annatl4's reviews
89 reviews

Bride by Ali Hazelwood

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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

4.0

It wasn’t until halfway through the book that I figured out what the plot was and even then it didn’t feel like much. The first 100 or so pages were a drag and it took me much longer to get through because of it. Once Lowe and Misery started working together everything started coming together and making sense and I started to get attached. I though misery and her brother were funny. I loved the relationship between her and serena as well. I thought the lore of the paranormal was pretty cool too. I enjoyed the plot twist and look forward to Ali writing another installment if the ending was the cliffhanger i thought it was. I also really enjoyed the text before each chapter because even without Lowe’s POV i felt like you still got a bit of what he was thinking from those small excerpts. 
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.25

Ng writes about such difficult but important topics so beautifully. the characters and intersecting storylines were so complex. the tale of motherhood and what makes a mother is such a difficult plot line to create but I think Ng did a great job of portraying what it felt like to be a daughter of a flawed mother. i felt a hatred but a sympathy for all the characters which allowed the story to feel realistic. i wish there wasn’t so many lose ends but i think a lot of the story was left open ended in order to interject ur own morals and opinions. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Goal by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

it’s so difficult to rate this one because the first 150 pages were good and made me hopeful. the page was good and the characters were likable. once we find out sabrina is pregnant everything becomes insufferable. i was actively frustrated the entire second half of the book. it felt very disconnected from the rest of the off-campus series and sabrina was such a brat. the constant “i don’t wanna tell him i love him” was so stupid and tiring. the pregnancy stereotypes were annoying and the pregnancy sex made me cringe. the ending was abrupt but i was glad to be done. i did love tucker, although his mother was also terrible. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Score by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

i liked the score much more than the mistake. it felt a little more plot focused and the characters felt much more real. i thought allie was funny and lighthearted and i thought deans soft side really showed when he fell for allie. i thought they made for a great match. i loved that dean really cared and allie felt safe enough to call him for anything. i appreciated the pacing up until the end, which is typical of Kennedys writing. the ending was sudden and sad and the drama/breakup felt forced as a plot point. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

this one was just kinda boring. i didn’t feel as attached to the characters as i have in other Kennedy books. i appreciated the  less frequent and descriptive smut. i also appreciated the conflict lasted more than 3 pages, but at the same time it felt rushed? it almost felt like the book had no plot or purpose and was too short but would've been worse if it was long? i also hate referring to genitals as “my sex”. ew. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Deal by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

i loved this story and am surprised at how much i enjoyed it since it was one of kennedy’s earlier books. Young Hannah and Garrett were very cute and the rest of the boys were sweet. this book bares a similar complaint to the rest of her books - the pacing is perfect until the last 75 pages. i felt like the conflict and resolution were rushed and didn’t match with the pace of the rest of the story. another complaint i have is how
hannah’s assault was detailed. i didn’t like how within the first paragraph kennedy threw in “the rape”. i wish it wasn’t hannah’s entire storyline and i wish it wasn’t constantly referred to as “the rape”.
aside from that i’m excited for the other 4 books in this series of the universe. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Dixon Rule by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad tense fast-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

4.0

i enjoy the pacing that kennedy is able to keep but i can never appreciate how that last 100 pages feel so rushed. same complaint i had with the graham effect. every issue was mentioned and then solved within the last few chapters just one after the other. it really takes away from the build up kennedy creates. i think shane and diana are good together and enjoyed their character development. i also like how each character has a set of problems that is either addressed or taken care of by the end. it makes them more relatable and helps the story progress nicely. side characters added humorous relief and the mention of characters from other books in the universe is always fun. i could really do without all the smut and the mention of sex during serious situations… 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Funny Story by Emily Henry

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cute ending but i dont know about the rest. i almost feel like nothing even happened?? i love emily henry’s writing and how i can picture the entire book, but i don’t like how there is never much of a “story”. it felt a lot like all her other books with a pessimistic character and a lot of crying about everything from every character. as always i enjoyed the side characters and the humor that they brought to an otherwise negative sounding story. i did like miles but was disappointed in the lack of detail into his own struggles. daphne was insufferable at times but had valid feelings that seemed relatable as a reader. not my favorite from emily henry and definitely took longer to read than expected. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
Magnolia Parks by Jessa Hastings

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

there is no way this needed to be 450 pages… it didn’t even really get interesting until page 250. it was very repetitive and lacked plot. some things were very confusing and i didn’t like how flashbacks were thrown in between present events, it was hard to follow. all the characters were pretty insufferable and the issues between parks and bj didn’t seem serious enough for that long of a book. i also do not care about what anyone is wearing. full paragraphs descriptions of designer cloths is crazy. i did enjoy the secondary characters, tom, bridget and the humor of the families. i also thought it was a nice touch to have anecdotes speaking to the audience - “you get it don’t you”. i do want to continue reading the series since things got interesting towards the end. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings
The Graham Effect by Elle Kennedy

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this felt like a more thought out version of icebreaker. i haven’t read something this quickly in so long. i loved ryder and i enjoyed gigi. i love when a book can make me laugh out loud and the boys in this story really did that. i thought the pacing was great up until the last few chapters where it felt a bit rushed.
i had to dock points for the corny marriage plot point. it felt thrown in and rushed.
some of Kennedy’s metaphors and similes were really cringey but easy to look passed. i loved ryders character development and gigis commitment to him. mourning the fact that i finished it so quick, thinking of starting some of the other briar U stories. 
Expand filter menu Content Warnings