Ash
I was sold for the first half of this book, but the resolution was annoying. Adults that take a child's word for something pertaining to their adult relationship without having a single adult conversation is dumb. Kids saying “the darndest things” is so ingrained in our society and there are a million stories where a child says something so out of context and outside the bounds of reality, but you're just going to sit there and base your life around it? No. It felt like lazy writing. I still liked it overall.
I jumped into this one straight after finishing Emily Henry's Happy Place and it was difficult for me not to compare. This is by far my favorite Christina Lauren book. (FINALLY NO FADE TO BLACK BSSSSS!!) I binged this book in a single Sunday. I love Christina Lauren characters and this book gave me the squee moment I've been looking for lately. I laughed and cried and that is really all I'm looking for with a reading experience. Elliot is swoon-worthy, for the most part. I want more women's fiction from Christina Lauren.
I'm not huge into second chance romance, only because it is usually paired with the miscommunication trope. It's hard for me to be into the love interest when they are self-deprecating and on that sad sack bs. I know Wyn was depressed and had mental health struggles and I shouldn't fault him for that, but being on the other end of that shit is so hard. I understand why Harriet shut down and didn't want to add to the pile of negativity on Wyn's shoulders. Ultimately, if they had just communicated and not gone off of their well-meaning assumptions, they wouldn't have ever had to break up. But then there wouldn't be a story... Obviously I still liked this book, but it might be my least favorite of Emily Henry's romances.
My problem with this book is how it read so clinical. I couldn't become emotionally invested in these characters because of it. This happened, and then this hardship happened, and then this other thing happened...and then some abruptly crude sexual moment is sprinkled throughout. My criticism also comes from having read Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi and Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu in the past year. The structure of following families through history and the struggles they go through is similar, but with these other two books, I cried and laughed while along the ride. Also, I started this book as an audiobook, but the mispronunciation of almost every Korean word made me switch to the physical copy so quickly. I liked the story, and I will probably really like the mini series, but I didn't enjoy reading this book.
Oh my god I love these characters. I found this book on TikTok because I followed the Harker McNair page when Mandy was posting the ACOTAR skits. I was so scared to start this book because I love the TikTok content and just seeing glimpses into the Harker household and I didn't want to be let down. I REALLY SHOULD HAVE JUST STARTED IT A MILLION YEARS SOONER THOUGH!!!
I am generally not a generous star giver, but this book deserves all 5. I love the world, I love the distinct voice of each character, I love the tech with the sparcs and the dystopia by way of gene mutation and attempts at containment with glass. I was a little intimidated in the beginning because of the frequency of POV shifts and the large amount of characters, but they are each written in such a distinguishing way and are given in intervals that keep you interested in every perspective and experience. Then when the back stories of a character would come in, I just got sucked up into that character and wanted more. I want the next book to be in my hands yesterday.
It's weird because this was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, but because of that, it felt like a let down. I have heard from some friends that this book is one of their favorite classics so when I had a reading prompt come up for a book with a rabbit on the cover, I went for it. I definitely fell in love with a few of the characters, but it was overall kind of boring to me.
This book pissed me off. It had so much promise. The character descriptions and what they believed in and were working towards was let down by the way they were written. This is a romance book, and while I appreciated all of the SAT level word choices thrown about, where was the story? Not a single squee moment, no tension, no banter, not a single humorous moment in the entire book, and then to go from nothing to married and “my little wife” with the cringiest spice scenes I've read in a while, no thanks. (Her beautiful nub...
Super predictable, but a pleasant ride. I loved learning about the wrens and their use of carrier pigeons. I just feel like I knew the entire story before I even read anything. Eddie was destined to die because he was too perfect and Percy was destined to get the girl because he was obnoxious. I was surprised when I realized who Evelyn really was, but after finding out, the rest of the plot fell right into the predictable groove. I liked it, but didn't love it.
I went into this book without knowing what the premise was. I went off of ratings alone and I'm glad I did. This book is beautifully written. The author's purpose in educating readers about the governmentally sanctioned sterilizations of poor brown and black women was effective. I liked that the narrator was describing this story to her daughter the whole time and not one of the two sisters because it cemented the fact that she wasn't their savior and they had their own lives to live. This was a great book.
I'm growing fonder and fonder of celebrity memoires lately. Reading the actual experiences from these people instead of what the creepy paparazzi capture and the stories they create based off of nothing, makes me furious for them. Growing up watching iCarly, I would never have guessed that the person behind the character “Sam” was experiencing such a different life than what was presented. I remember feeling jealous that she could eat so much and stay so skinny. I hope Jennette writes more. I like her writing and I love watching interviews during the promotion of this book.
I'm never going to be a fan when the book starts off with unlikable characters. Olivia is selfish and conniving and Bennet doesn't actually have a personality outside of taking Olivia's bs over and over and still showing up. It was never an issue of zodiac incompatibility, she was just dumb. I wasn't rooting for their pairing until the last couple of chapters. This book has one of my least favorite tropes. The MC that is pretty terrible to everyone, but it's all a “misunderstanding” and the other characters flock around and make them feel better about whatever they did. I wish this book had more zodiac history or facts. Olivia talked constantly about the compatibility of certain zodiacs, but we didn't actually get to see her do much pairing except with Harper. I liked all of the older characters and the cultural aspects with the funeral and making the moon cakes and swiss rolls. I love the enemies to lovers trope, but the enemies still have to be likable. This was just a miss for me.
This was a miss for me. I liked the premise and I loved Marx, but a lot of this book annoyed me. The dialogue was flat and I don't know if that's because Sam and Sadie are just terrible characters or if it was the writing itself. I liked the games and the familiar feeling of playing games in the late 90's and early 2000's and I could picture Ichigo in my head. The outline of the book was interesting. I just hated Sam and Sadie and Dov. Sam would rather be in his feelings about his chronic pain than have any sort of healthy communication with the people in his life. Sadie was just self-centered and didn't deserve Marx. And Dov was a sexual predator. The constant miscommunication reminded me of Normal People (though at least Zevin understands punctuation...). If I have to keep being reminded that Sam and Sadie have this deep connection because they never have any scenes where they are connecting, it just makes me not care about them.
I hate cliffhangers! I'm frustrated with the descriptions in this book. Where the characters are and their position in the space they reside is never clear and that greatly stunts my ability to see the scene in my head. Like her legs are where? And they are accomplishing this how? No clue. I still hate the miscommunication. I love all of the draken though, and Bele and Rhain. I still prefer Poppy to Sera, but I'll still continue the prequel series.
I've watched the mini-series that Harry and Meghan put out and their Oprah interview. I've never been interested in celebrity gossip or tabloid fodder. Reading the actual stories or watching something told from a celebrity's actual perspective is what is interesting to me. I can't imagine living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. It always sounds terrible. I hope for peace and safety for Harry and Meghan.
I was hooked early, but as soon as we switched POV's, I was completely sold on this book. I loved the justice, I loved the explanation behind the behavior shown by Daphne and Bella, I loved the twist. Hating Amber the whole time and loving Daphne was refreshingly consistent for this type of twist. The only thing I would have changed about this book is the timing of when Daphne revealed what she knew about Amber. I don't think that it aligns with Daphne's character to ever willing put another woman, whether she was played and betrayed by her or not, in harms way when it came to the abuse that Jackson exhibits. I wish that Amber could have really thought everything was roses until both her and Jackson were exposed in their own way. She was already trying to do all of the things he was forcing on Daphne with being fit and wanting to wear expensive things. It would have been completely plausible that he wasn't able to reach the point of abuse before they were both caught because he was ignorant of who Amber/Lana was. Domestic abuse should never be a punishment. I loved literally every other aspect about this book though and I've already added the prequel to my wishlist. Was anyone else hoping that Amber would just fall for Daphne as a friend and stop being terrible before the POV shift?
I hate Chaol. So naturally, this book was rough for me. I can't root for him. I would rather Yrene be with anyone else. Chaol literally blew up at her and said terrible things to her over and over and then his whole ailment is him feeling sorry for himself? He ruined his relationship with Celaena. He ran out and abandoned Dorian. And he knowingly kept stringing Nesryn along. Thank god she got away from him. He deserves nothing and I hate that now he can't even die without affecting Yrene. I did the tandem read of this and EoS together because I knew I would never get through this book unless there was incentive to get back to the book I actually was enjoying. I'm not ready for this series to be over. It might take me a while before I pick up the last one.
I feel like my decision for my favorite book of this series just keeps changing as I keep reading. I mean obviously the one where everyone finally pairs off and can no longer be classified as YA is going to be my ultimate favorite though. I love these characters. I will murder everyone on the planet if anything happens to Lysandra. Lehabah was my favorite and look what happened to her. Lysandra better live and be happy with Aedion. I wish there was more Rowan POV. I feel like we don't really get much of his personality outside of his devotion to Aelin and his power. Still in love with him though... The best part of this book was that Chaol wasn't in it.
I would love to see this book made into a mini-series. Cyril Avery is such a beautifully written character. I also would love a companion book to follow the rest of Catherine Goggin's life. I think my favorite part of this book was following her and then when Cyril was a boy in the Avery house. I love the way this story was told. The author displays the harrowing situations Cyril goes through in a way that is impossible not to empathize with. With the current political climate in the US, I feel like this book should be mandatory reading.
Did anyone else picture Mr. Denby-Denby as Rumplestiltskin from Shrek but with blonde hair instead of red? Because same. I think the balance of real issues and humor was perfect. Though, I feel so bad for Alice. I wasn't ready for Julian's death, let alone Bastian's right after. So many tears. I love that Cyril and Catherine kept going in and out of each other's lives and finally found out who they were to each other. I loved reading this book.
I loved Hiram and “Moses” Harriet and the magical realism addition to the history of the Underground Railroad. I recently finished Babel and my biggest complaint was how unnecessary the magical addition was and that the characters were one dimensional. This book is the complete opposite. The “Conduction” was intentionally beautiful and all of the characters were complex. I have read several books about this historical period, specifically escaping slavery and making it north, but this is the first book with any real mention of the Underground. The secret society feel about it kept me anxious and the pages just flew by. I love the lyrical way that Coates writes and the dialogue in this book plucked me from the present time and dropped right into the story.
Who doesn't love penguins? The author did a great job of giving us Veronica's whole story gradually enough that we fell in love with her at the same time as Patrick did. She was cantankerous and entitled at the start, but she cares and is lonely and you want her to have that relationship with her grandson. I loved that Terry and Patrick became a thing and he found something to be passionate about. I loved Pip. A heartwarming read.
