Finally a romance I feel just okay about, I've been struggling since 2021 to find a romance that I neither loved and gave 5 stars nor disliked and wanted to wash my eyes with bleach afterwards because how bad the writing was. This is a straight up good romance.

It is not a five-star for me because of a few things that may be just nitpicking on my part but nevertheless I will list.
1. The Brazilian thing: Brazilian here and I've never seen a representation so... non-existent as this one, it's just kind of a quirky thing about our main girl, something to throw away in conversation, even the only time someone speaks Portuguese (and it's her MOM), they make a mistake (it's not "meu docinha" it's "meu docinho").
2. The letters: are a bit excessive and it took me out of the story, it feels unrealistic to plan out a whole life like that, every time it appeared I cringed a bit.
3. Most of this book is a YA novel, I wasn't expecting that. Yes I knew they met as kids and this is totally my fault for not realizing they were going to spend so long exploring the awkward stages of adolescence and the dramas and questions that came with it. Still I think the past kind of carried the whole book, with the present not having enough tension or development for my taste. Which leads me to another topic.
4. There was no pay-off or reward when it came to their relationship in the present, it was way too rushed, I'd loved if we could see some mystery when it came to Elliot's POV or how he was feeling, I feel like making him be so honest took off the tension. Which also brings me to another topic.
5. Elliot was too perfect. He was too perfect even as a kid (and boys are not perfect, and that's okay). It is okay to have a few flaws on your main guy, it actually makes for an interesting story to have him develop as time goes on just as Macy did. Overall I think this book holds up as being a universally loved classic contemporary romance.

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

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adventurous dark mysterious 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

4.25

Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Writers & Lovers by Lily King

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dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-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

4.5

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

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adventurous dark informative 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

3.5

The passing of this was way better than the first book, I was more eager to pick it up and to follow the story, some characters came into their own a lot more (Laila was wonderful), even though some characters completely lost it and I couldn't follow their decisions at all (Séverin). However, even though the passing of it was better, hardly any action happened in this which may have been for the best, I think the author shines best when she's talking about puzzles, ancient stories, myths and folklore, than whe she's writing a very dynamic action sequence. I still love Zophia and Enrique, they are still my favorites and I enjoyed spending time with them in this book, as I did in the other, they are really promising characters. I hated the addition of the two new characters, Eva was pretty racist and misogynistic but the author wanted us to sympathize with her, don't even get me started on Ruslan, all of his dialogue was nonsense.
Again we had a very mustache-twirling villain that carefully explained their motivations to us as if in a cartoon. We also had a plot twist that came from nowhere and that could've been more hinted at than it was.
Overall I thought it was a fine book with some lovable characters and I will pick up the next book, mostly for Enrique, Zophia and Laila, though.

Happy Place by Emily Henry

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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

5.0

I loved this book so much, Emily Henry continues to be one (if not the only, at least so far) of my favorite contemporary romances authors, her writing, her setting, her characters, how she is able to capture every single feeling of every single moment and translate it to the page, how she describes heartbreak, how she writes longing, just everything.

I think everyone usually has an Emily Henry favorite and mine is People We Meet on Vacation (though I plan on re-reading Book Lovers and I'll decide if it's a 5 star or the actual 4.5 I gave it a year ago), so I was so happy to see a book with similar vibes — people who know each other for a long time and had a falling out and we discover why through a dual time-line — and I was correct in thinking I was going to love this. I loved the characters and I love the theme of friendship here, of growing up and of being scared you will grow apart from people you love. I adored the central pairing as well, even though I'm not a big fan of the trope where one of the partners is insecure about their intelligence in comparison with the other, but I think it is done well here.

I love how Henry is able to guide the reader's feelings and make them understand what the characters are feeling, and she makes us go from being annoyed with Wyn to completely in love with him by the end. I already want to re-read this one. I wouldn't say this is better than PWMOV but it is definitely up there as one of my favorite romance books and I'm so glad I continue to love her writing and I look forward to reading more from her in the future.

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girlgetsbook's reviews 72 reviews

girlgetsbook's reviews
72 reviews