jennstrub's reviews
40 reviews

Before We Came by Sloane St. James

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emotional funny lighthearted sad fast-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

4.0

ate. this. up. one of the more unique plot lines I’ve read in a while but sloane st james still kept it a true hockey romance 🫶🏼♾️
Love Unwritten by Lauren Asher

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective slow-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

4.0

Holy slow burn!!! I’m not a hugggeee fan of slow burn and often times it makes me DNF a book if it’s too dragged out. Luckily, due to Asher’s writing and the unique plot, and the levels so was able to relate to Rafa, Ellie, & Nico, I kept reading and I’m definitely not upset about it! The writing was great and the plot was great which is why I rated it the way I did but the slow burn was a slowwwww burn and imo wasn’t as rewarding when I finally got to it, I would’ve wished for there to be a taste of the two together earlier on into the book but I still loved Rafa & Ellie nonetheless.
Love Redesigned by Lauren Asher

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adventurous challenging emotional funny lighthearted slow-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

4.5

I ate this up — two rivals who love to one up each other meet in college and nearly fall in love until tradgedy  strikes and they don’t see each other for ten years. they go on with their separate lives, each having other romantic partners and nearly building families, until they’re brought back together. they each have their own struggles, of which both povs were incredibly well written and in that they find themselves with a “casual” second chance. but let’s be real, nothing is ever casual when the mmc has been in love with her for 10 years…
Wild Love by Elsie Silver

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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? No

5.0

I don’t even know where to start. I loved this book and there are no words to put here that describe how fond I was of this book. I loved that Elsie focused this book more so on the MMC (Ford) POV instead of the FMC split 60/40. It really just made the story that much more loveable being able to experience the guys pov of falling first and the girl being oblivious to the guys intentions. I really just didn’t want the story to end, the length and detail was perfect, no complaints, Elsie Silver Supremacy 🤞🏼
Only Love Can Hurt Like This by Paige Toon

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challenging emotional reflective sad slow-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

3.5

i had just finished paige’s new book “seven summers” when i decided to jump into this one. it had been on my tbr for over a year and when i looooved seven summers I decided to keep on theme with more of paige’s work. the plot of this one really intrigued me. from reading the back alone i kept wondering what the big secret anders was keeping. i wondered this for the majority of the book until the bomb finally dropped and my jaw was on the floor. however, over halfway through i considered putting the book down and not finishing it because no crazy “love” story had happened yet. as i understood it wasn’t a romance persay, i still expected something more that would keep me reading. nonetheless i persevered and was not disappointed, but because of the lull in the middle i’m only giving it 3.5 stars. paige’s writing is amazing nonetheless and i look forward to reading and enjoying more of her work! 
Seven Summers by Paige Toon

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adventurous challenging emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.5

the praise for this book was truly right — it really shattered my heart in pieces & put it back together again and again, by the end i was clutching the book to my chest. this book was unlike what i’ve read before, a romance without the descriptive smut but you might as well felt the tension all the same. I really really loved this book, it explores heavy topics of loss, going through and living with grief and the loss of loved ones, in the sense of death but also with relationships that just don’t work out, and how they can build you up to be something better, a flower blooming in late summer, late but still blooming and just as beautiful: that’s how i’d describe liv. please read this book if the topic of death does not affect you, it made me reflect and an emotional mess, but i loved it all the same…
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Wrecked by Lauren Asher

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adventurous emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

3.75

i love that this story had a take on the behind the scenes of racers and the people on the sidelines in F1. jax deals with a lot of anxiety and an unfortunate diagnosis that runs in his family. and elena is still reeling from a traumatic childhood. together, they’re meant to build eachother up and that alone is so powerful. i enjoyed this read, however i rated it the way i did. because i found the writing to not be as sophisticated (if that’s what you could call it) as i’m used to. there were defenitley some plot holes or holes in dialogue that didn’t make sense and other details that didn’t necessarily add to the story and could’ve gone without. i’ll still continue to recommend these books nonetheless as i loooovveee the f1 aspect of it (hot asf) and they are easy reads and nice placeholders for when i can’t decide on my next read/am in a slump! 
Hopeless by Elsie Silver

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted reflective sad slow-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

5.0

SO GOOD. army man who’s “damaged” from being in the military and everyone treats him like an injured puppy, walking on egg shells around him, UNTIL HER. she doesn’t take his shit and doesn’t treat him like he’s damaged. she’s got her own baggage too, a 17ft trailer full, and he has a proposition that she can’t refuse. fake marriage, age gap, hot sexy military man, and hot sexy bartender have some of the best chemistry i’ve read in a while. finished in ONE day and i’m still kicking my feet and giggling over it ☺️🫢
Reckless by Elsie Silver

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emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

i actually did really like this one, and it’s a storyline i’m not much familiar with where the fmc gets pregnant from a one night stand and the rest of the book follows the ripples of that night. i was also looking forward to winters story when she will finally escape snobby rob (dr douche) (as explored in previous books if your not reading these in order) and it finally came. theo getting his own story did kind of shock me tho as i didn’t think he had that big of a roll and i also rated it the way i did because i didn’t feel like he had a ton of character development. i got a lot from winter and a lot of her insecurities and a lot of insight on the way she grew up (which helped me understand summers story in the first book a lot better) and how those set ways affected the rest of her life and those alone were powerful and emotional and reflective, but theo was kind of just a still character, not much dynamic too him (imo) he was just always there, always positive, always just intact. and maybe not everyone has trauma that they need to overcome, but i got so much from winter i kind of expected a little more of something from theo. anyways te vivo will live in my head rent free forever 🥰
Powerless by Elsie Silver

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challenging emotional funny reflective tense medium-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

5.0

this one was a close tie to my favourite of the series (tied with heartless). i don’t know what it was, but at first i thought i’d find the plot line of she’s-been-in-love-with-him-for-ten-plus-years-and-he-never-batted-an-eye-beyond-friendship and he’d-been-through-hell-and-a-bucket-load-of-trauma-with-an-anxiety-disorder-left-in-the-ruins-and-she’s-the-only-one-you’d-ever-tell-the-whole-truth-to boring or predictable but i didn’t experience either of those. sure, all sloane wanted was for jasper to see her in the same light , but even without that she was the most supportive person and friend anyone could ask for and you can easily see that beyond the romance side of things. but this book really has be attached from the beginning…i will also never get over this one.