of one of my own OCs, and I loved her for it.

OVERALL

I'm not sure I'm on my rating yet, but definitely at least four stars. I loved basically everything about it. Ann Liang writes such beautiful descriptions that I feel like I'm actually there, and I love it when writers are able to do that without forcing it. I loved the main characters and Chanel. I loved the whole plot line, I feel like it's so unique for a romance book to get kind of dark, in a way. (Or I'm just not reading the right books.) I'll probably update my rating in the morning/in a few days, when I'm sure of my decision.

⋆.𐙚 ̊ 4.0★

This book genuinely reminded me how much I love reading romance. I was giggling and blushing the whole last thirty pages.

CHARACTERS

Harper Braedon: Honestly, I just think it's so nice to see a girl in a romance book who isn't a hopeless romantic or straight-up put off by the idea of love. While there was some cliché with the whole I-hate-jocks trope, I think a lot of the time romance writers lean too into certain stereotypes, and it was nice that she didn't just hate the MC because of the fact that he was a jock, but because he came off as privileged and oblivious to other clubs' suffering. I honestly related to Harper quite a bit with her owning a small business. I don't own one myself, but I understand her frustration of her reputation being destroyed. I want to be an author one day, and the success rates to actually make that my one source of income are low, which I imagine is somewhat similar for small businesses. I did think that the author could have leaned more into her relationship with her parents and other things to do with her money issues, as it was kind of just mentioned briefly and I thought it had potential to be a bigger storyline.

Luke Dawson: He's really, really sweet, but I felt there wasn't much to his character other than hockey? Like, he didn't seem to have much personality other than the fact that he was kind. I really admire his work ethic though, and his character development within his hockey, but I feel like it could've been more developed nearer the end. I really wanted him to snap at his dad, because as soon as his dad came on the page, I really did not like him and wanted him to get some karma. I understand there was a whole thing about his dad cheering Dawson on, but, like, that was only when he'd gotten what he wanted. Similar to how I feel about Harper's parents, I wanted his relationship with his father to be studied closer. I really love it when romance books have more to them than just the romance.

Alex: Soft boi. I loved his friendship with Dawson.

Ryan: I love him. I really hope he and Sabrina (or someone else) get a book.

OTHER

❥ The pacing was a little slow; it took about 100-ish pages for me to get hooked on the actual storyline. For me, I like romance books to have fast-pacing, otherwise it just gets a little boring? But after that I was really invested and read, like, 150 pages in one sitting.

❥ Sometimes the writing wasn't really my style, but I'm pretty sure this is a debut novel, and writing can change as you keep writing novels. (Not to say I wouldn't buy her books if her writing style didn't change.)

❥ I wonder what the next books are going to be about, because this is going to be a series, and it just says Varsity when I look on Goodreads, and I'm not sure what that means. Is the series just going to be based around hockey players, or the other sports mentioned as well? I sensed vibes between Ryan and Sabrina, and also potential for Logan and Marissa, but I don't know if that would be a book, because it's not mentioned whether Logan plays a sport. Either way, I'm going to keep an eye out for this series, and am excited for what it holds in the future.

(I'm still unsure about my rating, so we'll see)

This book just has such a different vibe to the other books, that it was just kind of, like, jarring, in a way? While I loved Apollo's POV and thought it was hilarious, it was strange going to first person POV of an ex-god to third person with a bunch of demi-gods. Truthfully, I do think Rick writes better in third person, but maybe that's just my bias for multiple POVs taking over. I want there to be other POVs going forward, but I feel like that might be wishful thinking.

As aforementioned, I loved Apollo. I've always admired him from TTC, really, I just thought he was absolutely hilarious, and I love being in his POV. I enjoyed his character development without him seeming like too much of a different character; he was still arrogant as ever, just with more humanity. His love stories with Daphne and Hyachinthus really made me feel sorry for him, and now he's lost Meg as well, ugh :(

Speaking of Meg, I didn't find that her betrayal was that unexpected. I kind of guessed it twenty pages before, but even if I hadn't, I really don't think I'd be so shocked as it was hinted at quite a lot throughout the book. I really do like Meg, and she's obviously got a lot of trauma through Nero, and I really hope she doesn't end up like another Luke Castellan, but I feel like that's the direction in which her character is potentially going. I hope I'm wrong as Apollo really cannot lose someone else.

I missed a wider cast of characters, especially The Prophecy of Seven. And if the books don't add more POVs, I'm curious to how they're going to explore Jason's death, especially as those closest to him will be hurt the most by it. I don't know, I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

I thought the pacing was unfortunately slow, in terms of main plot. A lot of it (like, the first quarter/half of the book) was just Apollo moping and stuff, and while I found it amusing, it did get a bit boring.

think I may take a small break before I start The Dark Prophecy, but I might end up reading it if I'm not inspired to read anything else. Overall, I'd give it a 3.5 star. Not as good as Percy Jackson and the Olympians yet, or Heroes of Olympus, but I'm going to be gracious and give it some time to hook me.

(rating to come!)

I am so incredibly sad that this series is over, because it’s something that I have been obsessing over for the last month. Everything just scratched that obsessing, hyper-fixating part of my brain, and I just enjoyed it immensely.

The only thing with this book is that I found myself kind of…bored? I don’t think that’s the emotion I was feeling, but I often forgot a lot of the events that happened at the start, and I got confused when we switched between the Argo II crew and Reyna/Nico, because I couldn’t remember where I was up to, there was just so much happening. It was similar to how I felt while reading HoH as well.

<b>CHARACTERS</b>

<b>PERCY:</b> I really wish we got more of him in this book. Like, I know he had his moment in HoH and SoN, but, like, this whole spinoff is <i>based</i> on his own series, and it kinda felt silly to me that he didn’t get that much page time. Nevertheless, I liked that he got to be in peace with Annabeth and that they’re going to go to the university in New Rome. <b>ANNABETH:</b> I love her, but I’m really glad that she’s learned that logic doesn’t solve everything. Sometimes you have to rely on gut instinct, like Piper does. I think she had her moment of logic in MoA, and it’s good that she’s learned of other ways to get through problems that aren’t logic or just fighting. <b>LEO:</b> I love him, he’s my favourite, but surely there are better ways of getting to your girlfriend than killing yourself. I knew it had to be done, but if he just explained his plan and said to them how it was going to be done, then they didn’t have to grieve him, or hold on to the slightest hope that he may still be alive. I’m interested to see how he’ll be in TOA, because I read the excerpt at the back of the book for the first book in TOA, and it seems to be in first person <i>and</i> Apollo’s POV, so I’m intrigued to see how it’s going to evolve and stuff. <b>JASON:</b> I was, like, really surprised when I found out he didn’t die in this book. The whole time reading the series I was preparing myself for this, and then he just didn’t die. I only found out when there was like 130 pages left of this. But now I don’t know which one he’s going to die in, and it has me on edge. I assume the last one in TOA, but I might be wrong. <b>NICO:</b> I LOVE HIM. HE’S IN MY TOP 3 EVER IN TERMS OF PJO CHARACTERS NOW. His POV was a lot of pain, like, all the time though, I couldn’t take it ☹️☹️ <b>REYNA:</b> I’m gonna be completely honest with y’all: I did not expect to like this girl. I didn’t expect to dislike her, but I thought I’d maybe be indifferent on her, but I just have so much respect for this girl. I love her and Nico’s relationship. I love her bravery. I really hope she gets a girlfriend (Thalia or Piper, I don’t care which) because I can tell that she’s a bi queen. I wish Rick explored her past more, though. <b>APOLLO:</b> I know he’s not really a central character, but I just want to say how excited I am for his books. Ever since TTC, I’d loved him, and he was just so much more iconic in this one. We love a man not afraid of showing his emotions and is confident (*cough* arrogant *cough*). <b>HAZEL, PIPER, AND FRANK:</b> I don’t really have anything specific to say for these guys. I like them (even if Piper is a bit bland sometimes), and that’s pretty much all I have to say.

This is absolutely my favourite book so far. I loved every moment of it.

Not only did we get all of the POVs, there were different settings as well (Tartarus, Ogygia), which I liked having. While I liked having the different perspectives in the other books, sometimes it got a bit repetitive in a way because all the POVs were in the same place/in vicinity of one another. It was nice having different settings for longer periods of time.

Now let's get onto characters. I don't think I've divulged just how much I love Leo Valdez. There are very little characters that I would protect with my whole life and soul, but Leo Valdez is one of them. He is actually the most sweetest, most precious angel who has never done anything wrong in his life, and I will stand by that for eternity. Like, I don't even like him romantically, I just genuinely love him.

Calypso on the other hand...yeah, not so much. I have massive sympathy for her, don't get me wrong, but I just find her completely creepy and gross. I know that her curse is to fall in love with people who couldn't love her back or whatever, but even in Battle of the Labyrinth the fact that she fell in love with Percy when he'd been there about a week and when he was literally fifteen years old is so, like, completely disgusting to me, I'm sorry. It's the same situation with Leo. I don't care if she looks fifteen, it's gross.

That being said, I do think Caleo could've been done good if it was platonic. They're dynamic was sort of fun, but the fact that I knew it was romantic sort of ruined it. I think platonic!Caleo would've been cute, and Leo could've ended up with Echo instead.

Even though I love all the other characters as well (especially with Frank and Percy), I love Nico. Like, I think I always knew I would like him a lot, seeing as he's a fan-favourite, but I don't think I truly grasped it. I loved exploring his side of the story more, and seeing how his feelings for Percy affected him. I really hope we get a Nico POV next book, because I'd love to be in his POV and see how his inner monologue works (even if it's going to be depressing as hell).

Another thing with characters as a whole, but I think Rick did a really good job at fleshing out Jason more in this book. I always liked Jason, but sort of thought he was a bit bland, in a way. Like, he didn't really have much to him except him getting his memories wiped and having a strong sense of duty. But I think Rick adding his thoughts of him being torn between the Roman and Greek camps make him seem more three-dimensional.

I don't think I really have much else to add here, other than Bob's death absolutely devastated me, even if I was expecting it. Like, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be tearing up every time he gets mentioned in the next book.

I think I'm gonna grant myself an emotional break to prepare for The Blood of Olympus, so maybe start it on the second or third. I just need a day's break minimum to gather emotional resilience.

4.75 stars!

Honestly, there must be something in the third books in Rick's series' because this is absolutely my favourite so far. Maybe it's because it features both of my favourite POVs (Percy and Leo). It's also nice to see how the dynamic is between all of the Seven. I'm really glad Jason and Percy made up though because the whole face-off, leader contest was making me roll my eyes a bit, and was making me dislike Jason as well. Like, Jason, you're great, but you're not Percy Jackson. Sorry.

It was sort of a similar situation with Frank and Leo as well -- both of them were bothering me with their fighting over Hazel. I really hope the Leo-Hazel thing isn't gonna be a continuing storyline because it's weird to me with the Sammy dynamic. I know it's not technically creepy, but it is odd. It'll also have me rolling my eyes if it does become a thing.

I don't know if this is possible because the POVs seem to only be The Prophecy of Seven, but I'd really like Nico to get a POV. So many people love him and I'd like to see how he feels about him leading Percy's friends on a dangerous mission, similar to how Percy did with Bianca in The Titan's Curse.

The cliff-hanger (ha, see what I did there?) was wild and I'm so stressed for the next book. The stakes are really ramping up now, and I think this book really has set the course for the series improving.

Anyway, I'm going to rate it a 4.75/5.0 star. Some things were a little confusing as there were so many names and POVs going on that I lost track a lot, hence why I'm deducting .25 of a star.

4.5 stars!

Nico Di Angelo: gaslight, gatekeep, ghost king. No but seriously, his and Percy’s whole dynamic was absolutely hilarious to me. Percy was just tryna place the poor boy and Nico’s just like: “I don’t know…do you know me? 🤨🤨” I think I definitely enjoyed this book a tad bit more than I did the first. I loved having Percy back, and Frank and Hazel both seemed like more nuanced characters to me than Piper and Jason (as Leo was my favourite in the first). After this book, I’m almost 100% Leo will remain my favourite character throughout this series — as soon as he came onto the page, I started grinning, I love him so much. I’m intrigued to see where his and Hazel’s storylines will lead, as he is apparently a doppelgänger of Sammy?? But I know that he ends up with Calypso which is a little…🤨 questionable, so I’m not sure how this is gonna go.

I'm really glad I went into this book semi-blind. I'm pretty much I know more about the later books than I do the first few (i.e. deaths :().

As much as I like both Jason and Piper, Leo carried this book. Like, there's no question about it. As soon as his POV appeared, he was my favourite character and I kept waiting for his chapters. The narration was a lot better and a lot more distinctive than the other two, so it felt like he had more personality, if that makes sense?

I did like Piper and Jason, too, of course. I'm excited to know about Jason's past. I'd like to see how his and Piper's relationship goes (especially now there's Reyna...).

I did miss Percy though, because Percy basically carried the og trilogy. AND NOW HE'S LOST HIS MEMORIES LIKE WHAT. But I've seen quotes, and apparently he remembers Annabeth so thank the gods.

౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ 3.0⭑

❥ I feel like I should've come into this book a little more prepared than I was. I had no idea that it was a re-telling of the fairytale “Bluebeard”, which I actually haven't heard of before. Though, I should have guessed, considering Marissa Meyer is an author who primarily writes re-tellings.
Because of the fact that I was unprepared, I was very confused a lot of the time, and didn't fully understand what was going on.

❥ This was actually my first book by Marissa Meyer, and while I didn't love it, I really enjoy her writing style. It flows very easily in my brain for me.

❥ I thought the pacing was off a little bit. I think the reason it took me a week to read this was because of that. I didn't feel all that excited to pick it up because there weren't very interesting moments, it was sort of just Mallory alone with her thoughts for most of it.

❥ Mallory — our main character — was definitely likeable, but I did feel at times a little detached from her, which is a shame.

OVERALL
I'm going to give this book three stars. It's not a bad book, at all, I just think the fact that I was unaware that it was a retelling and I was confused a lot of the time made me not like it as much as I should. I'm also currently in a book hangover, so I think that could also be a factor in why I didn't enjoy this as much as I should've.

4 stars!

I just wasn't as into this book as I was the others. I loved Rachel, and Nico, and the Percabeth content, but I feel like it just had a different vibe to it than the others. Also, and this may be an unpopular opinion, I found it a little boring. They were just wandering around the Labyrinth the whole time, and it got really repetitive for me.
The Calypso thing was weird, and I also heard that she apparently gets together with Leo Valdez (who is in HOO, I'm pretty sure), who is also a similar age to Percy. That's weird to me, not sure if anyone else shares this opinion though.
I'm very excited for the next book, and I'm gonna start it as soon as I can!! I'll be so sad to be finishing the series though :(

Can't believe I have to wait potentially years before I see this on the screen. S3 come faster.

4.75 stars, simply because it took me a little while to adapt to the new characters, but otherwise no other complaints.

EDIT: I've decided to change this to a complete five star. While it did take me a while to get into the story, I just think it's absolutely perfect. The characters, the setting, THE BATTLE SCENE. It's just amazing.

4.25 stars!!

Ending goes crazy.

I think I would rate this book higher if I didn't already know the plot twist. I didn't originally plan on ever reading this series, so I didn't particularly care about spoilers or deaths or anything. But I finally decided to read this, and I'm so disappointed I didn't push past the spoilers because I already knew about Luke, which is disappointing. But, on the good side, I don't know shit about the other books, or how this series ends, so I'll be surprised with the storyline.
I'd give this book a solid four stars, but again, I probably would've ranked it higher for the plot twist, had I not known what it was.

And so, it is with a heavy heart that I finish this series and place its final book back on my shelf. Oh, what a journey it's been. When I first started this series over a year ago, I never thought I'd adore this series as much as I do. I never thought that I'd be crying over Kipps almost dying. I never thought that I'd be close to tears when the Skull almost got destroyed. And yet, here I am.
I think the journey of all the characters is so beautiful. I love Lockwood and him finally getting closure over his parents' deaths. I love that he can finally move on and redecorate his house and Jessica's room, even if I'm sure it pains him to do so. I love that he gave his mother's necklace to Lucy. I hope that he gets over his death wish. Lucy is so me, and I'm glad that she's at least acknowledging the fact that she's in love with Lockwood. I love that she hangs on to the Skull, even if he can only appear at night now, because she truly has made a friend out of him. I love George, and how he's fulfilled the dream of visiting the Other Side. I love Holly and her friendship with Lucy. I love Kipps and his character development. I just love all of them, ugh

What the absolute fuck.

4.5 stars!

Okay, so...a lot to unpack.

• First of all, I just want to say how much I love Lucy. Like, I was sort of getting annoyed with her, but I feel like she represents everything that I don't like about myself: stubborn, short-tempered, far too curious for my own good. Also, if I came into my house to find a brand new woman there which both of my best friends not only didn't tell me about, but seems to like her a lot more than me, I'd flip my board.

• And she is right about Holly! I just can't prove it, okay? She's just so suspicious and I honestly think that she's working with that other guy — Sir Rupert, I think he's called? We don't know much about him either, and it said the tobacco brand was really exclusive and it's said that he came from a high up family. With Holly, there's several factors: 1) There was a line when Lucy was down in the prisons that said “It looked like Holly Munro had been at work” UM...HELLO? FORESHADOWING?? 2) She used to work for Rotwell and then Rotwell agents show up?? And if she was working with those bones, that would be a good way to get rid of evidence. 3) She was also kinda defensive when the other three were talking about the other guy — not so much to be noticeable, but it does add to the suspicion factor.
Anyway, I just think that if Jonathon Stroud wanted us to feel differently about Holly then he would've done so by showing her in a more positive way near the end. We don't really see that, and, like, I just don't trust her. She's up to something.

• Lockyle: just shut up and kiss already atp, we know you want to.

• The skull is me; I am the skull. That is all.

• LOCKWOOD MY BABY. Also, we're technically the same age so...boyfriend?? Like, if Lucy won't kiss him then I will

Overall:

I think this book was SO GOOD. Like, it did take a little while to pick up, but as the books go on, you can see Stroud developing the story, the world, the characters and it's just so nice to see. I'm really hoping that the next book continues off of this, — who was making the bone glass — as I think that I'll be a bit disappointed if it doesn't.
I'm fascinated to see where Lucy will be in the next book; I want to see how her dynamics with her and the others — especially Lockwood — change. Part of me is wondering maybe she'll go work for Fittes, because she liked living on London, and she did get a job offer from Kipps in The Whispering Skull.
Anyway, I guess we'll see in the next book. I was planning on taking a break from the series, but oh well, guess I'll read the fourth.
I think I'd give this book a 4.5 star; it's definitely my favourite in the series so far, and I'm excited to see it continue and see if it's still my fav.

4.25 stars!

!!SPOILERS!!

This book, in my opinion was SO MUCH better than the first one. While I was in a reading slump when I read the first one, and I also read the first one almost a year ago, I seem to remember it not being very fast-paced. Of course, that's understandable for a first book in a series as an author is introducing the characters, the world, etc.. However, with this one, there were multiple mysteries tied into it; who stole the stand, who killed Bickerstaff, the harp symbol, the skull, Lockwood's hidden room, and probably more I can't think to list right now.

I loved the development of the characters, but especially George. I watched the tv show of this almost I think three years ago now, and I remembered that George was my absolute fav. I just loved him so so much and was so stressed about his whole situation with him being entranced. I think the show portrayed that better than the book, as, like, the mention of him acting off is very in-and-out and only mentioned when there's actually enough time to, if that makes sense?
I'm hoping that, in the next books, both Lucy and Lockwood are developed more. I think that the next book's will be Lockwood's time to shine, as obviously we find out about his dead sister at the end of this book, and—aren't we told that his parents met bad endings at some point, too? Because of this, I conclude that there will be more centre on Lockwood next book. However, hopefully we also develop other characters too.

Overall, I would give this book a 4.25 star. Great story, great characters. I don't think I'm necessarily the target audience for this; I'd say it's meant for more, like, 10-12 year olds, so I'm a little older than that. It definitely does read like a book for a younger audience, but I do think that if you're in your mid- to late-teens that you would still enjoy these books, just maybe not as much as you would if you were younger.