jessi_readss's Reviews (585)

adventurous mysterious relaxing slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

 I loved the first book so freaking much, I still think about it and I read it forever ago. So I was excited asf for this one. 

Maybe that was my first mistake? I hyped it up too much in my own head. There was TOO much happening in this one and not enough at the same time. I was bored and skimmed through the majority of the book because this is one of the few series I just cannot DNF. I still love the characters, there was just too much happening in the story throughout the book and a lot of new characters and the love story was a lot of push and pull. So yeah, this one was not good to me, but I will still be reading the last book in the trilogy when it comes out and hope that this book just suffered the dreaded second book syndrome. 
emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

Remember that time I said I absolutely detested the 'accidental pregnancy' trope? At this point, me either. 

What am I even doing with my life? Why am I not at a ranch in Canada? This just simply is not fair. 

This story follows Winter Hamilton (Summer's sister) and Theo Silva (Rhett's protege). And I am OBSESSED. This is now my second favorite book from the series. Winter defrosting was everything I have been waiting for and wanting and I am so happy Theo was the one to help with that. Winter is such a complex character with a complex story and I am so happy that we finally got to hear her side of things and witness as she finally stood up for herself against those who were never meant for her. 

And Theo pretty much treating her like the absolute queen she is from the gate? Ugh I love him so much. He was exactly what she needed at the right time. 

โš ๏ธLook away now if you don't like to know the tropes! You have been warned. ๐Ÿ˜‰

Main points:
๐Ÿ‚1st person pov
๐Ÿฉบdual pov (Winter & Theo)
๐Ÿ‚small town romance
๐Ÿฉบaccidental pregnancy
๐Ÿ‚secret baby
๐Ÿฉบreverse grumpy x sunshine
๐Ÿ‚he falls first

Some of my favorite quotes: 

โ€œI just remembered that he called me the morning after you two first got together. And do you know what he said to me?
He said, โ€˜Mom, I met her.โ€™ And I said, โ€˜Who?โ€™ He said, โ€˜The woman Iโ€™m going to marry one day.โ€

โ€œCareful, that oneโ€™s got claws,โ€ Cade offers right as Willa shoves a pointy elbow into his ribs. I grin. โ€œThatโ€™s okay. I like having my back scratched.โ€

โ€œI will go wherever you want. I will wear whatever you want. I will never turn my phone off again. I will always, always be there for you. For Vivi. You donโ€™t need to beg, and you donโ€™t need to say please. For as long as I live, for as long as you need me, youโ€™ll have me. Okay? Never doubt that.โ€

โ€œThatโ€™s everyone, Tink. Youโ€™ve ruined me. Donโ€™t you get it? I only see you. Youโ€™ve got all my attention. Every last bit of it.โ€
adventurous dark 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

Everything about this volume was perfect!

I need more Jinwoo and Cha immediately!

All the revelations? The battle with the giants? The battle with Thomas? Stfu. I am obsessed ๐Ÿ˜ 
emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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

Hear me out.

When this book started, it was โ€œomg sheโ€™s traumatized, but adorableโ€

Middle of the books: โ€œwhy is she so whiney?โ€ โ€œOmg does she ever stop lyingโ€ โ€œmaybe I should just DNFโ€

End of the book: โ€œI get itโ€

The main character was whiny at times and acted like a brat, she had lost her mother and at a young girl age, that is not easy. And while the lies were insane, she did learn near the end and her growth was amazing. She had this moment of clarity and everything just came together at that point. 

The only reason this isnโ€™t 5 stars for me is because there were never any real repercussions for the compulsive lying and that bothers me honestly. 

But, it was a good book about life not being like the movies and sometimes you have to look right in front of you for what you really want and work for it. โค๏ธ
adventurous dark mysterious medium-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

Sung Jinwoo โ€ฆ so demure, so mindful, so cutesy. ๐Ÿ˜๐Ÿ˜‚

No, but seriously I loved this volume. The character depth we are getting to witness is spectacular. The mystery revolving around his โ€œreawakeningโ€ is getting revealed little by little and I love that. It is no fun when the mystery is revealed all at once and suddenly. 

And I still 100% ship Jinwoo & Cha ๐Ÿ˜
adventurous dark informative mysterious slow-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

I definitely understand why so many compare this to hunter x hunter now, there are many similarities, but it is still unique in some ways. This volume was a tad bit boring as there was a lot of information, a few side character intros, and a battle that was a tad bit underwhelming. I still love this manga as a whole though. โค๏ธ
relaxing medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Idk, I felt like this was kind of silly to have as a novella, but it is free on Penโ€™s website so thatโ€™s cool. I do love Damon and Winter and I loved Damonโ€™s and Rikaโ€™s relationship progression, but I just felt like this could have been bonus chapters at the end of hideaway, but thatโ€™s just me. I personally will skip the novella altogether in my rereads. 
dark mysterious tense 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

4.25/5โญ
Dark academia with a Sapphic love story? yes please! 

โ€œ๐˜š๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ธ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฉ ๐˜ข ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ต๐˜บ๐˜ณโ€™๐˜ด ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ช๐˜ป๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ด๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ, ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ด๐˜ธ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ด๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ง๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ญ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ. ๐˜ ๐˜ฌ๐˜ช๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ ๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜จ๐˜ฉ๐˜ต ๐˜ฃ๐˜ข๐˜ค๐˜ฌ ๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ฌ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ค๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฅ๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฐ๐˜ง ๐˜ข ๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ข๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ, ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜บ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜จ ๐˜ต๐˜ฐ ๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ง๐˜ญ๐˜ช๐˜ค๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ข๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ข๐˜ด ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฐ๐˜ด๐˜ด๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ญ๐˜ฆ.โ€

This is a more modern Carmilla retelling following two rival girls as they both become infatuated with getting their poetry teacher's attention, & her secrets. As this is a character based story, I do not want to say too much and ruin the entire storyline, but this story was amazing. It was my first S.T. Gibson book and I NEED more. Her writing is masterful and beautiful and the entire story had me entranced. Carmilla and Laura are both so different and yet similar in so many ways and they compliment each other perfectly. And the ending? ๐Ÿคญ I'm just sad it's over. 

Main points:
๐Ÿฉธdual pov
๐Ÿฉธdark academia
๐Ÿฉธgothic setting
๐Ÿฉธretelling
๐Ÿฉธrivals to lovers
๐Ÿฉธvampires
๐Ÿฉธsapphic romance

So, bottom line, read this immediately if you love gothic stories with vampires and a sapphic love story! 
adventurous dark 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

Cha is now my wife, that is all. Period. That woman is ๐Ÿฅต OBSESSED. 

This volume was insane, omg, I love how everybody is fighting over Sung, like bro is being tugged in all directions and is so nonchalant about it. ๐Ÿ˜Ž