hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about life’s too short by Abby Jimenez. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i honestly really wished i liked this book and that i think it was just so cool and just such a cute book, even if it had harder moments like with some of the sickness plots. but, i honestly really liked this book.
trigger warnings- terminal illness, chronic illness, addiction, drug abuse, death of a parent, death, grief, drug use, mental illness, medical content, cursing, panic attacks / disorder.
i honestly really liked reading about vanessa, and i really liked her and that she was just so cool and strong. like, i feel like she was just so cool and how she handled things. and i honestly feel like she were just so cool about how she had all this time about her illness and how she wants to travel and how to not to get to connected before it all. and i honestly really liked seeing her kind of not spend all the time is the hospital and that she wanted to do it all on her own.
and i feel like she went through so much, and i feel like the cards were always in two different way. and i mean, i think she did live through with so much, and that she did deal with so much things go through it. like, it was so amazing to see them how she handled everything with her job, and her ALS, her dads hoarding, and than her sister’s addiction. i feel like it was just so cool to see them. and i feel like she was just so cool that we got to see her keep her cool and work everything out.
and they did have things that were a bit more heavy, and they did bring up some heavy topics, ALS, addiction, mental health, etc, and i really liked how they handled all of this in the book. like, i feel like in some books, especially romance, they will bring something up about some kind of addiction, than they never bring it up again. so, i feel like they handled all of this and how they kept the plot lines of addiction and mental health and all of it through the whole book.
i also really liked how they had the ALS plot. i can’t really talk about the rep of it, since i don’t really know to much about it. but, i really liked that we got to see vanessa have this plot where the characters aren’t this perfect tea cup yorkie. and i feel like it and how they brought all these plots up and we got to see vanessa deal with it, and how they were just so cool. and i think it was just so amazing to see vanessa deal with it, and than how she didn’t try to fix it and push away this part of her.
and i honestly really liked adrian and that he was just so cool. like, i feel like he was just so cute and charming and i honestly really liked that he was just so cute. and he honestly gives me really big ben barnes vibes, so i really liked that. and i feel like he was so cool to read about it, and that he was just so cool that he really cared about vanessa during it all. and i feel like it was cool to see him.
of course, i do really like vanessa’s niece that she was taking care of. like, i think it was just very fun to read about vanessa literally getting pushed into motherhood, if you could call it that. i feel like it was so cool to see vanessa and the baby trying to figure out their lives from here. and also adrian’s dog. like, i think having him have harry it was just so cool to see him with this dog and him getting pissed when it pees on the floor, it was just so cool. and i also really liked how they both dealt with these things together, and to see them both kind of work with the other thing.
and i also really liked seeing the romance. like, i feel like they were more friends to lovers, since i think that they were just so cool to see them become friends, and than seeing them slowly fall in love. and just to have them have these moments were they were falling in love and them slowly figure out what they want and don’t want in a relationship. but, i do feel like it was just so cool to see them deal with it all. and it was just something that i completely loved them together and their relationship and plot with it all, it was just so cool and heartwarming.
and i think the way that abby jimenez knows this story and that she wrote this story so well. like, i feel like that it was just so cool because this story was so unputdownable, and i honestly really liked that it was just so cool to see all of this. and i feel like that this story is something so cool and that i feel like the romance was just just so amazing and i feel like it was something that was just so nice and fun to read.
but, the ending of this book was just so amazing. i feel like that the book was such an amazing book, and i feel like the end of the book had something that was so sad. but, i feel like with adrian and what he did was just so cool and something that i honestly loved so much and i feel like it was such a moment that i didn’t really expect, but i think it was just so good and i think it was this was so sad but also so perfect.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly loved this book so much, and i honestly think that this was such a perfect book. and i feel like this was such an amazing book and that i really liked this book more than any of the other one in the series. but, i honestly can’t wait to read the next books this author writes.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about one last stop by casey mcquiston. i gave this book 2/5 stars. honestly, i really wished i liked this book, but something just didn’t work for me with this book. i don’t really know what it was, but it just felt off. and i honestly really wished i liked this book more than i did, but i guess this just shows that i’m not a fan of time travel books.
trigger warnings- sexual content, homophobia, cursing, hate crime, grief, confinement, racism, death, drug use, alcohol, police brutality, lesbophobia, fire / fire injury, alcoholism, biphobia, panic attacks / disorder, vomit, abandonment, emotional abuse, violence, xenophobia, blood, car accident, murder, addiction, bullying, mental illness, misogyny.
as for characters, i honestly did not like august at all. like, i feel like everything that she did, if it was befriend someone or to help jane get out of the subway, felt like she was only doing it for herself. and like i feel like everything that happened for her was just way to coinvent, with jane being connected to august’s uncle and also how she didn’t work for like a month or some ridiculous amount of time but she still somehow covered rent for the month/months, and that she never got fired from her job, cause at that point she probably should have been. and i mean, i feel like she was just doing everything that she did for herself, which i didn’t like at all.
but, also the romance in this book felt very white saviory to me. like, it was one thing if it had some white savior plot in an older book or that this is an historical romance or something, i think that this book just shouldn’t have had it. like, i think that it was just so crazy that they put it in this book. and it just rubbed me the wrong way that august was this key to get jane to help jane to figure out what happened in our past. and also if they are connected in the way, with jane being connected to august’s past, it just felt weird, especially with them investigating why jane is stuck on the train, even though august didn’t ever want to investigate anything like that ever again.
as for jane as a character, i feel like they honestly didn’t feel right. like, for one, i feel like she was just so one sided. like, not in a good way, i feel like we only got told about her past, which i guess is all we can know about it. but, i feel like they were someone that was all kind off showy. but, i think that they just didn’t vibe at all. and i mean, i think that we knew nothing about her, and i overall feel like that they used jane as one of those characters who are just used as sex or something, so i feel like it was just so weird.
and honestly, i never really connected with these characters. i feel like they were just so one dimensional, and i feel like they were just so stupid and i feel like they had no personalities besides like the stupid little things. like, jane liked punk rock music and than jane moved to new york from the south and that her uncle is dead. and i feel like we didn’t know if they were sarcastic or shy or funny etc. and i feel like they should have had something more.
with that being said, i honestly didn’t like when jane and august fucked on the subway. like, that was so gross and i feel like it was stupid to see them do this in public, and which is more gross that they are doing it on a new york city subway. and i feel like fucking and having my bare butt on the door, it is honestly so gross and i honestly wished they just didn’t have sex when they were stuck on the subway since it was just so gross and who knows what lives in there.
but, i also feel like the pacing of this book was not good. like, i feel like that the chapters were just so so long, that i feel like i would read one chapter of this book and i feel like i’ve read half the book when it’s only been like 2% of this book. and i feel with the chapters being so good, i feel like they honestly just distract you from the story since you are focused on the chapters, instead of being more focused on the story. i honestly wish that they are shorter and than more chapters, i feel like it would work, but i guess that is just my opinion. and like i feel with these chapters being so long, i feel like it just took away from the story since so much would be happening in this same chapter.
and i also feel like there was a very weird pacing issue with this book. like, i feel like there was so much plot about everything and everything took so long with everything in the start of the book, but than i think that as it got closer and closer to the end, i feel like the pacing got messed up again. and i feel like it was just fixed and that they just changed it. but, i do think it was fixed, but than again, i feel like they just didn’t know what to do with the plot so the pacing got all messed up.
but, i also do really like to see the side characters in this book. but, like i think they were just so cool and that they had so much cool things going on in their life and just so fun and cool. i honestly think they were so cool, and i wish we got told more about them and them doing their basic day to day things. but, i feel like we did get to see august talking to them about basic things, which i also didn’t really care for and i thought it was just kind of boring. and just the found family vibes were so cool.
anyway, that is all for today! i really wished i liked this book and i wished i feel like this story just made more sense, and that they would have fixed a couple things. but, i do liked red, white, and royal blue more, and i feel like it was just so cool.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about yolk by mary h.k. choi. i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly liked this book, but i feel like the plot of this book was a bit all over the place, since i feel like the plot of this book went in one hundred different directions and it lowkey gave me a headache trying to remember all of the different plots in this book.
trigger warnings- eating disorder, cancer, vomit, medical content, body shaming, mental illness, toxic relationship, emotional abuse, racism, blood, bullying, child death, sexual content, cursing, death, fatphobia, addiction, infertility, terminal illness, grief, chronic illness, self harm, alcoholism, body horror, miscarriage, panic attacks / disorder, drug use, racial slurs, dysphoria, infidelity, sexual assault, suicidal thoughts, medical trauma, pregnancy, abandonment, alcohol, food mentioned.
honestly, i think my issue with this book is jayne overall. like, i feel that she is honestly just so bitchy and i feel like a lot of the book was that she was kind of annoying. but, i feel like it worked, in some really weird way, and i don’t even really understand why i kind of liked her. like, i feel like she would go on these tangents about how hard her life is and how we are supposed to feel bad for her and everything, but i mean, i guess i never felt that bad for her cause she would go and do this stupid shit anyway. and i mean, it’s probably just a me issue though. and i feel like she was just always self sabotaged herself a lot which kind of annoyed me a little bit.
but, i will say, i did like the gen z aspect of her life. like, i feel that there is a lot of adult authors that would write a gen z character and instead of making them be a gen z or have them act like one, they make them act like an adult, or they have no money issues when their parents aren’t rich or anything. so, i really liked that when choi wrote jayne she didn’t write her to be not a real person with real issues.
and i also really liked how choi made these sisters not be a copy and paste of each other and actually have a personality. like, i feel that she really made these characters people and that they act like sisters and aren’t always best friends about everything, and that they have real people issues and aren’t always this perfect person, which i honestly really liked. and i feel like having both sisters being different was the strong part of this book, and that they weren’t some walking stereotype.
i really liked the plot about them both that they felt like real relationships. like, i feel like they are both people and that they see them as both real people. but, i also think that they both have things like arguments and that they both have tears about it all. which, i really liked since it just felt real and that they interact like sisters and not just like some fake siblings or something.
i honestly wish that this book was two povs instead of just jayne. like, i feel like with these two characters, who have completely different things going on in their life and two completely different issues, i think it would have been so much cooler to see them doing their thing and that having it be where we got both of their views on some of the things going on in each of their lives, but also the common things that they both deal with, and seeing them do their thing.
and with that being said, i feel like they are such complexed characters, so like for one jayne was the insecure and more self conscious and also just seeing her fight with her eating disorder, i really liked that aspect of her. and than when you have june who is kind of loud and honestly kind of the mom friend, who has uterine cancer, which i don’t think i’ve ever read about in an YA/NA book, so that was honestly so cool to see a younger person deal with it instead of an older adult.
i also really liked patrick’s and jayne’s relationship. like, i think it was just so cool to see them doing their thing and that they felt real, and their progression in their relationship felt like a real modern romance, and nothing that was forced or anything. and just that they both had their issues, that they were kind of working threw, i really liked that and i liked them together. but, i do wish we got to see a little more of their relationship though. and also that patrick wasn’t the type of character that pressured jayne into anything, so i really liked how they kept it slow and how they worked threw their issues in a real and normal way.
but, i also feel like that the book ending was very open ending, which i did not like at all. like, i feel like they need to change that or like fixed it, since i feel like these ends are never good, in my opinion. like, i feel like ends like that are not the best, and i feel like they are always kind of stupid. and i feel like they should have changed it a bit.
this is kind of a spoiler i guess ?? but, one thing that really annoyed me so much was how june and jayne always made jokes about their moms dead baby, who i think was supposed to be born between the two of them. and i honestly didn’t like this at all and i think it was just so annoying and that it was just so not cute and i think that it honestly was so gross for them to joke about their dead sister. and i mean, they never did it in front of their mom, which i think its good, but i mean, i think that it was just so stupid and then they just brushed it off and make it seem normal. like, i feel like if i had two kids and i miscarried and/or had a stillborn and my two alive kids made fun of the dead one, i would honestly be so pissed off and that i would feel so uncomfortable and i hated it honestly.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished that i checked the trigger warnings before i really started this book, since i feel like this book was honestly so graphic and i wished i checked that before. so, if you want to read this, please be careful since your mental health is way more important than some book.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about just like heaven by julia quinn. i gave this book 5/5 stars. i honestly really liked this book and that i feel like this book was just so fun and romantic and i think it was just so magical and i honestly hope that this becomes a netflix show too, since this has so much potential.
trigger warning- blood, gore, medical content, sexual content, death of a parent.
first thing first, i honestly really liked that we got to see gregory and colin in this book and that they made a small little cameo in this book. like, i think seeing them make a little appearance was just so fun and i think that it added so much to this book, and to honestly tie the bridgerton series and the smythe smith series together. like, it was just so cool that they were in here, even if it was just for a very small scene of this book.
another thing is that i completely adored the smythe smith performances in this book. like, i feel like it was just so cool and that it was just so fun to read about and to see how terrible they were. and also that i think it makes a small cameo in the actual bridgerton books, so seeing them in here, and getting to meet the characters behind the performance was just so fun and just so fun to read about. and i think that it was just so funny. and i honestly hope that they bring that into the bridgerton series, since it just sounds so funny.
but, i honestly really liked marcus as a character. like, i kind of liked that he was so protective of honoria and just their interactions were so cute. but, i do wish that there was parts were we learnt more about him, but i think that was one of the things in quinn novels that they never really explore the male love interest. but, i do wish he was awake and not asleep for more of this book, since he was sick for a good portion of this.
as for honoria, i honestly really liked her too. i think it was so cool to see honoria and just to see how much she loves marcus and just to see all her feelings for him and to see her actually fall in love with him. and i think that she was just so cool, but i honestly didn’t care for when she pushed him away in the end of the book, but i guess everything worked out in the end. and i honestly think that she wasn’t the stereotypical romance heroine in romance books, so i think it was just so cool and i really liked it.
but, one thing i really liked was the whole plot with honoria nursing marcus back to health. granted, i do feel like it was a bit to long, since i feel like it was way to much of the book. but, i honestly think it was still so cool and that i really liked them falling for each other during this whole process threw all of this. especially with them not normally supposed to be here because of the time period, but them still being there for each other was just so cool. and when they confessed they loved each other, it was just so cute.
and i feel like my biggest thing that i liked was that i think these characters honestly felt real in the sense that i mean, i feel like this could happen with someone in real life. like, i guess it would be cool but i think that it was just cool to see them slowly falling in love and probably having these feelings for a longish time. and also just them having these moments were they fall in love was just so cool and it honestly was just so heartwarming and cute.
another thing i really liked about them was that they honestly felt real. like, i think my favorite part of them was that honoria and marcus felt like a real couple and that they had real issues and that they had their little arguments and they grow like a real couple would. and i think that it was so cool to see them grow and fight and have little arguments, like i feel like a lot of quinn books have a lot of growth like this, but i feel like it was still so good in here. especially since they knew each other for like honoria’s whole life, i think it was done so well.
with that being said, i honestly really liked that it wasn’t the most stereotypical book in the world. like, i feel like not to much happened in this book, which i think was honestly kind of cool about it. like, i think it was cool that they fell in love in secret and that they had these small moments of eating cake and stealing it from the kitchen. and they honestly felt like real people, and that they weren’t flashy or anything like a lot of people in historical romance books.
but, i also completely liked the family aspect of this book. like, i feel like the whole family plot was so cool. and i think that it was just so cool to see them talk about their family and them doing other little family things, which i think was just so cool. and also, just the whole plot of family is something i really like in all of her books. and i honestly really liked how they put the importance of these books in the family, which i think is so cool and that they kind of put the value of family on marcus and how he doesn’t really have any family besides lady danbury. so, i think it was just cool to see that and that i really liked to see it in this book, since it just felt so natural in away.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this book and i think that this book was such a good book and that the plot was just so good. and i mean, i feel like this was such an amazing book and i honestly can’t wait to read the rest of the series, since i feel like they are going to be so good and probably funny.
hello everyone! today i am going to be doing the new release book tag. i honestly haven’t seen this one done to much, so i think that it would be so fun to do and to talk about some books i’ve read recently and also what i plan to read soon.
A NEW RELEASE YOU’VE ALREADY READ
as good as dead by holly jackson
the dead and the dark by courtney gould
if the shoe fits by julie murphy
the girl in the headlines by hannah jayne
i honestly feel like i’ve read so many new releases this year, mainly thanks to arcs. but, i feel like these are the most recent ones that came out recently. and i mean, arcs really help my reading, but i do feel like i read a good portion of regular books per year.
A NEW RELEASE THAT’S ALREADY COME OUT BUT YOU HAVEN’T READ YET
a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee
rise to the sun by leah johnson
they’ll never catch us by jessica goodman
the box in the woods by maureen johnson
the lucky list by rachael lippincott
there is honestly so many more of these, since i feel like there is so many other books that came out recently that i’m excited for. but, these are honestly my top five in the last couple of months. and hopefully i’ll read these soon.
A NEW RELEASE YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT FROM ONE OFYOUR FAVORITE AUTHORS
kingdom of the cursed by kerri maniscalo
the box in the woods by maureen johnson
these are honestly the only two i can’t think of right now, but i mean, there’s probably more.
A NEW RELEASE YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT FROM A NEW TO YOU AUTHOR
white smoke by tiffany b jackson
this is honestly the only one that i can think about for this question, but i am honestly so excited for this since i feel like everyone loves her books, i really can’t wait for this one.
A NEW RELEASE YOU HAVE NO INTEREST IN
devil in disguise by lisa kleypas
i don’t honestly know if this is one of the books she’s writing that had the bastard child of one of the men in the hathaway series. but, if it is, i honestly do not want to read that since it will probably mess up the hathaway series.
A NEW RELEASE YOU WANT TO PICK UP SOON
arsenic and abodo by mia p. manansala
how we fall apart by katie zhao
a lesson in vengence by victoria lee
this poison heart by kalynn bayron
there is honestly so many other books i can’t wait to read soon. but, i do think that these are my top four i think. and i honestly hope i can read these soon, since i feel like they sound so good.
A NEW RELEASE WITH AN AMAZING COVER
the soulmate equation by christina lauren
the ones we’re meant to find by joan he
skin of the sea by natasha bowen
as good as dead by holly jackson
these are honestly some of my favorite covers so far. and i honestly really liked it so much and i honestly think that these are so cool and pretty. and i honestly think that the publishing company is really picking up their game recently.
YOUR FAVORITE NEW RELEASE YOU’VE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR
as good as dead by holly jackson
this is honestly my favorite book of the year. and i honesty loved this book so so much, so of course this will take the cake for my favorite book of the year and i honestly need to read this book again cause this was such a mind fuck, and i need to read this one to take it all in again.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked doing this, since i just think it was so fun and just so cool to talk about all of these books, since these all sound so good. but, i honestly really want to do more tags in the future, since they are honesty just so fun to do.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about the dead and the dark by courtney gould. i gave this book 3/5 stars. first off, thank you so much netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book. and of course, this is going to be an honest review, and it isn’t going to be changed by anyone. and i honestly just felt like this book fell short for me, and that there was so many moments in the story that i just didn’t believe and the villain was so obvious.
honestly, i think one of my issues with this book was the paranormal aspect of the plot and the book. like, i feel that i feel like they would talk about the dark, but not really talk about it. like, i feel like it was something about how we would get these chapters about how the dark picked their next victim, and how they killed the last person or whatever. and i just feel like it was just so boring. and i feel like the whole paranormal vibe was just a mess and i feel like gould really had no clue what they were doing with the paranormal aspect of it. and how they wanted to deal with it all, and i think it was honestly a complete mess.
and i also feel like that there was so many questions about so many things in this book. like, i feel like the biggest issue with this book was how snakebite played into it all. like, i feel like there was so many things that just didn’t make sense and how they didn’t really explain to much about it, just like the basic knowledge, but even at that, it still didn’t really make sense. like i feel that they said what happened, but they also didn’t really explain it at the same time. and i honestly think gould had no clue what they were doing with the dark aspect. and i feel like the one part of the dark person, i feel like they literally never explained it at all, which just sucked so much.
but, with the whole dark aspect, there was also this murder mystery plot line, which i’m not sure is a spoiler, but they bring it up really soon in the book, so. but, with this, they had this killer on the loose, and i feel like the actual killer was honestly so easy to tell who did it and who the killer is. like, they pretty much had who everyone thought it was, and then this other person that you could just tell something was weird with them, so it was easy to tell they did it. and i honestly hated it, since i feel like it was so easy to be able to tell and all.
one thing i did like was the plot about alejo and brandon together, and i honestly really liked to see two gay guys being parents and to have them have this stable relationship. and that it was so cool that they were just healthy and this big relationship, and that they honestly worked so well together and also were so in love. but, i also really liked that we got to see them before all of this started, and that we got to see their past and all of it, i honestly really liked it.
i also did like logan. like, i feel that she was one of those characters that was so complex and i feel like it was just so cool. like, i feel that she honestly had so many great qualities and that i really liked her. and also that she was just so cool with her childhood, and i honestly wish they went more in depth about that since i think it was just so cool. and i do wish that we got to see her with her parents more, and i also feel that it was just cool to see a whole family that was queer, since i feel like that doesn’t happen to much in books.
overall, i liked ashley’s character, but she by far wasn’t my favorite. like, i think she honestly was a nice character, but i feel like she had some homophobic moments throughout the story that i honestly didn’t care about. and also like that when she did that thing around like 65% – 70%, i honestly hated her so much. like, i feel that the whole even made me so uncomfortable, i really hated it. like, i feel that it was just so stupid and i think it was so terrible.
and i feel like the development on their relationship was just not good. like, i feel that before the event they were overall, a decent romance. like, i feel that it was still more tell not show, but i do think it had potential to grow and to work. but, than i think the event happened, and i feel like it was just so terrible development, since it went down instead of up. and i think they should have just fixed it and made it better. and like, i think that after the event that they couldn’t grow from that and i don’t know how or why logan decided to trust ashley again. since, i know that i could never do what she was doing.
but, than i think that the plot about the missing boy annoyed me. like, i feel that it was just so stupid done, since i think that tristian, was such the cliché good boy. like, he went missing and than all they talked about was just that, he got good grades and he was this golden boy. and i wish that they changed it and that they didn’t do anything to help him. and like the only thing that they did was talk about how he was this all american boy and that he was just so good, and they never made him seem human, kind of like they did in a good girl’s guide to murder. and it honestly just kind of annoyed me.
but, i also feel like this book had to many secrets in this book. like, i feel like secrets in books aren’t the end of the world, and i mean these books need secrets to keep this. but i feel like there was still so many secrets about how they did thinks and about the past of this town, from like these girls parents. like, i feel like they all said ‘we’ll tell you soon/when this is over / now isn’t the right time’ and this honestly just annoyed me since it was just kind of boring.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book more, but i still think that this was a decent book. but, thank you so much for an arc of this book. and like i said, this was an honest review and wasn’t changed by anyone.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about twice shy by sarah hogle. i gave this book 3/5 stars. honestly, i liked this book, but i feel like it was honestly nothing special, which honestly sucked cause so many people love this author, but i honestly didn’t really care about it.
honestly, i think my biggest issue with this book was probably maybell. like, as a whole, i feel like she was getting pushed around by everyone at work, and she never really did anything about it. and also just like kind of went crawling back to gemma, the girl from her work. like, for one, gemma had some crush on this guy, and i don’t even thing that maybell knew, and he starting flirting with maybell, and then gemma was this bitch to her, and then maybell just went right back to gemma. which, i honestly got so annoyed with, since i think it was just so annoying, and than maybell tried to justify it by, that she is the bosses daughter.
but, another thing that also annoyed me so much was the whole catfish situation. like, when maybell brought it up to wesley, since he was the guy that gemma used, he questioned it like once or twice, and pretty much just dropped it. and like, i feel like the whole catfish situation was not handled not well at all. like, i feel like they needed to talk about it more, and explain more about it or some kind of closure at all. and also, after this, i honestly just made gemma the villain once and for all, and not even kind of brush it off.
another thing i honestly didn’t really like about maybell was that she had this whole coffee shop AU, which i just didn’t like. like, this whole AU, which the man in there is wesley, which just makes this all so much weirder. and i honestly thought the whole AU was so weird, since it literally had no part in this story and that i really didn’t care for it. and with the man in there being wesley, it honestly made it seem like some of the parts of this book weren’t real, like the whole painting part. and i honestly think it was so weird, since in away, everything could have been this whole AU, and they might not have even got together, in away. and i guess with her head in the clouds so much, it just made this book not as good, and just took away from the story.
but, as for wesley, i honestly liked him, and i honestly liked him as a character. though, i do feel like that they never really explored his past, and explored more about him than just he’s hot and he works for her great aunt, or whatever the dead lady was to maybell. and i wish that they just fleshed him out more. but, i did really liked the plot about his social anxiety, and the plot about his anxiety was honestly the best part of the book. and in my mind, wesley honestly reminds me so much of cal from shadow and bone.
i also feel like the end of this book was a mess. like, for one, i don’t even know if the end was even the real end of the book, since she is such a day dreamer. and also, i feel like when they fell in love, it just solved all of their issues, and anything that happened before that was hard with their life just went away. and also i feel like maybell just got a backbone out of literally nowhere, which i think was just so odd by itself. and than how he just got over his anxiety was so weird, like i get that you want to do things that you might be scared of for someone you love, i just felt like it was still kind of odd.
but, as for the romance, i honestly didn’t really like the romance, and honestly not believe it. cause, i feel like this really gave this whole ‘romance completely fixed their life’ vibe. and also that i feel that there was so many things that they needed to fix so much of the book, but they never honestly did. and i feel like they literally had zero banter, which i honestly didn’t like at all. like going from wesley hating her one second, and then being all puppy love the next, i honestly hated it so much, and i couldn’t get behind it at all.
and like i feel that so much of this book was underdeveloped, between the characters and the romance and everything else, i honestly couldn’t take it. like i feel that they honestly were so not good together. and i feel like the sex scene in this was terrible, since it literally just faded to black. and also that the whole plot of them going to scotland just didn’t make sense to me. like, they made all of these points that maybell was tight on money, hence why she wanted to keep a lot of stuff to sell to make money and just like save things for her to wear and stuff. which, i think that her being able to pick up and go to scotland and then have to pay for the hotel and the food and whatever tour they were going to go and whatever they were gonna find.
i also feel like the whole cleaning up the big house and the whole treasure hunting plot was so stupid. like, i feel that it was honestly so stupid, cause they pretty much just gave it here and was like, talking about fixing the house, but not even in an interesting way, since it was just so boring and nothing even happened. and like when wesley built that coffee shops from maybell’s AU’s was honestly cute, but just still so weird. and i honestly so strange and i honestly didn’t really like the whole renovation plot.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly didn’t care about this book at all, which i’m kind of sad about cause everyone seem to like it, and all of the people that i’m friends with / follow on goodreads loved this book but it honestly just fell short for me. which, i honestly think it wasn’t the best book for me, but i do feel like it has the potential.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about not my problem by ciara smyth. i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly liked this book more than i liked smyth’s first book that she wrote. and i honestly got big sex education vibes with this, since they both deal with teenagers with secret businesses at their school, which i honestly really liked.
i think my biggest issue with this book was that we had so much time and aideen saying over and over and over again about how aideen hates meabh’s guts. and they say this to each other again and again and again, so once they kind of get to the romance, i feel like it just didn’t work in my mind. like, i mean, i feel like we got so much talk over and over, so once they kissed and kind of got together, i feel like it was just kind of weird. and i honestly wished they didn’t keep to much time focusing how much they focus on how they hated each other.
and i feel like so many things that happened in this story was how so many things just felt unrealistic. like, i don’t even know where i pin point it, but i feel like there was so many little comments or things that aideen and meabh does that just wouldn’t happen in real life, and in a way i feel like it took away from the story. but, i mean, it still was kind of fun to see this not ever happen in the said world.
but, i also feel like aideen’s humor in this book just didn’t work. like, i feel like the writing and the humor in this book didn’t work in my mind. like, i feel that books with stubble humor are always kind of cool and i do like it. but, i feel like that this book’s humor were kind of boring and i just also feel like it was just kind of all over the place and not needed.
i do feel like that aideen’s struggles with her mother was honestly was one of the better parts of this book. since, i do feel like seeing her talk about and show and care for her mother was honestly one of the better parts of this book. and to honestly see her put her mom before herself was honestly heartbreaking, but still really good in a kind of odd way. but, not even just her mom, just to see her take of everyone around her. and i do think it was honestly cool to see her growth from caring about everyone to caring about herself more and putting herself first.
and i mean, i did kind of get annoyed that aideen didn’t ever really confront anything about her mom and that she was trying to avoid everything about her family with these favors. like, i feel like they honestly got annoyed that she never really made up, and whenever something happened, she practically ran the other direction, which was i really just didn’t like. and i honestly wish she confronted her mom and dad, and didn’t run away.
with that being said, i do feel like there was moments in this book that i feel like it was moments that this book was kind of very similar to smyth’s debut. like, i feel like the characters are honestly very similar and that i just wish they had different variables at some points, since at some points i think it was just too similar. like, with the friend drama and the issues with alcohol. but, i honestly wished they changed it a little more, just so it isn’t so copy and paste at some of the times.
but, i do feel like aideen tried to be one of those characters and people that tried to be not like other girls, especially with her humor. and i honestly didn’t really care about it. like i found her humor, and especially how she texted, that she might not try to be like the other girls in the story. and also like the whole gym plot which i feel like it so overdone in YA books. but, i do think she is the most boring and like other girls in YA, but i still just wanted to point it out.
as for maebh, i did kind of like her character more. like, i feel she was just one of those organized character that was kind of a shit show deep down. but i still feel like she did kind had those my dad is the headmaster kind of traits, which i didn’t hate but i wish that it wasn’t so heavy. but, her being completely different from aideen i honestly really liked that they were so different, since i feel like we don’t see it to much in a book.
but, i honestly think it was cool to see them as friends, but not always be together and be people outside of the friendship. and like i feel that they were honestly really cool to see them still be friends, and have their issues. like, to see holly get to be kind of negative and kind of rude, than care more about other things than the friendship. and also just to see them make up than and to work better now was so cool.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly wished i liked this book more than i liked book 1, but i honestly don’t think this author is for me. but, i still liked what it tried to do, even if the whole helping others was kind weird. and i mean, i do think that this book would be good for people if they liked sex education.
hello everyone! today i am going to be doing a different type of post, and today i’m going to be doing a post where i basically talk about my thoughts and feelings about the first four bridgerton books, since i watched the tv show and completely loved it. so, this post is going to be a three parter, so part one, which you are currently reading, is going to be the first four, and than the second part which will just be the last four books, and than the third part will be my thoughts on the second epilogue for each of the books.
so, for each of the four books, my thoughts are going to be broken down into a couple different parts, general thoughts/trigger warnings, plot, romance, characters, what i want in the season, and than the writing. and this will be for the all of the parts, so they can all work together. and each of these books also has a full blown review, that i’ll link for each of the books.
THE DUKE AND I-
first off, i gave this book 4/5 stars. personally, i think this book was honestly decent, and i feel like they did a good job with the plot and everything that kind of worked in here, to a degree. and i honestly really liked the whole brother friend and fake dating trope, and i feel like it was done very well in the book. the full review for this book can be found right here.
trigger warnings– rape, sexual assault, sexual content, sexual violence, toxic relationship, child abuse, emotional abuse, misogyny, sexism, infertility, ableism, miscarriage, pregnancy, bullying, death of a parent, grief.
plot– general speaking, i feel like that the plot was good, and i feel like it was done decently. but, i do feel like there was just not enough there to hold this up. like, for one, we know that we get to see daphne and simon get together and the marriage, but i feel like it was just kind of basic ?? like with the whole brothers friend and daphne being this diamond of the season, i feel like there wasn’t all this plot at times, which i didn’t really care for.
romance- honestly, i did like the romance. like how they were forced together and to see them get together and just to see them figure out marriage and all of this. but, one of the parts of the ‘romance’ that really took away from the story was the rape scene. like, i feel that it was just so unnecessary and really just used to create drama, which it honestly just pissed me off so much.
characters- first off, simon basset, i honestly didn’t really care for him. like, i feel that we got his backstory and his life before and when he was a child. but, i feel like he was kind of a basic, as far as romance hero’s go. like, i mean, he was just this i don’t want to get married and Rake, which i feel that just annoyed me, especially cause anthony is next and way better.
and than there is daphne bridgerton, which i think was pretty cool. and i think that she was honestly more well rounded than simon, but still had her issues, hence the rape scene. and i honestly think the best part of her and what made her likable was that she had siblings, and all of them kind of helped her become better.
writing- honestly, i feel like the writing of this book was basic, but honestly very addicting and well done. like, i’ll be the first to admit that when i was reading the first 6 books in this series when i was in zoom school, and it was honestly so addictive and i really liked to read them. plus, getting to see lady whistledown play into all of this and seeing her get her take on all of this was so good and i really enjoyed reading her pov.
netflix show– since this season is already out, i’ll just tell you my thoughts on this one. but, i honestly liked the show better than the book, i mean, i feel like it was so well done, even though i literally hated simon in the show and the actor, and he was the weakest part of this season. but, i still do think it was a very beautiful plot and just the setting, i really liked it
THE VISCOUNT WHO LOVED ME-
first off, i gave this book 4/5 stars. i honestly liked this one so much more, and i honestly really loved the whole enemies to lovers and just to see all of this play out for this book. and i mean, it was done so much better than the first, and just to see the better version of the first book. and my full review can be found here.
trigger warnings- sexual content, death of a parent, panic attacks / disorder, grief, death, sexism, misogyny, car accident.
plot– honestly, this was so amazing. like, i feel like it was just so cool to see them be this enemies to lovers and also that anthony was courting her sister, which i feel like it was just so cool and honestly just way more funny than book one. and just to see them do their thing and to watch the two characters to interact, which was just so fun.
romance– honestly, the romance of this book was just so good and i thought it was so fun. like, it was honestly so much lighter than the first book, which made this book to be so fun. but, also that i feel like enemies to lover and them both kind of pining for each other was just so fun and i really liked them together. and just seeing them fall in love was honestly so entertaining.
characters– honestly, i feel like anthony was such an amazing character. like, to a degree, i feel like he is a better version of simon, and that i think quinn did such a good job with explaining his trauma. and also i really liked seeing him interact with his family and just to see him be the viscount and to do his duties. but, i do feel like they should have been more than just a viscount, since they have so much money, but i don’t think a viscount is that big of a title, money wise.
then, for kate sharma, i honestly really liked her too. i feel like it was so easy to feel for her and to like her understand her trauma and to understand why she might say or do some of the things she might say/do. but, i also really liked they fleshed out her backstory and her thing with the rain.
writing– i honestly really liked the writing in this book. like, i feel that it was such a good writing, which might just be because i liked this story more and that i liked them and the whole plot of this book. but, i do think there was just so sexist and misogynies moments that were just so annoying, but i feel like that’s expected with the older and historical books.
what i hope for the show- i honestly hope that they will do a good job with the trauma from anthony and kate’s childhood and also just to see them play pall mall and the library scene and the bee. and i honestly think this season will be done so much better and i just can’t wait to see them and to see the banter on screen.
AN OFFER FROM A GENTLEMAN-
first off, i gave this book 5/5 stars. this is honestly my favorite book in this series. and i honestly really liked seeing this story played out and the whole cinderella retelling this was, since it just added to much to this story.
trigger warnings– sexual content, emotional abuse, bullying, child abuse, sexism, death of a parent.
plot– honestly, i really liked this book. like, i think it was so cool and that it was just so cute and honestly i really like seeing them in the house together. and just to see the ball was cute and i honestly really liked them doing everything together.
romance- as much as i like the romance, i feel like there should have something more at my cottage. like, they were together for like a week in the middle of nowhere, i honestly expected to have them do something, or at least kiss a couple times, and seeing that benedict was naked most of the time, i just expected that. but, honestly, i really loved their love story and it was just so magical and amazing.
characters– i honestly completely love sophie’s story. like, i feel like most of the love interests are like rich or at least well off, i guess kate could be argued about. but, i really liked seeing her come into the ton, which i really liked. but, i also think she was such a cute and honestly such a sweet and pure character.
than for ben, i honestly really liked him. like, i know people get pissed because he asked her to be his mistress, but i honestly really liked him. like, he was just so sweet to her, and i honestly loved to see him pine for sophie and to see how much he loved her for awhile, even though he was kind of clueless.
writing– as for the writing, i really liked it. granted, i think it could be improved at some parts, but i do think that there was moments that quinn had no clue what she was doing in this book, but i still think that it was good. and i honestly wished we got sophie out of her head more.
what i want for the season– honestly, at this point it’ll be a win if sophie is a girl. but, besides that, i honestly want to see the ton react to sophie and ben. like, i feel like in the book they kind of just gloss over it. so, i honestly wish there is more of that. but, i hope they keep a lot of the book the same, the masked ball, the lake scene, them getting to my cottage, the bath tub scene.
ROMANCING MISTER BRIDGERTON-
first off, i gave this book 3/5 stars. i honestly was just underwhelmed for this book, and i really didn’t like it. and i mean, polin is one of the biggest ships on twitter, so i honestly expected to like it a lot more than i did. but, i honestly think the stans might have ruined it for me, but i still thought this book was decent.
trigger warning– sexual content, bullying, fatphobia, body shaming, misogyny, sexism.
plot– honestly, i kind of liked the whole whistledown plot, but i do think there should have been times were it was talked about better. and like, i mean, pen ripped people down for like more than a decade, so i feel like we should have gotten the ton reaction to what is happening, and that pen is actually whistledown. but, i mean, i do think the plot was good, and it was honestly exciting.
romance– the romance in this book is honestly what i kind of struggled with, like, i feel the biggest issue for me in this book was that pen and colin knew each other for pretty much their whole lives, and they’ve been in balls and parties together, and hell pen is eloise’s best friend. but, it honestly rubbed me the wrong way that as soon as pen lost some weight, and she looked a little different, colin was like in love with her than, when he said ‘i’ll never marry pen’ to ben and anthony when she weighted more. and i honestly, hope they change it in the show. but, other than that, i honestly really liked it.
characters– as for pen, i think that she needs to get some work done in the book and the show. like, in the show i feel like they need to make her not the bad guy anymore with the colin x marina issue. and for the book JQ should have showed the ton with the backlash with her saying she is whistledown. but, other than that, i really liked that she was whistledown and i honestly applauded her for keeping that secret for so long cause it couldn’t have been easy.
and for colin, i honestly liked him, but he was no way my favorite brother in the series, like i feel like the other two were way better. and i honestly hated how when he never saw anything in pen till she lost all that weight, and i just thought it felt kind weird and i honestly hated it so much. and it honestly made me borderline uncomfortable. but, i also feel like his whole personality was eating and food, which i really didn’t care for.
writing– but, for the writing, i jut feel like it was missing something. like, it was a good story and all, but i feel like it didn’t have this spark ? like i really don’t know how to explain it, but it just felt like it was missing something overall. but, i do feel like that the writing was still good and that it severed it’s purpose.
what i want from the season– i honestly want them to change some things about book, that are more structure. like, for one, i kind of hope they change the timeline, cause if i’m remember this correctly, it’s like a big gap between this and ben’s story. but, i also just want them to change the weight lost aspect of this all, and maybe even make the whole revel stay the same, but make the backlash bigger.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked these books, and i completely love this series so much, so making this post was honestly so fun, even though it took awhile. but, i honestly hope you like this cause i have some more posts similar to this in the next couple months, but most of them don’t revolve around series.
hello everyone! today i am going to be talking about if the shoe fits by julie murphy. i gave this book 4/5 stars. first off, thank you so much disney books and netgalley for an arc for this book! and of course, this is going to be an honest review, and isn’t going to be changed by the author / publisher / or that i got an arc of this book.
trigger warning- grief, death of a parent, body shaming, death, fatphobia, bullying, infertility, miscarriage, terminal illness, car accident.
honestly, i really liked the whole bachelor premise of this book. granted, i do wish that it wasn’t the same show with just a different name, since i feel like they were the same thing. but, i still think having the whole premise of them together was really cool and that i think it worked really well. but, i also feel like there was so many just random questions that i had throughout this book, which i won’t get into cause of the spoilers.
but, i also feel like that the cinderella moments were kind of weird and i didn’t really like ? i mean, i feel like the only real refences were the shoes and that she kind of wore blue a lot. but, i feel like the references were just way to cliché and i didn’t really care for. like, i feel like, i mean, it was just kind of annoying and i didn’t really care about it. and i mean, i wish that it had more of a plot in the book with cinderella. and like i feel like there is SO MANY different cinderella retellings out there, that this was just kind of underwhelming.
i do feel like the writing in this book though was really good. like, i feel like the writing was honestly so fun and just so easy to read. like i feel like it was just so easy and lighthearted, which i think was just so cool and so like fun. and i mean, the book wasn’t heavy or anything, so it was just cool and honestly very light to get into this book. and honestly this book just pulled me in, which i thought was so cool.
and i honestly think it was so cool and honestly really fun to see this book with a fat main character in a bachelor setting. like, i feel like on the bachelor everyone is super skinny, like in real life or even in this book. so, i think getting cindy be fat and honestly living her best life, and not having some sort of trauma about her weight or that she hated herself, i thought it was just so fun and i really loved it. and also just talking about her being on national tv and still talking about body diversity and how people will think about her cause she is fat.
but, i also feel like they kept talking about henry’s and his mother and his company kind of going under. but, i feel like they never really talked about it and they never really a resolution to all of this, which just annoyed me and that i wish they said something like they business is fine or it’s getting better. and like henry had so many cool ideas to help the business or to bring things into this company, which i just wished we could see. or even just to have something happen that he made some comment about it.
i also wish that there was more ‘romance’ in this book. like, i feel like the romance in this book was just henry and cindy doing their fake dating and them doing this bachelor plot line, so i feel like they should have just done something more than just a kiss here and there. and i honestly wished we got a sex scene and that they did something more than just like fade to black and a kiss here and there. and also, i mean, i wish we got to see more post bachelor, so we can see them as a real couple, and not when he was dating like twenty people at once.
but, i also feel like that there were so many characters in this book and that there were like 25 ish girls or something, and i feel like that they all kind of blended together. like, i feel that there were like a ton of girls and that they all blended together and that it was kind of hard to understand who is who and what each person liked. and they would just throw names at us, which just made this book so confusing in a sense.
but, i think that there was also a couple girls that they really focused on, like with girls that help were also in the show, and i feel like they also never really let those characters grow. like, i feel that it was kind of confusing and that i feel like they just needed to make them grow and like let the villain of the book, be the villain, but it was still a little bit a mess and i think some of the background characters be background characters. and also just give all the girls a personality.
i also kind of liked seeing erica and cindy having their relationship. like, it honestly felt real cause they had their ups and downs and to see them figure out their life after the dad died. and just to see them figure out where they stand, and just to have erica try to make her relationship with cindy as perfect that it could be. and just like they were honestly kind of cool to see them figure it all out.
but, also to see erica and the step sisters not evil was so cool. like, i think their names were drew and anna, but don’t quote me on that. but, i really liked to see them support cindy through all of this and than to see them have plot with not being evil and to help cindy with this journey. and also just to see them not being rude and evil to cindy since they got kicked out first. so, that was honestly so exciting to see.
anyway, that is all for today! i honestly really liked this series and i honestly can’t wait for book 2 next year, since i think it should so good. but, i honestly wish that this book is as good as this one.
r.bookish 