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pixip's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully stunning
I've been in a book slump for most of the year and this book just dragged me out of it with such force. I was enthralled from the first to the last word, the way that Milena weaves words is something magical. Not to mention that she betters my vocabulary with every book. The entire book was this wonderful rollercoaster of complexity and growth. Not once did I think this is too long or too short, Neve and Audrey's story was paced to perfection. The journey Neve took was heartbreaking, loving, raw and oh so real. I felt for her on so many levels and was drawn to her pain and fear. She was an incredible character to be on this journey with. I wanted her to get her happy ending so badly, I relished in her "Queen" like behaviour and was constantly in awe of her presence.
Every character had their place and felt oh so balanced in this ice Queens world. If I had to summarise it I would say it was like a cross between Devil Wears Prada (if it were sapphic) and Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo. It is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I am an eternal fan of Milena's now and eagerly await what masterpiece comes next.
I've been in a book slump for most of the year and this book just dragged me out of it with such force. I was enthralled from the first to the last word, the way that Milena weaves words is something magical. Not to mention that she betters my vocabulary with every book. The entire book was this wonderful rollercoaster of complexity and growth. Not once did I think this is too long or too short, Neve and Audrey's story was paced to perfection. The journey Neve took was heartbreaking, loving, raw and oh so real. I felt for her on so many levels and was drawn to her pain and fear. She was an incredible character to be on this journey with. I wanted her to get her happy ending so badly, I relished in her "Queen" like behaviour and was constantly in awe of her presence.
Every character had their place and felt oh so balanced in this ice Queens world. If I had to summarise it I would say it was like a cross between Devil Wears Prada (if it were sapphic) and Seven Husband's of Evelyn Hugo. It is one of the best books I have read in a long time. I am an eternal fan of Milena's now and eagerly await what masterpiece comes next.
raine666's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-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? Yes
5.0
saltyseaghost's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
soy_ahoy's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first ever book that made me change my rating for the better more than halfway through because I was dead set on 4 stars due to sheer unlikeablility of the main character (really, she had me putting the book down and pacing the apartment because almost every single move she makes is completely unforgivable), but the complexity of the emotions and constant twists in the story had me gripped - I genuinely did not expect half of what happened in this book and it ended up blowing me away. Okay so I might be a little biased because I too, had once upon a time dated a Neve Blackthorne, except instead of choosing therapy she decided to burn us both to the ground, but you know what? If she hadn't, I might not have been this insanely invested in this story which is genuinely so very, very good. So thank you queen, I guess? I also greatly enjoyed the pace and length of it, my ereader counted around 330 pages and the storyline spans some three years, perfect to fit all the mistakes Neve makes. Utterly brilliant.
rikakohlrabi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This entire book was internal monologue, vaguely broken up by a few bits of external dialogue. Frankly, for the first few chapters, I was getting rather annoyed with it. The MC is incredibly egocentric and in ridiculous levels of denial. But the spice was nice and the characters around the MC made it worth sticking around. Once the book gets to its half-way point, the MC starts to really open up and we learn more of why she is the way she is.
The writing style was definitely a little off-putting at first, but I think it ended up complimenting the main character and their progression perfectly. Maybe things were a little overwrought, but a part of me thinks that was kind of the point. Even the end was quite substantial, but I didn't mind. Too often HAEs end so abruptly that the reader is simply forced to assume that it truly is ever-after. Here, we get a little bit more, and it was nice.
I'll be checking out this author's other works for sure.
The writing style was definitely a little off-putting at first, but I think it ended up complimenting the main character and their progression perfectly. Maybe things were a little overwrought, but a part of me thinks that was kind of the point. Even the end was quite substantial, but I didn't mind. Too often HAEs end so abruptly that the reader is simply forced to assume that it truly is ever-after. Here, we get a little bit more, and it was nice.
I'll be checking out this author's other works for sure.
rachelslacey's review against another edition
5.0
This book - oh my! Layers upon layers. So much emotion! And angst! And the iciest of ice queens. This is not a light or fluffy read, but if you're looking for a romance that'll take you on a bit of a wild ride, definitely don't miss this one.
hacfhowe's review against another edition
3.0
I devoured this and was throughly entertained. However, I have quite a number of issues.
I loved the drama I really did. But, even for me, there's a line when it just gets too much.
Neve and Audrey had an insane amount of physical chemistry, which I obviously enjoyed. But I wasn't sold on the love aspect of it when Neve herself confirms they barely communicated with each other both initially and on page afterwards, so all that back and forth with this amount of dramatic was a little strange to me.
I still rooted for them, it was very engaging. But quite often I felt like Neve went to unnecessary extremes just for the sake of the drama, and I just felt insanely sorry for Audrey. Not to mention that Neve's internal monologue and her reasoning started getting too repetitive as things progressed.
I'm also not the biggest fan of public confrontations, but I guess there's no escaping it in a celebrity story.
I loved Neve with all her faults and flaws, and I didn't mind the length or the amount of internal monologue, although I do wish it was less repetitive at times. Not at all a disappointing read, just one with issues I couldn't quite let go of.
I loved the drama I really did. But, even for me, there's a line when it just gets too much.
Neve and Audrey had an insane amount of physical chemistry, which I obviously enjoyed. But I wasn't sold on the love aspect of it when Neve herself confirms they barely communicated with each other both initially and on page afterwards, so all that back and forth with this amount of dramatic was a little strange to me.
I still rooted for them, it was very engaging. But quite often I felt like Neve went to unnecessary extremes just for the sake of the drama, and I just felt insanely sorry for Audrey. Not to mention that Neve's internal monologue and her reasoning started getting too repetitive as things progressed.
I'm also not the biggest fan of public confrontations, but I guess there's no escaping it in a celebrity story.
I loved Neve with all her faults and flaws, and I didn't mind the length or the amount of internal monologue, although I do wish it was less repetitive at times. Not at all a disappointing read, just one with issues I couldn't quite let go of.
banrions's review against another edition
3.0
I… have very mixed feelings on this book.
I might change my mind and round it up to a four (particular possible if it’s an audiobook that’s stellar) but I think where I’m at is somewhere in the 3.5/3.75 range. Which is a bummer, because everyone else is raving about this!
I think I might have mixed feelings about this author so far. The Headmistress was my first introduction to her works and ADORED it, and that adoration only was further solidified after recently listening to the audiobook. I read The Delicate Things We Make after reading that one, and… had pretty mixed/average feelings that unfortunately did not improve after listening to the audiobook. I thought the fantasy/valentines novella was super cute and fun! So… I’m kind of 50/50 on loving her works or being kinda average/enjoying, but not loving them.
I’m particularly bummed about not adoring this one, because SO MANY ELEMENTS are almost written just for me. I love me an ice queen, I love me some angst, I love the old Hollywood/cinema artsy vibe, I love complicated moms, etc etc.
I think the crux or where this one didn’t quite work for me was the romance. I loved Neve and all the character study stuff with her--it almost would have been a solid four stars just for all of that. Her arc of coming into her own, dealing with her childhood trauma, and all of the therapy and work on herself was really, really good. (Though I will say, the some of the meta references to ice queens and literary tropes only slightly worked for me, and occasionally made me do a [very slight] eye roll).
But when it came to the romance, I never quite got on board. I really liked the idea of this book! Starting off with breaking off the affair, and then a slow burn arc come together is a really refreshing and wonderful take on the (sometimes very formulaic, despite loving it anyway) romance tropes. But I think where it didn’t work (for me, I’m clearly in the minority here) was the Audrey elephant in the room. I never felt like I knew her very well, or their relationship beyond them being totally in lust and wanting to rip each other’s clothes off. Neve and Audrey both state more than once that they never talked during their four month long affair, yet Audrey was apparently In Love and thought that Neve would leave her husband, cause a scandal, possibly lose her job, her child, etc? It DID strike me as very naive, but, I will admit, that despite reading a shit ton of romance, I’m deeply cynical and only barely believe in love at all. So, there’s that, lol.
I think because they spent so little time actually together on page, and every time we did see them together, it was really just about their sexual chemistry, that I never quite felt that they were in love? . Lust, they certainly had in spades, and their dynamic was enjoyable in that respect, but I, personally, was left a little wanting.
I might change my mind and round it up to a four (particular possible if it’s an audiobook that’s stellar) but I think where I’m at is somewhere in the 3.5/3.75 range. Which is a bummer, because everyone else is raving about this!
I think I might have mixed feelings about this author so far. The Headmistress was my first introduction to her works and ADORED it, and that adoration only was further solidified after recently listening to the audiobook. I read The Delicate Things We Make after reading that one, and… had pretty mixed/average feelings that unfortunately did not improve after listening to the audiobook. I thought the fantasy/valentines novella was super cute and fun! So… I’m kind of 50/50 on loving her works or being kinda average/enjoying, but not loving them.
I’m particularly bummed about not adoring this one, because SO MANY ELEMENTS are almost written just for me. I love me an ice queen, I love me some angst, I love the old Hollywood/cinema artsy vibe, I love complicated moms, etc etc.
I think the crux or where this one didn’t quite work for me was the romance. I loved Neve and all the character study stuff with her--it almost would have been a solid four stars just for all of that. Her arc of coming into her own, dealing with her childhood trauma, and all of the therapy and work on herself was really, really good. (Though I will say, the some of the meta references to ice queens and literary tropes only slightly worked for me, and occasionally made me do a [very slight] eye roll).
But when it came to the romance, I never quite got on board. I really liked the idea of this book! Starting off with breaking off the affair, and then a slow burn arc come together is a really refreshing and wonderful take on the (sometimes very formulaic, despite loving it anyway) romance tropes. But I think where it didn’t work (for me, I’m clearly in the minority here) was the Audrey elephant in the room. I never felt like I knew her very well, or their relationship beyond them being totally in lust and wanting to rip each other’s clothes off. Neve and Audrey both state more than once that they never talked during their four month long affair, yet Audrey was apparently In Love and thought that Neve would leave her husband, cause a scandal, possibly lose her job, her child, etc? It DID strike me as very naive, but, I will admit, that despite reading a shit ton of romance, I’m deeply cynical and only barely believe in love at all. So, there’s that, lol.
I think because they spent so little time actually together on page, and every time we did see them together, it was really just about their sexual chemistry, that I never quite felt that they were in love? . Lust, they certainly had in spades, and their dynamic was enjoyable in that respect, but I, personally, was left a little wanting.
misthios_pat's review against another edition
5.0
I'm quite disappointed.
At myself of course, I should've known better, paced the reading, but no here I am writing a wanna be review after an overnight and 2hs of sleep and a lot of staring into nothing for a few more. Because it ended too soon. I don't even know how to feel. I know I had the socks knocked off of me, but also there's this empty feeling because it's over...
Anyway, gurrrl, what I did just read? For real, Milena is spoiling us rotten with her releases. Is she going to keep up? I'm sure she will and I cannot wait to witness more of it.
With the mood set in the first part I thought the whole book would be heavy on angst, and even though it wasn't what I qualify as unbearable I still felt like suffocating on many occasions (have in mind that I avoid angst filled books like people used to avoid the plague, before COVID). It had its lingering effects in the 2nd part, but it was also freeing, funny, loving, intriguing and exhilarating. That board/model bit got me gushing. Above all, from the beginning to the very end, aWoS was gorgeous, witty, heartbreaking, heartwarming, knocker of socks. I cried with sadness, ire, laughter and finally joy. Not a single moment of boredom.
Most books I rather not dwell on things that I don't like, because (unless is something really bad) I think is irrelevant to comment on, but even if I wanted to do it now, I couldn't. Because you see, there isn't a single thing I could criticize, maybe the fact that it ended?
Neve is, as her name imply in Portuguese, an Ice Queen through and through. The thing starting around page 59 and the chain reaction it unleashed got me staring at the ceiling in disbelief for several minutes... Aghast, I felt that betrayal as if it was with me... The cruelty, W O W. Neve even used the right word to describe it, carnage. And the blows kept coming and coming I thought it would be almost impossible for her to redeem herself, but SHE DID IT! By the end it felt like she deserved the forgiveness (but it was not forgotten).
Mind you, Audrey didn't deserve all the shit she received, wow, a person can only take so much before falling apart and she did hold her shit together quite well, impressively. She is the kind of character you wanna enter the story to protect, to hold tight and whisper "things gonna be fine, sweetheart", "they gonna be better, love", because she deserves better. Thank goodness Neve got HER shit together and gave the love she so much deserved. They finally got their Happy Ending.
And just one last observation, I'm not that well versed in the lesfic world but so far I don't think I've read that many books with the Ice Queen-only POV, alternating yes, exclusively no. It's usually from the eyes of the admirer, the one in awe, the thawer. By the ice cold bitch, I don't recall many. Because I think it's easier not to care so much about the IQ's thoughts, their actions usually speak louder than anything else ever could. So this was really refreshing, IMHO. However, I was itching to know what was going on Audrey's mind during the whole ordeal.
Anyway, like a good greedy reader I seriously wouldn't mind more glimpses of their happy moments in the future to atone the whole lot of angst they went through here. hihi
At myself of course, I should've known better, paced the reading, but no here I am writing a wanna be review after an overnight and 2hs of sleep and a lot of staring into nothing for a few more. Because it ended too soon. I don't even know how to feel. I know I had the socks knocked off of me, but also there's this empty feeling because it's over...
Anyway, gurrrl, what I did just read? For real, Milena is spoiling us rotten with her releases. Is she going to keep up? I'm sure she will and I cannot wait to witness more of it.
With the mood set in the first part I thought the whole book would be heavy on angst, and even though it wasn't what I qualify as unbearable I still felt like suffocating on many occasions (have in mind that I avoid angst filled books like people used to avoid the plague, before COVID). It had its lingering effects in the 2nd part, but it was also freeing, funny, loving, intriguing and exhilarating. That board/model bit got me gushing. Above all, from the beginning to the very end, aWoS was gorgeous, witty, heartbreaking, heartwarming, knocker of socks. I cried with sadness, ire, laughter and finally joy. Not a single moment of boredom.
Most books I rather not dwell on things that I don't like, because (unless is something really bad) I think is irrelevant to comment on, but even if I wanted to do it now, I couldn't. Because you see, there isn't a single thing I could criticize, maybe the fact that it ended?
Neve is, as her name imply in Portuguese, an Ice Queen through and through. The thing starting around page 59 and the chain reaction it unleashed got me staring at the ceiling in disbelief for several minutes... Aghast, I felt that betrayal as if it was with me... The cruelty, W O W. Neve even used the right word to describe it, carnage. And the blows kept coming and coming I thought it would be almost impossible for her to redeem herself, but SHE DID IT! By the end it felt like she deserved the forgiveness (but it was not forgotten).
Mind you, Audrey didn't deserve all the shit she received, wow, a person can only take so much before falling apart and she did hold her shit together quite well, impressively. She is the kind of character you wanna enter the story to protect, to hold tight and whisper "things gonna be fine, sweetheart", "they gonna be better, love", because she deserves better. Thank goodness Neve got HER shit together and gave the love she so much deserved. They finally got their Happy Ending.
And just one last observation, I'm not that well versed in the lesfic world but so far I don't think I've read that many books with the Ice Queen-only POV, alternating yes, exclusively no. It's usually from the eyes of the admirer, the one in awe, the thawer. By the ice cold bitch, I don't recall many. Because I think it's easier not to care so much about the IQ's thoughts, their actions usually speak louder than anything else ever could. So this was really refreshing, IMHO. However, I was itching to know what was going on Audrey's mind during the whole ordeal.
Anyway, like a good greedy reader I seriously wouldn't mind more glimpses of their happy moments in the future to atone the whole lot of angst they went through here. hihi
lesbianpotato's review against another edition
5.0
Milena is so freaking good, I've become such a huge fan in such a short time. The emotion in her books is so strong that completely captures you. I absolutely loved a Whisper of Solace, and that little throwback to The Headmistress was just golden. The McKay Universe is a Thing for me now.