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fringebookreviews's reviews
1475 reviews
10 Things I Hate About Prom by Elle Gonzalez Rose
4.0
I loved the flip on 10 Things I Hate About You!!! This is basically if Michael and Cameron had been best friends for years and Michael secretly loved Cameron but now Cameron is obviously pining for Bianca (who can only now start dating bc her dad lifted the bad). In the past Chastity and Bianca were best friends, but some shit went down right around the time that Joey and Bianca hooked up…while Joey was dating Michael. So now Michael and Chastity are good friends and Bianca and her don’t speak.
The only people missing were Kat and Patrick…which hurt a lil ngl. I think their secondary romance would’ve helped the book feel a bit more complete in the romance department because the one between Iva and Quin was a bit one sided. I didn’t feel like I really knew Quin and would’ve liked a bit more focus spent on him, but I did like their friendship and the tension at the end!
Overall, this was another great read from Joy Revolution!! I’ll definitely be reading more from this author. The narrator was pretty okay, but not my favorite in terms of guy voice. She had great emotion though.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I received an ALC from PRHaudio. All opinions are honest and my own.
The only people missing were Kat and Patrick…which hurt a lil ngl. I think their secondary romance would’ve helped the book feel a bit more complete in the romance department because the one between Iva and Quin was a bit one sided. I didn’t feel like I really knew Quin and would’ve liked a bit more focus spent on him, but I did like their friendship and the tension at the end!
Overall, this was another great read from Joy Revolution!! I’ll definitely be reading more from this author. The narrator was pretty okay, but not my favorite in terms of guy voice. She had great emotion though.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
I received an ALC from PRHaudio. All opinions are honest and my own.
Casket Case by Lauren Evans
1.75
I guess I was hoping it would be less morbid? Which is partly my bad, the summary was pretty clear. I had really good experiences with similar books—The Dead Romantics, Love of My Afterlife, The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy—so I was intrigued and wanted more!! This book differed in a few key ways from those though, and it made me realize just why I loved them (and didn’t love this one).
In The Dead Romantics, most of the dead people were ghosts which I highly preferred, as they seemed a bit further removed from death. In Love of My Afterlife, the afterlife was romanticized and I LOVED how it made me feel. There was even a (secondary) romance happening IN the afterlife. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was morbid, yes, but it never lost the romance even amidst the ZOMBIES!
Casket Case, however, was alive humans actively dying with no reassuring afterlife talk (it was out of his "jurisdiction”). So everyone—including me—was just sad and confused. The book claims that the dying people get closure from people like the hero, but that’s still leaving a LOT of unclosed wounds!! The poor families!!! Having a solid knowledge of the afterlife would’ve at least made it all feel less morbid, like give me proof that grandpa gets to reunite with his wife, etc!!!
I also had issues with the stiff dialogue, clunky writing, and instalove romance. The writing was all tell and no show. Not to mention, the romance as a whole was wildly paced: sex by 25%, “I love yous” by 35%; breakup by 60%, kissing another man at 70% because it's suddenly a love triangle, getting back together at 95%. At the end, she was separated from the hero for so long and wasn’t even really thinking about him, and he didn’t even have an arc at all. So much so that I was actively rooting for the wrong side of the love triangle??? That guy at least had chemistry with her and a personality!!
Overall, it was not the right book for me and definitely not the right time. I’ve recently experienced some personal loss, and this book was just too morbid for the moment. The morbidity wasn’t necessarily the book’s fault (it’s clearly stated in the summary), but I still wasn’t a fan of the execution. The concept, however, was still intriguing and I liked the Death details…more than the romance, which is where the book fully fell apart for me.
⭐️.75/5 .5🌶️/5
CWs: Death of a sibling (past; recounted) (cancer), fatal car crashes (multiple; past and current), heart failure, death of a grandparent (current), death of parents (past; recounted)
I received an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
In The Dead Romantics, most of the dead people were ghosts which I highly preferred, as they seemed a bit further removed from death. In Love of My Afterlife, the afterlife was romanticized and I LOVED how it made me feel. There was even a (secondary) romance happening IN the afterlife. The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy was morbid, yes, but it never lost the romance even amidst the ZOMBIES!
Casket Case, however, was alive humans actively dying with no reassuring afterlife talk (it was out of his "jurisdiction”). So everyone—including me—was just sad and confused. The book claims that the dying people get closure from people like the hero, but that’s still leaving a LOT of unclosed wounds!! The poor families!!! Having a solid knowledge of the afterlife would’ve at least made it all feel less morbid, like give me proof that grandpa gets to reunite with his wife, etc!!!
I also had issues with the stiff dialogue, clunky writing, and instalove romance. The writing was all tell and no show. Not to mention, the romance as a whole was wildly paced: sex by 25%, “I love yous” by 35%; breakup by 60%, kissing another man at 70% because it's suddenly a love triangle, getting back together at 95%. At the end, she was separated from the hero for so long and wasn’t even really thinking about him, and he didn’t even have an arc at all. So much so that I was actively rooting for the wrong side of the love triangle??? That guy at least had chemistry with her and a personality!!
Overall, it was not the right book for me and definitely not the right time. I’ve recently experienced some personal loss, and this book was just too morbid for the moment. The morbidity wasn’t necessarily the book’s fault (it’s clearly stated in the summary), but I still wasn’t a fan of the execution. The concept, however, was still intriguing and I liked the Death details…more than the romance, which is where the book fully fell apart for me.
⭐️.75/5 .5🌶️/5
CWs: Death of a sibling (past; recounted) (cancer), fatal car crashes (multiple; past and current), heart failure, death of a grandparent (current), death of parents (past; recounted)
I received an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
Ten Things I Hate about the Duke by Loretta Chase
4.25
Okay I need to reread and I’ll probs give it five stars — I just know my mind wasn’t fully in it this time to truly absorb the small nuances and such. And truly that’s more impressive since it was still great <3
Love and Other Conspiracies by Mallory Marlowe
4.25
✨Close Encounters of the Tattooed and Shirtless Kind✨
I really really loved this book. The concept was just so clever and fun??? I did find myself wishing that they encountered some real ghosts and cryptids and aliens, oh my! But there was a bit at the end there that gave me hope (👀)!! I definitely feel like I’m missing out by not being a conspiracy theorist!! I’m also very much missing my own super hot cryptidly tattooed conspiracy podcast host, but that goes without saying.
I really enjoyed reading about the different conspiracy theories and desperately wish The Out There was a real show. I flew through half of the book in a night and woke up eager to finish it—something I haven’t felt in a while! The entire book felt like *romance reasons* disguised as monster hunting which was thoroughly entertaining. If you like a tropey-to-the-point-of-campy kind of romance, this one’s definitely for you:
✨Banter as foreplay
✨Only one (haunted) bed
✨Ooposites attract
✨”So sick you act drunk” scene
✨Post shower collision (with his damp, shirtless body)
✨He gives her a niche nickname
✨Forced proximity
✨They defend each other
✨Mutual Pining
The book is first person (present tense), single POV from Hallie’s perspective, so she’s definitely the main character with the most to lose/gain. But even then, we learned a good amount about Hayden, with just the right amount of mystery surrounding his feelings—until they fell into bed, obviously. I really enjoyed the scene at his mother’s house, as we got to see a bit of his depth as well.
While this was pretty close to a five-star read for me, I did have just a few things that tripped me up. The first thing was her horrible and toxic co-worker/ex, Cade. He was very unsettling and I could’ve done without him in my cute cryptid romcom!! He didn’t add much to the plot besides stress. Like, I know what he ~technically added to the story, but if I’m being real, I just didn’t want to deal with him and the third act ruckus I KNEW he’d cause. For my health, I skipped over like every section where he was spewing vitriol, but I WAS seated for Hayden threatening him at every turn.
Further, I loved their dynamic, but I wanted a bit more depth or tension within the relationship. It was instant attraction for them both and they fit together almost a little too well. Or maybe I just needed Hayden to really crack from the sexual tension, you know? Like go kinda feral. He was maybe a ~bit too respectful? And since the third act was caused by Cade and not a conflict between the couple, the romance took a back seat at the end, which is the opposite of how I want to feel. The end was a bit anticlimactic in the romance department, but I did enjoy Cade’s breakdown.
Overall, the third act was rather annoying and the romance didn’t drive me to complete distraction, but I still had a LOT of fun. I can’t wait to reread this one via audio, as I really adore the narrator, Alex Finke, and it read like a book meant to be listened to. (I do wish they got a guy to narrate some of the episode transcripts, but I’ll definitely survive.) The teaser we got for book two kinda threw me, but I’m actually kind of obsessed?? We didn’t even meet the love interest, but I’m sold.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5 🌶️🌶️*/5
*A couple of open-door scenes with low-to-medium level of detail. I could’ve used a bit more in this department, but the writing felt natural and fun with good chemistry.
I received and eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.
I really really loved this book. The concept was just so clever and fun??? I did find myself wishing that they encountered some real ghosts and cryptids and aliens, oh my! But there was a bit at the end there that gave me hope (👀)!! I definitely feel like I’m missing out by not being a conspiracy theorist!! I’m also very much missing my own super hot cryptidly tattooed conspiracy podcast host, but that goes without saying.
I really enjoyed reading about the different conspiracy theories and desperately wish The Out There was a real show. I flew through half of the book in a night and woke up eager to finish it—something I haven’t felt in a while! The entire book felt like *romance reasons* disguised as monster hunting which was thoroughly entertaining. If you like a tropey-to-the-point-of-campy kind of romance, this one’s definitely for you:
✨Banter as foreplay
✨Only one (haunted) bed
✨Ooposites attract
✨”So sick you act drunk” scene
✨Post shower collision (with his damp, shirtless body)
✨He gives her a niche nickname
✨Forced proximity
✨They defend each other
✨Mutual Pining
The book is first person (present tense), single POV from Hallie’s perspective, so she’s definitely the main character with the most to lose/gain. But even then, we learned a good amount about Hayden, with just the right amount of mystery surrounding his feelings—until they fell into bed, obviously. I really enjoyed the scene at his mother’s house, as we got to see a bit of his depth as well.
While this was pretty close to a five-star read for me, I did have just a few things that tripped me up. The first thing was her horrible and toxic co-worker/ex, Cade. He was very unsettling and I could’ve done without him in my cute cryptid romcom!! He didn’t add much to the plot besides stress. Like, I know what he ~technically added to the story, but if I’m being real, I just didn’t want to deal with him and the third act ruckus I KNEW he’d cause. For my health, I skipped over like every section where he was spewing vitriol, but I WAS seated for Hayden threatening him at every turn.
Further, I loved their dynamic, but I wanted a bit more depth or tension within the relationship. It was instant attraction for them both and they fit together almost a little too well. Or maybe I just needed Hayden to really crack from the sexual tension, you know? Like go kinda feral. He was maybe a ~bit too respectful? And since the third act was caused by Cade and not a conflict between the couple, the romance took a back seat at the end, which is the opposite of how I want to feel. The end was a bit anticlimactic in the romance department, but I did enjoy Cade’s breakdown.
Overall, the third act was rather annoying and the romance didn’t drive me to complete distraction, but I still had a LOT of fun. I can’t wait to reread this one via audio, as I really adore the narrator, Alex Finke, and it read like a book meant to be listened to. (I do wish they got a guy to narrate some of the episode transcripts, but I’ll definitely survive.) The teaser we got for book two kinda threw me, but I’m actually kind of obsessed?? We didn’t even meet the love interest, but I’m sold.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25/5 🌶️🌶️*/5
*A couple of open-door scenes with low-to-medium level of detail. I could’ve used a bit more in this department, but the writing felt natural and fun with good chemistry.
I received and eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.