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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
4.5
I went back and forth on what rating to give this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed it, even loved parts of it...but on the other hand, I had issues (I think that's the first time I've said that about a LJ Shen book, but I'll explain below).
I first read the blurb and sample weeks ago, right after my first book by LJ Shen. I wasn't sure what book to read next and this one is a recent release so I looked at it first. I was a little put off by the mean girl/bully sound to Daria, so I decided to work up to it. At that time, I didn't know what this was a spin off of the Sinners of Saint series, the child(ren) of the HotHoles. So I ended up not reading this one, ended up binging on a lot of the author's other books, including the entire HotHole series...and that's when I decided to read this. I had just finished reading Jamie and Mel's story, and what better time to read about their daughter?
Here's where my issues came in: To me, the problem with spinoff books/series about the children of the established series is that you've (most likely) fallen in love with the parents, and (for me) they've lived happily ever after with no further drama in their perfect little book world. *sigh* I know that's not actually how it happens, but it's a nice thought. They got together, had kids (or not but they did in this case) and all is good. You can argue that one of the great things about books like these is that the characters are human, they make mistakes...and boy did they ever in this case. It was almost like the characters I'd come to know, and love were missing. They were HORRIBLE parents. (Ok, Jamie wasn't really but I'll get to that). But Mel. Mel (inadvertently) made the exact same mistakes her parents had done to her even as she was trying to do the opposite. She let Daria down time after time and honestly, my heart broke for Daria. It seemed like Mel just stopped caring. I know that wasn't actually the case, but her actions said otherwise. Every time she turned around, she kept hurting Daria. I didn't blame Daria for getting to the point of walking away from her mom. As for Jamie...he disappointed me, but not to the point of Mel. In his case, he was a typical man, oblivious to what's really going on, only catching little things and trying to help but not really helping. However, when Daria finally decided to confide in a parent, I was really glad it was Jamie (although, I'll be honest, I was kind of hoping she'd skip her parents and just go to Uncle Vicious at that point...more on that later). But I was glad she confided in her dad. Her mom didn't deserve that level of trust at that point. Yes, things eventually got better between Daria and her mom, but it took her mom WAY to long to get a clue.
So, my biggest issue with this book was the angst. Omg the angst. It was so full of angst that I felt like I was on the verge of an anxiety attack at multiple points.
I went back and forth on what rating to give this book. On one hand, I really enjoyed it, even loved parts of it...but on the other hand, I had issues (I think that's the first time I've said that about a LJ Shen book, but I'll explain below).
I first read the blurb and sample weeks ago, right after my first book by LJ Shen. I wasn't sure what book to read next and this one is a recent release so I looked at it first. I was a little put off by the mean girl/bully sound to Daria, so I decided to work up to it. At that time, I didn't know what this was a spin off of the Sinners of Saint series, the child(ren) of the HotHoles. So I ended up not reading this one, ended up binging on a lot of the author's other books, including the entire HotHole series...and that's when I decided to read this. I had just finished reading Jamie and Mel's story, and what better time to read about their daughter?
Here's where my issues came in: To me, the problem with spinoff books/series about the children of the established series is that you've (most likely) fallen in love with the parents, and (for me) they've lived happily ever after with no further drama in their perfect little book world. *sigh* I know that's not actually how it happens, but it's a nice thought. They got together, had kids (or not but they did in this case) and all is good. You can argue that one of the great things about books like these is that the characters are human, they make mistakes...and boy did they ever in this case. It was almost like the characters I'd come to know, and love were missing. They were HORRIBLE parents. (Ok, Jamie wasn't really but I'll get to that). But Mel. Mel (inadvertently) made the exact same mistakes her parents had done to her even as she was trying to do the opposite. She let Daria down time after time and honestly, my heart broke for Daria. It seemed like Mel just stopped caring. I know that wasn't actually the case, but her actions said otherwise. Every time she turned around, she kept hurting Daria. I didn't blame Daria for getting to the point of walking away from her mom. As for Jamie...he disappointed me, but not to the point of Mel. In his case, he was a typical man, oblivious to what's really going on, only catching little things and trying to help but not really helping. However, when Daria finally decided to confide in a parent, I was really glad it was Jamie (although, I'll be honest, I was kind of hoping she'd skip her parents and just go to Uncle Vicious at that point...more on that later). But I was glad she confided in her dad. Her mom didn't deserve that level of trust at that point. Yes, things eventually got better between Daria and her mom, but it took her mom WAY to long to get a clue.
So, my biggest issue with this book was the angst. Omg the angst. It was so full of angst that I felt like I was on the verge of an anxiety attack at multiple points.
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Ok so this took me by SURPISE. I LOVED IT. ALL OF IT. The characters had dept and struggles and were so beautifully flawed. Penn and Daria have my heart <3
I really liked the book because I could identify myself with the protagonists. The tension between Daria and Penn was so intense and it was true enemies to lovers.
this book was....not good. i don't understand how we were supposed to believe that daria and penn were madly in love when they'd had about 2 conversations and slept together once?! there was just no build up whatsoever, highly disappointing. it felt like whole chunks/sections of the story were missing. also who randomly kisses a strange boy you've met like 2 seconds ago on the street at the age of 14?!
I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review. Thank you!
I've never been so conflicted over a rating for a book. While this is a high school bully romance and I'm still not sure that it was for me, it wasn't all bad?
The banter and dialogue is witty and the pace is fast. I also paired this with the audible narration and it could not have been narrated by better voice actors.
I guess because the characters are just not likable for the majority of the book I'm not sure if that's a stylistic choice because of the bully romance or if I just didn't like that the book itself has SEVERAL unlikable characters. Because let me tell you, none of these characters should have been as awful as they were. I couldn't figure out why Penn or Daria fell in love. What about each other was there to love, while they were so busy being so hateful?
I'm glad there was some redeeming towards the end and the HEA was sweet.
I've never been so conflicted over a rating for a book. While this is a high school bully romance and I'm still not sure that it was for me, it wasn't all bad?
The banter and dialogue is witty and the pace is fast. I also paired this with the audible narration and it could not have been narrated by better voice actors.
I guess because the characters are just not likable for the majority of the book I'm not sure if that's a stylistic choice because of the bully romance or if I just didn't like that the book itself has SEVERAL unlikable characters. Because let me tell you, none of these characters should have been as awful as they were. I couldn't figure out why Penn or Daria fell in love. What about each other was there to love, while they were so busy being so hateful?
I'm glad there was some redeeming towards the end and the HEA was sweet.
holy shit. where do i even begin. i was fully ready to throw this book into a dumpster fire because of the hot garbage i was reading. this is probably the only instance where not allowing myself to dnf books has not bit me in the ass. now let me be clear, that book was still garbage, but at first it was insufferable garbage and then became incredibly entertaining garbage. ok lets start from the beginning of this reading journey. immediately upon starting this book i was cringing. nothing makes me more angry than when authors attempt to write dialogue between teenagers but its incredibly clear that they have never been within 5 feet of a real young person in their entire life. NO. ONE. TALKS. LIKE THAT. no one ACTS like that. first of all why did they kiss within 5 minutes of meeting like those are 14 year olds that is not how 14 year olds act. that is not how human beings of any age on planet earth acts. i genuinely could not get over the dialogue in this book and how unrealistic and cringe it was. like i know that most romance books have unrealistic dialogue but this made me want to rip my eyeballs out and shoot myself. it was that bad. also the fmc was such a bitch wait actually scratch that, every single person in this book was genuinely evil and unlikeable. i did not like a single character in that book. now let me describe the turning point in this book. i was already pissed off and ranting to my friends about how bad this book was (thats how you know its bad) and then i got to one specific scene. the family is in the ice cream shop and the mmc calls the fmc a bitch in front of her ENTIRE FAMILY? (WHY WAS THIS NECESSARY?) and asks the ice cream girl for her number. and then. get ready for it. when she gives him the number he pretends to put it in while he “pulled his phone out and started playing fortnight” WHAT. WHAT. WHHHHHHHHAT?????? nothing justifies the amount of anger that entered my body after reading that line but i could not control it. this made me homicidal for multiple reasons. YOU CAN NOT PLAY FORTNIGHT ON YOUR PHONE?????? like i have played that game one time in my entire life and i know that. it is an online game. how are you pulling your phone out and “playing fortnight” for 5 seconds. you join a server. you play in real time with other people. that is not how it works and it wouldve taken ONE GOOGLE SEARCH to figure that out. i will never forgive this author for making me this mad about fucking FORTNIGHT. the second reason for my rage was just how hard this author is trying to make the characters seem relatable and instead making me want to start beating them with a hammer. genuinely the second after i read that line i pulled out all books i own by this author in this series and immediately listed them on mercari because i refused to continue. and then after that i sent my friend an 8 MINUTE audio message ranting abt this book. about FORTNIGHT. do you know how bad something has to be to get me to care about fortnight. i genuinely can not explain how or why that one line made me angry enough to do all of this but it did. anyways after no one bought my mercari listing i decided that i am no quitter and continued reading. and honestly? it got entertaining af i can not even lie. that book was batshit fucking crazy but it was entertaining. it went from a solid 1 star to 3 which i did not think was possible. the drama was so insane that i unfortunately finished that book the very same day i read the cursed fortnight line. like the evil sister and the secret relationship and the exposed secrets yeaah i very reluctantly i ate that up. i felt like i was betraying my very being by being entertained by this book and not absolutely dreading reading it. now do i recommend this book? maybe if you want to question your sanity. i cant tell if the dialogue got less cringy or if i just got used to it. but it got better enough that i deleted my mercari listing. so make of that what you will. sigh. i have more to complain about but i will just end this review here.
This book had more twists & turns than Lombard Street! LOVED IT! I’m a 45 year old teenager jonesing for Broken Knight now!
**totally using ‘OH Marx’ now too**lol
**totally using ‘OH Marx’ now too**lol