Ash

I love Roman and Iris. Enemies to lovers is still my favorite of all tropes. I loved the letters and the magical typewriters. I loved Attie and Marisol. I didn't care about the war until they were in the trenches, and I still don't really care about the mythology. I wish the caliber of writing in the letters and articles was higher or more flowery. There were a few lines that were pretty, but they were too few. I wanted to be moved by the words and be pulled into the narrative that she was an exceptional writer. I also wish that the dialogue had been aligned with the time period a little, again to pull me into believing the world they were in. That being said, I did really enjoy this book despite these things, and I will be reading the next one.

Was not expecting the “not like other girls” trope, but I will forgive it because of how wonderful Josh is. lol I loved everything about Josh. He was compassionate, funny, and patient, but not overbearing. I mostly loved Kristen, though her self-sacrificing almost ruined it for me. I love the wit of the fmc's that Jimenez writes. I always catch myself smiling while reading the dialogue between her characters. I loved Sloan and Brandon and I was so shocked, but secretly so sucked in after the motorcycle accident. That was wild. I'm usually not into the pregnancy ending of romance novels, but because of the subject matter, I loved and teared up with this one. I really like the start of this series and I look forward to continuing.

This book threw me into a reading slump. Several people told me that this book was amazing and I needed to read it. I genuinely do not understand why. The writing, the plot, and the pacing were unenjoyable. Pip was annoying. The awkward almost romance with Ravi was not it for me. I'm really not okay with what happened to Barney. The fact that every person interviewed just said everything to this random high schooler. Then Pip would overlook super obvious clues and then jump in to catch the murderers with not enough clues. I knew what was going to happen every step of the way. I understand that it was written for the young adult demographic, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be clever. Even the characters themselves were so bland. Pip likes doing schoolwork so much that it's her whole personality. For what? I feel like I'm getting more upset about this book as I write this review, so I'm just going to stop here.

Never have I squeed as much as I squmpt while reading this. It's just so good. Like I think I'm just in love with Emily Henry at this point. I loved Daphne just as much as I loved Miles. The way they saw each other and communicated was everything I'm looking for in a romance. When loving someone becomes this dance where the two partners are doing subconscious and conscious small things constantly to make the other's life easier or happier, it just sends me. I loved that Petra wasn't vilified by Daphne and she put all the blame on Peter, as she should. I loved Ashleigh and Harvey and all the little characters that showed up for Daphne. The effortless banter and witticisms sprinkled in Daphne's conversations with everyone, made me giggle the entire time. I'm still basking in the glow of the "funny story" call back, but that Miles lets Daphne tell it because she loves to. I genuinely have zero criticisms for this book. I'm just so sad it is over. I really didn't think she could top Book Lovers for me.

I think Howl and Sophie are just real magic. The movie is my all-time favorite and I've been putting off reading the book because I was worried it would change my feelings for the movie. It really hasn't. The book is vastly different, but it has enough elements that stayed the same to make it familiar. I loved this book. There is no redemption for the witch of the waste, but it didn't need it. I loved Calcifer, and book Michael, being 15 instead of 9 or 10, was perfect. I liked that Sophie had her own magic. Lettie and Martha were great. The relationship between Howl and Sophie was nuanced and it was almost surprising that he had fallen for Sophie at the end of the book even though I knew it was coming. I was a little sad that Turniphead was less of a character as the scarecrow golem. My favorite part of the book was how Howl really was from Wales and loved rugby so much that his heart made Calcifer sing Sosban fach (the saucepan song). This story is timeless and I'm sure I will read this book again throughout my life.

This book was awful. The writing, the characters and their utter lack of personality or development in any way, the “romance”, and even the smut was skeevy. The ADHD representation was the only redeeming quality for me. I just did not like any of these characters. Except maybe Wes. Sudden insta-love between people that have known each other forever is just weird. Like it should have built up a little. It was like if Odette stayed with Derek after he realized she was pretty and that was all he needed (sorry for the random swan princess reference). Teddy was also annoying. I can't imagine a world in which I would continue this series just out of the fear of having to read another 300+ pages with her as the main character. It was really difficult not to DNF this.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I think the obvious pining of Olive and the seemingly aloof act of Stella's made the fake dating unenjoyable. Usually, I love getting a single pov in a romance, but I really didn't here. Olive's self-doubt on top of Stella's self-doubt was too much. I hated Linday as a character and how she was written. She liked having Olive as a toy and didn't want to share, and a character with that level of arrogance wouldn't keep pointing out how out of their league Stella was. I loved Derek and I loved sick Olive and caretaker Stella, but the rest read like a ya high school romance. I feel like I'm liking it even less as I write out this review so I'm going to stop before another star drops off.

I want to yell from the mountain tops about how much I love this series. I am head over heels for Jordan and Astrid. This book was so swoon-worthy. I fell asleep reading this book at 11 pm and woke up at 3 am and kept going on a work day. I loved their discovery of their true passions. I loved the descriptions that the author gives of the way the characters look, the way their clothes look, the way their designs look. I felt like I was in the Everwood with the Blue Lady the whole time. I'm happy that Isabel is having a mini redemption like Astrid had in the first book. I loved the cherry stem/drunk on the swings scene, I loved that the author mentions other famous queer romance books in front of the rainbow bookshelf, I didn't love Natasha or Simon, but the way this book hooked me in, I can overlook anything I didn't like.

I recently watched Saltburn, so I kind of figured this one out early on. I knew who Jules was, I knew Ruby killed everyone, and I knew the rest of the McTavish family members would die. I was pleasantly surprised that Cam knew about Jules the entire time and still loved her and that she really loved him. I feel like love doesn't transcend the transgressions of a character often in the mystery genre, and I usually am glad for it, but I wanted Cam and Jules to still be in love. And I know that this was set up by the sadness of Andrew falling out of love with Ruby, but still... I was hoping that Cam's father would be Howell or that his mom was Andrew's niece or something that was another machination of Ruby's. I also wanted Jules to find out about the stunt Libby pulled and have had that murder be an actual scene. Not just accidental smoke inhalation. Lol. I don't know what that says about me, but I'm not taking it back.

I really wanted to like this book more. I was bored for a lot of it. I didn't hate it, but I just didn't want to read it while reading... When I think of the plot as a whole, there really isn't all that much that went on either. The romance was kind of creepy because homie stated that he fell in love with her when he first saw her at age 14 and thought of her every day since. His exact age isn't specified in the book, so I had to search for somewhere online where the author specified, just so I could get the feeling of him grooming her out of my mind enough to think anything kind of their “romance.” Saint and Willa were interesting, and Auster and Paj were cute. Fable was just blah and so was West. I'm going to try to read Namesake to see if it gets better before I decide if I'm going to complete this series.

This is the kind of unreliable narrator stories I love. Josie was scary and unpredictable. I was nervous that she was going to be around Alix's children. I was also weirdly scared that she was going to be caught with all of the things she was stealing from Alix. Reading gives you weird empathy sometimes. Never for pedophiles though. I will say that I don't agree that a 40-45 year old man should ever be able to be “seduced” by a 13-18 year old. I kind of hated that he had a redemption arc ngl. He was cheating on his wife and cheated on his mistress with her daughter. There isn't any coming back from that. I don't care how funny you are on a twitch, I mean glitch stream. He also kicked Fred's shit into the gutter instead of picking it up when he walked him. Noh. I was really hoping Nathan made it out. I'm glad Fred had a better home. I think this would actually do really well as a fake documentary series. I really enjoyed the ride.

I already love this series. I didn't read the premise before buying the whole series and reading this one. I get that it's titled bromance, but for some reason it didn't click that it would be a bunch of athletic dudes reading romance books in order to better their relationships. It's adorable. I loved Gavin and his love for Thea and his daughters. I loved Mack and Del and even weirdo Vlad. Thea and Liv were questionable for most of the book, but they came around at the end. This book was very near perfect. If I could do half stars, it would have been a 4.5.

Elena Armas might be my favorite romance author. Her male characters are just so good. I squee at the most minor interactions between the characters, let alone the spice. The characters are vulnerable and self-aware without being self-hating sad sacks. There are multiple swoony moments and hijinks that kept me flipping through at a rapid pace. I loved Rosie and Lucas. Lately, I feel like it's rare that I absolutely love both the fmc and mmc in a romance. I didn't have any faults with them. I did feel like Olly's story wasn't fleshed out well at the end. Did the club owner just let him go? What happened to the girl he was doing it for? Other than that, I loved every aspect of this book.

This book was almost good. It would have been 4 stars if the author eliminated Mr. Mundic and all of the slurs that the they felt way too comfortable incorporating. He was so unnecessary and offensive. This story did not need him in the slightest. The dog wouldn't have had to die either. I'm so mad because I loved Margery and Enid. Their friendship and how they grew together was beautiful. The mystery behind Enid's identity and what she did was hilarious. I loved that she got her baby and they found the beetle. Ugh. It really could have been 4 stars.

It's not a secret that I love Christina Lauren books. This book was equal parts frustrating and swoony. I LOVE Calvin. He's too good to be true and I'm not even mad about it. Holland on the other hand was frustrating. I understood her insecurity, but her assumptions and lack of willingness to talk out her misunderstandings dragged out the third act break up to where it took up the entire last 100 pages of the book. I know it sounds like I didn't enjoy this book, but I really did. Lol. I loved the descriptions of music and how into his guitar Calvin was. I loved the tension and the building of love between Calvin and Holland. Marriage of convenience is just such a great trope. I was so happy that Holland dropped Lulu, but I wish we could have gotten the dialogue where Holland tells Lulu that the friendship is for real over. I have like 4 other Christina Lauren books lined up for this year and it makes me happy.

It took me a little while to become invested with this one, but I think that's just how it goes for me with books that start off with multiple point of views. I loved this magic system. I mean of course magic by way of book is going to be interesting to a bookworm. I guessed quite a lot of the plot before the end of part 1, but I wasn't disappointed to have been correct. I knew who Maram was, I knew that Cecily was under the NDA, and I knew Esther was a scribe. I loved the relationship between the sisters and Cecily. I loved Nicholas' perspective as a sheltered rich kid. I could have done without the romance between Johanna and Collins. It was unnecessary and felt cheap. I know she loved romance novels, but meh. It was good enough with the romance between Esther and Pearl. Overall, I really enjoyed this one, but there were definitely some unanswered questions. Who was the Asian woman that saved Esther in the airport? What was Richard really looking for with the truth spells if he was the one who planned the attack in the car? Where does the hearing magic/scribe magic originate? Did Nicholas ever use the magic carpet spell again? Okay, that last one is just something I'm curious about.

I love SJM's characters. I grow so attached to them and end up crying multiple times during every one of her books. Her action scenes are unparalleled and the suspense is always gripping. That being said, there were too many things squished into this book. That's crazy, considering it was 800+ pages. The power ups and the parasites were over the top. It was hard for me to get used to the abrupt POV shifts to the point where every time it popped back to Ithan I would scoff and close the book for a while. Ithan and Sigrid could have been edited out and I would have been fine with it. I'm assuming the next book is going to focus a lot on Tharion and the Viper Queen and his wife, which I'm excited about. I liked where their story was going. I love Lidia and Ruhn more than Bryce and Hunt so I was happy that we got to see their romance more for this book. I almost quit reading when Lidia died for a hot minute. I loved Jesiba's whole character and the sprites. The amount of times I exclaimed, “lol. What?” out loud while reading this book was insane. Exclamations also included were: “Secret tunnel!” “Sons?!” “SON?! Bruv what is this book?” “The freaking sprites!!” “I love secret staircases!!” “I forgot about the ottersss.” “DOES THAT MEAN THAT LIDIA IS A DESCENDENT OF AELIN IF IT'S BRANNON'S FIRE???!” I will say, I'm more excited to see what will happen in the next ACOTAR book with Nesta and the sword and I'm hoping to find out what the connection between Ruhn and Azriel is. Also, the moment that Nesta got to hear loving words from a mother figure with Ember.

This was way cuter than I was anticipating. I absolutely love Wendell, and Poe, and Shadow, and Aud, and Lilja. I loved that Emily was able to find a community that wasn't Fae. I'm so excited to see what will happen in the next book. I want more of Emily and Wendell being adorable, I want to know where Poe's key leads, and I want Wendell to find his way home and to bring Emily.

Wow. I thought I was going to love this book. I like the story when the plot points are summarized down to a basic outline, but I couldn't stand Marion and her self doubt. I couldn't stand her sister, fiancé, or father. Peter was blah and they didn't even get together until they were in their 60's? I wanted more story while she was a Rockette and less about her moping around about her crap family. I feel like this is just poorly written fan fiction about the actual “Mad Bomber” and the start of the criminal minds department of the FBI.

I'm not going to lie...This was almost a four star read for me. I loved Alex and Lauren, but this story didn't do it for me the way I wanted it to. (Okay, I'll be honest, the extra star might have been knocked off because they teased the whole time about pegging and it was not given to us and I'm so maddddd...) I mean come on. I liked that this book went along the same timeline as the first in the series up to a certain point, but after they caught up and there was still half the book to go, I balked at continuing. I will probably read the next one soon. I'm hoping the pacing will be better in the next one (and that Dade will not be such an insufferable tease).

I had this on my shelf for two years? I'm probably going to binge this entire series...let's be honest. I love the characters in this book. Generally, I'm not a huge fan of reverse harem because it gets ridiculous after a certain point, but I was all for this the whole way. It's genuinely difficult for me to pick a favorite of the guys. I loved Booker, Jonathon, and Auguste so much. Ezra was also great. I wasn't a huge fan of Amon for most of the book. I'm excited to continue reading.

It took me a while to get into this one. Not having the male leads actually be there until a good chunk of the book has gone by is probably why. I loved Ted. I love complex male counterparts. Laura was annoying for the first part of the book, but she grew on me too. I also loved every side character. I think the author did a really good job of depicting Jasper. Even though he was literally perfect, he gave off a little bit of an ick that made Ted the clear choice. Him ending up with Suki was perfect. I also liked the clever way the author wrote the sex scene by comparing to movie sex scene shots of just the hand in the sheets or kissing the neck to make it not remotely spicy, but get the point across without a frustrating fade to black. It was a good read overall.

I loved Opal and Arthur. This book was the perfect amount of spooky, but safe. I loved the house and the Hellcat and Bev and Charlotte. I wish it was harder to figure out the mystery of Elenor/ Nora Lee and the Underland story. I needed there to be more of a riddle or something. Even though Opal and Arthur were in their late twenties and early thirties, they read like 18-year-olds. They were petulant and it definitely felt like more of a coming-of-age story than an adult fantasy. I still really liked it, but it needed to be more.

I love Emily Stone. I love her characters and the way they deal with loss and grief. I also love that the cover artist captured a scene from the book accurately. I loved Tom and I knew early on that he would be the one to bounce. I wish I didn't have to spend the first half of the book hating Sam, but I accept it for the story. Cassie was wonderful and so was Linda, Hazel, and Josh. All of Emily Stone's books center around letters, loss, and Christmas, and yet they are completely different. I loved Always, in December so much and have recommended it as my favorite Christmas book to everyone I know. I definitely felt stronger about Josie and Max than Cassie and Sam, but I loved this book. Thankfully I didn't weep while reading this one. I'm going to go straight into Love, Holly so wish me luck.

This book was slow for me. I think it was hard for me to get into because I was prepared the whole time for Snow to be terrible and for it not to work out with Lucy Gray. I loved Tigris and Dr. Gaul. I realized that I had actually gotten into the book and Coryo's mind when I was almost relieved that Sejanus was caught. He was stressing me out. I liked that we got to see Snow's step into poisoning and I loved that it made so much sense why he hated Katniss so much. Everything that she was reminded him of Lucy Gray. He knew Lucy had left him when she went out to pick katniss bulbs, Katniss sings the song Lucy Gray wrote about Billy Taupe, Katniss is the plucky longshot girl tribute from district 12 who gets everyone's attention and love, and her symbol is the mockingjay bird that he hates. I watched the movie right after finishing the book and I loved the casting. Lucy Gray was perfect. Some of the changes they made for the movie pissed me off though. Book Snow thought he was doing the right thing the entire time and that spoke to how he became the evil character in the trilogy. Movie Snow was making evil decisions from the get and it changed how his character came across completely. I was mostly pissed about the erasure of Ma and Clemmie. Other things like ending the games with the snake scene and having cameras in the tunnels was fine. Having Lucky played by Jason Schwartzman was the best decision they made by far. I hated book Lucky. Overall, I don't feel like this book was necessary, but I'm not mad about reading it.