Rosanne

A deadly competition, ancient relics and the Greek gods playing their twisted games - what's not to like? The story is fast paced, set in a world where not only the Greek gods rule. There is mention of the Norse gods as well, and I like the idea that all the different mythologies can exist together. My only criticism is that in the end, things went a little too smoothly for the main characters. But I guess that was needed to set everything up for part two in this series.

"It seemed like just another Monday, innocent but for its essential Mondayness, not to mention its Januaryness".

This brilliant line immediately set the mood for me. I loved Taylors writing style from the beginning. The way she portrays the beautiful city of Prague or the lively souk in Marrakech. Her characters come to life and even though at first I thought they were a bit ordinary, I soon found out that's definitely not the case. Then comes the part where there are monsters, and angels, and a big mystery surrounding.. teeth? Everything is explained later, in a ‘let me show you, ‘cause talk is cheap' kind of way. Needless to say, I was hooked!

I liked Karou and her strange family of monsters. You can say what you want about the morally grey Brimstone, but he did give Karou some pretty good advice about her love life and any “inessential penises” she may encounter in her life. I laughed so hard at that.

“Someone who was for her, as she was for him, whose blood and butterflies sang to hers and answered them, note for note”.

Luke is definitely a great Book Boyfriend, and this was a cute romance story. I liked how the writer didn't just focus on Kaya's struggles, but that she also made room for Luke's grieve and his bad days.

Hattie is the main character in the next book and I'm curious to see how her story will go. She is the type of friend that's not afraid of handing out some tough love ("sit up, you beautiful idiot), and I like that about her.

This was a cute novella, it gave us a glimpse into Sadie's future with Julius. I love how she didn't change her competitiveness for him, and he finally got to be as lovey-dovey as he wanted. And what a dreamboat is Julius😍 that bookstore date❤️

Sadie is a savage😂

For the next period, he will not be my first and greatest love but my first enemy, my greatest rival. I will obliterate him. And then I will hold him gently while we celebrate my victory.

This is the perfect book for every people pleaser struggling to choose their own happiness for a change. Sadie's tendency to ignore her own emotions, and to only absorb what others feel is so recognizable. Both her and Julius are complex characters, and I would like to read more about their relationship. How will they handle life after graduation, and all the expectations that come with that phase in life? Will they support eachother or make it harder because of their competitive side? *I just found out there's a short sequel, yay!*

"Something sick and poisonous inside me, something painful, and I need to force it out of my system. But it’s stuck. It’s festered beneath my flesh for so long now that it’s a part of me, the deep ache like a thumb on a tender bruise."

Why, oh why, did I let myself be deceived by this colourful cover. I thought I would like it; it has dragons, coffee and romance. I realised pretty early in the book that it wasn't going to be a good match for me, but I didn't expect to dislike it this much. The FMC was irresponsible and naïve, the MMC lacked any kind of character and halfway through I completely had it with all the baby talk. There was no depth, no real connection between the characters and I felt like they were all just winging it in life.

This is a tale full of teenagers pretending to be adults. The way all the dragons are babies in this book, all the adults act like children. Bad selfcare, not taking responsibility for their flaws and just making bad decisions in general.

This was a fun read, and it gave some insight in the stressful life of K-pop idols. I did feel like it was written for a younger audience. The indecisiveness from both Hyeri and Minseok was supposed to be charming and bring suspension, but it just annoyed me. I like open communication and there was too much going back and forth between them.

Also, I feel like Hyeri actually needed Minseok to make it as a K-star, because that girl is clueless. I'd like to say she stood up for herself in the end, but it was actually her brother who put his foot down (whom I absolutely hated by the way).

Incredibly unlikeable main character, but I guess that was the point. It was like watching 'Inventing Anna'; it was all so wrong, and at the same time you have to keep watching to see what she's getting away with. Juniper gets more delusional throughout the story. She was so convinced of her own roll as the victim, she kept justifying all her wrongdoings. I was hoping the truth would come out, but the ending felt very unsatisfactory.

And is the publishing industry truly this insanely competitive? Being a writer doesn't sound that fun if this is the stuff you have to deal with.

My goodness, this was boring!! Things happened, but at the same time nothing really happened. It was like playing a game of Burger Dash - they level up the coffee shop and now they have a ceiling fan. Level up again, and they can buy a bigger oven!

This is comfy reading at its simplest, and somehow I got stress reading it. For me it read like a to do list that was never finished 🫣 I regret spending money on this book, although it was the only reason I kept reading.

(I'm not surprised part 0,5 in this series is called 'Pages to fill', that's exactly what this book felt like as well.)

My goodness, this was boring!! Things happened, but at the same time nothing really happened. It was like playing a game of Burger Dash - they level up the coffee shop and now they have a ceiling fan. Level up again, and they can buy a bigger oven!

This is comfy reading at its simplest, and somehow I got stress reading it. For me it read like a to do list that was never finished 🫣 I regret spending money on this book, although it was the only reason I kept reading.

Incredibly unlikeable main character, but I guess that was the point. It was like watching 'Inventing Anna'; it was all so wrong, and at the same time you have to keep watching to see what she's getting away with. Juniper gets more delusional throughout the story. She was so convinced of her own roll as the victim, she kept justifying all her wrongdoings. I was hoping the truth would come out, but the ending felt very unsatisfactory.

And is the publishing industry truly this insanely competitive? Being a writer doesn't sound that fun if this is the stuff you have to deal with.