if we're being honest, this book doesn't need to exist. the novellas set after war storm should have just been part of the fourth book because the booif we're being honest, this book doesn't need to exist. the novellas set after war storm should have just been part of the fourth book because the book ended so abruptly. but i have been CRAVING a continuation, so i was holding my breath in hopes that it would deliver, and it SO did.
i loved coriane's novella but found farley's mostly boring. the middle story about the disputed lands felt out of place but wasn't entirely uninteresting.
evangeline has my entire heart and i adored the end of her story.
the last 100 pages of this book about mare and cal i spent alternating between giggling and kicking my feet, and then sobbing. heavy on the sobbing in the last ~15 pages.
my biggest shock of 2023 was how much i loved these books, given how low my expectations were. definitely plan to read more from victoria aveyard in the future....more
this book was like a kick to the spleen but it was so short, sweet and well-illustrated that i can't stay mad at itthis book was like a kick to the spleen but it was so short, sweet and well-illustrated that i can't stay mad at it...more
i have foolishly made it an errand to read a bunch of the most popular 2010s YA books that i somehow missed out on, and this one was near the top of ti have foolishly made it an errand to read a bunch of the most popular 2010s YA books that i somehow missed out on, and this one was near the top of the list. wildly popular, but at the time it was getting SO many three star reviews that i decided it probably wasn't worth my time. (and being honest, it came out when i was turning 18 and going to college and i was pretending i was better than reading YA. but anywho.)
i expected this to be interesting, but i didn't anticipate actually really enjoying this!! i always have to give credit when it's due for books that are SO gripping and fast to read that i actually get excited to continue reading whenever i have free time. the world building in this isn't the greatest (literally where's the map?! I NEEDED A MAP VICTORIA), but the society was so simple to understand and it thrusts you immediately into the action.
mare isn't the most interesting main character, but i did find her perceptive and smart. and the times that she wasn't, i actually thought it was pretty realistic. although i enjoyed her characterization, the characters were the factor that brought this book's rating down for me a bit because it was hard to get a grasp on who was friend or foe, not even in a fun way. sometimes the narrator would outright tell the reader in black-and-white terms that this person is good or bad, but they hadn't done anything in the book to prove that to be true, so it felt like the author was feeding us red herrings. and with the amount of betrayals at the end of this book (and the number of times the word "betrayal" was actually used), it was pretty clunky.
i really did like the world and the development of the main character, but this book also had some plot holes around the whole concept of silvers and red bloods. if silvers are the powerful ones who control society, why aren't they smarter? why don't they keep a more watchful eye on reds and the rebellion who are literally right under their noses? and why if mare is an exception to the rules do they not do research on her and her blood? and if the queen has the power to see people's memories, how does she not keep tabs on mare to see that she's working with the rebellion? so many questions arose because it seems like the silvers have the ability to squash the rebels so easily but they were just portrayed quite stupidly.
i realize i'm writing paragraphs and paragraphs about a book that came out almost 10 years ago but i'm actually so surprised, despite my few criticisms, that i liked this so much!! the ending had me actually pacing around my apartment with tears in my eyes and gasping because there were so many unexpected reveals, and it made me emotional. even though this book had its moments of predictability, especially in the first half, i was really surprised that this book wasn't cheesy at all and the plot is a pretty solid foundation for a story. i'm hoping the few holes that i poked in this get solved in the next few volumes. which is high praise, the fact that i just wanted to read this to check a box and yet i'm now so invested i want to read the sequels!!
if you missed out on this one i really think it's worth a shot, especially if you're craving some old-school dystopian with smart characters that'll keep you guessing....more
this book changed the composition of my DNA. i went into this completely blindly and ended up sobbing my way through it even though it's so short. as this book changed the composition of my DNA. i went into this completely blindly and ended up sobbing my way through it even though it's so short. as someone who had to move out of my childhood home and holds fond memories and yearns to go back, this book struck home. the art style was so gorgeous and familiar, and i savored every single page of this even when it made my heart ache. SUCH a good story to share with kids who experience moving, and definitely a bit cathartic for me as an adult as well. i'm so tempted to get my own copy of this after reading it from the library so i can have a piece of it with me to remind me that home isn't just a geographic coordinate, it's who i'm there with and how i curate my space.
long story short i'll be telling my therapist about this...more
sorry but where is the pulitzer prize for this book?????
book one in this series was really good but this book took it to a whole nother level and thissorry but where is the pulitzer prize for this book?????
book one in this series was really good but this book took it to a whole nother level and this book was REAAALLY GOOD!!!
from the set up (that made me cry) to the wedding to the characters to the dialogue to the small town/orchard setting, i loved every single bit of this book. every single bit of it. every crumb, every morsel. this book had the perfect pacing, perfect characters, perfect believable drama and growth. i seriously have zero complaints other than i wish i've read more of rebekah's other books because there were so many side characters mentioned from books of hers i haven't gotten to yet. but that just means i have more amazing books in store!
i stayed up until 4 AM on a work night to read this in one sitting. finished it weeping. i understand why they skipped benedict's seasonBRO???????????
i stayed up until 4 AM on a work night to read this in one sitting. finished it weeping. i understand why they skipped benedict's season because of the time jump in this but I NEED TO SEE THIS ADAPTED ASAP
if you're a whore for cinderella retellings, love at first sight, strangers to enemies to lovers, skip books one and two and dive right into this one. the dialogue and angst in this is TOP NOTCH
the only thing i didn't love is that there's some unresolved anger issues with both characters but given the time period is 1817, i'm not sure how much that could've been helped. but i see why some people would hate this book because of it. personally i support women's rights and wrongs so i couldn't NOT give this five stars...more
sometimes picking up a random book in a used bookstore for 25 cents pays off. after buying it from a library bookstore just because i recognized tessssometimes picking up a random book in a used bookstore for 25 cents pays off. after buying it from a library bookstore just because i recognized tesss dare's name, i grabbed this book off my tbr shelf at random because it was the most summer-looking romance i owned, and it is now easily one of my favorite books of the year.
i recently rewatched briderton, so this whole book read in my head like a movie. but it was also aided by how gorgeous Tessa Dare's writing style is. there were SO many lines that i marveled at the word choice and how the sentences flowed so well and provided such lush descriptions. the characters' dialogue felt so real, i could definitely imagine this being pulled word for word and being transformed into a show or movie. this is embarrassing to admit but sometimes i was reading the dialogue out loud to my cats and my friends because it was just so damn punchy and realistic. for a book published in 2010, i can't believe it holds up to time so well and was so beautiful.
mainly, the storyline in this is what connected with me so deeply. it's hard to find books that i can relate to that don't feel like the spitting image of ninety thousand other similar books, but this book hit a sweet spot. the main character is weird and chatty but also deeply self-conscious about not being desirable, which hits so close to home that i couldn't help but love her. the love interest is perfectly grumpy without being an unredeemable asshole, and it certainly helped my enjoyment of this book that he is a horse girl through and through. (plus, he has panic attacks and deals with social anxiety!!) put these two characters together with a handful of my favorite tropes? man, i was FEASTING.
this book has everything. everything. smut, emotion, relatable...ness. my only critique is that the ending felt rushed in comparison to the rest of the book, but i knew within 50 pages this was going to be a favorite of the year. i mean, for christ's sake, i have like 100 sticky tabs in this book, and it's a mass market paperback with a hideous cover (that also misrepresents that the main charater is PLUS SIZED!!).
i could go on and on. this book made me cry just because it had a hugging scene. like, come get yall juice. don't keep sleeping on tessa dare. i will now read the rest of this series and pray and hope that it hits the same, because WOW. reading this in three sittings while listening to the pride & prejudice soundtrack may just be the highlight of my summer....more
may i just say. i LOVE a book about a meanie. nesta's anger and resentment for the world was so relatable. i find nesta far more interesting than i fimay i just say. i LOVE a book about a meanie. nesta's anger and resentment for the world was so relatable. i find nesta far more interesting than i find cassian, so her story really resonated. sometimes i felt this book took cheap stabs at talking about mental health and healing, like using the word "trauma" a lot and having meditation be a big focus for nesta. i wish those bits had been folded in more naturally, but i did really like the discussion around self-worth and vulnerability.
although this book was 750 pages, it didn't seem like it. most of the book was the same cycle of scenes, but it didn't feel repetitive. i enjoyed the new characters (and gwyn and nesta had so much chemistry i'm furious they never even kissed) and appreciated appearances of the original cast.
one thing that brought this book down for me is the shift from this series being in first person to third person. i just prefer first person so maybe it's subjective, but the tone changed so much with a third person narration style, almost like sarah was letting the reader into the story instead of nesta herself, which i don't like. it's the difference between a book saying "i was worthless," which is the character admitting something about themselves directly to the reader, and a book saying "she was worthless," which could either be the character thinking, or the author TELLING you that. i much prefer the unambiguousness of the first.
the next thing i didn't love about this book was that the ending felt rushed and melodramatic. i know there's gonna be another sequel after this, but it feels like nesta's problems solved themself fast and then that was that, but i wanted to continue seeing nesta's fire and have a better idea of where all the characters are at and not just the main sisters.
but this book did tick a lot of boxes for me. miserably raunchy sex? yes. (even though i have LOTs to say about it). actually no, fuck it: full paragraph about the sex. first of all, thoughts and prayers to mor for losing her virginity to cassian's horse schlong. second of all, i can't believe their first sex scene is (view spoiler)[right after they get back from the swamp and CASSIAN HASN'T BATHED???? not swamp dick!!! they're having shrex right now! (hide spoiler)]! also the fact that sarah j maas can say cock but would rather write something ridiculous like "the hidden pearl of bundled nerves nestled gently between the apex of her thighs" instead of clit was exhausting. sometimes i was overly aware of bad editing while reading these scenes because the language used could be so repetitive that it took me out of the scene. i just wish there was more variety, beause you could tell by the end of the book that sarah was like "aight then they had sex again." because she'd already written the same type of scene over and over. ok that's all about the sex.
more things i liked: this book really said Smart House (1999) rights because i LOVED nesta and the house. i would die for gwyn. loved seeing azriel from cassian's point of view (although it was jarring to hear him say "suck your cock"). uhhh idk what else. it was gripping. nesta being a bitch made me happy. wish there was more lucien. since there was no real setup for the next book since this one ended so fast, i'll bet there's gonna be another novella before the next sequel.
idk i have so many random thoughts about this that i'm not sure my review made sense. i loved nesta but couldn't not see cassian as a greasy himbo. sarah j maas's raging heteronormativity strikes again at the end with (view spoiler)[nesta gettin' them birthing hips while feyre is literally dying, because no relationship in this book can be complete without ensuring children are aflowin'. (hide spoiler)] but the more i think about this, the more loose ends i'm realizing exist. hmmm....more
i so badly wish i could've read this when i was younger because i think i really would've appreciated the theme of hwho here is choppin onions????????
i so badly wish i could've read this when i was younger because i think i really would've appreciated the theme of having to adjust to change. but also as an adult, i really related to this and was comforted by it having also lost my childhood home i grew up in (although by much normal means of moving out rather than having it destroyed in a tornado). there were a lot of elements to this but i feel it balanced them well, and the plot points i thought i had predicted, i ended up being surprised by! this was a really sweet book that i'm so happy i read, and after reading two books by ashley herring blake this month, i intend on reading everything else she's published. love it...more
i'm still actively crying as i write this review. why is this the best YA series to ever exist ever i'm still actively crying as i write this review. why is this the best YA series to ever exist ever ...more
5 stars to the section around page 209, but as a whole, i thought this was a solid conclusion that just had some tropes i didn't like. as always, thes5 stars to the section around page 209, but as a whole, i thought this was a solid conclusion that just had some tropes i didn't like. as always, these characters were fun and jumped off the page. despite the dialogue and action that sometimes felt like it was too modern for the book's time frame (like playing truth or dare? cringe), i love lou and the atmosphere of this trilogy.
even though i read all the books pretty much back to back, it still felt like there were magical elements and characters introduced in this book that came out of left field to solve the conflict. and there were multiple side plots in this book that we spent most of the time trying to solve rather than the main storyline. the second of those side plots i thought was really not handled well and hence it brought my rating down, even though it was plausible and a good twist. (view spoiler)[for those of you reading along, it was when reid had his memory wiped of lou and reverted back to a book one version of himself. there's no clean way to make a twist like that work, and i hated that it took so long for lou to explain their full history to him. wouldn't that be the first thing you want to do rather than make a bet that you'll make him fall in love with you? then the way he got his memory back was just so random, i didn't really understand why the author chose to the whole thing the way she did. (hide spoiler)]
this ended up being fine. i liked it. now i'm waiting on my spinoff about coco and beau. ...more
reliving (the first half of) obama's presidency as an adult instead of a clueless 11 year old was so interesting, and the audiobook format of this is reliving (the first half of) obama's presidency as an adult instead of a clueless 11 year old was so interesting, and the audiobook format of this is definitely the way to go. he's such a talented and detailed writer, and even the parts that i didn't really understand -- i relistened to the paragraph about the housing crisis no fewer than five times -- were interesting to hear from his point of view. when the second book comes out i think i'll definitely pick up where we left off, and by that point i think it'll be really interesting to hear because the second half of his presidency is when i really began to gain a social and political awareness, so i'm sure some things will be more familiar.
withholding a rating because c'mon. can't really sum up a presidency on a five star scale, but i did enjoy this even though it took me months to read....more
uhhhh who else here is crying?? this book had me weeping.
i loved every page of it. from the metaphors to each chapter focusing on a different life leuhhhh who else here is crying?? this book had me weeping.
i loved every page of it. from the metaphors to each chapter focusing on a different life lesson to echo's writing, this book was raw and meaningful. if i had read it as a teenager i think it would've gone so far over my head, which just shows that teens nowadays are so smart and more understanding and receptive to books like this. i highly, highly, highly recommend this....more
this is one of those books where i didn't start crying until i finished the epilogue and closed the book. the ending waeveryone be quiet, i'm thinking
this is one of those books where i didn't start crying until i finished the epilogue and closed the book. the ending was a tiny bit muddled with the action, but other than that, i have zero complaints. i'm gonna miss mia and her triumphantness and mister kindly :c
mr. kristoff i am begging for a spinoff novel about cloud corleone
(view spoiler)[i'm not sure how i feel about a happy ever after with ashlinn, though. after everything, i'm still not quite on board with forgiving her and how they fell in love out of desperation rather than attraction? idk. (hide spoiler)]...more
nothin' like crying on my balcony at the last 30 pages of this. wow i loved it!
beach read is a bit misleading with its title and cover becaus4.5 stars
nothin' like crying on my balcony at the last 30 pages of this. wow i loved it!
beach read is a bit misleading with its title and cover because what i thought was going to be a light and angsty summer read actually contained a lot of depth and thoughtfulness and heartache. i was able to shift gears and embrace that, and it made this book and the relationship that bloomed within it that much more special. i loved the writing style and the main character's thought process and her slow evolution to being okay. i loved the setting and the small town-ness of it and the banter between her and gus.
the one hurdle i'm not quite over is that this book has a little too much of an unrealistic gleam to it. it mostly stems from the characters' names. no offense if your name is january of augustus, but i couldn't quite shake the feeling that i was reading a romance between a fairytale character and a willy wonka character. the names, and the middle chunk of the book where the characters were chasing each other and not being transparent with their feelings, made this book just a bit at arms' length, but the way it ended brought it back to earth for me.
i highly recommend this book whether you're a sappy romance reader or someone who needs a bit of substance. it balances both perfectly and though it isn't quite the lighthearted beach read it claims to be, it definitely should be on your TBR for this summer....more
I remain convinced that this is one of the best and most underrated YA series of all time. What thiOriginal rating: ★★★☆☆ Reread rating: ★★★★★
June 2022
I remain convinced that this is one of the best and most underrated YA series of all time. What this first book lacks in speed and depth, the rest of the series make up for it twofold. I was weeping while rereading this just from the sheer fact of knowing how it ends, so all the foreshadowing and flashbacks were that much more impactful. I can see why I rated it 3 stars the first time around because it keeps you in the dark on some things that end up being very significant, but over the course of the series I grew to love these characters so much and now any subsequent rereads are going to be 5 stars, no matter what. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series.
March 2020
Thanks Sourcebooks for the review copy!
3.5 stars
During the first half of this book, I was convinced I would give it 4.5 stars. I was really liking it, and my vlog footage matched that same excitement. but the last 100 pages of this book lost so much steam, it's like the author got tired of writing it and just flung her characters into situations without thinking whether it's realistic or explained enough.
The main character Eliana reminds me so much of Lou from Serpent & Dove. She lives just to survive, so she'll switch to any alliance or do whatever's necessary to protect her friends and family. This made her interesting.... but also seemed a little like a Celaena wannabe at times. Still, I liked her banter with the Wolf and I thought she was smart--again, excluding the final 100 pages.
The biggest disappointment here for me was how the plot points didn't really fall into place. This book was trying to be an assassin book, an elemental magic book, (view spoiler)[a time travel book, (hide spoiler)] and an angel book all at once, and it just got confusing and underexplained. The plot point about angels should have been cut, in my opinion.
Also I'm a little upset about the rushed romance--or not even romance, but just how the Wolf went from being a great stoic character to randomly a smitten jokester. His development was so lazy and I didn't understand the shift from "you're terrible i hate you" to "i would bow on my knees to you, my life is dedicated toward you."
So many small pieces of this didn't fall into place for me, so I'm gonna try out book two and see if it solidifies anything. But I did like that this book was a dual POV and had a really steamy scene for it being a YA book....more
this book was.... well, lovely! i enjoyed that even though it's a war story, you are given the foreshadowing that it contains aphrodite's fav4.5 stars
this book was.... well, lovely! i enjoyed that even though it's a war story, you are given the foreshadowing that it contains aphrodite's favorite couples, so it's nice to get to assume that there will be happy endings despite the graphicness of war. the gods narrating the book was a cool narration style, even though it took some googling on my end to understand why certain gods stepped in.
i haven't read a book in a while where the characters are so instantly likable. the cast of humans in this were so charming and realistic and funny, you couldn't not love them. i think this book's greatest success is that i was SO invested in what would happen, basically reading this book in three sittings as i was hoping and wishing things would turn out okay because i was rooting for them so hard. and i was not disappointed!
one thing that was shocking that not a lot of reviewers i saw on here discuss is the ramifications of centering one perspective of this book around a Black character. there's a whole history to unpack with how Black men in america were treated differently during the war due to prejudice and racism, but this book included every slur in the book, and quite frequently. although i think it painted a well-researched picture of what it must have been like for those men at the time, i was very very aware while reading this that a white author was writing explicit hate speech and violence as an integral and inescapable part of the plot, and then trying to describe what it must have felt like from the perspective of being Black. it felt like an overstep at times, and i would definitely place a substantial trigger warning on this for any people of color, specifically Black readers, interested in picking it up. however, any racism the white characters overheard was challenged on-page, so i think it attempted to handle the subject respectfully.
regardless of that issue i had with it and that it was slow to start, i finished this book at 4 AM weeping with my cats because i was so touched. i can definitely see why this is some people's favorite, and if you love the angst of a good wartime love story or two, i would recommend this for sure despite its faults. ...more
this is one of the most beautiful books i've ever read. i hate that it had to be about this.
i was taking a women and gender studies course in collegethis is one of the most beautiful books i've ever read. i hate that it had to be about this.
i was taking a women and gender studies course in college when the brock turner rape trial was occurring, and i remember all the women in the room commiserating over his sentence and the unfairness of it all. revisiting it all to hear chanel's story increased that pain tenfold, but the journey she takes the reader on through grief and recovery was stunning. i listened to the first half of this on audio, listening to hear recount her experiences, but switched to reading it physically since i found i preferred to soak in every word and reflect on the absolute power this book contains.
i really don't have the words to talk about how immaculate and soul-wrenching this book is-- i'm already having a hard time thinking of adjectives. you would really be doing yourself a disservice by not picking this up. it's a new top favorite of mine and i can't wait to see what chanel accomplishes next....more
When I went into this book, I was crossing my fingers that the execution of it and the writing style matched how great the synopsis was. I'm 4.5 stars
When I went into this book, I was crossing my fingers that the execution of it and the writing style matched how great the synopsis was. I'm so glad the book held up to how good it sounds, and it's definitely a memorable romance I'll be recommending!
My primary concern about this book was that since it's about a married couple with kids, I wouldn't be able to relate to it or enjoy it since they're several years ahead of me on the maturity scale. Attached to that, I was hoping this wouldn't become a women's fiction book about fixing a marriage with no steamy scenes. Quickly, both of my fears became obsolete. The fact that this book follows characters who are already in a relationship makes it so much more real. Rather than two characters living out a dolled up romance, this is about a relationship that's dead and both characters having to fight to reanimate it. It's different than anything I've ever read and was so interesting and realistic and human. In addition, the scenes of Gavin and Thea interacting with their kids were SO wholesome.
I jokingly told my friend while I was reading this that it reads like what a Nicholas Sparks book would be if Nicholas Sparks books were actually good. It talks about family issues--both in their current relationship and in their childhood trauma--while also being a cuddly romance about two adults rediscovering each other through honesty. This book was SO soft because Gavin was making an effort to be attentive to Thea's needs and insecurities, and watching them reblossom to one another was so heart warming and emotional.
The writing of this book is spectacular in all areas except one. I loved when the author would delve into the character's backstories and they way she wrote their dialogue and all the humor that was folded into the Bromance Book Club. I especially loved how this book was a mix of real-time action with scenes interspersed from the regency romance book the men were reading. The reason I took off .5 stars, however, was there were moments in this book where the characters would randomly get on a soapbox about feminism that didn't match the context of the conversation at all. There were seriously some paragraphs that read like an essay for a women and gender studies class rather than a romance book because it wasn't subtle at all. The men in the book club are self-aware about feminism and toxic masculinity, which is good, but it wasn't subtle at all and ended up sounding like fan service to other women reading the book because those random feminism rants didn't sound authentic to the men's voices at all. But a part of the book I did like is that Thea, the wife, was strident in her independence and her feminism, which I enjoyed way more than when the characters went off on tangents about the male gaze and the patriarchy.
But overall, this book was so addicting and enjoyable. It was quick and sweet but also the perfect amounts of meaningful and realistic. I love any romance book that takes the shininess away from relationships and delves into real human lives, and this book definitely fits that category. I can't wait to pick up a copy when it comes out!...more
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