I’ve got very mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I really enjoyed the story progression and I appreciated how the book didn’tActual Rating: 3
I’ve got very mixed feelings about this one. On one hand, I really enjoyed the story progression and I appreciated how the book didn’t shy away from being bleak, but on the other hand I didn’t really connect to any of the characters to really feel the emotional impact of the development. There are moments where they’re relatable for sure, but it wasn’t that consistent for me.
All the Colors of the Dark is a story that spans several years, following Patch, a local boy known for stealing and for having only one eye. He has only one friend, a girl named Saint, who plays beekeeper while he plays pirate. One day when he saves a wealthy girl named Misty from getting abducted by a well-known serial kidnapper, everything changes. Suddenly Patch is hailed as a hero by the community, but after getting kidnapped himself, Patch is no longer the imaginative boy he once was. Patch becomes obsessed with finding the other missing girls, and as he spirals over the years, it’s up to Saint — now a police officer — to catch him.
I thought Patch was such an endearing character to read about, and the book balanced his desolate upbringing and youthful innocence perfectly. As the story went on, however, Patch turned into a more distant, almost “mythical” sort of character. By the end of the book he doesn’t quite feel like a main character because we’re not in his mind as much. Most of what we know about him is through the eyes of Saint, who I thought was a good balance to Patch, but just not as interesting of a narrator to follow.
I think the writing style is one of the best parts of this book for sure. It’s consistently poetic throughout, somehow both hopeful and desperate, and the book would definitely not have the same impact without the beautiful writing. I will be reading other Chris Whitaker books for the writing style for sure.
Ultimately, I really would still recommend this to the general public, though I do want to say that marketing this as a "thriller" is not quite accurate. Either way, it’s somehow both character and story-driven so I think a lot of people with different reading preferences would be able to enjoy it....more
*Thank you to the publisher and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
As a 1.5 generation Taiwanese immigra*Thank you to the publisher and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
As a 1.5 generation Taiwanese immigrant, when I saw that this was a contemporary teen romance taking place in the Taiwanese-American community and with the ever-so-relatable theme of parental pressure, I KNEW I had to read this.
Asking for a Friend follows Juliana Zhao, an optimist and hopeless romantic (even though she’s never been in a relationship). Ever since her father died and her older sister got pregnant and disowned, the weight of keeping the family together falls squarely on her shoulders. Her mother has her life’s next steps planned out for her: win the Asian Americans in Business Competition, and get into an Ivy League. When her partner abruptly drops her days before registration, Juliana is forced to turn to Garrett Tsai, who she used to be friends with, before he suddenly turned cold without explanation. And just for good measure, her mother disapproves of him too — he’s headed to art school — so now Juliana has to win the competition while making sure her mom doesn’t find out who her partner is. But as Juliana spends more time with Garrett and with the local Taiwanese cultural center, she starts wondering if what she’s been working towards is even what she really wants.
To start, I just want to say that I LOVED all the Taiwanese references: boba, Ai-yo, hot pot, the Taiwanese language feeling like a “secret language” spoken at home…as someone who’s never learned Taiwanese despite hearing the older generation speak it, I feel a sense of loss whenever I hear it and it was really comforting to see how accurate these emotions were described.
It’s more than that though — I felt like there was so much in this book I could relate to. Like Garrett, I went into art (and I was originally going to the same school, RISD before I got into a great university and my mother said I couldn’t NOT go.)
Ultimately, the best part of this book is undoubtedly the family aspect and the internal conflict of different identities clashing with each other. I will unashamedly admit that it made me cry. Even though my mom was never so overbearing as Juliana’s, there was a lot that any immigrant child will relate to, like the pressure of having to be successful so you appreciate everything your parents did for you, and the guilt if you aren’t. I also really love how realistic the book was from start to finish in terms of how Juliana’s mother was portrayed; there was no “everything is fixed and now it’s all sunshine and rainbows ending.” Instead, we simply saw Juliana question herself, and we saw a little hint of what the future of her family could be now that she’s grown and learned to communicate in a much better way.
I will say that I think this book could’ve benefitted from more refined writing. Especially at the start, there’s a lot of what feels like exposition dumps. The narration will name drop a person/place/thing, go into a few paragraphs explaining it with a backstory/anecdote, and then repeat the process when another name drop happens a few sentences later. It gets better as the book goes on since most things are already introduced, but it feels a lot like “telling, not showing” and I wish we’d incorporated more of these stories in other ways, rather than just having Juliana monologue these stories, one after another. Her narration is often much too on the nose.
I actually also found myself caring much more about the family relationship than the romance, which is pretty surprising for me. While I like Garrett, I feel like he wasn’t as well-rounded as Juliana was. I wonder if a two-person perspective writing style might’ve worked, because I actually really loved reading their advice posts. In fact, I think the two best characters are Juliana and her mother, while everyone else feels a little more paper thin. I wish we’d gotten to see or hear more about Bella, because her story has such a big presence in the book, but we never quite get to hear from her directly.
Ultimately, however, I did enjoy this one and it made me think a lot about my relationship with my parents. I’m also over the moon that more Taiwanese-American stories are getting published. More, please!...more
*Thank you to the publishers and author for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.*
One star as a book but like four and a half as some *Thank you to the publishers and author for a free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.*
One star as a book but like four and a half as some sort of conceptual art.
I don't think this was for me as a reader; I wished there was just more cohesiveness between the stories. I know it goes against the essence of it, but I felt like by the end of the book I didn't really know who the characters were at all despite the writing style being pretty good and the queerness of the stories being very beautiful.
Honestly though, if I had seen this organized in art gallery I think I would have loved it....more
The premise for this is promising and I started out really interested, but gradually it just became very monotonous. Contrary to a lot of other reviewThe premise for this is promising and I started out really interested, but gradually it just became very monotonous. Contrary to a lot of other reviews, I don't believe that "cozy" and "high stakes" are mutually exclusive. One of my favorite cozy fantasy reads last year was Kit & Basie, and that book absolutely nailed the emotional tension. On the other hand, I felt like this one had "stakes" — the queen coming after them, especially — but it just never felt palpable, and it was like we skimmed through a lot of the build-up. I had very few expectations because I just wasn't sure what I was supposed to be looking forward to. It was like a lot of little scenes mashed together. There's a lot of "tell, not show" surrounding how the queen was characterized too, making her feel very caricature-ish.
With better flow I think having our two main characters starting out already as a couple would have worked, but since we didn't have that, I felt like they were even more boring. The chemistry is lacking. They communicate well, which is great, but it adds to the feeling of there being zero reason to care about their relationship.
Ultimately, I don't think this worked for me despite the setting having so much potential....more
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.2
This book isn’t quite what I usually *Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.2
This book isn’t quite what I usually read, but I was hoping for a cozy, heartwarming, down-to-earth story.
Four Squares follows Artie Anderson, a sixty-year-old failed writer who’s still reeling from the deaths of his ex-boyfriend Abe and his other friends, decades ago. In the present day, Artie joins the local LGBTQ+ senior center, and realizes that his life has been missing something so far.
While the concept and long timeline is very promising, I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters. There was little chemistry between Artie and Abe, and I thought the side characters were relatively unmemorable.
My interest in the story itself also faded in and out. I think the arc of Artie the author was the most interesting. The way he felt like it failed and the resentment and shame he felt was palpable, but I felt like it never got its time to shine as the main focus.
As much as I enjoy the slice-of-life genre, I think there’s a balance between being down-to-earth without being boring, and unfortunately I think the story was just a little too mundane. There was also always a sense of distance between us and the events, like we were just reading about them after the fact and not living it as the characters did. At times it felt somewhat aimless or passive, and I think doubling down on the writing angle might’ve helped give it more direction.
Overall, I think this was a slow read; some might enjoy it as a nice evening read. It wasn’t for me but if you enjoy LGBT slice-of-life stories about older characters, particularly with the theme of living life to the fullest as the days pass you by....more
*Thank you to the publishers and the author for providing me a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 4
Darcy believes in love at*Thank you to the publishers and the author for providing me a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 4
Darcy believes in love at first sight. I, on the other hand, don’t. At all. Which is why I went into this with a bit of trepidation.
The book follows Darcy, who suddenly finds herself stranded at the bus station after a music festival. While trying to find an iPhone charger, she runs into Russell. He’s cute, he’s funny, he’s everything she could ever ask for, and the two of them spend a single, whirlwind day together — which makes Darcy feel like she’s finally living the rom-com life she’s wanted for so long. Until everything comes crashing down.
I was pretty lukewarm on this at the start because it really does start off as a pretty uneventful insta-love type of romance. I found it difficult to become emotionally attached to Darcy and Russell’s story when it seemed their relationship was little more than light-hearted banter.
And then. And then. We get to the 30% mark, and everything changed. The twist is something I surprisingly didn’t see coming (I wasn’t thinking that much lol) but it completely changed the course of the book in a very good way. Suddenly, Darcy and Russell’s relationship felt much more high-stakes and real, and it became extremely clear: This is not a “love at first sight is real” type of book — it’s so much more than that. And I love a book that flips a trope on its head.
When the plot got interesting, so did the characters. Russell became much more than a manic pixie dream boy, and Darcy also seemed to become much more than the typical quirky female lead. I really enjoyed how much depth were added to the characters. The family theme is also really touching, and it manages to insert some well-timed humor and chaos while we’re at it. In the end I was pretty impressed at how mature the story was.
Overall, although it kind of had a slow start, I ended up really enjoying this one, and I think any other chick-lit or YA contemporary romance lover will too....more
This was really cute overall, though the plot starts to meander and lose focus in the second half.
Collide follows Summer Preston, determined to fulfill her dream of becoming a sports psychologist, as she clashes with Aiden Crawford, captain of the hockey team when he is forced to become the subject of her research paper. He thinks she’s uptight; she thinks he needs to care more. And one more thing: she can’t stand hockey players.
The premise is actually really promising, and the way the main characters are brought together is believable. I really enjoyed their banter, and even while “insta-attraction” isn’t my favorite thing, I didn’t really mind it because it was clear there was so much more to Summer and Aiden.
As the story continued, some of the expected plot beats ended up not really playing out. On one hand, this was because the main characters actually communicated, which was very refreshing, but on the other hand, it made some of the things we were building up to anticlimactic. There was one conversation and then all the tension just...fizzled out.
There was also kind of a general disorganization because once the main leads were together, it felt like we were haphazardly bouncing between simple romantic scenes or addressing subplots. By the end, some things not really clear, like what Summer’s research was about or how Aiden was even involved.
With that being said, I think the main characters are set up decently. We understand why Summer is the way she is, and the same goes for Aiden, and we even got little domestic scenes that showed us they were bigger than their problems. I think if the plot arcs were more organized, the character development would’ve been even stronger, but overall, it was fine.
The side characters are the complete opposite — I don’t think books HAVE to have subplots for their side characters, but with how many this one had, I found most of them forgettable and unnecessary.
Ultimately, I think being more organized with Summer’s project and family issues would’ve elevated this book, but honestly, if you’re just expecting a light-hearted college romance, it’s not a deal-breaker by any means and this is still an enjoyable book. The writing is easy to enjoy, and while the book isn’t necessarily memorable, it’s a fun time....more
*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.6
The prose is pretty good*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.6
The prose is pretty good but I think the story itself gets kind of muddled as the book goes on.
Don’t Let the Forest In follows high school senior Andrew Perrault, who is strangely captivated by his friend Thomas Rye. But Thomas has been different this year — his abusive parents have disappeared, and the rumor flying around school is that Thomas murdered them. It doesn’t help that every time Andrew brings it up, Thomas just completely shuts down. With Andrew’s twin Done also giving him the cold shoulder this year, Andrew feels especially alone. And then one night, he follows Thomas into the woods, and he sees the truth: Thomas’s monster drawings are coming to life.
It’s weird because I feel like the two parts of this book were each done well. The fantasy element and the mini fairytale stories were written beautifully; I was very invested in figuring out what the lore was. The more realistic arc about trauma, family, and sexuality was also really interesting as I really enjoyed Andrew and Thomas’s “us-against-the-world” dynamic even as they dealt with their internal conflicts, and I am always a big fan of unreliable narrators.
Together, however, I felt like the story got a little muddy. The fantasy arc is interesting on its own and I think it could work well as a metaphor for Thomas’s struggle with sexuality and trauma, but ultimately it felt a little too abstract. And then there are other moments where you end up questioning whether the creatures coming to life is real at all. While the interactions between Thomas, Andrew, and the monsters are well-written in a vacuum, once the monsters are brought into the “real life” boarding school setting, most of the side characters’ reactions and the way things play out don’t feel as natural.
The book does succeed at creating the mysterious and cryptic atmosphere very well, but it’s a difficult balance and also kept things confusing when I wanted more concrete answers. Ultimately though, I still think the concept is really interesting, the writing is generally good, and the setting is extremely captivating....more
Considering how popular true crime media is now, I felt like this was an extremely timely book and I was excited for the perspectiveActual Rating: 3.5
Considering how popular true crime media is now, I felt like this was an extremely timely book and I was excited for the perspective it might offer through the eyes of someone who is obsessed with serial killers.
Love Letters to a Serial Killer follows Hannah, an aimless woman. She’s recently been ghosted by her ex-boyfriend who’s now seeing someone else, she’s stuck at her dead end job, and all her friends are moving on with their lives. And then she finds out about William Thompson, recently arrested for the murder of four women. It starts with a simple letter. But then William actually writes back, and the two begin their regular correspondence. Before she knows it, Hannah and William are in a relationship and she finds herself traveling to Georgia to support him during the trial — and meet him for the first time.
I think that my favorite thing about this book is that it establishes an unreliable narrator and utterly commits to it. Hannah is never going to become my favorite character or even be relatable, but her flaws and obsessiveness made her extremely compelling. For the same reason people enjoy watching the craziness of true crime stories, there’s something very captivating about Hannah’s downward spiral that makes it impossible to look away. And so, the book is mostly character-driven.
The story is at its best when it focuses on Hannah and when everything is sort of in this state of limbo and uncertainty. When it does switch its focus to the actual murder plot, it loses the feeling of unease and becomes more of a common mystery. It’s a little too predictable and wraps up too neatly, and while I understand why the book chose to complete this arc for literary reasons, I felt like it didn’t actually have to.
The book did reclaim the right tone by the end though, and I did enjoy how it was wrapped up. Ultimately, I think this was a great read for me. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but it was right up my alley....more
*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.5
As a k-drama and fantasy*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.5
As a k-drama and fantasy lover, I was really excited for this one — but I didn’t quite click with it in the end.
The God and the Gumiho is a contemporary fantasy novel inspired by Korean mythology. Hani is a nine-tailed fox (also known as a gumbo) was who was once the “Scarlet Fox,” infamous for devouring souls heartlessly. Now too full to eat any more, she spends her days working as a barista. One regular patron of the coffee shop happens to be fallen god Seokga, exiled to the mortal world for trying to stage a coup. In order to earn back his place, Seokga strikes a deal: Catch the Scarlet Fox. Hani, in a flash of brilliance, suddenly volunteers to become his assistant. After all, they say you should keep your enemies close.
The author’s note explicitly says that this book was inspired by k-dramas and it definitely shows — which is both good and bad. As much as I love Asian dramas, it felt like some scenes just didn’t quite hit the same way, and it felt just like it was going through common k-drama tropes and arcs.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not against clichés, which is why I still say the plot has a lot of potential. The setting is interesting and balances historical and contemporary themes well, the coffee aspect is cozy, and the “secret identity” aspect is automatic tension.
But the story still felt somewhat aimless. This happens, the characters react, and then the next thing happens. The arc with the other antagonist felt random sometimes and disconnected from the broader backstory. We were also told that Hani and Seokga were these super powerful and cunning creatures, but in the story they honestly felt quite passive. Which brings me to my biggest issue with the book: the characters.
I always felt a general disconnect with them, getting all the facts and traits about them but not the emotional impact. The romance, once again, feels like a string of tropes, and it’s not quite clear why or when they started falling in love beyond them. The climax felt like a very common k-drama climax, but it didn’t really feel earned.
Ultimately, I think fans of k-dramas and Korean mythology might still enjoy this take on familiar themes. I’d still give the story props for trying to be so grand — it really leans into the mythology completely — but I didn’t really click with it personally....more
Anyone’s Ghost is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that follows Theron, an insecure fifActual Rating: 4
Wow. An extraordinary debut novel, indeed.
Anyone’s Ghost is a heart-wrenching coming-of-age story that follows Theron, an insecure fifteen-year-old whose life is upended when a slightly older boy named Jake shows up as his manager at his part-time job one summer. Jake is confident and self-assured — everything Theron wants to be and everything Theron wants, full stop. Over the years, Jake flits in and out of Theron’s life, and Theron finds himself utterly consumed and intoxicated, every time. But Jake is a little too wild for his own good, and the third car crash finally gets him.
The first thing that grabbed me was undoubtedly the writing style. It was raw and perfectly captured the quiet devastation of internalized homophobia and grief. I was captivated by Theron’s narration from start to finish, and he was just such a well-written, multi-layered character. Jake was also very clearly his own character but we were able to see him through Theron’s eyes, giving him a sort of “mythical” quality that was just very intriguing.
While the blurb mentions the three car crashes and essentially gives away the ending, it’s actually not a huge part of the book. There is so much more to Theron and Jake’s story.
My only wish would probably be that I wish there was more connectivity between the time skips, even if it was just a few mini-chapter. Maybe this is me being greedy and just wanting more, but I also just feel like it took me a little while to get me situated when the setting changed.
Other than that, I really don’t have anything bad to say about this book. The writing style is extremely immersive and the narration is captivating. As someone who loved movies like Maurice, I felt like this book gave me the same feelings I had watching that, and it has the same sort of mysterious atmosphere. I would highly highly recommend this one....more
*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3
The premise for this caugh*Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3
The premise for this caught my eye right away, reminding me of Love, Rosie, but much funnier.
Hate Mail uses a dual perspective format to follow two characters: Luca and Naomi. Fifth-grade Naomi is really excited to have a pen pal, but her dreams are dashed when her assigned partner, Luca, is less than kind. Luca, meanwhile, doesn’t want to do this stupid pen pal thing, so he writes exactly that, hoping his pen pal will get offended and stop writing him. Instead, Naomi writes back, equally scathing. And thus begins their lifelong correspondence, years of handwritten letters that are half insulting, and half actual life updates. And then Luca abruptly stops writing and Naomi’s new letters get returned, telling her that Luca has moved — this time without telling her his new address. Life goes on, and so does Naomi, who now works as a meteorologist/weatherwoman. When she starts getting to know her handsome upstairs neighbor, she realizes that this could be something real...and then she gets an envelope.
The plot is overall a really fun and light-hearted one, and pretty expected; there’s a twist that might not seem like a twist if you already know it’s coming, which I definitely did. However, it did require some suspension of disbelief on my part. Yeah, I didn’t really expect to say that about a book that’s a very simple contemporary romance, but this is what I mean: while the ending is pretty predictable, the way we got there was kind of outlandish. As long as you don’t expect some very profound backstory, you’ll be fine and get a good laugh out of it.
Now, the characters. They’re okay. The letters between young Naomi and Luca are very endearing and reading their silly insults put a smile on my face.
On the other hand, I really wanted their adult versions to deviate from the goofiness and be more serious; they certainly did in the sense that they weren’t rude to each other anymore, but not in the sense that I felt their relationship was emotionally deep. I couldn’t really connect with them. The romance felt very surface level, like seeing two people see each other in a coffee shop and exchange phone numbers. It’s realistic, but it’s just not very interesting.
The side characters, are typical “friends” that you see in chick lits; Naomi’s friend is a little too pushy for my liking, but she does the job as a helper of plot development.
Overall, I think this was a fun read — like most books in this genre it’s really easy to sit down and read through it in one go. It’s not really memorable or one of my favorites but anyone who reads this will have fun....more
*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.3
This book has such an in*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.3
This book has such an interesting premise but it never completely buys into it.
The title, Expiration Dates, refers to the mysterious letters that Daphne gets telling her exactly how long each of her relationships will last, whether it’s three hours, two weeks, or years. It’s always accurate to a tee, which is why Daphne can hardly believe it when the newest letter reads: Jake. Just Jake. And that’s how she knows he’s the one…right?
The plot started out really interesting. You have an inkling of how the story goes — it’s always something about going against your destiny and writing your own story, which is a theme I LOVE to read about.
About halfway through, however, Expiration Dates introduces another plot device to increase tension and urgency — one which is basically another premise entirely, one which is really commonly seen and much less remarkable. I found this aspect really unnecessary as it felt like the book started neglecting the paper theme and focusing on it instead.
In the end, it felt like we never really explored the letters as much I wanted; we didn’t learn much about why they existed, why Daphne was the one receiving them. I’m generally pretty good at suspending my disbelief and accepting that something just is, but the book makes it clear that these letters aren’t normal, and then it never explains further which made me feel like I was left hanging.
The book is also interspersed with mini chapters that talk about Daphne’s past relationships and why they ended. I liked the idea of this, but I think they were far too long and took up too much time. About halfway, I realized that this book actually is a romance and there’s a main love interest — but I hadn’t realized that because of how inconsequential their character felt. I think we could’ve shortened the other chapters and focused more on this character if that’s where the story was going to go.
In the end, it felt like this book found itself starting out as a contemporary adult fiction (which I would have loved) and ended up as a romance (which I would’ve also loved) but it didn’t do a very good job of balancing both. I found myself not really emotionally invested in the romance because it came too late and seemed too underdeveloped, and the plot with Daphne and her letters also felt underdeveloped because of the other plot device the story introduced.
Ultimately, I think there was a lot of potential in this story but I really didn’t connect with it in the end. I might even go so far as to say that the blurb about Daphne and the letters is kind of misleading, because in the end it didn’t seem like the book was really about that. I think it's a gentle read but not something that will make you think or give you butterflies....more
*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Oh my god. As someone who is absolutely su*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Oh my god. As someone who is absolutely sucker for best-friends-to-lovers, this book captured the mutual yearning and the pain PERFECTLY.
The book takes place over the course of one short school trip, where tradition is for everyone to write a private letter to themselves answering the question “what would you do if you were braver?” For Natalia and Ethan, long-time best friends whose friendship is on the rocks after nearly hooking up in the name of a backup pact two months ago, the letter is the only place they’ve let themselves write down their true feelings. Not to mention all the other stuff going on in their lives: broken families, secret dreams, and even the possibility of moving away. When a burst of wind suddenly scatters several letters — which may or may not include Natalia and Ethan’s — the two are forced to work together to stop the secrets from getting out, while having to deal with their hearts in the process.
I had absolutely zero reason to worry about the short time frame of the story because from the very first page I was captivated. The book did such an amazing job setting up the backstory with what happened with Ethan and Natalia as well as their individual personalities and lives, showing how their relationship dynamic was and currently is, and then giving us a fantastic roller coaster ride of emotional ups and downs over the course of the school trip. There were heart-filled conversations, dramatic fights, tense class activities — and overall there was not one boring moment. The plot progression happened so naturally, and so did the character development during it.
I’ve never had any strong opinions about books in multiple perspectives, but this book is an amazing example of how it should be done. I can’t imagine it any other way. Getting both Natalia and Ethan’s point of view meant I was truly able to empathize with both characters as they each dealt with their own issues; the misunderstandings felt reasonable because their thought processes were explained, and best of all, we got to see both of them pine for each other in their own way. It was everything I wanted and more.
I’m also just so impressed with the characterizations of both our leads. I feel like I absolutely know the ins and outs of their dreams, their habits, their fears — and not once did I feel information overload, or that I was being told and not shown. Even the side characters are personalized really well; I feel like I know all of them.
There’s a really fantastic maturity to the book as well. Sure, we get our high school drama moments (which I shamelessly love) but we also get their worries about the family and the future, and we see them acknowledging that there’s more to life than romance. The practicality and realism is so beyond what I would have expected and it added so much depth to their relationship. This is more than just a teen romance.
I can’t praise this novel enough, but just know that it’s been a long time since a book has given me such butterflies. I Wish You Would is a book that reminded me exactly why I love reading about love....more
*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.5
This was a pretty light-*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 2.5
This was a pretty light-hearted and easy read, but even though it has all the right pieces, it doesn’t really fit together that well.
The Takeover is a rivals-to-lovers romance between Sami, a newly single 30-year-old who’s also the CEO of a tech startup, Toggle, that’s about to be bought out, and Jae, her high school nemesis who narrowly beat her out to win valedictorian — still a sore spot. And then it turns out, Jae is representing the company trying to buy her out. Shenanigans ensue.
The character set-up is interesting enough; it shows a nice contrast between Nami and Jae’s lives and their worldviews, and it explains why they clash the way they do. But it never really goes as deep as it could. There’s a little bit about familial pressure, but the arcs feel a little cookie-cutter. It’s hard to get a grasp on what their high school dynamic is really like beyond “academic rivals trope.”
I really wish this book was braver with the backstories and emotional impact of pressure, because without it the tension between Nami and Jae feels kind of low stakes. Their “rivalry,” even as adults, consists of seeing who can eat spicier ramen, who can drink more…and while all this is fun and definitely puts the com in rom-com, it starts feeling repetitively juvenile.
Other than that, I didn’t really click with either of the main characters. I don’t want to be political (and didn’t read this book with the intention of being so, obviously) but throughout the book, the vibe of both workplaces was kind of uncomfortable. Jae’s is sort of a cartoonish evil corporate perspective, while Nami’s is so over-the-top with the “I love Toggle, Toggle is my life, we’re a family, my employees are everything” that is also feels cartoonishly overbearing. Maybe I read this at the wrong part in my life — when I was in the middle of the horrible, mind-numbing process that is job-hunting and hearing that “we’re a family” is a red flag — but whatever the reason, I found myself thinking that I would definitely not want to work for either of these companies or bosses. In terms of political theory (lol), however, I do like the way the story goes, although it’s not all that surprising.
The romantic development, like I said, is decently fun with the banter and the more serious company backdrop situation going on, but I think it’s one of those where I wish we had more communication and slow development, rather than having the leads come together with zany antics and inexplicable attraction. They also fall victim to a few tropes that I don’t really enjoy (I would’ve rated this a 3 star before (view spoiler)[the horrible break-up (hide spoiler)]), so overall I found the romance also fell flat, except for a few fun scenes.
The side characters also add to the story well; while the cartoon-iness of the workplace settings didn’t really work for me, I think some side characters that were in these places did. It’s a case of showing not telling being successful — showing how someone is frustrating to work with or showing the Toggle group chat about stealing a fancy chair from that person — both of those are relatable and make me feel a lot more engaged rather than simply hearing narration describing what the environment is like.
Overall, I think I really like the premise here but it didn’t really work for me. I think it really just needed a more mature voice to really tug at my heartstrings....more
This book is unfortunately a perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Because if you were like me, you saw thActual Rating: 1.0
This book is unfortunately a perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Because if you were like me, you saw the cute little illustration on the cover, got ready for a cozy bookstore romance, and was smacked in the face instead with sexual innuendo after sexual innuendo.
Nevermore Bookstore follows Cody Bloomquist, who runs her little bookshop and spends her days stocking shelves. The highlight of her week, though, are the late night phone calls she gets from a customer who she only knows as “Fox.”
Fox’s real name is Roman Fawkes, and he hasn’t left his mountain hideaway in years. The highlight of his weeks are those same late night phone calls. One night, however, someone breaks into the bookstore and Fox realizes that there’s nothing he can do for Cady, miles away on the other end of the line. This is when he realizes…maybe it’s time to come down from the mountain.
When I ran into a sentence in the first few pages about Cady’s “vital organs [turning] to melted butter” after all Fox did was utter two syllables, I realized that this wasn’t my type of book. And I was right; every page is littered with lines about how Cady and Fox were each getting turned on by the other’s presence, but their relationship is not at all interesting beyond that. I found a lot of the phrasing (“the way her lady bits stole her heartbeat when he so much as breathed”) and dialogue (“Why don’t you ever, like — I don’t know — send me pictures of your dick?”) just extremely cringe and hard to take seriously.
I think I might’ve been more receptive to this kind of writing had the book eased into it and developed their relationship from strangers to call buddies, but the book jumped right into Cady and Fox already being extremely attracted to each other and I never felt like I understood why beyond the physical aspect.
Just generally, I was not a huge fan of the romance and I wasn’t able to connect to any of the characters or understand their motivations. It was very cliche with a male lead that was dark and broody (and a little creepy) who was very rude and toxic to the female lead, who still couldn’t stay away. If you’re into those types of romances you might enjoy this, but I personally just found the relationship between them very frustrating.
Plot-wise, it was just okay. I wasn’t really invested in any of it in large part due to the previous reasons, but also just because I did not find the story that interesting. There was very little reason it had to take place in a bookstore; the story seemed to revolve more around the romance and fighting over the bookstore as a general entity and it all just got very soapy at the end.
In conclusion…yeah this was not my thing. But if you like those romance novels with the photo of someone’s rock-hard abs on the cover, you might enjoy it...maybe?...more
It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a crime/thriller novel but having just finished watching the American TV show Castle, I felt liActual Rating: 3.5
It’s been a while since I’ve enjoyed a crime/thriller novel but having just finished watching the American TV show Castle, I felt like I was in the perfect mood for something like this.
Cut to the Bone is the third of a series but it does work as a standalone mystery; I personally went into this one without reading any of the others yet — though I definitely will go back and read them now.
This book follows FBI agent Sayer Altair. When a full school bus suddenly goes missing and students start showing up dead in ritualistic murders, Sayer finds herself chasing after a serial killer. There’s also the mysterious Subject 037, the subject of a psychopathy study who is a little too invested in Sayer’s life. And to make matters worse, she runs straight into a government conspiracy that is way above her pay grade.
I sort of have mixed feelings about that last part; I love a good conspiracy thriller novel but I’m kind of torn between (1) liking that the book took the extra step to make its story more twisted and (2) thinking that it was just a little dramatic and over-the-top. Maybe it would’ve made more sense to me had I read the previous books and there had been hints, but as someone who went into this one blind, I found it difficult to suspend my disbelief there.
Other than that, I really liked the mystery itself, though I still didn’t necessarily find it mind-blowing. While I loved the Egyptian aspect and the plot itself, I still think that any mystery lover would be able to guess who the killer was once some suspect backstory was given.
The most intriguing part for me was undoubted Subject 037 and this would be the main reason I’d want to read the entire series. Nevertheless, I’d definitely recommend this book — but probably read in order....more
*Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
One Puzzling Afternoon tells its story *Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a free-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
One Puzzling Afternoon tells its story in two timelines:
Back in 1951, fifteen-year-old Edie Green is kind of a loner — until she stumbles upon a secret. And so begins a tenuous friendship with rich and popular Lucy Theddle…until Lucy goes missing.
In 2018, eighty-four year old Edie suddenly sees Lucy standing in the streets looking the same as she looked 67 years ago, she begins a mission to re-open the cold case and find out what happened. But she’s finding it difficult to remember much of anything.
I loved the “vibe” of this book right off the bat, and the dual timeline worked so well for it. The 50s feeling was captured perfectly, especially through the eyes of Edie’s innocence. And following Edie in 2018 as an unreliable narrator was also really intriguing.
The characters were all really unique, with complex (and sometimes frustrating but understandable motivations and emotions). I think the best way to explain it is that there’s a tinge of mysticism around the characters; reading this book feels like reading a fairytale.
Ultimately, the plot was not necessarily mind-blowing — it was pretty easy to predict where the story was going. I don’t think this affected my enjoyment of the book, however, and I still found the 1951 timeline to be the most intriguing to me. I knew, however, that the reveal would come in 2018, and I was excited to see how they would come together.
I did think that the pacing could’ve been tweaked slightly; there are some aspects of Edie’s home life that I would’ve loved to see more of, and I also wish both timelines extended a little longer and Edie’s stories were given more time to wind down.
Still, overall the characters were interesting and the setting was immersive, and I think this was a great read. I’d definitely recommend it to fans of historical, young adult, mystery....more
*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.4
The second I saw that this was a family-centric YA novel*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.4
The second I saw that this was a family-centric YA novel, I got excited — these are rare.
This book is told from two perspectives. There's Samira, who lives with her grandmother and has just given up her college dreams to afford the recovery treatment for her brother's alcohol addiction. And then there's Henry, torn between his biological mother and the aunt and uncle who raised him. Despite being very different people, they both have one thing in common: they want to find their long-lost father. When Henry and Samira each take a DNA test, they find themselves matched to each other instead and start the journey of finding their way to each other.
Plot-wise, there were some interesting aspects but I think it could've gone more in depth on some. The most interesting part of the book to me was the alcohol addiction subplot and I feel like we barely touched upon it. Similarly, Henry's family issues weren't as gut-wrenching as I imagined they could've been. Still, the ending gave me a realistic and satisfying conclusion.
I also think it took too long for the Henry/Samira dynamic to be cemented. Each character was mildly interesting on their own, but the best part of the story came at the end when they were finally comfortable with each other. The way they gradually went from strangers to knowing each other's deepest struggles to finally seeing each other as family was really touching, and I definitely wish we'd gotten more screen-time in the middle and last phases where they had the chaotic and fiery tension of two people being forced to confront their identities.
Ultimately, I'm not sure I clicked much with the plot or the characters, but I still really think this is a story worthy of being told, and I'm sure many fans of coming-of-age YA stories would love it....more
*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
I loved the premise of the book from the blurb alone — i*Thank you to NetGalley for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
I loved the premise of the book from the blurb alone — it seemed immediately like we would be getting a strong female lead who was on a mission to find the truth no matter the cost.
What the River Knows starts with a letter that Inez receives: her parents are dead and she’s inherited their fortune. All she knows about them is that they were in Cairo and that they were looking for something; with nothing but the letter and a mysterious ring her father had previously mailed to her, Inez travels to Egypt, where she finds out there’s more to her parent’s disappearance than her new guardian is letting on. Her mission only becomes even more complicated when she gets tangled up with her uncle’s handsome assistant Whit — who she only then finds out, is already betrothed.
I was really invested in the plot from the very beginning. How could I not be? We were tossed into an unknown place with Inez, who was a pretty great protagonist. I felt wronged and frustrated when she did, and I felt as nervous as she was when trying to decide who to trust and who not to. However, I’m a bit middle-of-the-road on all the twists and how they ended up. Some did catch me off guard and others were more predictable, but overall I don’t think any of them had enough build-up to give off the right oomph.
I think the world-building could’ve been more robust too. I really loved that magical elements started to be introduced, but it felt like they would appear and disappear at random moments and I wasn’t sure what the rules of it were.
While Inez was a great protagonist and Whit was also a great character, I enjoyed their banter more when it was plot-related (near the first half) and less so when it was romance-related (the second half).
In fact, I think I enjoyed the first half better in general. It was more focused and directed on Inez’s story, while we started mixing in romance and plot twists later in the book and it started to get messy.
Still, I’m invested in the story and I didn’t expect this to be to be getting a sequel! Since it looks like we will be, I’ll be tuning in for sure....more
catherine ♡
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