Look, I'm not going to lie: I was veryContent warnings: homophobia, mental health, abandonment, Islamophobia/xenophobia, panic attacks, vomit
3.5 stars
Look, I'm not going to lie: I was very distracted by ranting to friends via text message about some bullshit happening at work while I was listening to this, so a lot of it kind of went in one ear and out the other.
I did like the Atlanta setting and the snowstorm as a reason for forced proximity for various couples. Probably I would have retained more of it if a) I hadn't been massively distracted and b) if I'd read it with my eyeballs and not my ears, because I found it more difficult to establish the connections between the various stories when I was listening to it.
So at the end of the day, this is very definitely a Me Problem and not a Book Problem. I still enjoyed it! It's just not a book that's going to stick in my brain though. ...more
Look, I love this series. I really do. But this one felt like a rare miss. There was so much time spent on buildContent warnings: homophobia, violence
Look, I love this series. I really do. But this one felt like a rare miss. There was so much time spent on build up and "we can't be together but we want to be together but we can't be together sad face" that by the time they actually DID get together, it felt rushed. And then there was the secondary drama of where Knox would end up working and honestly? It all just kind of felt like...there was only a limited amount of depth to their relationship? And then the book was over.
So yeah. This was fine. And I did like the dynamic between the two protagonists. But it felt...lacking. Like it needed another 50-100 pages to fully flesh things out. ...more
I bought this when it came out and then put off reading it for over a year forContent warnings: mental health, panic attacks, alcohol, biphobia, vomit
I bought this when it came out and then put off reading it for over a year for literally no reason. It took me a little while to get into it, but the story of distant sisters struggling to find their place in the world was a compelling one and I ended up devouring this.
Wilde's voice shines on the page, and I loved the late December in a coastal town setting. I did find that I was more drawn to Scarlett's story than to Cinnamon's - perhaps because Cinnamon's a more prickly character?? - but on the whole this was compelling and I overrelated to the characters and their stories more times than I care to mention. ...more
Content warnings: poverty, hospitalisation of a parent, grief, mental health, abandonment, cheating, military deployment
Look, is this the best book RoContent warnings: poverty, hospitalisation of a parent, grief, mental health, abandonment, cheating, military deployment
Look, is this the best book Rowell has ever written? No. But there's just something so comforting about Rowell's voice on the page, and I'm so glad I picked this up. It's essentially a second chance romance between high school friends turned long lost friends, and the way that Rowell wove the timelines of their past and present together was fantastic.
I didn't love the military side of things, but at the same time I fully recognise that for a lot of teens in the US, the military is their only way out of their small town/dead end job.
All in all, this was perhaps a more bittersweet read than I anticipated, but it was so lovely to be back in Rowell's voice that I'm willing to forgive it. ...more
Content warnings: slut shaming, Islamophobia, colonialism, shitty teaching practices, shaming of non-academic career paths??? IDK how else to word thaContent warnings: slut shaming, Islamophobia, colonialism, shitty teaching practices, shaming of non-academic career paths??? IDK how else to word that.
3.25 stars
This is an odd story, in that it doesn't entirely feel like YA - it's dealing extensively with parental pressure to get married and with arranged marriages specifically - but it also VERY much feels like YA.
So there were a lot of elements of this that I enjoyed - the internal debate of "do I humanise a monster because my history teacher loves him or do I tell the truth?", the way that Danyal just...accepts things about Bisma that others have shamed her for, that he's so determined to pursue a career outside of academics. But there were also elements that just...didn't quite feel like they belonged in the story that was being told.
So ultimately, this was FINE but not what I expected it would be....more
Content warnings: domestic violence (in the past), death (in the past), cheating, possession, misogyny, forced marriage (in the past), chronic illnessContent warnings: domestic violence (in the past), death (in the past), cheating, possession, misogyny, forced marriage (in the past), chronic illness
Look, I've thoroughly enjoyed all of DeLuca's books in the past and I was very much looking forward to a romance set in a small and very haunted town. And the haunted town side of stuff was fun - I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in the series! I liked the relationship between the two leads, though there were a few too many times where the pacing felt a little...draggy?
There were also two things in regards to this that kind of drove me nuts: 1. Cassie has endometriosis to the point of infertility and yet at no point does her endometriosis actually impact her daily life; and 2. (view spoiler)[we IMMEDIATELY jump to unprotected sex because a) "oh I'm infertile, it doesn't matter" and b) they have a two line conversation about STIs. This is something that's increasingly prevalent in contemporary romance and it kind of makes me want to stick pins in my eyeballs because, like, yeah, I get that you're in love. But maybe have a LEGITIMATE conversation *before* the peen is half way in. Just saying. (hide spoiler)]
So on the whole? I liked this. But there were some niggling things that grated more than I anticipated....more
Content warnings: stealing, lying, disordered eating, mental health
I've enjoyed Godwin's books in the past, so I was hoping this one would be a hit foContent warnings: stealing, lying, disordered eating, mental health
I've enjoyed Godwin's books in the past, so I was hoping this one would be a hit for me. She really hits that crossover between YA and middle grade so well, and it's perfect for Year 7 students who think they're past middle grade but who really aren't emotionally ready for YA crime/thrillers.
This one, for whatever reason, didn't quite work for me. Like, it was FINE. And I love that it's set so solidly in the western suburbs of Melbourne. But it felt like a number of the plotlines here - especially the disordered eating - weren't done with the depth that they warranted.
So I wanted to love this. But I just kind of...didn't. It was fine. But I suspect it will prove very forgettable. ...more
Trigger warnings: aphobia, mentions of transphobia, animal death, shitty parenting, abusive relationship (in the past), miscommunication.
3.75 stars. Trigger warnings: aphobia, mentions of transphobia, animal death, shitty parenting, abusive relationship (in the past), miscommunication.
3.75 stars.
There was something generally delightful about how inclusive this was. There's all kinds of queer rep. There's racial diversity. If I remember correctly, there's at least one disabled character?? And there's a queer-platonic relationship between two of the secondary characters, which was great. Add in a Toronto setting and plenty of dancing, and I was here for this.
And yet, there was something about the awfulness of Evie's family that just didn't work for me. I totally understand her not being out, because asexuality requires explanation every damn time and sometimes it's just easier to...not. But they were SO aggressively awful that I honestly didn't know why she hadn't cut herself off from them completely.
So all in all, this was lovely but there was something about it that held me at arm's length.
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: aphobia, mentions of transphobia, animal death, shitty parenting, abusive relationship (in the past), miscommunication.
3.75 stars.
There was something generally delightful about how inclusive this was. There's all kinds of queer rep. There's racial diversity. If I remember correctly, there's at least one disabled character?? And there's a queer-platonic relationship between two of the secondary characters, which was great. Add in a Toronto setting and plenty of dancing, and I was here for this.
And yet, there was something about the awfulness of Evie's family that just didn't work for me. I totally understand her not being out, because asexuality requires explanation every damn time and sometimes it's just easier to...not. But they were SO aggressively awful that I honestly didn't know why she hadn't cut herself off from them completely.
So all in all, this was lovely but there was something about it that held me at arm's length....more
There's something utterly magical about Alice Oseman's writingTrigger warnings: mental health, violence, blood, alcohol abuse, mentions of self harm.
There's something utterly magical about Alice Oseman's writing. She has the ability to completely suck me into whatever world she's created to the point where I have no idea what's going on around me, and this was no exception.
This is, at its heart, a novel about fandom and boy bands. About the way that teenage girls react to boy bands and the way their reaction to them is discounted by adults. It's also a novel about the murky time between ages 18 and 21 where you're trying to work out who the hell you are and what the hell you stand for, where you're learning to identify what you want and how to get there. It's a book about friendship and realising that your idols are human. It's a book about complicated relationships and family dynamics.
And more than all of that, it's a novel about a hijabi girl and the biracial trans boy band member she looks up to. And I loved every second of it.
There's something utterly magical about Alice Oseman's writing. She has the ability to completely suck me into whatever world she's created to the point where I have no idea what's going on around me, and this was no exception.
This is, at its heart, a novel about fandom and boy bands. About the way that teenage girls react to boy bands and the way their reaction to them is discounted by adults. It's also a novel about the murky time between ages 18 and 21 where you're trying to work out who the hell you are and what the hell you stand for, where you're learning to identify what you want and how to get there. It's a book about friendship and realising that your idols are human. It's a book about complicated relationships and family dynamics.
And more than all of that, it's a novel about a hijabi girl and the biracial trans boy band member she looks up to. And I loved every second of it....more
Content warnings: hospitalisation of a loved one, lying, death, organ donation, medical procedures, surgery
This is described as a cross between WeddinContent warnings: hospitalisation of a loved one, lying, death, organ donation, medical procedures, surgery
This is described as a cross between Wedding Crashers and Grey's Anatomy, and that hits the mark EXACTLY. I loved everything about this and I absolutely devoured it. ...more
Trigger warnings: slut shaming, misogyny, shitty LGBTQIA and POC representation.
When this popped up in my Goodreads feed the other day, I was instantTrigger warnings: slut shaming, misogyny, shitty LGBTQIA and POC representation.
When this popped up in my Goodreads feed the other day, I was instantly sold when I read the premise. I mean, a teenage bookworm who decides to try and find a boyfriend by following the tropes in her favourite books? That's pretty stinking great.
However.
This was kind of a hot mess.
Let's start with the fact that Macey - commonly known as Mace (REALLY??) - is basically only a fan of one author. Her list of tropes comes exclusively from that author's books, and they're largely hella questionable. I mean, she's an eighteen year old who's never been kissed, and one of the tropes is "Try starting in the bedroom". And another is "Try batting for the other team". Obviously, it's going to end really well...
Okay. Let's start with Macey. She's...kind of the worst. She's completely hung up on pigeonholing people. She actively refers to herself as super smart and a "cool nerd". She's constantly slut shaming the girls that her douchey BFF has her break up with for him. All her other friends are put into boxes too. There's the gymnast and the inventor and the musician and the foreign exchange student. And, like, GIRL. STOP IT.
Moving onto Cam. He's...a dick. He's making out or having a grope-fest with a different nameless female character practically every time we see him. He has Macey break up with them because he's too chicken to do it. He's all "Tralalala, I'm too cool to study or go to university because I'm a rock star". He's pretty damned judgey towards Macey a lot of the time. And yet they have these movie nights where they're lying in each other's laps and being silly and sleeping in each other's beds. (And she wonders why everyone at school thinks they're a couple. Oy.)
Let's talk about the representation, shall we? There are several POC boys that Macey is vaguely interested in during the story. And every single one of them has blue eyes. Now, I'm not saying that POC can't have blue eyes. But it was super fucking weird to me that every time a male character was described, it would be all "his skin was the colour of coffee with just the right amount of milk and his eyes were ice blue". Uh. Okay.
The only female POC in the story is the Korean exchange student. Macey thinks they're, like, super close friends. This character NEVER SAYS ANYTHING. Well. That's a lie. She says one sentence. The rest of the time, they just assume that she doesn't speak English. Like...??????? WOW.
There are a few openly LGBTQIA characters in the story, and they're all handled poorly. There's a lot of talk of LGBTQIA characters having "straight-dar" and of Macey just suddenly realising that one particular character is gay because he passes comment on her outfit. And she then outs him to various other people, which NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Add in the fact that one of her friends calls another friend a lesbian, and the friend is all "No, I'm just undecided" and Friend A calls it THE SAME THING, and I was about ready to slam my head into a wall. Especially when two lines later, Macey refers to the friend as asexual???? Just...stop. Please stop.
And then my final gripe is that the writing is...pretty bad. There were lots of really clunky and nonsensical moments. "I whacked him on the shoulder with all my strength. He jumped and clutched the injured appendage to his chest." is one that stands out. Please, clutch your shoulder to your chest. I'll wait.
Oh, and the word "whom" is used a lot, clearly to show the character's intelligence. Except that EVERY SINGLE TIME, the word "whom" was used incorrectly. So. Yeah.
I mean, I didn't expect greatness from this. But I WAS hoping that I'd get something that wasn't full of gross stereotypical gender roles and crappy characters and bad grammar. Alas.
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: slut shaming, misogyny, shitty LGBTQIA and POC representation.
When this popped up in my Goodreads feed the other day, I was instantly sold when I read the premise. I mean, a teenage bookworm who decides to try and find a boyfriend by following the tropes in her favourite books? That's pretty stinking great.
However.
This was kind of a hot mess.
Let's start with the fact that Macey - commonly known as Mace (REALLY??) - is basically only a fan of one author. Her list of tropes comes exclusively from that author's books, and they're largely hella questionable. I mean, she's an eighteen year old who's never been kissed, and one of the tropes is "Try starting in the bedroom". And another is "Try batting for the other team". Obviously, it's going to end really well...
Okay. Let's start with Macey. She's...kind of the worst. She's completely hung up on pigeonholing people. She actively refers to herself as super smart and a "cool nerd". She's constantly slut shaming the girls that her douchey BFF has her break up with for him. All her other friends are put into boxes too. There's the gymnast and the inventor and the musician and the foreign exchange student. And, like, GIRL. STOP IT.
Moving onto Cam. He's...a dick. He's making out or having a grope-fest with a different nameless female character practically every time we see him. He has Macey break up with them because he's too chicken to do it. He's all "Tralalala, I'm too cool to study or go to university because I'm a rock star". He's pretty damned judgey towards Macey a lot of the time. And yet they have these movie nights where they're lying in each other's laps and being silly and sleeping in each other's beds. (And she wonders why everyone at school thinks they're a couple. Oy.)
Let's talk about the representation, shall we? There are several POC boys that Macey is vaguely interested in during the story. And every single one of them has blue eyes. Now, I'm not saying that POC can't have blue eyes. But it was super fucking weird to me that every time a male character was described, it would be all "his skin was the colour of coffee with just the right amount of milk and his eyes were ice blue". Uh. Okay.
The only female POC in the story is the Korean exchange student. Macey thinks they're, like, super close friends. This character NEVER SAYS ANYTHING. Well. That's a lie. She says one sentence. The rest of the time, they just assume that she doesn't speak English. Like...??????? WOW.
There are a few openly LGBTQIA characters in the story, and they're all handled poorly. There's a lot of talk of LGBTQIA characters having "straight-dar" and of Macey just suddenly realising that one particular character is gay because he passes comment on her outfit. And she then outs him to various other people, which NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Add in the fact that one of her friends calls another friend a lesbian, and the friend is all "No, I'm just undecided" and Friend A calls it THE SAME THING, and I was about ready to slam my head into a wall. Especially when two lines later, Macey refers to the friend as asexual???? Just...stop. Please stop.
And then my final gripe is that the writing is...pretty bad. There were lots of really clunky and nonsensical moments. "I whacked him on the shoulder with all my strength. He jumped and clutched the injured appendage to his chest." is one that stands out. Please, clutch your shoulder to your chest. I'll wait.
Oh, and the word "whom" is used a lot, clearly to show the character's intelligence. Except that EVERY SINGLE TIME, the word "whom" was used incorrectly. So. Yeah.
I mean, I didn't expect greatness from this. But I WAS hoping that I'd get something that wasn't full of gross stereotypical gender roles and crappy characters and bad grammar. Alas....more
Trigger warnings: shitty parenting, death of a parent (in the past), car accident, tornadoes.
This is essentially Twister But Make It Gay. Except therTrigger warnings: shitty parenting, death of a parent (in the past), car accident, tornadoes.
This is essentially Twister But Make It Gay. Except there's less cows than in Twister. I read this cover to cover in under 90 minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. The relationship was super cute, the tornado chasing was fascinating, and the action side of things was as well handled as the romance side of things. And it definitely helped that Melbourne had high winds and threatening skies while I read this!
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: shitty parenting, death of a parent (in the past), car accident, tornadoes.
This is essentially Twister But Make It Gay. Except there's less cows than in Twister. I read this cover to cover in under 90 minutes and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. The relationship was super cute, the tornado chasing was fascinating, and the action side of things was as well handled as the romance side of things. And it definitely helped that Melbourne had high winds and threatening skies while I read this!...more
Trigger warnings: purity culture, slut shaming, teen pregnancy, toxic religion, sexual assault (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting.
3.5 stars. Trigger warnings: purity culture, slut shaming, teen pregnancy, toxic religion, sexual assault (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting.
3.5 stars.
Del's voice here was absolutely fantastic, and there were a lot of really interesting discussions about purity culture and how toxic it can be, as well as attitudes towards teen pregnancy and LGBTQIA+ people within religion and small communities. So all of that was fantastic and I loved it. Plus, this was often incredibly funny, which was great.
But at the same time, there were several plot points that I really would have liked to see explored in more detail, particularly around Qwan and Jameel and their respective stories. Add in an ending that was a little too abrupt, and this was very very good but not GREAT for me.
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: purity culture, slut shaming, teen pregnancy, toxic religion, sexual assault (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting.
3.5 stars.
Del's voice here was absolutely fantastic, and there were a lot of really interesting discussions about purity culture and how toxic it can be, as well as attitudes towards teen pregnancy and LGBTQIA+ people within religion and small communities. So all of that was fantastic and I loved it. Plus, this was often incredibly funny, which was great.
But at the same time, there were several plot points that I really would have liked to see explored in more detail, particularly around Qwan and Jameel and their respective stories. Add in an ending that was a little too abrupt, and this was very very good but not GREAT for me....more
Content warnings: death of a parent (in the past), grief, mental health, bullying, alcohol abuse, cancer
Oh, my feelings. This was utterly charming andContent warnings: death of a parent (in the past), grief, mental health, bullying, alcohol abuse, cancer
Oh, my feelings. This was utterly charming and extremely heartfelt and I loved all of the characters and the way the story played out. The art is gorgeous and I adored how it deals with difficult topics. I feel like I should have more words to say about this given that I've given it 5 stars. But I don't. It's great. Read it. ...more
Trigger warnings: homophobia from background characters, cheating.
3.5 stars.
Here's the thing: I loved the first book in this series so much that I imTrigger warnings: homophobia from background characters, cheating.
3.5 stars.
Here's the thing: I loved the first book in this series so much that I immediately bought and sped through the second and third books.
Does this book REALLY deserve 3.5 stars when it's a romance book where there's no romance until the 70% mark? Probably not. Did I really like the characters and speed through it? Definitely. Did it keep me hooked for a couple of hours? YUP.
Basically, it's the story of a university lacrosse player whose life is turned upside down when the boy she lost her virginity to shows up as a new student. Who just so happens to be dating her new roommate.
I loved the diversity in the story - the love interest is African-American, the protagonist's best friends are pansexual and biracial respectively, and the love interest's brother is gay, and that's just the diversity that stood out - and I loved the fact that it's about a girl who plays a lot of sport.
There's a lot of family drama in the story, which I wasn't really expecting to be as front and centre as it was, and I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. But on the whole, I ended up enjoying this one a lot, though I do wish the break up had happened waaaay earlier in the book than it did. So.
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: homophobia from background characters, cheating.
3.5 stars.
Here's the thing: I loved the first book in this series so much that I immediately bought and sped through the second and third books.
Does this book REALLY deserve 3.5 stars when it's a romance book where there's no romance until the 70% mark? Probably not. Did I really like the characters and speed through it? Definitely. Did it keep me hooked for a couple of hours? YUP.
Basically, it's the story of a university lacrosse player whose life is turned upside down when the boy she lost her virginity to shows up as a new student. Who just so happens to be dating her new roommate.
I loved the diversity in the story - the love interest is African-American, the protagonist's best friends are pansexual and biracial respectively, and the love interest's brother is gay, and that's just the diversity that stood out - and I loved the fact that it's about a girl who plays a lot of sport.
There's a lot of family drama in the story, which I wasn't really expecting to be as front and centre as it was, and I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one. But on the whole, I ended up enjoying this one a lot, though I do wish the break up had happened waaaay earlier in the book than it did. So....more
3.75 stars?? I think??? It makes me sad to give a Katie McGarry book less than 4 stars, it really does. Especially one that features the two character3.75 stars?? I think??? It makes me sad to give a Katie McGarry book less than 4 stars, it really does. Especially one that features the two characters that first made me fall in love with her writing. But while there was a lot of stuff in this book that I really liked, there was also some stuff that was pretty uncomfortable and that I really wasn't on board with.
The good - Noah and Echo are still totally adorable. - Roadtrips yay roadtrips! - Echo dealing with her Dead Brother Feels. - Noah dealing with his Dead Parent Feels and the guilt that goes along with it. - Noah's nameless uncle. - Mrs Collins being fabulous via Skype. - OH MY GOD BLUEPRINTS. - Isaiah and Beth being all "DUDE, NO." to Noah and looking after Echo.
The not so good - Noah being a total and utter control freak with violent tendencies. - Hunter being a total and utter control freak AND a 30 year old creeper who may or may not have feelings for Echo, who's just turned 18. - Noah's former one-night-stand turning up for literally no reason. IT felt like she was added to the story just to increase the "will they break up?" factor, which didn't work for me because we already know from books 2, 3, and 4 that they're still together. - Echo's mother. I just really hate her, so her turning up was obviously not my favourite thing ever. - Echo increasingly felt like a submissive character who's letting other people make up her mind for her. And I kind of get it. Decisions are hard, especially when you're 18 and they could change your life forever. And yes, she made her own decisions in the end. But for a lot of the book, I was just like "GIRL. HOLY SHIT, GROW A SPINE AND TELL [insert guy here] TO STOP TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO."
So yeah. I liked it. I liked it a lot. And I read it in less than 12 hours, and I was at work for four of those hours. So as always, it's compelling writing filled with real world problems and new adult growing up-y stuff. But every male character felt like a control freak, and it made me really uncomfortable.
Merged review:
3.75 stars?? I think??? It makes me sad to give a Katie McGarry book less than 4 stars, it really does. Especially one that features the two characters that first made me fall in love with her writing. But while there was a lot of stuff in this book that I really liked, there was also some stuff that was pretty uncomfortable and that I really wasn't on board with.
The good - Noah and Echo are still totally adorable. - Roadtrips yay roadtrips! - Echo dealing with her Dead Brother Feels. - Noah dealing with his Dead Parent Feels and the guilt that goes along with it. - Noah's nameless uncle. - Mrs Collins being fabulous via Skype. - OH MY GOD BLUEPRINTS. - Isaiah and Beth being all "DUDE, NO." to Noah and looking after Echo.
The not so good - Noah being a total and utter control freak with violent tendencies. - Hunter being a total and utter control freak AND a 30 year old creeper who may or may not have feelings for Echo, who's just turned 18. - Noah's former one-night-stand turning up for literally no reason. IT felt like she was added to the story just to increase the "will they break up?" factor, which didn't work for me because we already know from books 2, 3, and 4 that they're still together. - Echo's mother. I just really hate her, so her turning up was obviously not my favourite thing ever. - Echo increasingly felt like a submissive character who's letting other people make up her mind for her. And I kind of get it. Decisions are hard, especially when you're 18 and they could change your life forever. And yes, she made her own decisions in the end. But for a lot of the book, I was just like "GIRL. HOLY SHIT, GROW A SPINE AND TELL [insert guy here] TO STOP TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO."
So yeah. I liked it. I liked it a lot. And I read it in less than 12 hours, and I was at work for four of those hours. So as always, it's compelling writing filled with real world problems and new adult growing up-y stuff. But every male character felt like a control freak, and it made me really uncomfortable....more
This was basically the happily ever after to Second Position, but I was totally on board with it. I loved that Alyona continues to struggle with food,This was basically the happily ever after to Second Position, but I was totally on board with it. I loved that Alyona continues to struggle with food, that happiness didn't instantly fix her mental health problems. I loved that Zed finally realised that there's still hope for his future. I loved that Alyona's in therapy and that she's open about having good days and bad days.
It DOES contain (view spoiler)[the most cringe-worthy public proposal of all time. Like, stops in the middle of performing a ballet to hundreds of people to propose in the middle of the stage kind of cringe-worthy (hide spoiler)], but the rest of it was pretty stinking great.
Merged review:
This was basically the happily ever after to Second Position, but I was totally on board with it. I loved that Alyona continues to struggle with food, that happiness didn't instantly fix her mental health problems. I loved that Zed finally realised that there's still hope for his future. I loved that Alyona's in therapy and that she's open about having good days and bad days.
It DOES contain (view spoiler)[the most cringe-worthy public proposal of all time. Like, stops in the middle of performing a ballet to hundreds of people to propose in the middle of the stage kind of cringe-worthy (hide spoiler)], but the rest of it was pretty stinking great....more
Trigger warnings: parental abuse, drug addiction, drug overdose, violence, murder, kidnapping, gun violence, descriptions of wounds and dead bodies.
2/Trigger warnings: parental abuse, drug addiction, drug overdose, violence, murder, kidnapping, gun violence, descriptions of wounds and dead bodies.
2/1/2020 I had great intentions of rereading this last year after rereading the Every trilogy and then somehow it didn't happen. But it DID mean that I got to kick 2020's rereads off with a bang! This is a really dark story, but the characters are PHENOMENAL and the romance (which, I have to say, happens way later in the story than I remembered) is A+. And I stand by what I said last time about the ending giving me feelings omg so many feelings. Okay I'm done now bye.
1/8/2017 This did NOT disappoint. It picks up for Harris basically where his story left off in Every Move, with Harris recovering from a gunshot wound. While there, he comes back into contact with Amie, who he sort of knew in high school. She's in training to be a nurse, and she's the daughter of the local police sergeant.
Somehow, Harris agrees to go undercover in a drug ring with Amie as his contact seeing as they have a legitimate reason to communicate. Let's bullet point the rest, shall we?
- Harris is great. Amie is great. Their dynamic is great. Their romance is great. - THIS WAS SO FREAKING STRESSFUL OMG - Ohgod I had so many feelings - This is peak Straya and I love it - Seriously, so damn good - Go preorder it - It's great - Ellie sent me an ARC and when I finished I sent her an email that literally said "I JUST FINISHED AND NOW I'M CRYING BECAUSE I HAVE ALL THE FEELINGS HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEEEEEEEE" and her response was "*evil laugh*", which tells you pretty much all you need to know
Merged review:
Trigger warnings: parental abuse, drug addiction, drug overdose, violence, murder, kidnapping, gun violence, descriptions of wounds and dead bodies.
2/1/2020 I had great intentions of rereading this last year after rereading the Every trilogy and then somehow it didn't happen. But it DID mean that I got to kick 2020's rereads off with a bang! This is a really dark story, but the characters are PHENOMENAL and the romance (which, I have to say, happens way later in the story than I remembered) is A+. And I stand by what I said last time about the ending giving me feelings omg so many feelings. Okay I'm done now bye.
1/8/2017 This did NOT disappoint. It picks up for Harris basically where his story left off in Every Move, with Harris recovering from a gunshot wound. While there, he comes back into contact with Amie, who he sort of knew in high school. She's in training to be a nurse, and she's the daughter of the local police sergeant.
Somehow, Harris agrees to go undercover in a drug ring with Amie as his contact seeing as they have a legitimate reason to communicate. Let's bullet point the rest, shall we?
- Harris is great. Amie is great. Their dynamic is great. Their romance is great. - THIS WAS SO FREAKING STRESSFUL OMG - Ohgod I had so many feelings - This is peak Straya and I love it - Seriously, so damn good - Go preorder it - It's great - Ellie sent me an ARC and when I finished I sent her an email that literally said "I JUST FINISHED AND NOW I'M CRYING BECAUSE I HAVE ALL THE FEELINGS HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEEEEEEEE" and her response was "*evil laugh*", which tells you pretty much all you need to know...more
Content warnings: mental health, chronic illness, toxic relationship (in the past)
I was extremely excited to read this because Viggo was my favourite Content warnings: mental health, chronic illness, toxic relationship (in the past)
I was extremely excited to read this because Viggo was my favourite Bergman sibling floating around in the background of the previous books, mostly because of his love of romance novels. And I feel like maaaaaybe I would have liked this more if I'd read it with my eyeballs rather than my ears, but I think there was something about the audiobook of this that just...didn't quite work for me?
Either that or it's that Tallulah spent SO MUCH of the book being prickly and insisting she was right when really girly pop just needs to be in therapy to deal with her feelings holy hell. Don't get me wrong, I did like Tallulah as a character. But GIRL. Therapy. Needed earlier.
Also, adopting FIVE KITTENS AND TWO DOGS??? In a small two bedroom that's attached to a bookshop? Viggo, my dude, I can *smell* your house through the book and it ain't good.
Side note: (view spoiler)[whyyyyyyyyyyy do so many M/F contemporary romances in the past couple of years feature characters immediately having unprotected sex and just...trusting each other on their sexual histories?? It immediately gives me the ick, especially because so many same sex contemporary romances feature characters being like "Let's discuss using protection and when we decide to change our minds about that, we show each other test results first". Any time immediate unprotected sex happens, I just assume we're going to end up with a pregnancy and no thank you (hide spoiler)]...more
Content warnings: death of a loved one (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting, toxic relationship (in the past), grief, emotional abuse
Well this Content warnings: death of a loved one (in the past), homophobia, shitty parenting, toxic relationship (in the past), grief, emotional abuse
Well this was a fucking DELIGHT. I do have to admit that I didn't quite understand why the entire world was going feral for the idea of this particular director doing a very stock standard reality show. Like, the show the two protagonists are participating in is really just The Bachelorette but more diverse and with more contestants. There's genuinely nothing special or unique about the premise other than that this director is involved. And I don't REALLY see the world going feral for such a generic concept purely because a particular director is at the helm.
ANYWAY. That being said, I adored this. I loved Ejiro and his journey of self discovery a LOT. I loved Obiora and *his* journey to move past his grief. I loved the setting and the side characters and the reactions from the public thrown in at the end of each "episode" of the show.
This definitely dealt with some darker topics than I expected it to, but I had a truly lovely time with it and I hugged my Kindle at the end of the book so you KNOW it was good. ...more
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