Mars
This is as honestly amazing, I read the first 3 chapters from a sample and then bought the book because I just got so invested from the start!
Hate Mail is genuinely hilarious and the plot was so cute and entertaining! This would be such a a fun Rom-Com movie!
I was on the edge of my seat all the way til the end which is funny for me to say about a romance but man was this anxiety inducing, and I loved every single part of it.
I had such an awesome time with this book I am so so so happy I read it. Seriously, it's just perfect!
Part of Your World gave such a fast paced narrative that kept me engaged the entire time, but ultimately it fell short for me. It seemed like Alexis knew more about Daniel & his life than he did about her & her life and I didn't enjoy that.
I really enjoyed the humor injected into the story through the characters, I did find myself grinning and laughing a lot. The first 30% of the book made this seem like a 4 star read but throughout the story everything just kinda got lost.
Not to be a hater, but if you ask me Daniel deserves better! In my opinion Alexis failed to evoke empathy or interest in her struggles for me personally which left me indifferent to her problems. Daniel definitely emerged as a more compelling character for me! Though I will say more towards the end Alexis was a bit relatable.
I think this is such a cute romance and I enjoyed a lot of different components of this story but it's also made me realize opposites attract in terms of wealth and socioeconomic status just isn't my cup of tea! I really like Abby Jimenez's writing and if I read a book by her with tropes I actually like I could potentially find a 5 star read within her books!
This novel was just fine for me. It was one of my most anticipated releases of this year so I am a bit let down, but I don't want to say I'm completely disappointed because I did enjoy my reading experience and my time with the story for the most part! I really like Holly Jackson's writing, I think she's a great storyteller, though I don't thing this is her strongest novel to represent that.
For this story in particular, I didn't feel strongly for the characters one way or another, but I will say at times Bel was a little insufferable to me. She victimizes herself throughout the entire book until she magically understands the concept of interpersonal relationships at the end of the book as her character development. Like girl I understand your abandonment issues but please stop saying everyone leaves you when you actively push people away and are well aware of that.
I don't think the romance subplot was needed because it didn't add anything to the story, except maybe help move along Bel's character development, but maybe I'm just biased because I didn't really care for it.
I wasn't a fan of how slow moving this book was. I would say for about 70% of the book it was just us following Bel & her suspicions. A lot of breadcrumbs. I wish there was more going on and more action sooner. With that being said, the last 25-30% things started to pick up and absolutely did not slow down from then on!
Something I feel that was done greatly was how during the suspenseful and intense scenes I was truly enthralled and kept on the edge of my seat! This book was such a page turner for me during the chaotic moments and I loved that!
I absolutely adore a good family drama, but for this book it didn't work for me. The ending was so unbelievable and I didn't like it at all. It was honestly stupid and doesn't make any sense. I read a review where someone said they think it would've been better if the mystery stayed outside of the family and I wholeheartedly agree!
I wouldn't go into this book with the expectations of feeling the same way about it as AGGGTM if you really enjoyed that series because you will probably be let down. Regardless I enjoyed this book for what it was and I'll still be reading more from Holly Jackson in the future!
I'm not very shocked by my rating of this book. I went into it blind and with an open mind, as I often do with books, and I could tell it was going to be a hit or miss from the beginning.
When I initially started the book, I didn't like the writing style and it took quite some time to get used to. The mystery never truly intrigued me and I found myself not being as engaged as I would've liked to have been. This just wasn't stimulating enough for me. I had to switch to a different book in between my time with this one.
I didn't care much about the plot or the characters and I feel that's a big reason why I wasn't truly connecting with this book. It was recommended to go into this book without having any prior knowledge of it & I agree with that. Still, even then I had a hunch on why that would be the better way to read it and just from that intuitive feeling alone, I knew I was going to be disappointed if the story took the path I was assuming it was going to.
With that being said, my assumption was correct and I didn't like the plot twists or the ending at all. I solely kept reading to figure out what happens at the end & it's safe to say it fell flat for me as did the entirety of the book & I was expecting so much more. At first, I was confused for a bit by the ending and then I just ended up annoyed because honestly, I thought it was stupid.
This novel includes a lot of elements that I heavily enjoy so I'm disappointed that this book didn't work for me, though I think I would love it if it was a movie!
I really like the concept of this book but the execution wasn't my favorite in terms of plot, I love the magic system & the whole idea of the gods but I didn't care much about the actual story
Maybe I'll like the second book better since it's about finding the gods which i'm more interested in rather than the murder mystery that went on in this book
I can't lie pip was annoying me in this but I liked the ending
As the last & final book it's not the best in the series imo, I think I prefer the first one out of all of them but yk, it was an ending nonetheless
This was mediocre from the start for me so honestly I was just along for the ride & to see how everything concluded and tied together in the end
This was a very cute & quick read but it feels underdeveloped in a multitude of ways which leads it to be unsatisfying
I wish not only the characters but also some plotlines/conflicts were fleshed out more because it feels a bit choppy at times
This novel is more so a love letter to summer camp than it is about the romance so if that's your thing you will probably eat this up, but I was expecting more of the romance and I didn't get what I wanted from that
The relationship dynamic between the two characters was confusing for me. it was very much a one-sided hatred kind of thing on Juliette's part rather than it being a mutual “rivals” thing. it just seemed like Juliette's dislike of Priya was driven by insecurity rather than actual reasoning if that makes sense? but Priya played into it by cropping Juliette out of pictures and keeping a distance but she didn't even have a problem with Juliette? it was a friendly dynamic because they still invited each other to things & were always in each other's spaces so the negative interactions felt unnecessary
I wish the characterization was better in this story, everything felt surface level and there was a lot of telling not showing
When the characters finally do “get together” it's not seamless & I didn't find myself connecting to them or the romance at that point. it all felt very rushed
PUB DATE: June 4th, 2024
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the ARC copy of Wish You Weren't Here in exchange for an honest review.
