Emaan
This book has its character faults. Mostly in the form of Evelyn Fairfield, she is a questionable character using the power of Aspen's name when it wasn't a life or death situation just as Cobalt had done with Amelie. I cannot comprehend how she got away with some of the most questionable things scathe free and I think Tessonja has become a better author since but I can't help hating Evelyn as our protagonist. She is nothing like fiesty Gemma or the kind hearted Ember. I just cannot with her.
I quite liked this book, it was a quick and easy read with enough action going on within a few weeks to make it seem fast paced.
3.5 stars
I'm so happy to have been able to read this. I never would have known it exists unless I looked into it some more.
It reminded me of Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo ever so slightly, with a fmc who fought against the bounds of society to become a medical professional.
I think I should thank Dana for Hazel, maybe she will teach me to not give up my dreams just yet. I just have to take an unconventional route to get to where I want, Mechanical Engineering in the UK and then apply to medical schools anywhere that would see me as a viable option.
But about the actual book, I'm so happy that it ended the way it did. I do wish that there could have been more, more for Jack and Hazel in the sense that they could undo the effects of the tincture but I guess we can't all have what we want. Now they will just live a happy, youthful life with each other until Hazel discovers the way to undo the tincture. They may have a different happy ending but it's one everyone can agree will lead to happiness.
I really wanna call myself Ann Liang's biggest fan. I love her books so far. First she creates the masterpiece If You Could See the Sun and then she makes this and I wanna re-read it already.
I don't know who I love more, Henry Li or Caz Song. I'd like to say Henry Li because he's the first Ann Liang mmc I read about, but there's something I value in Caz that edges on Henry even more. But then again, Henry is Henry and that's enough.
I rarely scream while reading a book but I screamed today at one point roughly 65-70% of the way through. To say it was startling is an understatement, I never knew it was possible to freak out at my own scream.
I shouted on many occassions, mostly anger. I laughed a LOT, many thanks to Eliza Lin. I loved that her friendship with Zoe could defy all odds and wish I could have a speck of that with anyone. I've only ever moved schools twice but still could never keep in touch with friends for long, who knows if it's ever my fault or theirs. So I felt a lot of Eliza's hurt and isolation as if it were my own, it got far too personal MANY times.
Okay, well that got deep... Thank you, Ann Liang, you made me feel something!!!
4.5 stars!
I feel ruined, it's like this distinct heartbreak. Not one that makes you outright cry, but one that leaves your soul torn in two. Roman's love for Iris is one in a million, such a rarity that one could only hope to find. He was dying and anguished yet still pushed on, trying to crawl his way to Iris.
I always figured this book would be sad but my imagination didn't quite give sadness a dark picture like this. Like Iris, I don't know if I would have preferred Roman dying or being taken by the enemy. Both seem really unwarranted for a boy, very barely a man, who loves a girl for her words and her sweet heart. But, in the end, Roman has been taken so it is possible to see this as a second chance for him.
About the rest of the book, the first 50 or so pages were a bit of a drag. Then the whole story ramped up, its for that reason I rate it 4.5 stars rather than 4 or 5 stars. It lacked the whole feeling that I get with 5 star reads but it was pretty close after the beginning.
Can I just give a special mention for Roman Kitt, he is an upstanding love interest. For sure one of the best.
While I regret not reading Serpent & Dove after finding out this was a sequel series, this book was AMAZING. I loved it a lot, possibly because of Dimitri at the start but Lou and Coco are also such lovely people. Célie was a real protagonist, she didn't have a strength that outshone the rest and her trauma was so powerful that it didn't matter that she was over-emotional at times. Michal was an okay character but their romance could have come a slight bit faster. We also never got much information about him, which is slightly disappointing since he's the love interest.
This was not near as bad as people had suggested, it wasn't a one star read nor was it a 5 star read. To me, it was about 3 stars. It was interesting enough to keep my attention but it was certainly very far from being a favourite of mine.
I completely understand why she couldn't end up with Grim but the thing that makes zero sense is why she HAD to end up with Oro. It was unwarranted and will cause many more issues in the future. Isla couldn't even kiss Oro without thinking about Grim, she hears Grim in her sleep and thinks about what he has said to her.
Everything Grim did was terribly selfish but he was also brainwashed by Aurora while being blinded by his love for Isla. I feel bad for him because of this but that doesn't excuse him not talking everything through with Isla before going through with his plan. Isla understood why he did what he did and still condemned him.
Oro is a pain, don't like the guy. To me he is just a grumpy 500 year old whose whole existence included searching for a damned flower. Him falling in love with Isla made zero sense. There was no chemistry between them and most of their conversations were superficial. He knew she was lying to him yet still somehow “liked” her. Then there's the fact that she told him she was powerless, I bet that made him over the moon for who knows what reason.
Like Oro compared to Grim in terms of their love for Isla, none made sense mostly because we don't know much about Isla and Grims past. But it makes sense much more than with Oro. If I could say anything about it, it would have been that Grim was totally accepting of Isla's lack of power probably mostly because she was part Nightshade, even powerless. He loved her enough to goade her into beating him, to protect her, and to make sure she knew nothing was wrong with being powerless at all. And in that case their love makes sense, it was likely built on equality and mutual respect while Isla constantly knew she was lesser than Oro in practically everything. She may have lacked power but I'm almost 100% certain that Grim didn't care about that because of her physical strength.
This book!!! Please, I don't think I've ever wanted to rate a more light-hearted book 5 stars but I really want to with this.
Before I begin hyperventilating, let me just say that I LOVE Henry Li. He is such a sweetie, deals with unrequited love and hate he does not deserve.
I didn't know if I'd like this since it's slightly different to what I would usually read but Ann Liang created a book I can only seem to call a masterpiece. And I do not say that lightly.
It left me squealing like a schoolgirl with a crush, it left me laughing at parts that I don't think were meant to be funny and it made me tear up also. I went through a cycle of emotions in the time it took me to read this book and I'm still reeling from how good it was.
I think I'm gonna fall into a book slump due to the amount of books I have loved. It isn't good but what can I do about it?
4.5 stars!
This book reeled me in straight away, the action happening at the start was so fast-paced I just had to continue. The pace began to slow as soon as Dianna got caught, but it was comfortable.
The whole book was amazing and the ending was so confusing. But I liked that even more (I was not okay, it was 2am and my analysis of the ending was a mess).
But yes, 2nd book of 2024 and my favourite so far (doesn't really say much so far but it'll still be one of the best at the end of the year
Re-read #2: I would read this book forever if I just knew that the pain would bring something good in the 3rd book. Just knowing I have to wait a whole 24 hours for my copy of ACFTL to be redelivered is a pain but I guess I'm going to have to deal with it.
Edit:
It's been almost an hour and all I feel is pain. It was definitely a beautiful book. I had an idea of what would happen, again, it wasn't all that hard to guess. I just wish it never happened how it did.
You could tell when Jacks began feeling more for her, I felt it exactly when Evangeline did. Probably even before. Don't get me started on his need to go back into the past to win Donatella, that stuff annoyed the life out of me. I don't know how it didn't happen, like why did she not die when he kissed her? Was it because he finally believed his curse as a fate was dying out or was it because he thought with complete genuity that she was his one true love? I am under the belief that it was the latter, I think in order for him to not kill the person he kisses he needs to believe they are his one true love.
That brings me onto my next point, even Evangeline noticed that his “love” for Donatella was more of an obsession to get back what he previously had just for the purpose of gaining back his ‘humanity' in some form or another. She mentions this to him and he turns it down.
Now it brings me onto a question I've been thinking about sinces Jacks' heartbeat was recognised in the first book, did he ever have a heartbeat at the start? Or was it reinduced when he met Evangeline? Like come on, I need concrete details because I'm going to suffer until I can get my hands on the third book.
All in all, the Valor queen was right, time took back something in return for Jacks changing it. It was frequently foreshadowed that Evangeline would lose her memories of Jacks and he never thought of that possibility when it came to sending her off after travelling back in time. He said that nothing was equal to bringing Evangeline back to life, I believed it until it hit me that deep down Jacks wouldn't have wanted her to lose all her memories of him. I don't even want to know how badly it will affect him to know that Apollo wiped her clean of her memories. It does make me wonder how they will find their way back to each other though.
Finished! And while it wasn't as good as We Were Liars, I still loved it.
It was a breath of fresh air learning about the story of the original liars, how they got away with murder and their lives before becoming parents.
It struck me about 55% into the book that Carrie and Cady are very similar protagonists living in different situations.
I usually hate short stories that are a part of series but this one is nowhere near as bad as the others, actually far from bad. It was short, snappy and to the point. I'm so glad I read it.
Growing up, iCarly was one of my favourite shows and I loved Jennette's acting. I was a bit apprehensive picking this up due to the fact that I've never read any memoirs before, but I'm glad this was my first.
Jennette's life was sad but I'm happy to know she's healing and telling her story. I don't have any words, I can only say that her writing is phenomenal
4.5 stars!
Re-read 1: I think I didn't give this book the credit it deserved. I think I was wrong to dislike it as much as I did and for that I want to change the rating from 2 to 3 stars.
I still wasn't over the moon with Signa or Death but I did appreciate Signa's dedication to her new family.
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This book was largely not what I would have wanted nor expected. I did not like Signa at all and Death was not exactly appropriate wanting her since she was a child. I was the least fond of that I must say.
I quite liked Percy which made it easy for me to assume he was the murderer, I have a thing for preferring the more villainous characters over the more normal ones.
It's too bad that Sylas was just death, I was hoping there'd be something more for Death to fight for if he truly wanted Signa.
I can't believe it's finished. I had a whole range of emotions running through me while reading this. Mostly happiness but there were a lot of tears involved.
4 stars!
I will not be continuing to read this book. I reached page 44 before having enough. Upon realising there was a zionist inspired character in this I decided to read more into the controversies in the book. There was so much more to this author such as being in conversation with the Hadassah, The Women's Zionist Organisation of America. As well as not crediting the work of a game programmer and completely disregarding them. This book within the first 44 pages completely glorified everything that was wrong in the world and all the reviews I have seen do not bring any of this up and I wish these looked past the words they see on a page. It's so much bigger than a game inspired by WW2 where people can be labeled as Nazi's, a guy wanting American born Jews to know about the true history of Israel. These are the authors opinions in written form, this is a projection of what she believes and I will not have any part in deluding myself into thinking that they are just words on a page.
I was under the impression that this book was terribly boring halfway through, it was not.
3.5 stars
Last book of 2023 and it didn't fail to make me cry
This book was amazing, twisted but most definitely amazing.
I just know it has a sad ending, one that I do not want to experience at all.
RTC!
This book... I did not expect to read 98% of it today and, now that I have, I understand how and why it happened.
This was such a fun and interesting journey, where Curse of the Wolf King had me in tears this one felt more lighthearted to me. (I assure you that it is not at all, I'm just weird)
I knew I liked Ember in the 1st book and it was a given for me to like Franco, even with his name.
Definitely a 4.5 star read for me.