Gabby
4/5 ⭐
I went in with quite low expectations especially after finding out that it was written in 3rd person. The book was better than I expected but was still lackluster compared to the original trilogy. The plot twists were lacking, the main couple had no chemistry whatsoever, there were too many added characters, and although the boy's missions were fast-paced and kept my interst they turned out to have no real point. Jameson only won Vantage to prove he could. And Grayson winds up telling his half-sisters pretty much everything. Avery had maybe 5 lines and no purpose in the story besides helping Jameson figure out riddles. She was already pretty boring of a main character but she was lifeless in this book. To anyone reading for Xander, Xander-Max, or Libby-Nash, you will be incredibly disappointed. Libby and Max are never even mentioned as far as I can remember and Xander also has maybe 3 scenes. As a Grayson girly, I wish he had a happier ending and some healing here. Also I hated the writing style of this book. The switching between the 2 storylines is obnoxious and it's written in 3rd person for literally no reason which made me want to DNF. The writing just fell flat compared to the last 3. Its a decent book but just know that it is no where near as good and the original trilogy. I will be reading the 5th book.
4.75/5 ⭐
I love Jacob so much he deserves the world and Briana better treat him right. Only my second Abby Jimenez book but I want to read everything she's ever written already. Jacob's anxiety was so well-written. I found myself relating to him a lot which is great. And the way Briana learned what made Jacob anxious and how to read him was so sweet I can't. I love fake dating and friends-to-lovers so this was perfect. Them bonding was everything. The letters, the phone calls, the closet meetings. Yes. Also I usually hate the one-bed trope but it was so good in this book. Briana's commitment issues kind of came out of nowhere for me. It didn't feel like it was built up throughout the book and was instead just thrown in at the end. So the third-act breakup was a little annoying because they literally just got together. Also the accidental pregnancy didn't feel necessary. But overall such a great book. Almost perfect, highly recommend.
1.25/5 ⭐
This is the worst book I read this year. I've read Wattpad fan fiction that is far better than this. I was looking for a sweet, wholesome, high school romance book. I was promised To All the Boys I've Loved Before but this doesn't even come close. This 250-page book took me about a week to read which for me is abhorrently slow. I didn't like any of the characters and I didn't care about the love triangle at all. I should have just DNF'ed it.
2.25/5 ⭐
This was an awful book that I should have DNF'ed. I have learned by lesson.
4.5/5 ⭐
This is my favorite thriller that I've ever read. Granted I'm still a newbie in the thriller genre but it was soooooo good. I hated almost all of the characters (especially Oliver) but that was good because it made it so that you couldn't trust anyone. It was so fast-paced and incredible how Holly Jackson could make 6 friends stuck in a 31-foot RV for 8 hours straight entertaining. The plot twists were shocking to me although somewhat far-fetched, it's not nearly as ridiculous as other thrillers that I've read.
3.5/5 ⭐
This book got me obsessed with chess for a second there. The book wasn't one of my favorites but it wasn't bad. Nolan was ok but I hated Mallory so much. She had no right to be pissed at Nolan. And what was wrong with her sisters?
4.75 stars! This was one of my favorite series that I've read this year. The author is incredibly smart. I'm in love with all of the characters (except the ones we're supposed to hate) I need to read more of this woman's work because this was incredible.
3.5/5 ⭐
I was disappointed by the lack of Nathan in this book. I was looking forward to see more of their relationship but he was hardly in this book. And when he was he felt too nice. He never gets mad at her and doesn't really care when she's not there for most of their wedding. Also none of the guests ever noticed that the bride was gone for almost all of the wedding? The book was very plot heavy but I guess I didn't care about the plot that much. The plot twists were so absurd that they felt ridiculous instead of shocking. I can take accidental murder but the mafia that's not actually mafia but just a random family turned assassins avenging their son's death!?!? That's just a little too far-fetched for me. The wedding planner family felt extremely underdeveloped. The Aunties were so annoying in this book especially since they were all drunk/high for half of it. It felt like they made the stupidest choices possible in every situation. The ending felt rushed as there was no resolution with Nathan's family.
2.75/5⭐
A much better end to the series than the dumpster fire that was Imagine Me. It started off really slow and I didn't care and almost DNF'd it but I pushed through because I wanted to finish the entire series. The book started some plot points that it didn't wrap up like the riots that were happening. Like why mention it if you're not going to resolve it yk? And the dynamics between Warner and everyone else were weird because he was beefing with everyone in this book. So happy for Brendan and Winston. They are so so cute together. Also, the spice was really good. “I'm going to marry you today. And then I'm going to make love to you until you can't remember your name.”
3.5/5 ⭐
Pretty average rom-com. Nothing I haven't read before. The classic helping-her-get-a-girlfriend-but-falling-for-her-in-the-process. Super predictable but I still enjoyed it because I'm basic. The changing room scene was my favorite. Alex really grew on me throughout the book because I really didn't like her at the beginning. I liked the college and job part. We had parts with each of their moms. I didn't mind them but I wasn't super invested. I read this in one sitting. It felt like not that much really happened but I wasn't bored. That doesn't make any sense but whatever. It was entertaining ok. They only mentioned the fact that they were gay once. It wasn't like their sexualities were mentioned a lot. It just felt like a normal straight rom-com but between two girls. So I don't know how I felt about that. The ending was fine, it just takes the main couple until like 10 pages from the end to finally get together so we don't have a lot of their relationship but we do get plenty of them hanging out and bonding. But yeah overall nothing new, nothing crazy, but entertaining and cute.
4.75/5 ⭐
Finally my first Abby Jimenez book! It really surprised me because at first I wasn't really into it and thought I would hate it. Mostly because of the insta-lust and also the small-town thing. I've never read a fwb type book and I didn't know that that's what this was going to be so it caught me off guard when they had a “one night stand” within like 3 chapters. But when they started falling for each other the book got good. Also I went in expecting a cute fluffy romance so I was surprised when the book started talking about the abusive cycle and family pressures and stuff like that. I wasn't surprised in a bad way though. It was informative without sounding like a schoolbook or like they're monologuing. Daniel deserves the world and Alexis better treat that man well. He did seem a little unrealistic sometimes when he would never ever get upset with her but is that not what fictional men are for? I loved the way all the main characters were written. I loved all the characters that I was supposed to love and hated all the characters I was supposed to hate. I can't tell if maybe I actually like small-town romances or if I just love this book. I know now that I shouldn't go into Abby Jimenez books when I want a cute lighthearted romance but when I want a romance that deals with real-life problems and is a little heavier, I will absolutely be reaching for an Abby Jimenez book.
6/5 ⭐
This is genuinely my favorite book I have ever read. I love Kazi but especially Jase with my entire heart. The plot was so good. It was an emotional rollercoaster. So well written.
4.25/5 ⭐
The good things:
The romance. Nathan had me kicking my feet and squealing constantly. One of my favorite book boyfriends which surprised me. I wasn't expecting any romance from this book but it delivered.
The book was hilarious. I eventually had to give up on highlighting every quote that I laughed at.
It reminds me a lot of Finlay Donavan Is Killing It and I loved that book.
As long as you don't think about it too much, it's a very entertaining and enjoyable book.
The bad things:
Incredibly unrealistic. I'm willing to suspend some of my disbelief but most of the book was so ridiculous that it was either funny or annoying. The Mareen/ Jacqueline relationship at the end felt so forced and strange. Your plan to get your best friend to fall in love with you was to rob her but not really!?!?! BSFR.
The main character annoyed me a lot at times. I get that it's a cultural thing but her entire life revolves around pleasing her Aunties.
The communication is not the best. When she dumped Nathan he just said "ok well I guess I'll leave now." I'm sorry what? You dated for 3 years and you're just going to leave? Also when he thought she cheated on him he just left and like 10 pages later he's totally over it and back in love with her.
The Aunties felt very stereotypical and their culture was pretty much only used to forward the plot like the "Chinese medicine" thing or when they misunderstood "Jake" on the dating app. None of them were very fleshed out and they all felt like they were the same person with 1 and only 1 personality trait. The assertive one, the one who speaks good English, the one who does Tai Chi, and the strict Asian mom.
This book was all over the place when it came to genre. Is it about family, romance, a dead guy? All of the above I guess.
Conclusion:
I can see why people could hate this book mainly because of the ridiculously unrealistic plot so if you're someone who hates unrealistic stories and needs everything to be logical then maybe skip
this book but if you can suspend your disbelief it's an enjoyable read.
3.5/5 ⭐
Such a cute quick read. Totally recommend if you're a fan of the series. There are extra mini-comics, a ton of art, some of her process, and some other stuff. It doesn't add that much to the plot but I think it was a nice pallet cleanser.
This book made me cry during Nick's coming out scene. I very rarely cry because of books but this one did it for me. The whole book was so well done. The gay confusion is absolutely perfect especially with Nick being confused about his sexuality. And also such a cute romance. I can't wait to continue this series. *Me from the future has reread this book way too many times.
1.5/5 ⭐
A dumpster fire by all accounts. It was so hard to get my grubby hands on this book. And it really let me down. It felt like nothing really happened. The characters felt kind of hollow. I get that she was busy working on the show but it really showed in this book. The conflicts were built up for the whole book but got resolved way too easily at the end. It was anti-climactic. Examples include Charlie's eating disorder and not wanting to be intimate with Nick but then Nick says that he thinks Charlie's hot and suddenly he's ok. Also the whole long-distance college selection thing. Also I get that she's trying to push messages about safe sex, “virginity is a construct”, and consent but the way it was delivered just felt like a weird PSA, health class type of thing that I didn't like. Although I did love some ace rep.
2.5/5 ⭐
A disappointing “end” to the series. It felt repetitive and Juliette's chapters were basically all fluff. And I skipped it whenever there would be Juliette's journal entries because we already read them. It was pretty much entirely a Kenji book which would be nice except that Kenji was just watching Warner be annoying and worrying about Juliette. Why won't Anderson just die already? I swear he has come back to life like 17 times in this series and I'm so done. Not even just because I hate him but it's just so stupid. Also, Warner was honestly the most obnoxious jerk for almost the entire book. He detaches and acts awful to everyone just because Juliette isn't there. Like???? It's not cute. It's not romantic. It's just rude and annoying. He's relapsing to how he used to be but worse somehow. I get that he only likes Juliette but he didn't have act so awful. He already wasn't my favorite but this book really ruined him for me. Anyway yeah I really hated this book