Medha

This book left me pleasantly surprised. While I picked it up as part of my trashy romance reading phase to get out of a reading slump, surprisingly this was better than the average cliché filled cheesy romance story. I liked how different the characters were from the stereotypical FMC & MMC. No weird “so tall, so huge, so muscular” nonsense about the MMC and the FMC had an interesting personality - not the brooding, ‘I need a hot man to save me from my woes' kind. Overall I'd say it's a cute book, with a nice amount of spice - not too smutty - lighthearted and easy to connect with.

2.5/5
Eh. This was a very mixed feelings kinda book for me. While I liked some of the plot twists, most of the book seemed like the author trying to convince the reader what a great protagonist Violet is. I feel like a lot of the shit people said about Violet was kind of called out by other characters in this book, which I find pretty funny because it's not like a lot of them to be this direct and blunt towards Violet - another attempt by the author to show how good this book is.
On the other hand, one thing that annoyed me quite a bit was the way the author kept soft-launching side arcs throughout this book (and the series). It's like you cannot find out what the point of so many random characters or incidents are until you wait for a whole year for the next book in the series to come out and clarify it. It's frustrating as a reader to have authors spell everything out for us, but also annoying when they just vaguely mention things that never come up until several chapters later or in the sequel altogether.
This book was mostly just a check-it-off-my-tbr kind of book, and I think the next one will also be the same for me. Wouldn't recommend this book with enthusiasm to anyone haha.

3.5/5

I absolutely LOVED the imagery and descriptions in this book. The hotel's magnificence was felt through each page I turned and I truly understood what it meant to be lost in the world of a book.
While at some points the story did seem to be pushing itself to be longer, the overall plot was decent enough. I loved the protagonist for how human & real she felt for her curiosity, but her poor sense of self-preservation really annoyed me at a couple parts.
Good book though! And nice writing :)

While the story was quite interesting and had me hooked, the characters and the writing were a bit of a let-down. Maybe it's just because of my being a reader who loves details, or maybe it really was so - but I felt as though the characters could have had a bit more personality and nuance. The writing also seemed to be at different paces in different parts of the book. I would have loved a better representation of each character's POV, and some more mingling between them that was shown instead of just casually mentioned.
I guess my main point is this: I wanted more. I wanted to keep hearing more about the characters' lives, thoughts, opinions, and experiences since this is after all A Slice of Life type of book. A small peek into the lives of women living in modern-day Indian society that this book seeks to be could have been a more detailed perspective into these lives.

The first book had me hooked. This one too, but it made me want to put it down at least thrice. (And this is after finishing this book in under 24 hours.)
I feel like while this book helped magnify the plot and add more twists and turns to the story, there were a couple of rather unnecessary additions.
The constant internal dilemma in Avery's head of Grayson vs. Jameson was super random. Neither of those two characters seemed particularly appealing to me as a romantic interest. And besides, based on the crux of the story, any kind of romantic interest for Avery seemed entirely irrelevant and again, unnecessary. It did not, in my opinion, add to the plot and instead, took away from the story and made it feel more dragged on.
I'm still giving this book a 4 because of everything else. The story building up (aside from the possible romance) made me want to know more and continue to stay in this world of Avery Kylie Grambs and the Hawthornes. I have high hopes of the next book.

deep exhale
I am blown away. I love how Avery handles things when she finally puts her logical thinking hat on and gets away from the emotional turmoil one.
Although I will admit that the story did get a little predictable in some parts and even disappointing in others - like how the answer to it being Vincent Blake was just a patent number (That's it? It was there the whole time and she took that long to figure it out and still, that was it? Just Nan telling her everything after?)
Still, I would say I truly enjoyed this book and of course, the series as a whole. I will admit that there was that sense of satisfaction that engulfed me after finally putting it down once I was done. (That was guaranteed considering how I finished this book in a single sitting, and the series in a span of two days.)
I felt the drag in some places, and the spinning around the same thing in others, but overall I was quite impressed with the story. I'd probably reread the series someday if I want to douse myself in a world of tricks and puzzles once again.

Okay umm, WOW. I loved this book. From the moment I picked it up I was hooked and I found it concerning how hard it was to put down. The protagonist is smart, but not to the point where she makes it her primary character trait, which is usually quite hard to find in most YA novels. I loved the plot and gobbled up every riddle, trick and puzzle. Although I must say I'm not a very big puzzle-solver myself, it was thrilling to watch Avery and the Hawthorne Brothers find their way through the billion-dollar question: why was Avery there and who was she to the Hawthornes?
I enjoyed Avery's scepticism and the occasional calculated display of vulnerability, however, I did observe her being rather reckless (quite the opposite of her nature) in sharing critical pieces of information.
Despite it all, the bottom line is that the book had me enraptured and I would gladly pick it up again someday if I wanted to be swept into a fictional world that's not magical or dystopian, but highly engaging nonetheless.

This book left me breathless. The writing is absolutely immaculate. I was smiling, crying, gasping and sighing right alongside Feyi. Every character is beautifully complex and the descriptions of the scenes are so vivid. Whether the story is realistic or not didn't affect me as I was so lost in the little world Emezi has created. Truly a brilliant read, I'm left floored.

This book absolutely blew me away. Every chapter had me on the edge of my chair, hungry for more. The writing was pretty impressive, and the complexity of each character was deep enough to keep the reader engaged but subtle enough to be left up to interpretation. The plot itself seems to only be going uphill, and I can't wait for the climax. Each twist and turn would confuse me at first, only for it to be left slightly unresolved, so I could piece it together myself. And of course, the wandering of thought into concepts of time, creation and knowledge, among others, left me enlightened and deep in thought. I love that this book does not think its reader stupid or incapable of comprehension.

This book left me pleasantly surprised! I like the author's variety of thought throughout the course of the book - I understand it must not be easy exploring various different theories on multiple topics of interest. She did a brilliant job on the complexity and depth of her characters, aside from the obviously interesting plotline. Makes me want to continue reading more about this world and these lives. Very well written!

The writing was mediocre and I didn't feel attached enough to the characters. My first thoughts were that this may be a dystopia retelling of The Little Mermaid and I was right. The story was mostly boring and I had to really push myself to continue to flip the pages and read on. I wish the author would've provided more substance and context on why certain characters were the way they were or felt the way they did. Everything was very surface level, maybe that's why I couldn't connect to the characters, specifically the protagonists. Not a book I'm glad to have finished.

What a fantastic read! I loved the complexity and attention to detail throughout the story, and although I would've preferred a little more insight into Monique Grant's life, I'm still content after the end. I was moved by the emotion bleeding through the pages and clearly felt every nuance of each character. It was a near-edge-of-my-seat experience. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes thrills!

Wow. Everything about this book left me floored. The person whose perspective she chose to write the book from, the tense, the imagery, the fluidity... I am absolutely shattered in the best way. Even though I have never been someone who is super eager to learn about Greek Mythology, I enjoyed this book because it is simply wonder in itself. Definitely brought about a bucket load of tears, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Give it a read, you will be beautifully devastated.