Katherine
I feel like this book is not hyped enough.
It has got academic rivals, private school setting, true love, enemies to lovers, friendship goals, politics, the problems behind the curtain no one ever bothers to look behind. And still I have never once been recommended this book.
It had romance, banter, action, suspense, mystery, satire, comedy, it held me on the edge of my seat throughout the entirety of the book and I cannot recommend it enough.
Seriously! Chef's
Slightly toxic, but since I'm colourblind and cannot really differentiate between green and red flags when it comes to fictional men, here is a three stars rating to this book.
This was something different for me.
New attracts you. No matter how good or bad, it attracts you.
And I don't mind everyone calling me shallow but the whole show-of-money part was slightly a turn-on. I dare you to disagree with me (with proper reasoning of course)
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──
Reading goals for 2023.
➺ Go through the rainbow cover challenge
➺ Try to read more years than 2022. (50/47)
➺ Read atleast from 3 genres out of my comfort zone (romance; contemporary). (3/3)
»»——⍟——««
TBR
Grishaverse
➤ Six of Crows duology
➤ Shadow and Bone trilogy
➤ King of Scars duology
Other
➤ Knockemout trilogy. (1/3)
➤ Shatter me series. (9/9)
➤ Complete the off-campus series. (2/6)
Standalones
➤The secret history
➤The love wager
➤Divine Rivals
➤Song of Achilles
I don't know what he did yet but I feel like this is important.
I've heard that people hate him and I feel it's because they don't know what he had been through or where he came from.
From what I've read so far, Aleksander is smart and talented and has trauma of his own. Has had very bad experiences very early own in his life. May never try to get romantically involved with anyone. Idk.
I wouldn't be surprised if he has trust issues.
It felt like one time sex with a frat playboy.You try it out of curiosity and you had fun; but you're not going back again.
I'm a petty, petty woman and I loved this book.
The whole idea of revenge on a shithole of a man resonated with me.
Absolutely, completely relatable.
The book was fast paced and the writing was engaging till the end.
This book is definitely underrated. It somehow took me a long while to realise that this was not the first book but the 4.5(?)th in the series. I may or may not come around to reading the rest but this, sure was worth it.
It felt like one time sex with a frat playboy.You try it out of curiosity and you had fun; but you're not going back again.
I'm a petty, petty woman and I loved this book.
The whole idea of revenge on a shithole of a man resonated with me.
Absolutely, completely relatable.
The book was fast paced and the writing was engaging till the end.
This book is definitely underrated. It somehow took me a long while to realise that this was not the first book but the 4.5(?)th in the series. I may or may not come around to reading the rest but this, sure was worth it.
I regret not reading this sooner. Straight five stars read.I am going to make it my life's mission to make everyone who listens to me, read this book.So, I would not have to do much but just attach some quotes from the book. They are below.(1) “You're wrong about her. She's not flawless.”“Bennett, no one is totally flawless—come on.” I couldn't believe his nerve. “She's pretty dang close, though.”“I suppose.”“You suppose? What on earth could she possibly be lacking? Do you want bigger boobs or something? Is she not—”“She's not you.”“What?”“She. Isn't. You.”(2)”She's pretty, but her face doesn't transform into sunlight when she talks about music.” He did that clench thing with his jaw and said, “She's funny, but not spit-out-your-drink-in-astonishment funny.”“And when I see her, I don't feel like I have to talk to her or mess up her hair or do something—anything—to get her to swing that gaze on me.”(3)“I fell in love with teasing you in the second grade, when I first discovered that I could turn your cheeks pink with just a word. Then I fell in love with you.”(4)“I realized that he isn't the person I can't stop thinking about, and I wanted to tell you. I mean, he's great, but being with him is nothing like eating burgers with you, or sneaking out to the Secret Area to make s'mores and look at the stars, or fighting with you over a parking space. But it took me too long to figure that out, and now you've got her.”(5)“Because I was wrong, Wes. You are the good stuff.”(6)“Sometimes we get so tied up in our idea of what we think we want that we miss out on the amazingness of what we could actually have.”And these are just the ones I remember loving on top of my head. God, I love this book.This has very easily become my newest obsession. And I am on the high.As I said before, regret not reading this sooner.It lowkey gives Garrett Graham from [b:The Deal 58953626 The Deal (Off-Campus, #1) Elle Kennedy https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631147521l/58953626.SY75.jpg 44100599] vibes but high school and neighbourhood setting. Plus, swiftie leads.Tags: childhood enemies to lovers, boy next door, hopeless romantic girl, golden retriever energy guy, basketball boyfriend, love rectangle, swiftie leads, pop culture references, music obsessed girlfriend, obsessed guy, stalker-like personality girlfriend, neighbours, high school romance, prom, five stars.
OH MY GOD! It is as perfect as it goes.
I had never read any of her works before but if this is even a small fraction of her writing genius, I feel like I am missing out. Like oh my god! It blew my mind out!
Such sheer genius. Nothing extraordinary about it in individual pages, but together, it is an unforgettable piece of brilliance.
I would highly recommend you to read it if you haven't already. It's really short.✨
Poppy and Rune forever: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0byNX1kfZ47X7WfXOpb4Rd?si=On5V-LQGRw-liQgLznzPZQ&pi=a-AZ0jvhm2T8-5&pt=14529c3bf1f19b163aed5f55d19630cc
This book was perfect. There is not one single thing I would change about it. Just, perfect.
“You took the best of my heart and left the rest in pieces” was how I feel now that I have completed reading it.
My new comfort book probably. Highly recommend you to read it. It is totally worth it. It owns my heart. The whole of it.
The Bree and Archer playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4OO7wC4b1PcAjbdsJZMFaS?si=7UFGwktzSPCi7Eq9SAdpUw&pi=a-sJtCEuWtTwGo
Had I predicted it to be a five star read? Yes.
Was it actually a five star read? Hell, yes!
For all those who said there were too many plot twists, firstly, there were not as many and secondly, isn't that how life actually is? Life does not stop at one plot twist and so did the book. And I think that is alright, great even.
Trigger warnings: childhood trauma, murder, road accident, attempted rape, attempted murder, drugs.
Definitely the best romance novel I've ever read in my life and I'm reading it again next year. I'll further edit the review then. We'll be annotating the book this time. Hella excited!
Tags: Super slow burn, fake dating, golden retriever energy male lead.
God, did I love the last ten chapters so much that they compensated for the pain the first twenty caused me.
I have come to the conclusion that when it comes to this book or even slow burn in general, I have a weird love-hate relationship that even I cannot predict. I hate the sexual tension and the buildup and man do I love the confession and the swoony relationship that follows. The latter is worth the former. I could go through the pain a million times over just to have them madly in love by the end.
And honestly, I liked this book more than the first one. I mean Aaron Blackford.
The Lana Myers playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2wl6JfLFcboMhA5gBcpyAM?si=ZkZ6EzoKSD2ZgJOK2Diryw&pi=a-xzCOgjnVTX6x
Not me staying up till 3 am to finish this book and not regretting it one bit despite the fact that I will have to survive the day with 2 hours of sleep.
So worth it!
This series is the definition of underrated.
