Riri

Summer vacation has come, and Mia is back in Tearmoon surveying the results of the work she did in the previous book. After safely avoiding a bloodbath involving the Lulu tribe, the bloody diary finally disappears and Mia learns that she has safely avoided the guillotine future... only for the revolution to move to Remno instead. As Mia goes on a quest to save Abel with her friends, we get to see more of the world with its political intrigue that turns out to be directly tied to her execution in the first timeline. It's a fresh change from the previous volume that took place mainly in Saint-Noel Academy.

While Mia is still the dumb, selfish, and vain princess that she is, she's showing significant growth in this volume. The trip to Remno forces her to spend more time with Sion, which gives her the opportunity to confront his view of justice. It gives more depth to her execution scene since Mia was never given the warning nor the chance to reform, and as Sion struggles with his brand of justice and superiority, it also leads to Mia learning to forgive Sion for her death. We even get a glimpse of what happened to Sion in the first timeline. The book also introduces us to Dion, the soldier who had the honor of beheading Mia. Naturally, she's holding that against him and finds it hard to like him. For now. Unfortunately for her, he's slowly but surely cementing his place as yet another rabid Mia fan.

There are many times when Mia's fans started to question her less than stellar behavior, but it only leads to even more hilarious misunderstandings that only feed their delusion. The writing is still as sarcastic as before, but it does give Mia credit when she actually does what needs to be done. I really like how it smoothly transitions to a more serious tone when necessary, and switches back to the usual wittiness right after it's over. Since Mia has warmed up to Sion a lot in this volume, hopefully we'll get to see her bonding with Tiona, Rafina, and Dion too in the next books.

At first I thought this was isekai, but it's not. It's a fantasy time reset story taking place in the titular Tearmoon Empire, featuring the infamous spoiled Princess Mia. She got guillotined after three years of imprisonment, and now that she's twelve again, she would do anything to avoid the guillotine.

The thing is, Mia isn't exactly a smart and savvy main character. In the first timeline, she was notorious for being selfish, dumb, and also lazy. After the time reset, she's... pretty much the same. The only difference is that she knows acting like a spoiled brat would lead her straight back to the guillotine, so her compassionate side really shows in the current timeline. She's a chicken who's petty and cheap, but due to her knowledge from the other timeline, people mistake her for a wise and intelligent saint through a series of hilarious misunderstandings. The narrative can be super sarcastic when it comes to her actual personality, making it an absolute delight to read.

In this volume, Mia starts out collecting some loyal allies in the capital before she eventually sets out for school. Unfortunately, the world-building suffers a little from this which is a common case for any stories involving school life. At the beginning we get to see a bit of the capital and the slums, but the moment Mia moves to Saint-Noel Academy, that becomes the main setting of the book and the rest of the world is only mentioned briefly. It doesn't really bother me though, since this can be expanded upon in later volumes. Seems like Mia is going home for summer vacation in the second book, so hopefully we'll get to see more of the empire.

The side characters are great and well-developed too. Mia remembers clearly who remained loyal to her until the day she got guillotined. She also knows who would be valuable allies and who she should avoid, so she acts accordingly around them. In the first timeline, Sion and Tiona are the two people who directly caused her execution. She thinks of them as her archnemeses and actively tries to avoid them, but unfortunately for her, even these two fall for what they think are her charms and they end up joining the ever-growing group of rabid Mia fans. She even gets a new love interest in this timeline!

Anyway, this was a fun read. The art is really pretty too, both in color and black and white. Can't wait to start the second book.

To be fair, the story looks promising. The concept of breaking flags to avoid bad outcome is also nice, because for once we get a main character who wants to change the guys instead of just avoiding death in bad endings. Rosemary is also a rival character instead of a villainess, and she only has one canon love interest in the original game. Sadly, the execution is just not working for me.

First of all, the concept of the game itself is really vague and it results in the world-building being just as abstract. The heroine of the game is a shrine maiden? In a world of princes and knights and sorcerers that has no shrines mentioned so far? As a reincarnated princess, Rosemary is always described as intelligent and independent, but this only lasts for the first few chapters before she gradually turns into someone who struggles to make a decision, refuses help when she needs it, and always has to be protected. In fact, Rosemary spends the climax of this book in the safety of her own room, under the protection of her guard and her brother. The spotlight is instead given to the sorcerers and her younger brother, so in the end all she does is mope around. The second half of the book is especially sappy.

The biggest challenge for me is to get used to the writing. On top of a lot of telling instead of showing, there's also a lot of flashbacks that serve as little info dumps. A new character shows up? Info dump. New character development? Info dump. Said character gets their own perspective? Flashback and info dump. Most of the scenes consist of 80% internal monologue and descriptions of emotions. It really drags down the pacing, and even when we get action scenes, it doesn't take long until the writing reverts back to that. At some points, the internal monologues would also blur the line between thoughts and reality, leading to lapses in logic that get resolved very conveniently.

I do like the story though, and the book does start off pretty solid, so hopefully it can go back to that tone in the next volumes.

⚠️ TW: attemped rape.

First of all, if we're talking about the story alone, it deserves five full stars. I just can't get enough of villainess isekai stories, especially if it involves retaliation against the dumb men who dump them for another girl. This book follows all the necessary steps to have a good villainess story. The main character, Aileen, is smart and elegant. The love interest, Claude, is a taciturn demon lord whose emotions show through the weather instead of his face, while also slowly awakening as a do-S. Fun. Due to his quiet personality he doesn't get that much spotlight in this volume, but since it's just the beginning, I'm sure he'll get more development in the next books. The other necessary factor in any villainess story is her ability to be independent, and it's also present here since Aileen always has business in mind.

The side characters are also very likeable, especially Almond the crow. Not the prince, the saint, and the knight though. They can choke. That trigger warning above is caused by none other than the prince, so he can choke more than the other two.

So, why did I rate this 4★ if I liked it that much?

The translation.

Look, I can overlook stiff translation. Even if every sentence that starts with “in the first place” or “to begin with” sounds extremely unnatural and would be much better with proper rewording, it still wouldn't bother me as much if only the translation didn't fail to grasp context and ended up with a wrongly translated line. I actually marked this wrong in my updates, it was at 59% mark instead. In any case, it was not correct and it bothers me greatly because who knows what else got lost in translation. It's also inconsistent at some parts. At one point the translation would use the word “consort”, only to change it to “second wife” later on and stick with that for the rest of the book. It makes the entire thing feel like an amateur job, which is unfair to the author since they did craft a wonderful story that got harmed by subpar translation.

Please fix this issue in future volumes, at least through a meticulous editing or proofreading to prevent this from happening again.

An interesting take on the villainess isekai genre. Unlike the typical flow of villainess turning nice after remembering her past life, the main character, Elle, still retains a large portion of her personality. She's a tsundere who loves saying her own brand of catchphrases, she's aware of how cute she is, and she still kidnaps (miserable) people in the hope of giving them a better life. There's also not a lot of past life recollections aside from her knowledge of the manga, which gives more focus on the fantasy world. The vibe is very much like if Disgaea is given a novel form.

At first I thought this would be another slow life story, but the plot actually goes way deeper than I expected. The pacing and sequence can be a bit all over the place at times, but it ties up everything nicely in the end.

This book is what would've happened if you get isekai'd into a Rejet otome game. Obviously, whether you're the heroine or the villainess, the only available option is to suffer dead or alive. Well, not for Iris. She rejects all the do-S, yandere, chains and cages of love, and accidental incest that leads to the entire world burning down. While working on avoiding all these despair routes, she's also unknowingly securing her own happy ending.

The pacing is a bit strange because a good portion of the story is dedicated to explain vaccination techniques in a world where vaccines do not exist, and half of process was done by magic anyway. It is vital to the plot, it just felt weird since the book shifts focus to academy life as soon as this part is over. I also noticed that it follows the exact same format as the web novel version, so it has a lot of chapters and some of them are also split into several parts.

That being said, I still enjoyed the book a lot mainly because of Prince Reseda. Even if Iris is oblivious to an absurd level all the way to the very end, the guy knows how to play the long game. I spent the entire book rooting for him, and he did not disappoint.

Okay, so to be clear... this book is mainly a romance novel with fantasy elements. It takes place in a magic academy, but at least in this particular volume the romance overpowers the magic and fantasy. It's like Harry Potter if you cut down most of the magic and action scenes, and put relationship and friendship issues in their place. Oriana and Vincent used to be a couple, until she found him dead one day before succumbing to death herself and got thrown back in time to when she was only seven. When she finally gets to meet him again, she goes straight for lovey dovey mode right off the bat and inevitably creeps him out since he doesn't retain the same memories.

That being said, “back at square one” isn't exactly accurate either since Vincent falls in love with Oriana at first sight, which means he already likes her from the beginning. So this book deals with the issue of Oriana trying to prevent Vincent from dying again, while Vincent struggles against the image of him from the other timeline, who Oriana loved. This type of “me but not quite me” conflict is typically used in amnesia stories, so it's kind of refreshing to see it in a time reset story. Since Oriana does things differently in this timeline to ensure Vincent's safety, the story also deals with the possible butterfly effect. Things don't exactly play out the way they did in her previous life, eventually leading to a cliffhanger that puts Vincent in her shoes while also leaving a new clue that she didn't pick up before.

It sounds like we might learn about the mystery of their deaths in the next book, but as I said earlier, this particular volume is mainly about romance. The bittersweet youth with all the unrequited love, misunderstandings, and failure to notice how the other party might be feeling. There's very little world-building, seeing that the book takes place inside the magic academy and barely puts any focus on the magic or the lessons. That being said, the romance is pretty well-written with barely any bullying or toxicity involved. As long as you keep in mind that the book dedicates a large portion to Oriana and Vincent's relationship, it is quite an entertaining read.

Unfortunately, this book just didn't do it for me. The concept is great. It sounds exactly like something I would love. Our main character, Kaori, is a human who grew up in the spirit world. Her home is a rental bookstore, and she's surrounded by loving friends and adoptive parents. At the beginning of the book, a human exorcist named Suimei starts living in her house. Each chapter is a short story involving different spirits. It's the perfect setup for a heartwarming paranormal slice of life, right?

Yeah, no.

It would've worked if only the book focuses more on the story, be it the overarching plot of Suimei's search for his Inugami partner or even the smaller subplots in each chapter. Instead, we get like pages and pages of all these characters glorifying Kaori and sharing her tales growing up. This causes the interactions to be incredibly superficial instead of heartwarming, and all the things that should've mattered more were taken care of swiftly through a LOT of telling instead of showing. Including the spirits, which should've been featured more prominently. It worked for about two chapters before it got old. There's also a looot of blushing scenes between Kaori and Suimei, which would've been fine if only they have some kind of chemistry. Sadly, so far they haven't shown much so the “romance” feels forced.

Overall, the story feels too flat to invoke any emotions for me. It might work if you like Kaori since she clearly drives the story, but I don't find her particularly interesting so I'm not sure if I'll continue with this series. Also, despite the title, don't expect much from the bookstore part either since the books barely got mentioned and the only role they play is getting delivered by Kaori.

In volume 2, the season is shifting from spring to summer. It means the strawberry season is ending, and our gardener cat Berry seems sad about it which is super adorable. I hope she gets gourmet food everyday to make up for the lack of strawberries.

After what happened in the previous volume, Laetitia is now forging a bond with Lady Natalie as well as getting to know the other queen candidates. The focus in this book is the east villa's Lady Kate, a beastfolk from the Wildcat clan who wears her heart on her sleeve. Since her main issue is more of a family problem, the conflict in this volume isn't as nasty as what Lady Natalie's aunt did. The main antagonist is Lady Natalie's younger half-sister Sienna, who's a lot more immature both in personality and schemes, which in turn highlights the fact that Laetitia really was supposed to be a capable villainess. It's really nice to see how far the story has departed from the stereotypical situation at the beginning. I'm curious about how they will handle the remaining two queen candidates though, since their approach to this power struggle seems different from Lady Natalie and Lady Kate.

Also, Laetitia's grand goal in this book is to build a house for her griffin and an entire dog park behind her villa so her staff's companion animals can play there. Absolutely amazing main character, can totally understand why everyone loves her. She finally gets a chance to cook a hot meal for King Glenreed in this volume, which makes him even more interested in her and that obviously leads to more Lord Aroo scenes. While Glenreed is growing feelings for Laetitia, she's beginning to change her “completely neutral and uninvolved” stance and the people around her are starting to wish she would be their queen permanently. The book does a great job reminding you that their time is limited, so I'm looking forward to see where the plot will take us to next.

Oh my, isn't this adorable.

I picked up this book mainly for the food, and not only it gave me what I wanted, but the amount of fluffy moments with furry friends far exceeded my expectations. We have an entire horde of wolves, a cat, and even a griffin. I read that the author's dream is to win the lottery so they can build a penguin aquarium with a gigantic swimming pool. Honestly? Big mood. Totally relatable. You can really feel the love for both food and fluffy friends packed abundantly in this book, and I absolutely love it.

This story begins with the classic opening scene for a villainess story. Laetitia gets dumped by her fiancé, the crown prince, who has fallen in love with Sumia, the “heroine”. The book gives a surprising amount of details to the world-building and magic system, even going as far as revealing Sumia's background and connections. However, this part of the plot takes a backseat for the rest of the volume as Laetitia leaves her home country to marry Lord Aroo King Glenreed. From there, it's mostly light and delightful slice of life with plenty of cooking with fluffy friends. It doesn't seem like Laetitia will have to deal with Sumia and her ex-fiancé for the time being, so if you're expecting them to get what they deserve, it might have to wait until she returns to her homeland. Whenever that's going to be.

The main conflict in this book comes from the faction of Lady Natalie, the west villa's queen candidate. There are minor antagonists, and while their main role here is to stir up trouble, they also give some depth to some of the sub-characters as well as showing the issue of racism in Wolfvarte so it doesn't feel like they're mean just for the sake of being mean. Despite being a light slice of life read, the conflict is given proper development and resolution instead of getting cast aside as soon as it's over. The writing and translation are also easy to read. I will be keeping up with this series.

This was cute and light. The chapters are short, allowing the story to progress at a nice tempo. I love Mayna's relationship dynamics with Ray, as well as her devotion to her job and her friendship with the princess. While you can see the conflict coming from a mile away and it ends up being resolved pretty fast and easily, the world-building is pretty interesting with all the different races. It'd be nice to see more of this world, but as a standalone, this book does a nice job wrapping everything up.

It also has a good amount of girls and hairstyling, and as a person who loves everything girly, pretty, and dainty, it's a major plus for me and that's why I'm rating this 5★.

This book is a prime example of the dreaded “as long as the romance gets a happy ending, all is well even if the story is rushed or unfinished” case of storytelling.

Volume 2 is actually a much more engaging read compared to volume 1. Rosemarie and Claudio's trip to the Holy Land expands on the world-building that was quite lacking in the previous book, and it also reveals what actually happened to them in the Forbidden Forest. The mystery that awaits them in the Holy Land ties back to the main story nicely, as well as giving more depth to the lore of the sacred beasts and establishing the relevancy of Rosemarie's addiction to Kaola. Following the aftermath of volume 1, Claudio is also much more honest about his feelings in this book, which allows his relationship with Rosemarie to progress nicely while still maintaining a reasonable pace.

The issue of strange word choices still persists in this book, but is noticeably lower in amount so it didn't bother me as much. Maybe it's the mystery, maybe it's the writing, but the book is a lot easier to digest compared to the previous volume. It was an overall smoother read that flows much better.

Now, the problem this time lies with the fact that the story is clearly unfinished. By the end of the book, Rosemarie and Claudio have confessed their love for each other... so in that aspect, I guess it is a happy ending. However, the main issue of Rosemarie's inability to return Claudio's missing mana remains unsolved. They do figure out the reason why, but seeing that there's no continuation to this series, in the end nothing has been done to resolve it. It all wraps up with the main couple being in love and the very convenient “oh it is an issue but you can live with it” forced conclusion. It's such a shame because if only the author is granted the opportunity to continue, it could've developed into something good. Rosemarie even gets a new sacred beast for a pet in this book, only for it to end just like that.

As long as you don't mind the way it ends, it is still a quite entertaining fantasy read. Nagi Kasumi's art is really pretty too.

It was only towards the end that I realized this might've been a loose retelling of Beauty and the Beast. This is a classic shoujo romance / fantasy story in the style of Hana to Yume, so if you're into that you'll probably love this book.

While the first half of the book is a 3★ read, the second half definitely deserves an extra star. Since the main character, Rosemarie, is very timid with intense social anxiety, and the male lead, Claudio, starts off being a massive jerk to her, I was really put off by the way he treated her even if he does have a valid reason for being annoyed. He treated her like a thing instead of a human being, and even if he went out of his way to show subtle consideration, it's meaningless if the intent doesn't reach her. The part where he dragged her to a banquet and left her in the middle of strangers, fully knowing she would have a mental breakdown, is absolutely disgusting. For a good while, I was sure I would never grow to like him.

Well, that only lasted until an “accident” happened and Claudio thought he would lose Rosemarie. Then he finally started treating her better, and his behavior towards her from that point on kind of makes up for it. Once they start communicating better, they also have less arguments and misunderstandings which allows more room for the main plot to develop along with the characters. By the end of the book, however, there's still a lot of questions left unanswered. The book never goes into what exactly happened to Rosemarie and Claudio in the Forbidden Forest, despite it being an integral part that sets the entire story into motion. I wonder if it'll be covered in volume 2.

My main issue with this book is definitely the prose. I don't know if it was caused by the writing, the translation, or the editing, but word choices used in this book are often so strange and pretentious they obstruct the story from flowing smoothly. Unless it involves characters who has quirky traits like speaking in unnecessarily flowery language, most of the time it's best to just keep it simple. Especially when it comes to narratives. The reader's comfort should be top priority after all. While I understand that Japanese tend to use repetitions that would come off as super redundant in English, substituting the words with synonyms taken straight out of a thesaurus would only make it unnatural.

Fortunately, I like the story enough to want to pick up the next volume, so I'll be reading that soon.

In volume 3, winter has come to Konkoku and the emperor is dealing with an emissary from Saisakoku, a neighboring country inspired by the Middle East, who doesn't seem to have much interest in Konkoku as a country. Due to the focus of the story, this book involves a lot more political development compared to the previous volumes. By the end of the book, it's heavily hinted that both Rimi and Shusei are about to get roped into it. Especially Shusei.

That being said, the author managed to keep the right balance of politics and cuisines in this volume. The descriptions of the food never fail to make me hungry, which kind of makes up for how that Rimi and Shusei confess their love to each other and agree to break up in the span of seven chapters. Kind of. Maybe. Maybe not. :')

In any case, while each volume in the series so far has a self-contained story, there's a clear overarching plot that is starting to get more interesting in this book. The characters have also grown a lot since volume 1. Rimi, for instance, admits that she's been relying on the memories of her sister to “save her” from tricky situations. I'm still hoping that she will grow out of it eventually, but it's nice to see a character flaw being addressed properly.

The most prominent growth, however, can be seen in Shohi. While I'm admittedly having a hard time forgetting how much of a prick he was being in volume 1, he is learning to be a better person and a better emperor. For now I'm still on Shusei's side, but we'll see if the next volumes will change my mind.

Volume 2 deals with the four consorts of the rear palace, as well as Rimi's new role as Shusei's assistant. It picks up right where volume 1 left off, continuing with slightly better writing and characterization. The season has shifted to summer, and the palace is now preparing for the Declaration of Stability done by the emperor and the four consorts. There's still a lot of stereotypical moments and the writing at some parts makes certain scenes feel so cheesy, but there's clear progress in comparison to the previous volume.

Personally, I liked how the four consorts were handled and their relationship with Rimi. Noble Consort So, in particular, really grew out of the villainess role they had her play at the beginning of volume 1. Rimi herself is also showing more personality than before, and the use of small flashbacks to her previous life has also lessened by a lot. In the previous volume, these flashbacks were sometimes used to advance the plot because Rimi as a character was too weak to get the story going on her own. This book seems to be growing out of that habit, which is nice.

Unfortunately, a love triangle just has to be present in this type of story. I'm not particularly fond of the love triangle here since I'm not the biggest fan of the emperor, but here's to hoping it won't get too frustrating.

Actual rating: 3.5★

Rounded up because the art is pretty, and while it's a bit cliche in many ways, it's only the beginning of what seems to be a promising series. I only picked it up for the culinary aspect, but it offers a lot more court politics than expected. It reminds me a little of The Apothecary Diaries, but with food instead of medicines and poisons.

As of volume 1, our heroine Rimi is a rather bland character due to her personality and upbringing. While she does have a few prominent traits, such as her drive to feed people good food and her questionably insulting Konkokuan, for now it's still heavily overshadowed by various stereotypes and her own nonchalance. Hopefully she'll be developed more in the next installments and have more growth as a character.

Volume 1 focuses on introducing Rimi to life in the rear palace, her meeting with Shusei, as well as the emperor's issue with his half-brother.

I love this book as much as I loved [b:House of Salt and Sorrows 39679076 House of Salt and Sorrows Erin A. Craig https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1544071699l/39679076.SY75.jpg 61277707]. While the pacing may be on the slower side, the haunting atmosphere really brings life to the setting and characters. I love the dynamics between the Downing sisters, and while their brother Samuel is a piece of garbage, it's also fun to see what kind of mess he would cause next. The schadenfreude is truly amazing. Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, they leap beyond your expectations and turn into full-blown chaos. The pandemonium that befalls the town by the end of the book is absolutely beautiful, no wonder the Dark Watchers are so into the idea. Can totally relate.The only reason why I didn't rate this 5 stars is because I'd really like to know more about the Dark Watchers, since we learn about them so late into the story and the plot doesn't offer much room for them to get more fleshed out. This book isn't about them after all, but if they have a story to tell, I'd love to read it.

Actual rating: 3.5★

Rounded up because Mizuki, the main character, is super relatable. This one didn't grab me as much as I expected, even though it's still quite a nice read. I was hoping there would be more portrayal of the stale marriage and motherhood, but the book actually spends a lot of time explaining other aspects such as Mizuki's background and life before she got married. Which is also necessary, to be fair, but the portion of it is so huge it kind of overshadows the moments when she talks about her life now and why she's so unhappy with it. It's like watching a series of flashbacks back to back.

While I'm sure a lot of people would be upset about Mizuki's decision at the end, I can understand why she did. Life in Asia is just so different, with so many aspects that you have to consider before you make major decisions like leaving your husband simply because you're unhappy about your marriage. It might work just fine in Western countries, but in Asia it's not that easy to have the freedom to make that kind of choice. You can even see it in the book, from the way people judge Mizuki for doing something that isn't considered normal or proper.

...and there's no guarantee Kiyoshi wouldn't just turn into Tatsuya 2.0 if Mizuki chooses him and they get married. That's just how men are, sadly. If you disagree, consider yourself very lucky since it's not a pleasant experience to watch the gradual change.

The writing style took some time for me to get used to, but it's surprisingly snarky and funny. I enjoyed it even if it's quite different from my expectations.

Ugly crying over Solovey, Sasha, and especially Vasya who grew tremendously as a character throughout the series.

Eve's story is probably my favorite in the series. It still has the same issue as the previous books, with the conflict rearing its head only at the very end and getting solved almost instantly, but at the same time, I find it a lot more heartwarming. Maybe because both Eve and Jacob are so relatable to me, in terms of personality and issues. Compared to Chloe's and Dani's books that dig quite deep into the past, this one actually puts a lot more focus on the present. It feels fresh while still giving the two leads enough depth, and it also makes the story feel more balanced.

It's a cute read with great banter, I liked it a lot.

Eh. It's not bad, but it's not good either. It did have the potential to be really good, it just never reached that point.

The book opens with a fast-paced action scene which might be a bit too fast for me to bring myself to care about certain characters, but fine. We were just starting after all. But then the pacing gets weird. After Red is introduced as Talin's new shield, the writing suddenly becomes weirdly introspective, complete with flashbacks and nightmares and realizations that are so conveniently shared through a mind link. While the bond plays an important role in the plot, the fact that Talin and Red can just share thoughts anytime they want feels so... lazy. Like that way they can just resolve issues instantly, on top of trampling through the language barrier like it's an advanced Google Translate. Red also never really gets fleshed out beyond his past and nightmares. It makes the current him feel very one-dimensional, not to mention there's a lot of telling and not showing involved since Talin can just sense how he feels from the mind link.

There's also a looot of repetition in this book. Information is repeated time and time again, sometimes with a bit of a new addition to it. It just feels so redundant, not to mention the writing loses its focus every now and then. Like Talin sudden, thorough observation of Red when she was supposed to look for magnesium, or the Midwinter dinner. Maybe they were intended as interludes, but by that point I was growing impatient since all the flashbacks and thoughts and seemingly irrelevant scenes really dragged the plot. As usual, there is a plot twist near the end of the book but by that point it was no longer surprising or anything.

Not sure if I'll read the sequel since I really don't feel anything towards the characters, except maybe Jeran, but we'll see.

Rating this book a bit higher than the first one, mostly because of the character dynamics. It is a fun read, but suffers from the same issue of conflict being thrown in and then resolved in the span of three chapters. I also feel like Dani could've had more chapters going into what she actually went through in the past, instead of just a vague picture of relationship failures. Especially because the only “failure” that seems to matter enough to get an actual explanation is her relationship with Mateo (and to some extent, Jo) while the others just got bundled up together and summed up as “it didn't work”. Zafir is fleshed out so nicely, so why can't the same be done to Dani too?

That being said I still quite enjoyed the read, and I plan to read Eve's book soon.

Everything was going well until near the finale, when suddenly all the potential / unsolved drama got thrown in together and then resolved in the span of like... 3 chapters. If only it wasn't so obviously pushed in last minute like that, maybe the whole thing would've felt less contrived. I also didn't really like how this is about a relationship that begins with both parties having baggage, particularly on Red's end. I had a feeling at some point he would do what he ends up doing, and it just doesn't sit well with me even if it gets solved in like five minutes.

The story and characters are pretty cute though.

Don't you wish you were here?

Yes. Yes, I do.

I would rate this 100 stars if I could. This is exactly what I needed after all the things that happened last year. It's cute, it's heartwarming, it just fills every inch of you with joy. It made me tear up over a button. The children are so very endearing, and the story itself is uplifting and will stay in my mind for a long time. I love the writing, so I'm definitely checking out T.J. Klune's other works.

Considering how I loved the first book, I'm not sure what made it not work this time around. This book feels too long and yet too short at the same time. Pages and pages of awful pacing, leading to a very unsatisfying ending. The fact that the main character, Camellia, has little to no character growth really didn't help, neither did her romance with Rémy that seemed to have started out of nowhere.

See, Camille started out naive so her clueless trait worked for the first book. Here, it doesn't work anymore because she's been betrayed before and yet she continues trusting others easily. It makes no sense, and it also makes her look stupid. It feels kind of ridiculous to have such a character at the center of this so-called “revolution”, which is also very anticlimactic.

Overall, it just lost the magic of the first book.