J

I think this book delivered exactly what I hoped it would - cute, easy to read, trope-y. It feels a bit like the book equivalent of...any kind of blue candy (jolly ranchers, lollypops, etc). It isn't the greatest gourmet food in the world, and it probably has a whole lot of sugar and chemicals, and you know that the blue isn't natural, but you still enjoy it in the moment and you know what to expect - no big surprises.

For folks that enjoyed this book, I would also recommend the Villains and Virtues series by A. K. Caggiano. Not the same story (obviously) but same root premise - sunshine character ends up hanging out with the grumpy villain for Reasons.

(I'm kind of loving this sudden popularity of making villains the main character - I love a morally gray character.)

This novella was one I was really looking forward to, based on the premise - but it wasn't what I expected, and I found myself a little disappointed by that towards the middle...but I feel like the whole thing wrapped up in a way that left me feeling good about it again. It won't be my favorite read of the year, but I would easily recommend it to someone else - just don't expect a super spooky, unsolved mysteries style scary story. :) Be pleasantly surprised.