klorka
It was fine. I loved the concept - the footnotes literally sold me on this book in general, I love that stuff.
But like, my wig is still on my head and socks on my feet. I'm pleasantly amused, but not thrilled.
Wendell was def the best part, which is a bit criminal, bc he wasn't even that good. A bit plainer book!Howl imo, he didn't manage to truly infuriate and dazzle me. Emily was a sweetie, but her narration felt too dry. And yes, I'm aware it was supposed to be dry, she's great aspec rep, but that doesn't change the fact that it took away from my enjoyment.
I would've loved it much more if Emily's and Wendell's POVs were mixed much more. They balance each other well.
So yeah, it was fine, I'll probably pick up the next one someday, but emotionally, it's a shrug and an “I guess?”
i can't tell if the problem is the book or me
like, i don't think i've been this irritated by a book in YEARS
first 30% was THE BOOK for me and then it just kinda......did something else???? it felt like several novels pieced together from scraps. the ending was absolutely underwhelming too
im so damn disappointed
this book BEGGED to be a duet. like, begged on knees, tears running down it's face, hands clasped at the heart.
It was so rushed it pained me, esp bc I liked it more than the last book of the main series. There was so much good material here, but nothing got the time it deserved to be fleshed out.
Loved the twist of Asher being the keeper! Still, I wish all of the MCs got more time. Jess also felt super underdeveloped, the friendship between her and Heidi didn't feel super real. Girliepop only talked to her about boning?? Like, girl.
Almost rated it 4 stars but damn, it was too brief.
It was okay.
Like, the boring kind of okay.
The kind that made me almost DNF, but it was so short I made myself just get through it.
I've seen somebody describe it as a good baby's first foray into monster smut (what a cursed sentence) and DAMN, they were right. I didn't even know you could make a book like this feel so vanilla. And I'm not even all that freaky!!
So yeah, didn't work for me very much
I love the characters so much, Annabelle felt so real and relatable. Like, yes girl, go get that bag, you deserve it!! Simon was also lovely, though I wish we saw more of his „bad” behaviour instead of being told about it.
Not gonna lie, I skimmed the last 100 pages. I knew exactly what was going to happen and got bored of their married antics. There was no conflict there imo (and no, a lack of a love confession is not conflict to me).
Other than that, I devoured the book in 1,5 days. It was so much fun and LOVED the historical accuracy (like, the fact that they turned over dresses to make them look newer???? Such a cool detail!!!!!)
Not sure what I was expecting but at some point I felt like I started loosing braincells with this one.
It was fun and pretty funny, don't get me wrong, just the smut felt too... Too much? I guess? The book tried to have a plot and didn't know how to balance it with everything else.
Idk if I'll read the next one honestly, I'm not that into it
Uhhhh idk
The first one had such vibes, this one felt a little bland in comparison. The mean girls stuff was waaaay too dramatic and felt a little woman hate-y, got so old so quickly, felt like a 2000s middle grade book.
Also, the whole thing with the uncle was stupid imo I didn't get why they didn't do a GOOD bg check on him, the whole betrayal thing was so predictable, why was anybody trusting that guy?? There wasn't even a very strong familial connection, Jolie wasn't like, full stop defending the guy. The plot just seemed to forget about him and then suddenly remembered he's probably still siding with the families.Also, the fact that he was doing this to become the “king” was so boring. I was so sure he was just that much of a baby and got manipulated by the Families. Him being a particularly dumb ladder climber wasn't a plot twist, it was just boring. The whole subplot lacks depth to me, it had so much potential and just... bleh
Jolie also seemed to loose some of her depth. She had such a nice edge in the first one, one that wasn't just her being a “bad bitch”, this shit had layers.
Now she's dressing like the girls she gave the side eye, lost some of that tomboyishness and scrappiness. Sure, she had to “look like a Heir”, but didn't she like, HATE skirts? Elegant expensive pants for women exist.
Despite it all, I had a lot of fun with this. I'll read the next one, tho I'm already sure it's gonna be too long. The plot should be very close to the climax now (with how the things are going), so no way the next book isn't drawn out a bit.
Also, holy shit, the two dimensional material thing? Took me out so badly I started laughing in the middle of public transport and had to stare at my reflection in the window bc it was that ridiculous. Like, I'm fine with some science bullshittery, but that was too much. Girl, despite the tone, this isn't a superhero book, that was too much. Or I should stop thinking while reading. Can't turn those three braincells off, unfortunately.
So yeah, fun, but the first one was so much better. 4 stars bc of the fun factor, otherwise it's like, 3,5 max.
idk how I feel, Aurora has her moments, but the whole Callum thing seems way too sudden for her imo. Blake feels forced into his role. Like, I like him, he's the most interesting person here, but still feels like a tryhard. Also, Aurora would've been much more interesting if she really was simply human, not some cool special half-wolf
