Emi

Huge thanks to Netgalley for letting me read an ARC of this in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly ignore my rating because this book was so much fun and I couldn't put it down, it just definitely had its flaws. Mostly the characters ages and how they should have been aged up.

More of a RTC

3.5/5 stars

This book really just scraped the surface of its potential. It could have been really, really good, but never quite became something. Perhaps, character development would have been a great place to start.

I liked the first book just fine, but the fact that this is going to be a trilogy is making me hate the series.

I can't believe it's going to be 2022. It doesn't seem possible tbh but here we are. But it's also a good thing because it means we're one day closer to Gallant by VE Schwab and Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong aka my most anticipated releases of 2022 that I would literally sell my soul for.

Anyways, below are my reading goals for the year and a list of books I want to actually read. We're keeping it simple this year to try to achieve everything.

2022 Reading Goals
•I want approximately 15% of books I read to be rereads, no more. Aka read more books for the first time. Aka read the books that have sitting unread on my shelves for years
•Write my review/thoughts for every book I read even if it's just a sentence.
•Try to read 200 books this year, but also don't force myself to read 200 books this year. And don't be disappointed if I don't reach 200 books. Reading isn't a job, it's a hobby.
•Read outside my comfort zone more (aka read more than just YA fantasy and more like adult historical fiction)
•Complete the Popsugar 2022 Reading Challenge!
•Read more diverse books!
•Unless it's an ebook for my kindle, I don't want to buy books off Amazon. At all. It's February and I've already failed this.... it's just so cheap
•We won't talk about how much I spent on books last year, but it was a lot a lot, so I have a specific budget for books this year that I don't want to go over .

Books I want to read:
(I'm going to go through each month and mark the ones I have completed. If it's bolded, I've read them)

•The Goldfinch by Donna Tart
•The Secret History by Donna Tart
•Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
•Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
•Persuasions by Jane Austen
•The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
•Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
•The Winner's Curse trilogy by Marie Rutokoski
•Red Queen Series by Victoria Aveyard
•Shatter Me Series by Taharah Mafi
•Serpent & Dove series by Shelby Mahurin
•The Raven Cycle series by Maggie Stiefvater
•The Diviner's series by Libba Bray
•The Daevabad trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty
•Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco
Kingdom of the Wicked series by Kerri Maniscalco
•Strange the Dreamer Duology by Laini Taylor
•Briar U series by Elle Kennedy
•Reread the Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
• Reread the Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan (but not Heroes of Olympus bc I will not be able to emotionally handle Mark of Athena again)
• Reread Vicious & Vengeful by VE Schwab
• Read five Colleen Hoover books

I'll probably add more goals as I think of them, but that's a start.

2.5/5 stars

I'm not marking spoilers so proceed at your own risk.

Because of her popularity on TikTok, Colleen Hoover's books are more likely than ever to be read by people outside her age demographic. This book is going to be read by many people whose brains are not fully developed yet. People who may not fully understand the full extent of the consequences of drugs and alcohol. But taking this into account, the idealization of driving under the influence was not okay to me. It felt tone-death.

I do understand that everyone makes mistakes and people should forgive and learn and grow from their situations, but drunk driving is a hard mistake with severe consequences. Kenna's actions killed a man and maybe I'm just heartless, but I don't those are any sort of mistakes that can be forgiven in 330 pages. Yes, she was upset about what happened and yes, she went through a lot. But driving under the influence is a choice, that she made, and it killed a man.

And maybe I'd also be less annoyed at Kenna if she went the legal way of trying to meet the child she birthed. I know the government ain't shit, but there's still programs out there that would be able to help her. What did she even think was going to happen? Just trying to ambush this family at their house??? Um no.

I definitely don't think the grandparents raising Diem (the child) were ever the villains here. I back them up entirely for taking full custody of the child. Yes, the book addresses this at the very end, but I don't feel like this was prominent enough.

And one thing that was never addressed? Ledger had absolutely no right showing Kenna pictures of Diem, especially considering at the moment Diem's guardians were very clear that they did not want Kenna in her life. It is basic respect.

And why does every CoHo male love interests have to have a weird name and lots of money? Why did Ledger have to own the bar? After he was a professional football player? And owns tow houses? Why couldn't he just be the bartender? There was no reason for him to be super rich and successful 26-year old.

Idk this entire book just didn't sit with me. I can see why people might like it or why Colleen Hoover is so addicting to some people, but the more I read her books, the more I wish she didn't touch some subjects.

4/5 stars

I want to, soooo so badly, to give this 5 stars. Because it's VE Schwab, my favorite author ever and I love everything they do, but I don't give out 5 stars as easily as I used to and we've got to be honest with my rating.

But let's be real here, I'll probably go back and give it 5 stars. I'm just such trash for Schwab that it's not even funny anymore. And there were definitely parts that were 5 stars here, especially the writing, which was absolutely gorgeous (as per usual with VE Schwab) and the story between Olivia's parents. If this story was just about Olivia's mother and father, it might be one of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given out, but, unfortunately, it probably would have been too reminiscent of Addie Larue and we got this book instead.

And, also as per usual with VE Schwab, the plot and the world are so beautiful and complex and unique. Truly unlike any other book out there.

I loved all that, but I was left wanting more (and not in the good way).

I just think the story was rushed and the characters didn't seem very fleshed out. And there were a few times here and there where I was bored. I wasn't compelled to pick it up.

Now this book is a lot to take it, and a lot to think about, but it was absolutely beautiful in the most heartbreaking of ways.

I'm in awe.

There's something so satisfying about reading your most anticipated read of the year and having it live up to the hype. Chloe's mind is absolutely incredible.

At least I have three Chloe Gong books coming out next year to feed me, bc I'm already feel a post book depression coming on.

3.75/5 stars

This book was beautifully written with compelling perspectives on societal standards of women and the pressures there are to use ourselves and our bodies to gain respect that already should be given. Emily's insights were fascinating and heartbreaking at times, and honestly I'd recommend everyone to read this.

However, I struggle to rate this book any higher than what I've given it due to the fact that in the rare moment when these topics weren't discussed, there was a palpable disconnect between reader and author.

Shout out to the representation in this book. We love to see it.

But I also hated the characters and dialogue and overall plot. Talk about allosexual propaganda.

Honestly this book could have been a great, diverse feminist read but it really missed the mark.

And Prem, the male mc, unironically called his dick “Charlie”?!?! And that he literally pressured Kareena into dating him? And showed up unannounced to “rescue her from a date”

This book was so good but I hated it so much at the same time

The representation within this book is absolutely phenomenal and the book is worth the read for that alone.

But everything else just wasn't for me. I never got attached to the characters or plot or writing style.

So this book doesn't actually deserve two stars. It deserves three. I give books that were just fine three stars and that is exactly what this book is. It' just fine

But I'm petty and the ending didn't sit right with me at all so I'm taking away a star out of spite. Insert shrugging emoji here

See, this book could have been amazing. Nicola Yoon is such a great writer. She could have done so much with this story. But I just felt like it was missing too much. Honestly, at a little over 280 pages long, this book was too short. The length of this book made the romance too rushed, the fantastical element of the story was brushed off to the side for most of the story, and the grand event that the story was leading up to was like two pages long. It was just so rushed. It didn't work for me.

But then, so many things were stretched out (which didn't need to be stretched out), such as the relationship with

Let's not even talk about how the love interest was named X. Why? What was the point? Sorry if your name is X but like I'm sorry.

And don't even get me started on the ending. I fucking hate that ending.

But, like, this was still cute. There was some good character development and I'm ALWAYS a slut for character development.

3.75/5 stars

If you ask me what I just read, I don't think I could tell you

I remember absolutely nothing from my 10th grade Chemistry class, but I do know, for a fact, that this book has way less chemistry in it then my brain does.

I thought I was trash for the American fallz in love with a prince trope. I've seen that fucking Netflix Christmas movie with the girl from that one Power Rangers season like 10 times. I don't know what I'm trash for anymore.

The characters were annoying. There feelings developed put of nothing. It tried to be funny, but the jokes missed everytime. I couldn't tell the side characters apart. I think I hate myself more for not DNFing this.

3.25/5 stars

This would have been so, so much better of they dropped three POVs and made it all about Alistair imho.

There was a really poorly written review here that I wrote when I was like 17. That review is gone now. Just know that this book is 10/10 stars and Nico do Angelo deserves so much better.

2021 Year Wrapup
There's only two weeks left of the year, so I decided now is the best time to reflect on my 2021 reading. My past few years (2017-2020) of reading were absolutely pathetic, but this year I did fantastic. My best reading year ever. As I write this, I'm at 160 books read and I still have much faith that I might make it to 175 books by New Year's Eve. And I've read some amazing books this year.

Update: I have like 200 pages left of a book to finish, but I have hit 178 book so round of applause for me

2021 Favorite Books
These Violent Delights duology by Chloe Gong (I will never get over Our Violent Ends)
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Gilded Wolves trilogy by Roshani Chokshi
House of Hollow by Katherine Sutherland
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Promise Land by Barack Obama
Becoming by Michelle Obama

I'd also like to address the books I hated the most. Fuck you G*ld by Raven Kennedy and Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by JLA :)

Anyways, at the beginning of the year, I made a bunch of goals of things I wanted to read/do this year. (you can read them all below if you care) I thought I would address my reading goals and if I actually achieved them or not:

What were my 2021 reading goals
1. Only read the Foxhole Court maybe once a month instead of ten times in a row...

I only read the Foxhole Court three times this year so honestly I smashed this out of the park.

2. In 2020, about 75% of the books I read were rereads, I want to drop that percentage down to about 50%. Even though I am crazy and absolutely prefer rereading a book to reading a book for the first time, but I'm running out of books to reread.

If I counted right, only 68 out of the 160 books I've read (so far) have been rereads. Which translates to 43%. I also smashed this goal

3. Prioritize reading more. I usually tend to priotize Harry Styles over everything in my life and it cuts into my reading time...

I did not priorize Harry Styles over reading. That was the biggest fail of all time and Idk why i would even think it's possible. I traveled to two different states to see him in person and did zero reading in either state. But honestly Harry will never stop being my #1 priority.

But other than that, i did pretty good with this goal.

4. Read more diverse books

I wish I did better, but I did try to read as many div

5. Read the books that have been sitting on my bookshelf for years, unread

Hahahahahahahahahaha nope

I've read a few books that have been on my shelves for years (like Burn for Burnby Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian and The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee) but like this was an epic fail

6. Write more reviews

Yeah nah this didn't happen

7. Read at least one book a week

Technically, I've read over 3 books per week so go me




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2021 Year Goals
I'm just gonna jump on the bangwagon and list all my reading goals for 2021 and maybe I can actually get around to them for once. We'll see but probably not

2021 Reading Goals
1. Only read the Foxhole Court maybe once a month instead of ten times in a row...
2. In 2020, about 75% of the books I read were rereads, I want to drop that percentage down to about 50%. Even though I am crazy and absolutely prefer rereading a book to reading a book for the first time, but I'm running out of books to reread.
3. Prioritize reading more. I usually tend to priotize Harry Styles over everything in my life and it cuts into my reading time...
4. Read more diverse books
5. Read the books that have been sitting on my bookshelf for years, unread
6. Write more reviews
7. Read at least one book a week

Books I Want to Read
1. Moment of Truth by Kasie West
2. Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
3. If I'm Being Honest by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
4. Child of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
5. Sadie by Courtney Summers
6. The Cousins by Karen M. McManus
7. Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
8. Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
9. King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
10. House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas

Series I Actually Want to Finish Reading but Haven't
1. The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maaz
2. The Ember in the Ashes series by Sabaa Tahir
3. The Renegades series by Marissa Meyer
4. The Strange the Dreamer duology by Laini Taylor
5. The Nevernight trioligy by Jay Kristoff
6. The Red Rising series by Piece Brown
7. The Aurora Cycleseries by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
8. The Winner's Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
9. The Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi
10. The Remnant Chronicles by Mary E. Pearson

Books/Series I Want To Reread
1. The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic
2. Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
3. Venegful by Victoria Schwab
4. The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
5. The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
6. The Eragon series by Christopher Paolini
7. We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson
8. Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner
9. The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler
10. The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
11. Looking For Alaska by John Green
12. Winger by Andrew Smith

4/5 stars

This book was just a snapshot of the main character's life, and honestly it wasn't anything super unique, but it felt so real and raw and thorough that I absolutely adored it.

Urghhh I wanted to like this sooo badly, but I just never connected to the characters or the plot. I've read a lot of reviews that state this book reads like a fairy tale, but to me, it read like a toddler trying to tell a story to get out of going to bed.

It was a mess and it wasn't for me.

2.75/5 stars

Asexual and aromantic representation? : absolutely fantastic

Plot and characters?: somehow both over dramatic and incredibly boring at the same time.

I'm giving this 3 stars, since that's right in the middle and there's some stories I didn't love as much, but this was wayyyy to cute.