Rosanne

This was an engaging read-not overly complex but compelling enough to hold my attention throughout. The footnotes occasionally added intrigue and context, though they didn't feel essential. Around the 70% mark, I wondered how the final third would unfold, as the plot felt like it was already wrapping up. Still, the pacing never dragged, and the story didn't overstay its welcome.

Unlike in Lights Out, there was not enough humor and tension in this sequel. The story was predictable and Nick/Junior wasn't even close to being as charming as Josh. This felt like every other mafia romance, and I'm not a big fan of that genre.

A deadly competition, ancient relics and the Greek gods playing their twisted games - what's not to like? The story is fast paced, set in a world where not only the Greek gods rule. There is mention of the Norse gods as well, and I like the idea that all the different mythologies can exist together. My only criticism is that in the end, things went a little too smoothly for the main characters. But I guess that was needed to set everything up for part two in this series.

Luke is definitely a great Book Boyfriend, and this was a cute romance story. I liked how the writer didn't just focus on Kaya's struggles, but that she also made room for Luke's grieve and his bad days.

Hattie is the main character in the next book and I'm curious to see how her story will go. She is the type of friend that's not afraid of handing out some tough love ("sit up, you beautiful idiot), and I like that about her.

This was a cute novella, it gave us a glimpse into Sadie's future with Julius. I love how she didn't change her competitiveness for him, and he finally got to be as lovey-dovey as he wanted. And what a dreamboat is Julius😍 that bookstore date❤️

Sadie is a savage😂

For the next period, he will not be my first and greatest love but my first enemy, my greatest rival. I will obliterate him. And then I will hold him gently while we celebrate my victory.

This is the perfect book for every people pleaser struggling to choose their own happiness for a change. Sadie's tendency to ignore her own emotions, and to only absorb what others feel is so recognizable. Both her and Julius are complex characters, and I would like to read more about their relationship. How will they handle life after graduation, and all the expectations that come with that phase in life? Will they support eachother or make it harder because of their competitive side? *I just found out there's a short sequel, yay!*

"Something sick and poisonous inside me, something painful, and I need to force it out of my system. But it’s stuck. It’s festered beneath my flesh for so long now that it’s a part of me, the deep ache like a thumb on a tender bruise."

This was a fun read, and it gave some insight in the stressful life of K-pop idols. I did feel like it was written for a younger audience. The indecisiveness from both Hyeri and Minseok was supposed to be charming and bring suspension, but it just annoyed me. I like open communication and there was too much going back and forth between them.

Also, I feel like Hyeri actually needed Minseok to make it as a K-star, because that girl is clueless. I'd like to say she stood up for herself in the end, but it was actually her brother who put his foot down (whom I absolutely hated by the way).

Why, oh why, did I let myself be deceived by this colourful cover. I thought I would like it; it has dragons, coffee and romance. I realised pretty early in the book that it wasn't going to be a good match for me, but I didn't expect to dislike it this much. The FMC was irresponsible and naïve, the MMC lacked any kind of character and halfway through I completely had it with all the baby talk. There was no depth, no real connection between the characters and I felt like they were all just winging it in life.

This is a tale full of teenagers pretending to be adults. The way all the dragons are babies in this book, all the adults act like children. Bad selfcare, not taking responsibility for their flaws and just making bad decisions in general.

This was a fun, cozy fantasy in which actual things happened (unlike in Legends & Lattes). It was a nice change to read about dryads and sylvans instead of the same old vampires/werewolves/trolls etc. Kellen and Tansy were both responsible adults and I enjoyed spending my time reading about their cute love story. The description of all the baked goods made me very hungry 🤤

I loved this! It's the first time I've read anything based on Korean mythology. The amount of new creatures took some getting used to, but the descriptions were clear and to the point. And there was a lot of humor and romance as well, which made the story fast-paced and fun.

Hani was the perfect female main character. I loved her backstory and the fact the world had to establish new laws because of her 'binging episode' in 1888 - which ended with Jack the Ripper as final 'victim' (aka dessert). She perfectly embodied the traits I envision in a gumiho (a nine-tailed-fox). Bold, brave, clever and sharp-tongued. She was the perfect counterpart for grumpy, stick-up-his-ass Seokga.

Seokga is definitely not bad either; he is a trickster god out of his element. As a fallen god, he clearly feels the pain of being banished. The only thing I had a problem is were his 200+ children he fathered in his 600 something years on earth. How was that not a bigger issue?? It would have been a dealbreaker for me 🤣

The ending was tragic and exactly what the story needed. Can't wait do dive into the second book of this series!

I had fun. And with that I mean I had to laugh so hard about how dumb everything is. I might have a serious injury from all the eyerolls I've done.

From a luxurious French restaurant serving Chicken Alfredo, to needing a urine sample for a sprained ankle, and let's not forget the penthouse that somehow has a basement and a garden. Was this book written by a toddler? An American for sure. It was all so ridiculous, that I actually enjoyed it.

I have a very high suspicion that it was mainly written by a AI bot🤨

Yeah, this wasn't great. The story felt like a copy/paste of the first book in this series. An unlucky human with a mysterious power, an emotionally stinted creature in power from another realm, a strong female sidekick, one kind fae who becomes her friend. I was only waiting for an animal companion and a lack of communication in a pivotal moment.

For the last third of the book I skipped over entire paragraphs and could still follow the story. It was predictable and long-winded. The animal companion turned out to be a child 🤦🏼‍♀️

I liked the use of common sense and the way the characters trusted their gut feelings. This made for a very satisfying story, where everything came together right when it should. But the whole book felt like an introduction to the second book, and I hope that will live up to my expectations.

The pace was a bit too slow for me, but it was a fun read. The plot twist towards the end took me by surprise, but I wish it would've been a standalone. I'm not sure I want to read part two, if it's going to be more of the same (being on the run, confusion surrounding her power, enemies left and right).

Incredibly unlikeable main character, but I guess that was the point. It was like watching 'Inventing Anna'; it was all so wrong, and at the same time you have to keep watching to see what she's getting away with. Juniper gets more delusional throughout the story. She was so convinced of her own roll as the victim, she kept justifying all her wrongdoings. I was hoping the truth would come out, but the ending felt very unsatisfactory.

And is the publishing industry truly this insanely competitive? Being a writer doesn't sound that fun if this is the stuff you have to deal with.

My goodness, this was boring!! Things happened, but at the same time nothing really happened. It was like playing a game of Burger Dash - they level up the coffee shop and now they have a ceiling fan. Level up again, and they can buy a bigger oven!

This is comfy reading at its simplest, and somehow I got stress reading it. For me it read like a to do list that was never finished 🫣 I regret spending money on this book, although it was the only reason I kept reading.

(I'm not surprised part 0,5 in this series is called 'Pages to fill', that's exactly what this book felt like as well.)

There were a few things that bothered me about this book. Throughout the first two books in the series and a few chapters in this one, it was a whole thing that Miriam and Alo have pined after one another for 5 years. But in this book there was zero slow burn! It went from 'oh we'll never be together' to 'WHAM BAM snack up shack up'. And the whole 'Iggy is so adorable' doesn't work on me, I'm not a kids person. That's on me, I knew what this book was about. But the biggest issue I had, was that Iggy's mom was pictured as some evil person, just because she didn't want to be a mom. She was pretty clear about that from the start, and she still went through pregnancy to give Alo the child he wanted so much. And then he blames her for not being there as a mom. That was the deal they made when they found out she was pregnant, right? It's unfair to expect her to take up that roll. And Miriam crying about it and reassuring Alo he is somehow the victim in this whole thing, just pissed me off. If I would live in Ever, these two would not be my friends.

Okay, I can see how this book could work. A lot of teenage angst, dramatic declarations of love and 17 year old boys who apparently look like muscular inked men. But to call this a romance.. no. In fact, this should be a lesson on what NOT to want in a relationship. The MFC is pining after a grumpy MMC, who is apparently in love with her but holds her to incredibly double standards. A lot of growling, glaring and frustration is going on, but in the end he lets her down when she needs him the most. Thank you, next.

I laughed out loud when the MFC described him:

Lately, I noticed everything about him. Like how he always wore his tinted sunglasses even if the sun wasn't out, as if he didn't want anyone to see into his dark- gray eyes. How he leaned against whatever he could find-the wall, his car, the locker banks in school-as if standing was too much effort. Or how he always inhaled a sharp breath every time we set foot in school as if the pressure of growing up was almost too much to bear.

😂 Oh, to be a dramatic teenager again. Pining after the mysterious douche bag 😂

It can be hard to write a negative review about a sensitive book, but I don’t mince my words when it comes to reviews. I frowned so much while reading this book. I expected all the mysterious issues to be cleared up by the end of the book, but no. I should have looked closer and saved myself the trouble, because this is part 1 of a series that I won’t be continuing.

Everyone in the book gets a nickname, so it takes a long time to figure out who they’re talking about. Garrett is Greedy, Levi is Duke, and Hunter gets a different name from everyone. The worst were Arti and Temi, short for Artemis. Because her name is Hunter, you know? Sigh..

Hunter apparently has anxiety, but it’s so poorly addressed that the only thing I know about it is that she sometimes stays in bed for a few days. And during those nights, she apparently has to lie on top of someone. Or between two people. Ironic that Greedy isn’t the most greedy character.

I think my biggest issue was, is that no one communicates in a healthy way! There is no chemistry between the characters, but Hunter is apparently a magnet for men. I felt sorry for Greedy, they should have shared the big secret with him. He is next level obsessed with Hunter, who treats him terribly. Let her go, boy. Especially when in the last pages another dude suddenly shows up at the door. Sorry, Sir Kabir Kareem Alexander Louis Cornelia Spencer 😂 Hunter apparently picked him up with her mysterious attraction during her mysterious tour through ✨Europe✨.

This story is held together by tie-rips and duct tape, and I will not be reading part 2

Cliché after cliché.. she's a petite girl in a man's world, who, of course, knows everything about cars, and who, of course, wears a tutu while working on cars. But with combat boots on, of course, otherwise she wouldn't be ✨different✨ from the other girls. Nope, not even going to spend an hour in this one.

In the first few pages of this book I already found three reasons not to waste my time reading it:

1) OMG YES "Omega Chi Kappa!" I'm zero percent interested in reading about some sorority girl who shakes her ass on a parade floatie.

2) The quote "Because even at twelve, strutting down a pageant stage in a bikini, I knew what my power was." Excuse you? Twelve??

3) She tosses her dirty wet wipes on the sidewalk. I'm done. I couldn't care less what her story is going to be.

The whole idea of a mystery book club through a free library is fun. I would've loved if the exchange had included some contemporary books, not just the classics. But that's just because I'm not a fun of those classics.

The FMC ruined this for me. She was extremely self-centred and there was not enough character development for me to root for her. The MMC was a good guy, and I hoped the ending wouldn't have included them getting together. I feel like he deserved a lot better, but he was too stuck on his high school crush to realize it. Lucky her.

Normally I like Rebecca F. Kenney's books, but this one wasn't for me. Whatever plot there was went by way too fast, and I didn't connect with the characters at all.

Het boek begon heel goed, maar richting het einde vond ik het verhaal slechter worden. Bovendien waren hele stukken geschreven als een roman en andere stukken als een geschiedenisboek. De balans leek een beetje zoek. Al met al met plezier gelezen, maar ben blij dat ik nu weer een ander boek kan oppakken.

"It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondayness, not to mention its Januaryness".

This brilliant line immediately set the mood for me. I loved Taylors writing style from the beginning. The way she portrays the beautiful city of Prague or the lively souk in Marrakech. Her characters come to life and even though at first I thought they were a bit ordinary, I soon found out that's definitely not the case. Then comes the part where there are monsters, and angels, and a big mystery surrounding.. teeth? Everything is explained later, in a ‘let me show you, ‘cause talk is cheap' kind of way. Needless to say, I was hooked!

I liked Karou and her strange family of monsters. You can say what you want about the morally grey Brimstone, but he did give Karou some pretty good advice about her love life and any “inessential penises” she may encounter in her life. I laughed so hard at that.

“Someone who was for her, as she was for him, whose blood and butterflies sang to hers and answered them, note for note”.