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3.58 AVERAGE

emotional funny hopeful mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
emotional reflective tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
dwydeck's profile picture

dwydeck's review

4.0
funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
emotional medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
emotional lighthearted fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Aaaahhhhh. This is a hard one to rate. I was debating between a 2.5 star or a 3.5 star. It’s going to be hard to write my opinion without giving any spoilers so, disclaimer, there may be some spoilers. I will try to keep them to the end.

First, let me start with the personal aspect. I related to Birdie on many levels. I too had a guy bff when I was in high school and I was madly in love with him. I was positive he felt the same for me. 2 years we were friends. We would talk every night on the phone and fall asleep in the middle of our conversations... We never wanted to hang up because we wanted to hear the other one sleeping. We would hold hands or lay up against each other when we watched movies on the couch. He would give me the tightest and longest bear hugs and never let me go. So, of course, I finally confessed my feelings, only to not have him reciprocate immediately I felt embarrassed and rejected and I cut him out of my life for several months. We did eventually talk again but it was never the same and it was only going to be a temporary situation as I was going to move away for school, while he still had 1 more year of high school. I know that Birdie was feeling.

However, although we eventually got Liam’s side of the story from that day, we didn’t see his emotions. As a matter of fact, I felt that none of Liam’s feelings were correctly conveyed in the story. He was a bit too robotic. So whenever he mentioned that he did like Birdie or the attraction he felt towards her, it didn’t feel authentic. Didn’t emotionally connect to Liam at any point in the book.

On to the stalker plot. I didn’t find it shocking when they revealed who within Birdie’s team was betraying her. I mean, they were basically telling us the entire time. I also had my suspicions that this person had a partner and I was even able to guess as to who that partner was. Maybe I’ve seen too many reruns of CSI, especially the bad ones like CSI Miami. I could even picture Horacio narrating some of the cheesy dialogue

And the third act break-up was pointless. The book started at a 3.5 rating and then dipped towards the end. I powered through the last 20% of the book because I didn’t want to leave it unfinished but I didn’t care for it. I think Kayla has gotten better at her storytelling and narrowing down the details. I started out reading her books with her newer books and I can see the evolution

This book had all the right ingredients for me: great plus size rep, friends to enemies to strangers to lovers, fantastic FMC; but it didn’t quite come together. I struggled with understanding her attraction to him as adults.
hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

Perfect story

I really enjoy birdie story, and her relationship with Liam. I enjoyed that once they opened up to each other and talked, they never held secrets or thoughts back. That drives me crazy in certain books. The way the author talks about their mental health and struggles the characters go through, and explaining it through other characters POV is truly inspiring, and educational