jsreadingjournal's Reviews (237)


I don't tend to read fantasy books too often, but the cover caught my attention, so I decided to give it a shot. It was a pretty nice read. I found it kind of hard to keep up with at the beginning with all the different POVs but that was just because I like reading books in one sitting and this one, I spread out over a week while I was on a trip. I like how the author brought everything together at the end and it did take me by surprise (although I guess I should have expected it). I would recommend this if you like fantasy. It also had a bit of romance sprinkled throughout which was cute (not enough to deter those who don't like romance). I think I would have liked the ending of the book to be a bit longer - I felt like the last chapter brought everything together and that was kind of it. Again, that's just a personal preference because I'm the kinda gal that likes reading long epilogues.

I had bought this book last year and had completely forgotten what it was about prior to picking it up. When I first started reading, I was a bit taken back by how graphically and vividly some of the self-harm descriptions were, but that’s on me for not reading trigger warnings before starting. I think this book was so well-written and I think it’s so important to have books that talk about topics like mental health and self-harm because we very rarely read stories that discuss these things, when in reality, so many of us have experiences, or know those with experiences related to self-hard. As I was reading this book, there were so many times when I had to put the book down because I was just crying so hard, or because the talk was quite heavy and that’s what made it such a well-written book for me, because I had such heavy emotions as I was reading it. The way the book is written also makes it so easy for the reader to empathize with Charlie. There were so many times where I was reading and just going like “omg Charlie no!” but at the same time I understood why she was making the choices she was. I would definitely recommend this book, especially if you’re interested in topics about mental health, which I really am. This was my first book read by this author and I’ve already added some more to my TBR list.

So I have heard about this series for quite some time now but just never seemed to reach for it, then I saw a fellow Bookstagrammer mention that this book was set in Alberta, which just happens to be where I’m from, so I obviously had to add it to my TBR list just because I’ve never heard of a book set here. I loved this series so much and am so glad I gave it a shot. I ended up reading the whole series in less than two weeks – I was pretty much reading them back-to-back whenever I had the chance. I think the first book was my least favourite (that doesn’t say much because I still gave it a 4.5/5) mostly because I’m not really into the whole long-haired cowboy thing BUT the writing was still amazing and the build-up to Summer and Rhett’s relationship was just perfect. The second book was hands-down my favourite in the series with a whooping 5/5 from me. I had a feeling this would be my favourite because one of my favourite tropes to read is single-parent romances. Willa was one of my favourite characters in this series (aside from Harvey obviously) because of how straight-up she was with everyone, including Luke. Seeing Luke bond with her was so sweet and heartwarming. Another reason I loved this series was because of how welcoming the Eaton family was to everyone and the bond they had with one another was just something I dream of having. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone and everyone – it might be one of my favourite romance series I’ve read so far.

I've had this book on my TBR list for quite a while but I've held off on it because I tend to reach for romance novels, rather than historical fiction. Picked it up, and immediately regretted not having read it sooner because the book was absolutely amazing. It was so captivating, I don't think I can truly put my love for this book into words. I was genuinely surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did because it's not my go-to genre. It was also my first read from TJR so I didn't know what to expect going in. It was so well written and there were so many points throughout the book where my heart was racing because I was so immersed into it. Very excited to read more TJR books!

I bought this book because I read Reasons to Stay Alive a few years back and I loved it. I expected this book to have similar vibes just based on the title, but that was my fault for not really looking into it. The book was okay - there were a handful of pages that I found very moving (and comforting). A handful of good reminders and messages that I hadn't thought about before. There were also a handful of pages/passages that I couldn't really relate to, nor cared about. One thing I liked about the layout of the book is how there's no "correct" way to read it - which Matt Haig himself tells his readers. You can easily read it in one sitting if you want, you can spread it out, you can flip to a random page in the middle of the book, or read it whichever else way. I think this is still a nice read to just have sitting on a coffee table or something - somewhere easily accessible if you ever need it.