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spacegoblin's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
hayes585's review against another edition
4.0
Not as funny as the first. Definitely a lot of repetition from the first as well and not in a tie it together or backstory kind of way.
livvybraves's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
koistyfishy's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-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
3.5
3.5 Tell me something about Octopuses Stars โญ๏ธ
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ.5/5
I AM CONFLICTED...
Like I couldn't put it down but like SHE IS FULL OF PLOTHOLES AND PROBLEMS...
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
So we have Farrow, but her name might as well be Ella because she's basically a modern-day Cinderella. BUT not like the Disney version where she has supremely intelligent rodents who help her, but more in the version of Hilary Duff's "A Cinderella Story". She lives with her stepmom and her two stepsisters, who treat her completely and utterly vile, (and act almost exactly the same as Duff's stepmom and sisters treated her). Farrow is in a 4-way partnership with her stepfamily, running her late father's cleaning business - but she's the only one doing any work, while her stepmom and siblings take all the profits. The book opens with Farrow trying to steal back one of her father's prized possessions that her stepmom sold without her permission, something that holds a lot of sentimental value to Farrow. However, that item also has a lot of sentimental value to Zachso when he catches her in the act, and the two flirt over a game of Go. Intrigued by who she is and insulted she tried to steal from him - he tracks her down and blackmails her into working for him as a maid, so he can "own her".
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
So I TOTALLY judged the book by the name and thought I would be getting a "DARK" romance. The blurb read like a dark romance- the chapter he blackmails her has all the right language of a dark romance... but like WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE DARK ROMANCE? This is a cocky arrogant alphahole who has too much money to throw around and while he does have a little repressed childhood trauma - it's just a straightforward story of him falling in love with the help. This is a contemporary romance!!!!
Let me elaborate... I expected this to go another level and I feel a little lied to - HE USED QUOTES LIKE...
- โNot only can I outsmart you, I can also out-kill you. And I am currently very tempted to do so, little thief.โ
- โYouโll be working for meโunder meโat my whim, youโll serve, obey, and cater to me. Paying off your debt for trying and utterly failing to steal from meโ โโ
- โIn this world, there are masters, and there are servants. Iโm a master. Youโre a servant. Act accordingly, and I will let you go.โ
BUT LIKE NONE of this ever really came to fruition. BUT Zach also doesn't get all dominant on her or make her the " slave" he threatens to make her... he just kinda ignores her so she can do her own thing in the house...Farrow agrees to be his maid - alone as no other maids or cleaning staff are ever mentioned or seen in the book and her job is to CLEAN HIS GINORMOUS MANSION... but then she still has time to take afternoon naps and watch movies in his house? I know you don't always have to clean everything every day but if you have like 20 bedrooms and only one person to keep it clean and free of dust - there is no time for them to be sitting around eating popcorn almost daily.
For most of the book I didn't like the relationship between her and Zach - he treats her awfully, I mean the man announced his engagement on her bday and then told her to go wash the windows. He thinks that the best way to win her affection is to buy her a crap tonne of stupid expensive shoes and then is upset when she is upset about the events of the day and never really stands up for her. BUT the man pulled out some super sweet stops for her and was cute and adorable and exactly what you would see done in a romcom....so I can't make up my mind...
Farrow never really stands up for herself. She is so afraid to stand up to Zach and her stepsisters and her stepmom - as everyone walks all over her... but she does have a little spunk and bite and it almost feels like the type of aggression a homeless dog will have because it's been neglected its whole life and it doesn't know how to act when someone is nice to them...
I found the fencing plot and conspiracy a little crazy and ridiculous and I hated that the one person she had who was close to her outside of her fucked up life was using her like that...
The thing is, as much as there was a lot I hated - the book had this quality that kept me reading in the same way I want to watch a car crash... I couldn't put it down - even though it wasn't deep - it was still super addicting...
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV
โถ Who Did This To You?
โถ Strangers to Lovers
โถ Forbidden Romance
โถ Morally Grey MMC
โถ Interracial/Multicultural Romance
โถ Cinderella Retelling (Billionaire Romance/Rich GuyXPoor Girl)
โถ BossXEmployee
๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Hold on to the...
โท Spicy/Steamy Water Scene
โท Mine
โท Good Girl
โท Cages her with his arms
So really I dunno how to feel - I am going to read book 1 cause the characters of Dallas and Romeo intrigued me and too see how obsessed Romeo is towards Dallas and hearing the snippets of their story... I WANNA KNOW.... I also wanna know what happens in Oliver's book. So while this wasn't perfect it was filled with drama that will make any soap opera-loving girl happy while also having swoony moments and moments of stupidity... It kinda balanced itself out with the fact that the writing is addictive... and fast and quick to digest. So EVEN if the book kinda lies about what type it is - it's still readable...
Spicy Level: ๐ถ๏ธ๐ถ๏ธ.5/5
I AM CONFLICTED...
Like I couldn't put it down but like SHE IS FULL OF PLOTHOLES AND PROBLEMS...
๐๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ๐จ๐๐จ:
So we have Farrow, but her name might as well be Ella because she's basically a modern-day Cinderella. BUT not like the Disney version where she has supremely intelligent rodents who help her, but more in the version of Hilary Duff's "A Cinderella Story". She lives with her stepmom and her two stepsisters, who treat her completely and utterly vile, (and act almost exactly the same as Duff's stepmom and sisters treated her). Farrow is in a 4-way partnership with her stepfamily, running her late father's cleaning business - but she's the only one doing any work, while her stepmom and siblings take all the profits. The book opens with Farrow trying to steal back one of her father's prized possessions that her stepmom sold without her permission, something that holds a lot of sentimental value to Farrow. However, that item also has a lot of sentimental value to Zachso when he catches her in the act, and the two flirt over a game of Go. Intrigued by who she is and insulted she tried to steal from him - he tracks her down and blackmails her into working for him as a maid, so he can "own her".
๐๐๐ค๐ช๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐จ:
So I TOTALLY judged the book by the name and thought I would be getting a "DARK" romance. The blurb read like a dark romance- the chapter he blackmails her has all the right language of a dark romance... but like WHERE THE FUCK WAS THE DARK ROMANCE? This is a cocky arrogant alphahole who has too much money to throw around and while he does have a little repressed childhood trauma - it's just a straightforward story of him falling in love with the help. This is a contemporary romance!!!!
Let me elaborate... I expected this to go another level and I feel a little lied to - HE USED QUOTES LIKE...
- โNot only can I outsmart you, I can also out-kill you. And I am currently very tempted to do so, little thief.โ
- โYouโll be working for meโunder meโat my whim, youโll serve, obey, and cater to me. Paying off your debt for trying and utterly failing to steal from meโ โโ
- โIn this world, there are masters, and there are servants. Iโm a master. Youโre a servant. Act accordingly, and I will let you go.โ
BUT LIKE NONE of this ever really came to fruition. BUT Zach also doesn't get all dominant on her or make her the " slave" he threatens to make her... he just kinda ignores her so she can do her own thing in the house...Farrow agrees to be his maid - alone as no other maids or cleaning staff are ever mentioned or seen in the book and her job is to CLEAN HIS GINORMOUS MANSION... but then she still has time to take afternoon naps and watch movies in his house? I know you don't always have to clean everything every day but if you have like 20 bedrooms and only one person to keep it clean and free of dust - there is no time for them to be sitting around eating popcorn almost daily.
For most of the book I didn't like the relationship between her and Zach - he treats her awfully, I mean the man announced his engagement on her bday and then told her to go wash the windows. He thinks that the best way to win her affection is to buy her a crap tonne of stupid expensive shoes and then is upset when she is upset about the events of the day and never really stands up for her. BUT the man pulled out some super sweet stops for her and was cute and adorable and exactly what you would see done in a romcom....so I can't make up my mind...
Farrow never really stands up for herself. She is so afraid to stand up to Zach and her stepsisters and her stepmom - as everyone walks all over her... but she does have a little spunk and bite and it almost feels like the type of aggression a homeless dog will have because it's been neglected its whole life and it doesn't know how to act when someone is nice to them...
I found the fencing plot and conspiracy a little crazy and ridiculous and I hated that the one person she had who was close to her outside of her fucked up life was using her like that...
The thing is, as much as there was a lot I hated - the book had this quality that kept me reading in the same way I want to watch a car crash... I couldn't put it down - even though it wasn't deep - it was still super addicting...
๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โถ Dual POV
โถ Who Did This To You?
โถ Strangers to Lovers
โถ Forbidden Romance
โถ Morally Grey MMC
โถ Interracial/Multicultural Romance
โถ Cinderella Retelling (Billionaire Romance/Rich GuyXPoor Girl)
โถ BossXEmployee
๐๐๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ:
โท Hold on to the...
โท Spicy/Steamy Water Scene
โท Mine
โท Good Girl
โท Cages her with his arms
So really I dunno how to feel - I am going to read book 1 cause the characters of Dallas and Romeo intrigued me and too see how obsessed Romeo is towards Dallas and hearing the snippets of their story... I WANNA KNOW.... I also wanna know what happens in Oliver's book. So while this wasn't perfect it was filled with drama that will make any soap opera-loving girl happy while also having swoony moments and moments of stupidity... It kinda balanced itself out with the fact that the writing is addictive... and fast and quick to digest. So EVEN if the book kinda lies about what type it is - it's still readable...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Blood, Car accident, and Gaslighting
Minor: Emotional abuse and Pregnancy
dione_jay45's review
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Absolutely loved the first book and this one
Great character developments so your actually rotting for the couple while also having some amazing well written smut though some of it did make me cringe a little
Great character developments so your actually rotting for the couple while also having some amazing well written smut though some of it did make me cringe a little
michalaj10's review against another edition
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sindsreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
medium-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
4.75
I LOVED IT
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
the first book was so good but this one was SO MUCH BETTER OMG
zach is the mf standard now and i wonโt accept anything less. zach who took grovelling to the next level, poured his heart out to farrow while looking like a hot mess and uncaring of who watched or listened, would litch follow her around the house like a puppy just so she would eat lunch and spend time with him, overcame his trauma of rain and touch thanks to her and pushed himself beyond his limits just so he could get to her in time. zachary sun the man u are
farrow had such a strong and feisty personality and i loved every second of it. poor girl has suffered so much but it was all worth it in the end cuz she finally got closure for what had happened in the past and got what she always wanted, a family ๐ฅน
this book was a whole lot of laughs and feelings cuz while there was so much banter and laughter, the struggles and traumatic side of it was honestly so heart wrenching. ugh i love them so much.
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT
the first book was so good but this one was SO MUCH BETTER OMG
zach is the mf standard now and i wonโt accept anything less. zach who took grovelling to the next level, poured his heart out to farrow while looking like a hot mess and uncaring of who watched or listened, would litch follow her around the house like a puppy just so she would eat lunch and spend time with him, overcame his trauma of rain and touch thanks to her and pushed himself beyond his limits just so he could get to her in time. zachary sun the man u are
farrow had such a strong and feisty personality and i loved every second of it. poor girl has suffered so much but it was all worth it in the end cuz she finally got closure for what had happened in the past and got what she always wanted, a family ๐ฅน
this book was a whole lot of laughs and feelings cuz while there was so much banter and laughter, the struggles and traumatic side of it was honestly so heart wrenching. ugh i love them so much.
miariinfinityreads's review
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
_feysandlvr0's review
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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
4.5
dakotarobertson's review
4.0
I was pretty good. I like this one much better than the first one and I'm really glad I started with it and not the other way around or I never would have read this one. The way he is so worried about her and completely changes pace pretty early is so funny. The story is all over the place and the end is stretched out a little but overall one of my favorite normal romances.