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imme_van_gorp's Reviews (778)
This is a romance set in the workplace, which isn’t very unique perse, but it’s just executed so incredibly well here that I couldn’t possibly not love it.
Even though Lewis was Aaron’s boss, he truly saw him as an equal and always treated him with respect. He listened to what Aaron had to say and took his opinions more seriously than anyone else’s. Aaron definitely wasn’t a doormat for Lewis to stomp all over.
I would actually say that Aaron kind of had the upper-hand in their relationship, since Lewis would genuinely break out in hives over the mere thought of Aaron leaving him or of even remotely upsetting him.
And sure, Lewis was grumpy and could be a bit obtuse, but he was always sweet and soft towards Aaron rather than hard and demanding. They often had some light-hearted banter going on, but also had their meaningful moments together: there was surely no animosity between them whatsoever.
All in all, I thought their dynamic was a very nice change from the usual ‘boss/assistant’ romances that are out there.
Aaron and Lewis honestly had a true connection and their understanding for each other went pretty deep. I loved how much Lewis cared about and appreciated Aaron, and I adored how well Aaron could read Lewis. They were lovely together, and their slow-burn romance was a delight to read about.
Even though Lewis was Aaron’s boss, he truly saw him as an equal and always treated him with respect. He listened to what Aaron had to say and took his opinions more seriously than anyone else’s. Aaron definitely wasn’t a doormat for Lewis to stomp all over.
I would actually say that Aaron kind of had the upper-hand in their relationship, since Lewis would genuinely break out in hives over the mere thought of Aaron leaving him or of even remotely upsetting him.
And sure, Lewis was grumpy and could be a bit obtuse, but he was always sweet and soft towards Aaron rather than hard and demanding. They often had some light-hearted banter going on, but also had their meaningful moments together: there was surely no animosity between them whatsoever.
All in all, I thought their dynamic was a very nice change from the usual ‘boss/assistant’ romances that are out there.
Aaron and Lewis honestly had a true connection and their understanding for each other went pretty deep. I loved how much Lewis cared about and appreciated Aaron, and I adored how well Aaron could read Lewis. They were lovely together, and their slow-burn romance was a delight to read about.
I can in all honesty say I hated (and when I say hated, I really really mean HATED) the first 20% of this book. The metaphors were driving me crazy and when I read that paragraph where Juliette describes how she is a raindrop.. I honestly lost it. I laughed, but wanted to cry and actually did a bit on the inside, because I full-on regretted my decision to pick up this book. I mean, the start of this book was boring, the writing-style was driving me nuts and I just did not care at all. In other words: I hated it at first.
But, luckily, things got better. Way better. The writing-style didn’t annoy me much anymore, and not because I got used to it (I could never in a million years), but because the author actually toned it down a lot with the metaphors and other wannabe poetic gibberish. It still wasn’t my favourite writing (not even close; the writing still looked as if the author was trying too hard, too hard to be deep and insightful, which often gave it a pretentious and eye-roll worthy vibe), but, as I said, it wasn’t bothering me much anymore, because it didn’t overshadow the plot like it did before, so it’s whatever I guess.
As the book progressed, the story also got a lot more interesting, as did the characters and the relationships. It ended up having a lot of twists and I often found myself being surprised.
Where at the start I really had to bring myself to continue reading, I eventually didn’t want to put the book down anymore: it had turned into a real page-turner.
I can confidently say that I think the rest of the series has a lot of potential to be highly enjoyable. I mean, this book could have gotten a much higher rating from me if it weren’t for the first part of the book, but of course I do have to take that into account, which resulted in my eventual 3 star rating.
So, well, basically, if you’re capable of pushing yourself through about 80 pages of utter nonsense and aggravating pieces of text, I’d say go for it, because after those you’ll definitely enjoy this book.
Although, another warning, romance plays a big part in this book, one might even argue it is what is mainly driving the plot forwards, so if, unlike me, you’re not a big fan of romance, I would not start this series.
But, luckily, things got better. Way better. The writing-style didn’t annoy me much anymore, and not because I got used to it (I could never in a million years), but because the author actually toned it down a lot with the metaphors and other wannabe poetic gibberish. It still wasn’t my favourite writing (not even close; the writing still looked as if the author was trying too hard, too hard to be deep and insightful, which often gave it a pretentious and eye-roll worthy vibe), but, as I said, it wasn’t bothering me much anymore, because it didn’t overshadow the plot like it did before, so it’s whatever I guess.
As the book progressed, the story also got a lot more interesting, as did the characters and the relationships. It ended up having a lot of twists and I often found myself being surprised.
Where at the start I really had to bring myself to continue reading, I eventually didn’t want to put the book down anymore: it had turned into a real page-turner.
I can confidently say that I think the rest of the series has a lot of potential to be highly enjoyable. I mean, this book could have gotten a much higher rating from me if it weren’t for the first part of the book, but of course I do have to take that into account, which resulted in my eventual 3 star rating.
So, well, basically, if you’re capable of pushing yourself through about 80 pages of utter nonsense and aggravating pieces of text, I’d say go for it, because after those you’ll definitely enjoy this book.
Although, another warning, romance plays a big part in this book, one might even argue it is what is mainly driving the plot forwards, so if, unlike me, you’re not a big fan of romance, I would not start this series.
This novella is an outlook on the damaged mind of Warner. It becomes abundantly clear here that Warner has some serious control issues and other mental illnesses he battles on a daily. You’ll learn to understand him better and how he became the way he is. It’ll basically show us that even though he keeps up appearances as a cold and heartless monster, he really truly isn’t; if anything, he is afraid to be his true self, but deep down, he’s a good person.
Given that most of the book focuses on Warner’s mental state and his feelings for Juliette, one might argue that this book is rather uneventful, perhaps even a tat bit boring at times. But to be fair, I was intrigued enough by just Warner’s thoughts and totally swooned at his unconditional love for Juliette.
I’d have to say that the best part of this novella are the parts where Warner is reading fragments of Juliette’s diary: it not only gives us more insight in what Juliette went through at the mental institution, but it also shows us how protective Warner is of Juliette and how he loves every bit of her; he accepts her completely as she is, and loves her even more because of it. He feels understood by her, for the first time in his entire life he feels understood by another person, and I think that’s beautiful. Another thing that was absolutely beautiful about these parts were the way they were written. The diary fragments were dripping with emotions and you could really feel Juliette’s train of thoughts.
Given that most of the book focuses on Warner’s mental state and his feelings for Juliette, one might argue that this book is rather uneventful, perhaps even a tat bit boring at times. But to be fair, I was intrigued enough by just Warner’s thoughts and totally swooned at his unconditional love for Juliette.
I’d have to say that the best part of this novella are the parts where Warner is reading fragments of Juliette’s diary: it not only gives us more insight in what Juliette went through at the mental institution, but it also shows us how protective Warner is of Juliette and how he loves every bit of her; he accepts her completely as she is, and loves her even more because of it. He feels understood by her, for the first time in his entire life he feels understood by another person, and I think that’s beautiful. Another thing that was absolutely beautiful about these parts were the way they were written. The diary fragments were dripping with emotions and you could really feel Juliette’s train of thoughts.
The beginning of this book was interesting, while the middle was the absolute best and I enjoyed it so so so much, but the ending was a bit disappointing..
The characters in this series are very complex, but make such weird decisions sometimes, which I quite frankly just do not understand at all. Basically, this book kind of wanders on to this path where drama and problems only occur because characters make illogical and often out of character mistakes and remarks and I don’t like that. It irks me.
One of the things where this bothered me was the love triangle between Juliette, Adam and Warner. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved loved loved this love triangle; it had me swooning, it had me shipping, it had me invested. But at a certain point, Juliette does things that I just don’t understand which are meant to make the love triangle more dramatic I suppose, but it also makes it a lot more irritating. Same goes for the two boys: their emotions are sometimes too much and sometimes too little. They’re not consistent, especially Warner. So even though I definitely still liked the love triangle (it was even one of my favourite things about this book), after a while it lost its way a bit and had me, apart from swooning, also rolling my eyes from time to time.
The characters are all interesting on their own way and all have their moments of immense strength. The problem however is that all of them have a tendency to be a tat bit whiny and things can get quite repetitive. Every time they, especially Juliette, do something stupid they’ll tell themselves they’ll do better and that they have learned from this, but then you immediately see them do the exact same thing again and you just have to ask yourself: are y’all for real? MAN UP already.
All this doesn’t change, however, that this book is extremely entertaining. It is addicting to read and it really sucks you in.
Romance and drama are still the main genres of this series, but the dystopian world this series takes place in does get more developed in here. Especially the powers that certain people have developed in this society are further deepened, and this makes the story all the more interesting.
The characters in this series are very complex, but make such weird decisions sometimes, which I quite frankly just do not understand at all. Basically, this book kind of wanders on to this path where drama and problems only occur because characters make illogical and often out of character mistakes and remarks and I don’t like that. It irks me.
One of the things where this bothered me was the love triangle between Juliette, Adam and Warner. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved loved loved this love triangle; it had me swooning, it had me shipping, it had me invested. But at a certain point, Juliette does things that I just don’t understand which are meant to make the love triangle more dramatic I suppose, but it also makes it a lot more irritating. Same goes for the two boys: their emotions are sometimes too much and sometimes too little. They’re not consistent, especially Warner. So even though I definitely still liked the love triangle (it was even one of my favourite things about this book), after a while it lost its way a bit and had me, apart from swooning, also rolling my eyes from time to time.
The characters are all interesting on their own way and all have their moments of immense strength. The problem however is that all of them have a tendency to be a tat bit whiny and things can get quite repetitive. Every time they, especially Juliette, do something stupid they’ll tell themselves they’ll do better and that they have learned from this, but then you immediately see them do the exact same thing again and you just have to ask yourself: are y’all for real? MAN UP already.
All this doesn’t change, however, that this book is extremely entertaining. It is addicting to read and it really sucks you in.
Romance and drama are still the main genres of this series, but the dystopian world this series takes place in does get more developed in here. Especially the powers that certain people have developed in this society are further deepened, and this makes the story all the more interesting.
This was just a complete blast to read. I enjoyed it so very much.
Although the beginning felt a bit slow and the ending was definitely rushed, the middle was absolutely amazing and only for that I could not give this book less than 5 stars.
This book honestly had the best romance, friendships and just overall drama. Yes, the world-building and action-scenes aren’t the best, but if you just accept that you’re reading this series for the emotional value instead of the dystopian aspect, then it is absolutely perfect. And this alone is definitely worth those 5 stars, I just loved it so much: I swooned, I laughed, I was emotionally attached and I was just a hundred percent entertained throughout.
In conclusion:
Kenji, I adore you, you absolute idiot.
Warner, you’re such a loveable lil bastard and you never make me stop swooning.
James, cutie, I love you.
Juliette, you’ve grown so much and I am so very proud of you.
Brendan, Winston, Sonya, Sara, Lily, Alia & Ian, I like y’all.
Castle, you used to be kinda annoying ngl, but I guess you’re totally fine now.
And Adam, you I hate with a fiery passion :)
Although the beginning felt a bit slow and the ending was definitely rushed, the middle was absolutely amazing and only for that I could not give this book less than 5 stars.
This book honestly had the best romance, friendships and just overall drama. Yes, the world-building and action-scenes aren’t the best, but if you just accept that you’re reading this series for the emotional value instead of the dystopian aspect, then it is absolutely perfect. And this alone is definitely worth those 5 stars, I just loved it so much: I swooned, I laughed, I was emotionally attached and I was just a hundred percent entertained throughout.
In conclusion:
Kenji, I adore you, you absolute idiot.
Warner, you’re such a loveable lil bastard and you never make me stop swooning.
James, cutie, I love you.
Juliette, you’ve grown so much and I am so very proud of you.
Brendan, Winston, Sonya, Sara, Lily, Alia & Ian, I like y’all.
Castle, you used to be kinda annoying ngl, but I guess you’re totally fine now.
And Adam, you I hate with a fiery passion :)
I can honestly say that this book damn near bored me to death. It felt like an obligation to have to keep reading. I just did not like it at all.
I don’t know if the translation I read had anything to do with my distaste for the writing, but I definitely did not think it was very compelling. The choice of words and overall flow felt.. off.
I did not care much for the questions regarding ‘the meaning of life and death’ spread throughout this novel. It's not like they are not poignant questions on themselves, but I did not see the added value of the story to these questions.
The protagonist as a character himself was quite interesting, I have to admit that. His psyche was disturbing, yet, somehow, normal? The way he put things felt reasonable, but, then again, he also appears to be a flat out psychopath. So, yup, that's definitely an interesting contrast.
Unfortunately, this is where, in my opinion, the interesting part of this novel ends, and it was not enough to entertain me.
I don’t know if the translation I read had anything to do with my distaste for the writing, but I definitely did not think it was very compelling. The choice of words and overall flow felt.. off.
I did not care much for the questions regarding ‘the meaning of life and death’ spread throughout this novel. It's not like they are not poignant questions on themselves, but I did not see the added value of the story to these questions.
The protagonist as a character himself was quite interesting, I have to admit that. His psyche was disturbing, yet, somehow, normal? The way he put things felt reasonable, but, then again, he also appears to be a flat out psychopath. So, yup, that's definitely an interesting contrast.
Unfortunately, this is where, in my opinion, the interesting part of this novel ends, and it was not enough to entertain me.
This story is about the Day family who got massacred on February 3rd 1985. On that night, 9 year old Debby was chopped into pieces with an axe, 10 year old Michelle got choked to death, and mother Patty was stabbed in the chest and shot in the face. 7 year old Libby manages to survive the slaughter, as does her 15 year old brother, Ben, whom she quickly points at as the murderer from that night.
Now, nearly 25 years later, Libby is living in a constant state of numbness and inactivity. She starts to question whether she might have helped put her older brother in jail while he was innocent. But if so, what really happened that night and who was there? And what else was going on in the days leading up to the massacre?
Obviously this story is pretty crazy as a lot of freaky and upsetting stuff seemed to be going on with the Days, even outside of the actual murder. Unfortunately, though, I have to say that instead of finding this a very scary mystery, like I thought it would be, I mostly found this to be a story about extremely pathetic people leading extremely hopeless lives. Sure, the story is still leading up to this reveal at the end about ‘who actually did it?’, but I felt a little bored sometimes.
All in all, I thought this was interesting and it made me sufficiently uncomfortable, but it could have been better. Personally, I felt like it was missing a certain feeling of suspense. It does have a really good plot, though, and it was also written very well.
Now, nearly 25 years later, Libby is living in a constant state of numbness and inactivity. She starts to question whether she might have helped put her older brother in jail while he was innocent. But if so, what really happened that night and who was there? And what else was going on in the days leading up to the massacre?
Obviously this story is pretty crazy as a lot of freaky and upsetting stuff seemed to be going on with the Days, even outside of the actual murder. Unfortunately, though, I have to say that instead of finding this a very scary mystery, like I thought it would be, I mostly found this to be a story about extremely pathetic people leading extremely hopeless lives. Sure, the story is still leading up to this reveal at the end about ‘who actually did it?’, but I felt a little bored sometimes.
All in all, I thought this was interesting and it made me sufficiently uncomfortable, but it could have been better. Personally, I felt like it was missing a certain feeling of suspense. It does have a really good plot, though, and it was also written very well.
This book is about gorgeous model/influencer Mason, who is trying to make it in the TV business, and professional gardener Owen, who is Lewis’s brother from book 1. Owen and Mason already vaguely knew each other from when Mason dated Lewis, and Owen has always had a bit of a crush on him. He admired Mason’s beauty, and he wondered if there was more behind the man than the superficial stuff he shows online.
When the opportunity arises for Owen and Mason to do a TV segment together on gardening, Mason jumps at the chance, and Owen tentatively agrees as well, even if it might only be to make Mason happy.
What Owen doesn’t know, however, is that Mason has been instructed by the TV producer to show a flirty “will they/won’t they?” relationship to the viewers, and thus, when the two grow closer over the weeks, the question will remain: what is real between them and what is fake?
I felt like this was written very well and the pacing was also super pleasant. The chemistry between Mason and Owen was great, and their medium slow-burn mixed in with a bit of pining was just lovely. I truly loved Mason and his character was right up my alley.
My only true complaint is that I simply did not like Owen much. His holier-than-thou attitude annoyed me quite a bit and some of his personality traits started to truly grate on me in the second half of the book. Honestly, I personally think Mason could have done better than him. I just feel like Owen didn’t always appreciate Mason for the caring and bubbly person he was aside from his stunning good looks.
But oh well, other than that, they really were cute together. And I did like reading about their relationship a lot. The rest of the actual plot was also very entertaining!
When the opportunity arises for Owen and Mason to do a TV segment together on gardening, Mason jumps at the chance, and Owen tentatively agrees as well, even if it might only be to make Mason happy.
What Owen doesn’t know, however, is that Mason has been instructed by the TV producer to show a flirty “will they/won’t they?” relationship to the viewers, and thus, when the two grow closer over the weeks, the question will remain: what is real between them and what is fake?
I felt like this was written very well and the pacing was also super pleasant. The chemistry between Mason and Owen was great, and their medium slow-burn mixed in with a bit of pining was just lovely. I truly loved Mason and his character was right up my alley.
My only true complaint is that I simply did not like Owen much. His holier-than-thou attitude annoyed me quite a bit and some of his personality traits started to truly grate on me in the second half of the book. Honestly, I personally think Mason could have done better than him. I just feel like Owen didn’t always appreciate Mason for the caring and bubbly person he was aside from his stunning good looks.
But oh well, other than that, they really were cute together. And I did like reading about their relationship a lot. The rest of the actual plot was also very entertaining!
This was cute, but very simple. It’s a short and geeky second-chance romance that doesn’t have a lot of depth due to its length, but does have a sweet premise.
For a novella I think this was executed pretty well, but I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters or the story.
Bryce was honestly even a little annoying to me, and I got a bit sick of him being grumpy and evasive.
Clark was a rather bland character, but overall he was pretty okay.
I do wish it would have been Bryce who was trying to convince Clark to give them another shot instead of the other way around, but oh well.
I thought their friendship was well-established, but I wasn’t totally sold on the romance. Especially after there had been so many years where they did not see or speak to each other.
Their reunion was a little angsty, but not overly so, and they had a moderate amount of chemistry/tension between them. They were both pining pretty heavily for the other person, which should have been something I loved more, but somehow didn’t.
All in all, I think this whole thing was decent, but it was nothing great. I’m having neutral feelings towards it.
For a novella I think this was executed pretty well, but I didn’t really feel a connection to the characters or the story.
Bryce was honestly even a little annoying to me, and I got a bit sick of him being grumpy and evasive.
Clark was a rather bland character, but overall he was pretty okay.
I do wish it would have been Bryce who was trying to convince Clark to give them another shot instead of the other way around, but oh well.
I thought their friendship was well-established, but I wasn’t totally sold on the romance. Especially after there had been so many years where they did not see or speak to each other.
Their reunion was a little angsty, but not overly so, and they had a moderate amount of chemistry/tension between them. They were both pining pretty heavily for the other person, which should have been something I loved more, but somehow didn’t.
All in all, I think this whole thing was decent, but it was nothing great. I’m having neutral feelings towards it.
This was honestly kind of boring. The pacing was super slow, and the whole thing never really felt like a love connection to me, but rather just lust. And even if it had been “love”, it was definitely INSTA-love.
They literally knew absolutely nothing about each other. Every time they were together, they only ever had sex 24/7 instead of even a simple conversation once in a while. It all had a very shallow feel to it.
And sure, some moments were cute, but I definitely didn’t swoon or anything. Somehow none of it really felt romantic to me and I was just not invested in it.
It also became very annoying to me how often Jace was referred to as “adorable” or “cute”. I mean, do not get me wrong, I love endearing and sweet characters so much, but this was just overkill. He was constantly blushing and being shy, and it mostly made me roll my eyes and not take their relationship seriously.
I definitely needed him to not be such a doormat either. He let himself get walked all over. Luckily Theo didn’t really take advantage of that, but Jace came across as very weak to me.
Also, the whole thing where Theo kept constantly calling Jace a “slut” and “whore” weirded me out so much.
The biggest complaint I had, though, was that nothing really happened in this book, which simply made this very boring and really slow. The book was way too long and it should have definitely been a lot shorter. It was dragged out.
They literally knew absolutely nothing about each other. Every time they were together, they only ever had sex 24/7 instead of even a simple conversation once in a while. It all had a very shallow feel to it.
And sure, some moments were cute, but I definitely didn’t swoon or anything. Somehow none of it really felt romantic to me and I was just not invested in it.
It also became very annoying to me how often Jace was referred to as “adorable” or “cute”. I mean, do not get me wrong, I love endearing and sweet characters so much, but this was just overkill. He was constantly blushing and being shy, and it mostly made me roll my eyes and not take their relationship seriously.
I definitely needed him to not be such a doormat either. He let himself get walked all over. Luckily Theo didn’t really take advantage of that, but Jace came across as very weak to me.
Also, the whole thing where Theo kept constantly calling Jace a “slut” and “whore” weirded me out so much.
The biggest complaint I had, though, was that nothing really happened in this book, which simply made this very boring and really slow. The book was way too long and it should have definitely been a lot shorter. It was dragged out.