Ioana

This book is absolutely heartbreaking. I finished it in less than 4 hours and I just couldn't believe that a 200 pages book could make me feel so many things. Anger, sadness, frustration. It's a great, great book. As a white person who want to be more educated when it comes to the history of black people, this book was a great start for me.

It's the story of a 12 year old black kid, Jerome, who is murdered by a white police officer because he thought Jerome was holding a real gun. He was not, it was a toy gun. The police officer shot Jerome in the back without asking him to put the gun down. Without actually telling him that the police was there. Without giving him a chance to explain. And that's all because Jerome had the skin darker than the police officer's.
Jerome becomes a ghost and is a witness to all that happens after his tragical death. How his family is suffering, how the police officer isn't found guilty of murder. He is saying that he was scared for his life, that he thought Jerome was a “big, scary man”. But he was a 12 YEAR OLD BOY.

One of the most powerful things in this book, for me, was this quote: “Color shouldn't make anybody scared. Is it because slavery happened? Is that why some whites are afraid of black people? I don't know. Wake up, people, I want to tell everyone. Fear, stereotypes about black boys don't make the world better.”

This book shows the true face of racism. It is sad, it is terrifying, but it should be something we learn from. We, white people. Because we need to stand together and FIGHT against racism.

Loved loved looooved this book! Even though Oliver was the MOST ANNOYING character ever and I wanted to smack him multiple times every single chapter, I tried to get past my hate for him and enjoy the story. I definitely did not expect things to happen the way they did and I loved that the book managed to surprise and shock me with the ending. 

Cal and Alana's story was definitely my favorite from this trilogy! I love them so much and their journey was so emotional and beautiful.

I just can't. I have no idea where to start with this book, it was so good and heartbreaking and it left me with such a strange feeling. I laughed, I cried and I wanted to throw it against a wall. It is so hard to talk about it right now and to have some order in my thoughts, because they are all over the place. I finished the book last night and I didn't want to write the review right away, I said that it would be better if I waited until morning. Well, morning's here and I still have no idea what to say, because there are TOO MANY things to say.

Well, let's start with the spoiler-free review. Let me tell you: if you liked the first 2 books in the series, you are going to LOVE this one. I think it's my favourite so far, because it was so good and it made me feel so many things. Obviously, I have already fallen in love with Thomas Cresswell and he's such an amazing character. However, this book made me fall in love with him even more. He's so precious and amazing, he would do anything for Audrey Rose and his love for her has no end.
In this book, we see how their “relationship” takes some weird turns, how they encounter some problems and if their love for each other is strong enough to survive the horrible things that happen on the RMS Etruria.

Now, let's talk about the fun part: SPOILERS AHEAD.

Mephistopheles. That's all I have to say. I hated this character SO MUCH, because he made me kind of fall in love with him. Yes, that's weird, but I did NOT want to love him. I wanted to hate him because he created problems between Audrey Rose and Thomas. He made Audrey Rose break Cresswell's heart and mine too, because when Thomas realised that Audrey Rose may have feelings for Mephistopheles, I could feel his sadness. I was so sad, even now it makes me cry just thinking about those chapters. Poor, dear Thomas.
I was really mad at Audrey Rose for doing that to Thomas, but somehow I understood her. Mephistopheles is such an interesting, magical character that you cannot help yourself and want to see more of him. That's what happened to Audrey Rose, she got stuck in his web of lies and manipulation. However, he was not THAT BAD in the end. But I still hated him for coming between my 2 favourite characters and making Audrey Rose question her feelings for Thomas.
It was so obvious that the two of them are made for each other, I had high hopes that Audrey Rose was going to realise that and give up on her almost-feelings for Mephistopheles.
I loved what she did in the ending and how she saved Cresswell's life, as well as her realization that her feeling for Thomas could not be made less powerful. And even if she had some feelings for Mephistopheles, they were not enough and he was not the right man for her.


This book was brilliant. I can feel my heart breaking whenever I'm thinking about it and that's a sign that this book definitely deserves 5 stars.

I'm giving it 4 stars only for the ending. I had been waiting for the Cinder and Kai reunion.
Cress was SO, SO annoying at some points in the book. Ok, I get it, she's been trapped on that satellite for a lot of time, but that doesn't mean she needs to be that annoying and naive and ughhhh.
I really hope that the last book will be better than these ones, I had high hopes for this series but it just doesn't live up to my expectations.

3.5 stars
I liked it, but I had figured everything out from like... The first half of the book. It was predictibile

Of course Ali does it again - another 5 star read that she wrote. I just love her writing style so much, it's so easy and nice to read, it's empowering and it always makes me FEEL. I loved the characters in this new book, especially Nolan, he is such a sweetheart.

Such a great and magical book. I just couldn't put it down, it got me hooked from the very first pages.

It made me think a little bit of “Night Circus”, I loved the vibe of the book, all the magic and how it makes you feel like you are a part of the game. But remember: It's only a game.

The plot is interesting, the whole idea of the book. But this book is not for everyone and I'm not even sure if it's FOR ME.
I don't know what to say about it or how I truly feel about it. I liked some parts of it, I absolutely hated other parts. There are some intense descriptions, some rape scenes, a lot of talk on slavery which can be really disturbing if you're sensitive to this subject.
I liked Damen's character and even Laurent sometimes and I really want to get to know them better, maybe I will like them more. I despised Nicaise (was that his name or have I butchered it, who knows).
I don't really feel like reading the next book right now, but at the same time I want to know if I will end up liking the series.

I LOVE Ali Hazelwood and her books, but this book just wasn't for me and it's my least favorite of hers. I didn't feel connected with the characters, I didn't feel the connection between them. Maybe it's me, maybe it's them, who knows 😂
But the knotting thing was just... NOPE. Knot for me. I haven't read anything like this before and I definitely wasn't expecting it, but I cringed so hard when they were doing stuff and the descriptions were just... not it. I was really excited for a fantasy book of Ali's, but this one just didn't live up to my expectations.

UPDATE

It seems that Amazon released the wrong e-book version (the one that I read) and the physical copies do not have THAT MANY mistakes, but they still do. Am I going to give this author and the next book another chance? Probably, I'm really hoping that the next one will be better because these books are so hyped on bookstagram and I want to understand why.

UPDATE


Okay so... where do I begin?

I kept seeing this book on bookstagram, and as a Greek mythology lover, when I heard “Hades and Persephone” retelling I KNEW I had to read this book. After a couple of months of postponing it, I finally decided to read it. And then my funny journey started.

Let's talk about the HUGE amount of mistakes in this book. Did ANYONE proof read this book? Because I don't think so. The mistakes in this book drove me crazy and sometimes I couldn't even concentrate on the story because there were so many misspelled words or grammar mistakes, that I, a person whose first language isn't even English, kept spotting.

In the beginning of the book, when Persephone meets Hades, he is called “the man”, because he hasn't been introduced yet, even though we all KNOW he is the one. Then, randomly, he's called “Hades”. Then, he's “the man” again. I was like: “Wait, what's happening?” Is he HADES or is he THE MAN? Make up your mind.

Then there is this mistakes that KEEEEEEEEPS appearing throughout the book. Instead of saying HADES' when the author refers to something that belongs to him, they just say “Hades”. Like “Hades hand went to her cheek” or “Hades smile was blablah”... This kept making me SO MAD, like was it soooo hard to check the book for these type of mistakes?

NOW, let's talk about the oh-so-powerful Goddess Demeter, the mother of Persephone. She is described as a fierce, brutal goddess, fearful and strong. She keeps stalking her daughter through her nymphs, tracking her phone and other abusive stuff. She KNOWS that Persephone when to Hades' look, it's not that hard! club, Nevernight, in the beginning. She seems to know everything. But then, as the action flows, we don't hear anything new about Demeter. Persephone's relationship with Hades evolves, they fall in love, yet her mother has NO IDEA of what is happening? Where is she? How is it she doesn't know that her daughter is spending so much time (weeks) in the Underworld? That's a thing I found really odd and I think it's just a plot-hole. Then BOOM she appears out of nowhere, like the author remembered there should be a wicked mother that makes Persephone's life a living hell.


Okay, so that's mostly it. I really loved the idea of this book as a retelling of the story of Hades and Persephone, but it lacked so many things and it really should be proof-read in order to get rid of all the mistakes. I don't know if I'm going to give the next books a second chance, maybe the writing gets better? Who knows.

4.5 stars

Oh wow, what an amazing book. Besides Dracula, which is my favourite book, I rarely read classics. They tend to bore me and I find them so hard to get into, but I got a pretty edition of “Anne of Green Gables” a while ago and I finally decided to pick it up.

Ever since the beginning, I fell in love with Anne. What a brilliant soul she is. She's a pretty red-headed orphan girl who is adopted by mistake by a sister and brother that live in Avonlea. By mistake meaning they wanted a boy, but they got the skinny girl that couldn't stop talking. Anne grows on them day by day and she becomes a part of their little family.

I absolutely loved Anne's journey, it was so inspiring and it's a perfect example for: no matter where you come from, you can do it. She is so ambitious, so full of life, she finds pleasure in the smallest things and I think that's really beautiful. We should all be like Anne, who feels so happy just by seeing a beautiful sunrise or a lake, she is so fascinated by nature's wonders.

This book starts with Anne as an eleven year old child who makes a lot of mistakes and it ends with Anne as a beautiful, mature teenager now sixteen, who has achieved so many great things and has become such a wonderful person. It's a very emotional ride and I just couldn't put the book down.

One of the most beautiful books I've ever read. I just loved it, it was amazing.

“Ah yes, the most dangerous person at the party is always the girl sitting alone with a book.”

This book was so good. I loved every part of it, even though at first I was so mad when I found out it was going to be from the points of view of Lia Mara and Grey, not Harper and Rhen. But then I understood why and I absolutely loved it. It was even better than the first book!

Lia Mara is such a great and well written character and everything about her is amazing. I am glad that she and Grey found each other, when they didn't even know they needed it.
Rhen makes me so sad and all his decisions are so harsh, I couldn't believe what he did to Grey. His only friend, the person who was always there for him, how could he forget all of this in such a short time and become ruthless when it came to Grey? But I feel like Harper can truly help him see the better part of things, even though some things will never be forgotten.

I cannot wait to see if Grey and Rhen will find their way back to being friends or... anything else than enemies. And I truly hope that Lia Mara and Harper will become friends, because they are so much alike and I believe they would make a great pair.