Honestly… i have 0 idea how to rate this. caught between 3.5 and 4 stars.
It is definitely good enough for what it is to warrant a 4 star review HOWEVER i’m emotionally too passive about it to give it that high of a rating.
I liked it. i didn’t love it. i’m not obsessed with it. i won’t keep thinking about it. i have fun in the moment. it was a good book objectively. 3.5 stars? 4 stars? 3.5 stars? 4 stars?
also understandable hype (shocking tbh cos we all know booktok is a bunch of shite 99% of the time)
So easy to read, good pacing, realistic dialogue.
And the spice was (ngl unexpected i didn’t realise there was going to be any) probably the least cringe spice i’ve read. realistic, not corny and pretty fucking good.
The characters were decent, developed enough to keep you interested but not so good i’m disappointed it’s a stand alone. I do wish they had a little more personality tho outside science and ‘grumpy man’ ‘sunshine woman’.
I know this book experienced the extreme booktok hype and then as they usually do, the wave of ‘i actually hated this popular book’. and now people rate it the least favourite of the author so i’m fucking hyped to read more by her. if this is her worst work then shit my bank account is done for.
My negatives are mostly how much i hate when the ‘problem’ is absolutely not a problem and the mc just acts like it is unreasonably. makes me dislike the main character so much. thank jesus it barely lasted.
Also i could’ve done with some more development in how Olive’s feelings grew. like their one weekly 10 minute interactions were all it took to move her from a lil crush to being in love? i don’t believe you olive.
I believe adam sure but i definitely have questions.
anyway overall. i’m happy with it. feeling very content. warm and fuzzy all that shit. just lacking the emotions i need to dole out more of my very stingy stars from my shrivelled heart.
let’s start with the positives: the characters were fun (tho there were far to many with the exact same description and a basic ass name that all just blended into the same person for me)
i really enjoyed that the fmc was the ‘evil (but actual softie) one’ and the mmc was the hero. the book was fairly predictable and similar to others in the genre so reversing the stereotype in the tropes made it more memorable and a bit different.
the story was interesting, it had enough stuff going on to keep me entertained and it missed out some stupid ass tropes similar books include (like miscommunication) so i was nice and happy and content.
i will be purchasing and reading the next one. am i itching to do it? no. but i’ll get around to it sure because i’m interested in the story and where it goes from here.
now the negatives: again. many characters were the same character. similar names. same description. little involvement in the story so they all just merged.
it was quite predictable. i don’t think it stand out very much in its genre. for what it is it’s fine but it lacks something special.
the writing was a little juvenile. it could do with some major editing and polishing. felt like a first draft at points.
the dialogue is as cringe as most other books of the genre.
i liked Dianna but she was getting a bit of the ‘main character’ edit. everyone seemed to talk about her in weird dialogues that were just there to big her up but they felt unnatural coming from the characters. (it also made me wonder a good few times if she is a self insert of the author - completely opposite vibes but somehow the exact same vibes as good old bella and stephanie)
overall it was pretty decent. somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. (probably would’ve got the 4 with an EDITOR!! please writers learn from reviews and hire someone to edit your books im begging you)
okay fine, details: refreshing dynamic between the main characters and their relationship BUT i just don’t care enough for the story to spend money on the second one.
Now this was so much fun. I was kicking my feet, screaming, shitting all of the above. A really strong book 2 and solid middle to a trilogy.
I loved sel’s character development. I loved the expanding of root craft and that community and all it represents.
We got so many new characters and new situations and new dynamics and it was all very exciting. Also the book didn’t go in the direction I imagined it so I’m so excited to see what happens in book 3.
It was such an experience to reread book 1 and then go straight into this back to back and I’m genuinely screaming crying throwing up at the thought of book 3.
ALSO chapter 52?!?! Pls i think my heart stopped. We got so many strong ass moments for them. LIKE THE TREE??? Wow!! and the ‘you are worth this and more’. Like holy shit i swear i lost brain function.
HOWEVER, getting into the negatives which really knock the book down from a 5* read to a 4.
WARNING there may be some spoilers knocking about (there’s definitely spoilers) so if you dont wanna read them, negatives round up = my three least favourite tropes were present and it literally almost killed me (not in a good way) so minus half a star for tropes: love triangle, cheating, miscommunication and further minus half a star for pacing the last 1/5th of the book.
Now for the real tea… THIS FUCKING LOVE TRIANGLE. I hated it. HATED it. It felt so stupid and pointless and dragged out. With like a semi cheating trope as well and that just really knocked me funny and I personally like both guys as characters (tho obviously I am partial to bree and sel together romantically) and it was really making me dislike Bree because of the way she was messing them both around. And that’s really fucking disappointing because I loved book 1 bree and I really wanted to keep loving her but the way this was done made it so hard to keep that energy.
((Also ngl scared the direction this so going is throuple and that is so so so not my vibe. its giving credence, its giving Blood and ash, it’s giving some Eiffel Tower bullshit and it’s giving books i avoid with all my energy. praying we don’t get this. on my knees))
Also WHERE WAS WILL?? He was right there don’t get me wrong but like was he tho? I missed him even tho he was literally with us the whole times I really felt like we lost him as a character and it was so frustrating because he was RIGHT THERE.
And another point. The ending. I’m sorry but it was so unbelievably rushed. The whole first like 80% had such good pacing, giving you time to exist in each moment and fully understand and enjoy it without it feeling slow. And then the last 20%?!?! Everything went to shit plot wise and we lost that. There were a million things happening at once, nothing got developed or even enough time to sit in shock or sit in any emotion because everything was just HAPPENING. way too fast. there was shit that happened simultaneously and so we lost a whole half of that plot point that was really important and we’re then TOLD IT IN A MONOLOGUE INSTEAD. Really frustrating and such a let down for so much build up
i’m actually glad i read it tho if i hadn’t have bought it before i finished book 1 i wouldn’t have.
everything was much less irritating, the writing was pretty, the pacing was good and i fucking love some good angst. actually there wasn’t enough angst if anything.
most of the book was 4 starts actually HOWEVER the last few chapters were kinda disappointing like it all ended and was wrapped up so damn quickly it seems a little lacklustre since the whole two books had been building up to this. dropped it down a half star.
i still don’t care that much for the romance, it was cute sure but only slightly above meh. i just wish i was more invested, and had more to root for instead of being so meh about them. the only time i got what i needed from them properly was in ‘twelve past eleven’ romans speech to dacre. if only they had somehow transferred those emotions across the book the hype might have been justified.
overall…it was an okay duology. i don’t feel like i’ve wasted my time reading it and i’m happy to keep my copies and stick them on my self but will i ever reread it? not likely. in fact i’ll probably forget all about it and completely move on in like twenty minutes.
I was told by everyone and their nan this book was a devastating beautiful romance. Like a heart wrenching love story and that typa book is sooooo my shit that i got hyped and i ruined it SO i’m here to let you know if you’ve been told this also you ain’t getting that so lower your expectations and try again.
the romance, yeah it’s okay. cute ig. literally nothing special though. it had potential don’t get me wrong but it just fell flat, there was like no tension, no build up, i wanted so much more and it didn’t deliver. the book really needed to be longer (vary rare for me to say this so you know it’s something). i wanted more world building, more backstory, more relationship development, MORE ANYTHING PLS OML but it was just very surface level meh. half of the book was MISSING istg.
not to mention how much Ms. Iris pissed me off in the ending. like is this bitch frl? she’s so meek, girl just lays down and does what she’s told dosent she. no anger no passion no emotion nothing.
Spoiler time. I hate that they got married, it felt so rushed and like WHERE WAS THE DEVELOPMENT!!! bro where was the build up of this relationship. i genuinely felt like chunks of the book were ripped out, there was so many times where i was like i’ve got to be missing something here, i’ve got to because if i haven’t and this is the romance yall hyped up i’m going to lob this book across the fucking street. Also can we just discuss her dick brother. LIKE BRO man said ‘yeah i didn’t have time to save you both’ while roman was following her the whole time. actually that bitch boy went out of his way, SPENDING MORE TIME THAN IF HE JUST SAVED THEM BOTH, to like keep them apart. It was literally more effort and energy and time to not save him than to save him and forrest dick over here was like i’m gonna fucking go out of my way to fuck over my sister. AND THEN HIS SISTER, little ms walk all over me pls, was like yeah bro no worries you just basically killed my hubby and left my friends to die but me and you we still cool. LET ME COOK YOU DINNER FORREST. LET ME BANDAGE YOUR WOUNDS. LET ME GIVE YOU HUGS. ofc i’ll follow you back home with no fight and make no complaints. i’ll go a step further i’ll promise not to leave you even tho you’re on the WRONG SIDE OF THE WAR.
anyway…had to get that out. overall reading this book is reminiscent of having an interaction with the male species. i’m left feeling fucking irritated and disappointed.
writing was pretty though and i’m a sucker for pretty shit so…saved it. BARELY.