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borrowed from the library; well.. at least i can say i've read the classic
ironically, it was clickbait in book format , and it was about digital media (actually, idt the author properly integrated digital communication apart from very very basic, common sense advice)
I ENJOYED THIS BOOK WAY MORE THAN I THOUGHT I WOULD though I shouldn't be surprised – Emily Henry's “Beach Read” had been a surprisingly touching read, and this one was too!
mc 30 but chronicled over the past 12 years
2022/12/22 - the underlying themes (like dharma) and indian rep <3 and moral ambiguity
2022/03/04 -
*thief->soldier; royalty
05/02/2022:
m.cs. = 17?
thief girl who's a soldier, boy who becomes leader after his father's untimely death
enemies -> lovers (of course, haha)
adventure fantasy that transitioned into fantasy romance, with a super cheesy romance at the end that felt too gooey LOL but it was still nice
idk how to feel about the ending: on the one hand, everything working out perfectly for the m.c.s? fantastic, i love it. but on the other hand. it feels a little too simple/too easy? plus, there's a sequel, so what are they going to show in that?!
hopefully bk2 will be good as well!
3.5
overall, this was a “feel-good” story - Spoiler everything works out and there's a hopeful, happy ending .
hm...some people had a problem with the idealistic portrayal of the issues within the story - completely understandable...reality is oft-times complicated. but sometimes that's what makes stories like these work, yenno...it's a fun form of escapism.
things i liked:
“enemies” -> lover tropethe portrayal/journey of alex's sexual identity crisis and how we came to terms with it
the White House Trio friendshipthe First Family dynamic
Alex Claremont-Diaz. – i mean, he's so bloody dramatic, a hardworking, feisty politics nerd who loves and cares so damn much...case in point: Spoiler he went the extra, like, 3660 miles to give shit to his babe for ghosting him, shouting at him in the freaking rain like it's a jane austen novel (OKAY BUT THAT SCENE THOUGH HAHAHA) i also love that he's biracial and how important his Mexican ancestry is to him....other notes:sometimes the writing was a little disjointed? like, one scene would be happening and suddenly there's a time jump?? with no transition, so like (oh my god i'm starting to sound like alex with all the “like”s) you'd have to reread the scene ? i think it might've been a bit more effective if there was a smoother transition?
like, it was an original concept - like in movies, when they show one scene and then skip frame to the next scene, but in book format. i think if the “skip frames” were formatted differently (or it may've just been an issue w/ the ebook version)....to make the distinction clearer?
(EDIT: i think it was just the ebook version i had)
M/M, lgbtqa
