You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
2.89 AVERAGE
2.89 AVERAGE
Got an arc but never ended up reading it cuz I didn't have time. But now I'm glad I didn't.
adventurous
funny
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:
Yes
challenging
medium-paced
I like reading my books without reading the reviews. Until I’m halfway through the book. so I didn’t know about the controversy until halfway through and by that point I was just really interested in the mystery. And continued.
If I found out about the controversy, I would’ve not read this book, but the fact that matter is I did and I want to talk about it.
The rest of this review will be on the book.
Pen and Storm they hated each other your authors. Mostly due to on Pen side jealousy and Storms, I don’t know how to deal with my feelings, kind of vibe.
The accidentally go on the same writing with retreat with their friends. after the incident where Pen throws a book at storm and get kicked out of the publishing industry/canceled.
So this book starts with a a prologue which shows the incident. After that personally It was very hard to read like I stopped a few times to continue the book. I re-read the first few chapters a few times because I didn’t understand what was happening.
Everything happened so fast. I was like wait wait where are they? How did they get to this abandoned house in the middle of the woods? why are they jumping over a fence ? Why is there another abandoned house in the middle of the woods?
A little later when they get to the castle, it becomes a lot clearer where they are. They have decent banter with their friends, but one of my biggest pet peeves is that they don’t tell their friends about the ghost that clearly been haunting and attacking them.
Like that doesn’t make any sense if a ghost has been attacking you, you’re gonna tell everyone and make sure you’re not going crazy right?
I thought this book was trying to convey “they always had feelings for each other.”Which I do see during the book, that they didn’t really hate each other. They just didn’t know how to handle their feelings. I guess that’s the best way to put it. They both had crushes on each other and it came out badly. It felt like to me. when a boy pulls on a girl pigtails in the schoolyard. Which is not cool to do, but that’s the vibe.
Now, speaking of the main character Pen, she wasn’t a fully unlikable character to me. I could deal with a lot of her flaws and that was how she mostly treated storm. Thinking badly of him because of one story he published that became popular. To my understanding is what his publisher wanted not really what he wanted to write and when he told her this. She was like “well you should’ve done better “and he was like “like what I could’ve done?” and she never responded.
To me it simply, she was mostly jealous of his success and was taking it out on his book. That he really didn’t have control over because he was a pushover. It seems like this was the story of her self discovery which is not much and he was the side candy. She didn’t really seem more flushed out then get angry really quickly and is feeling self doubt about themselves.
Storm had some issues too. I felt like he was mostly Pen side candy. He was self doubting as the most popular mystery author and that’s pretty much it.
The side characters didn’t have that much personality besides being insert stereotype. Honestly, it was much more entertaining to read when they were on the page. Even though they didn’t really add that much substance to the story/plot.
The ghost story was what kept me going, but that didn’t even get touched upon a lot.it was only bit here and there until they actually get to the meat of the whole issue and then it comes all at once near the end of the book.
It was interesting. Very cliché. Long story short the ghost was a young lady, who died she decided she was gonna protect her family, but after a long time, forgot who she was and started attack/haunt people.
One of the things that the story got right is the visuals and I loved how it felt like creepy when the ghost was on the page. and then there were sometimes that it took me out of the mindset of this is scary like “ghost jizz”
One of my pet peeves also was that Storm was always attacked by the damn ghost. He had a target on his back. The ghost ended up loving Pen. They had the same last name so it’s implied that she was an ancestor of her, but it’s not explicitly known at the end.
Overall, I think there’s gonna be who will like it, but due to the controversy, I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone. and this story had a lot of flaws. I didn’t even touch upon. it did make me wanna write more so that’s a plus. But will I read this again.No. I only read this because my library got it as a new book on Libby.
If I found out about the controversy, I would’ve not read this book, but the fact that matter is I did and I want to talk about it.
The rest of this review will be on the book.
Pen and Storm they hated each other your authors. Mostly due to on Pen side jealousy and Storms, I don’t know how to deal with my feelings, kind of vibe.
The accidentally go on the same writing with retreat with their friends. after the incident where Pen throws a book at storm and get kicked out of the publishing industry/canceled.
So this book starts with a a prologue which shows the incident. After that personally It was very hard to read like I stopped a few times to continue the book. I re-read the first few chapters a few times because I didn’t understand what was happening.
Everything happened so fast. I was like wait wait where are they? How did they get to this abandoned house in the middle of the woods? why are they jumping over a fence ? Why is there another abandoned house in the middle of the woods?
A little later when they get to the castle, it becomes a lot clearer where they are. They have decent banter with their friends, but one of my biggest pet peeves is that they don’t tell their friends about the ghost that clearly been haunting and attacking them.
Like that doesn’t make any sense if a ghost has been attacking you, you’re gonna tell everyone and make sure you’re not going crazy right?
I thought this book was trying to convey “they always had feelings for each other.”Which I do see during the book, that they didn’t really hate each other. They just didn’t know how to handle their feelings. I guess that’s the best way to put it. They both had crushes on each other and it came out badly. It felt like to me. when a boy pulls on a girl pigtails in the schoolyard. Which is not cool to do, but that’s the vibe.
Now, speaking of the main character Pen, she wasn’t a fully unlikable character to me. I could deal with a lot of her flaws and that was how she mostly treated storm. Thinking badly of him because of one story he published that became popular. To my understanding is what his publisher wanted not really what he wanted to write and when he told her this. She was like “well you should’ve done better “and he was like “like what I could’ve done?” and she never responded.
To me it simply, she was mostly jealous of his success and was taking it out on his book. That he really didn’t have control over because he was a pushover. It seems like this was the story of her self discovery which is not much and he was the side candy. She didn’t really seem more flushed out then get angry really quickly and is feeling self doubt about themselves.
Storm had some issues too. I felt like he was mostly Pen side candy. He was self doubting as the most popular mystery author and that’s pretty much it.
The side characters didn’t have that much personality besides being insert stereotype. Honestly, it was much more entertaining to read when they were on the page. Even though they didn’t really add that much substance to the story/plot.
The ghost story was what kept me going, but that didn’t even get touched upon a lot.it was only bit here and there until they actually get to the meat of the whole issue and then it comes all at once near the end of the book.
It was interesting. Very cliché. Long story short the ghost was a young lady, who died she decided she was gonna protect her family, but after a long time, forgot who she was and started attack/haunt people.
One of the things that the story got right is the visuals and I loved how it felt like creepy when the ghost was on the page. and then there were sometimes that it took me out of the mindset of this is scary like “ghost jizz”
One of my pet peeves also was that Storm was always attacked by the damn ghost. He had a target on his back. The ghost ended up loving Pen. They had the same last name so it’s implied that she was an ancestor of her, but it’s not explicitly known at the end.
Overall, I think there’s gonna be who will like it, but due to the controversy, I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone. and this story had a lot of flaws. I didn’t even touch upon. it did make me wanna write more so that’s a plus. But will I read this again.No. I only read this because my library got it as a new book on Libby.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you told me I somehow got a copy of this book that was put together completely out of order I would believe you because the pacing didn’t make sense, the character choices didn’t make sense, none of it was ever well written. I was interested in the idea but the execution was essentially the author having a bullet point list of what she wanted to cover and rewriting the same thing for three chapters straight until she was up to her word requirement.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I was nervous to read this book cause I had heard mixed reviews. In the beginning, I found this book difficult to get into. It felt like it was dragging and just not really getting anywhere. I didn't feel any kind of attachment to any of the characters. About halfway is when things started picking up for me, which I would normally have given up on a book by then, but I pushed through and ended up enjoying it.
I did feel like the chapters were a chore to get through. They just felt like they dragged on, and at points, it was almost difficult to read. I don't know if it was just a mix of me not really wanting to read, but also wanting to keep going that made me feel this way. I just know that the chapters seemed to just go on forever.
The enemies-to-lovers aspect I was worried about. Again, I had heard mixed things about how some people felt they were just together to be together. I thought that the relationship developed in a believable way. I don't fully like how it evolved, because I agree aspects of it just felt too cheesy. Like..some of the games they played or how things happened, it just felt very 'teenage' to me. However, overall it was done in a way that I could accept and enjoy, so I didn't dwell too much on those things.
The representation was a big part of this book too. The two MCs were both of indigenous decent, which was a large part of their rivalry but also their relationship. I really like that the author made that a focal point of the book, as I feel the concerns raised were valid. To have characters that really cared about who they were and where they came from, but also trying to exist in a world that was against them every step of the way. Each MC handled that hurdle in a different way, which led to their disagreements, but in the end they each came to understand each other and their reasons. They both learned a lot about themselves and who they wanted to be, both as individuals and together.
The 'horror story' also was just kind of okay. I really enjoyed all the creepy things that happened to the characters. But when the MCs actually started trying to figure out the story, I feel like it fell a little flat. I understand the devastation of the story, but I didn't understand why the ghost was sticking around. I know what causes them to stay, but this one didn't feel like it should cause the entire situation. I would have been happier if they just left it alone and didn't bother solving anything.
Overall, I thought this was a solid read. I don't know if I will read anything else by this author, just because near the end I started skipping full paragraphs just to finish the book. It felt like a chore at certain points to get through, and that difficulty making progress has me not as excited to pick anything else up. That may change in the future. Who knows?
I did feel like the chapters were a chore to get through. They just felt like they dragged on, and at points, it was almost difficult to read. I don't know if it was just a mix of me not really wanting to read, but also wanting to keep going that made me feel this way. I just know that the chapters seemed to just go on forever.
The enemies-to-lovers aspect I was worried about. Again, I had heard mixed things about how some people felt they were just together to be together. I thought that the relationship developed in a believable way. I don't fully like how it evolved, because I agree aspects of it just felt too cheesy. Like..some of the games they played or how things happened, it just felt very 'teenage' to me. However, overall it was done in a way that I could accept and enjoy, so I didn't dwell too much on those things.
The representation was a big part of this book too. The two MCs were both of indigenous decent, which was a large part of their rivalry but also their relationship. I really like that the author made that a focal point of the book, as I feel the concerns raised were valid. To have characters that really cared about who they were and where they came from, but also trying to exist in a world that was against them every step of the way. Each MC handled that hurdle in a different way, which led to their disagreements, but in the end they each came to understand each other and their reasons. They both learned a lot about themselves and who they wanted to be, both as individuals and together.
The 'horror story' also was just kind of okay. I really enjoyed all the creepy things that happened to the characters. But when the MCs actually started trying to figure out the story, I feel like it fell a little flat. I understand the devastation of the story, but I didn't understand why the ghost was sticking around. I know what causes them to stay, but this one didn't feel like it should cause the entire situation. I would have been happier if they just left it alone and didn't bother solving anything.
Overall, I thought this was a solid read. I don't know if I will read anything else by this author, just because near the end I started skipping full paragraphs just to finish the book. It felt like a chore at certain points to get through, and that difficulty making progress has me not as excited to pick anything else up. That may change in the future. Who knows?
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated