loiereads's reviews
275 reviews

Heartstopper Volume 2 by Alice Oseman

emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Crush by Tracy Wolff

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I have to admit that I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first book. It didn't have that same captivating ability. However, having said that, this was still a great follow-on story. 
I really enjoyed how we were set up to despise Hudson during the first book, and then we're forced to stick with him in the second one. I also LOOOOVED the character development we saw with Hudson; gently and gradually seeing thst he's not a bad person. It was relsly well done. 
I am looking forward to seeing what else happens in the story - there's so much that can be done with this story, so it'll be great to see what Tracy Wolff does with it - but I'm going to take a little break from this series to read something else. 

Crave by Tracy Wolff

adventurous dark emotional 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

4.0

WAIT. THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT HATE THIS BOOK? WHY?! 

Honestly, reading this makes me feel like I’m back when I first read Twilight! 

I know there are some people who say that this series is just a rip off of Twilight, and it is obvious that Tracy Wolff has been heavily inspired by the franchise, but Crave still feels like it’s own entity. Right from the get go, the vibes are IMMACULATE. I love the aesthetic of Katmere Academy, I love all the characters, I LOVE the relationship development between Grace and Jaxson.

The start was a little slow, but I LOVED IT. I enjoyed soaking in the atmosphere and really getting to know Grace, her cousin, and the other students at the academy. 

And yesssss, of course there are cliche moments in this: it’s a YA supernatural love story, what do you expect?! But that’s partly why I loved it so much. I am so incredibly excited to start the next book and all the others in the story. I can just tell that there’s SO MUCH MORE to come and I’m so ready for it! 

And by the way, I read this book alongside listening to the dramatised audiobook and DAMN. 

DAMN, DAMN, DAMN. 

🤯🤯🤯🤯

I didn’t even know dramatised audiobooks were a thing until now and can I just say: I’m OBSESSED. It made the story so much more fun to read and delve into. It brought the characters to life and captivated me in a way that no audiobook has quite managed to do before. Honestly, if you’re thinking of listening to the audiobook for this, listen to the dramatised version!! It’s so much better, and you’ll definitely have a much more valuable experience with it than you would with the standard version! 

LOVE. 

New Moan: The First Book in the Twishite Saga: A Parody by Stephfordy Mayo

funny

2.0

This HAD to originally been a sh*tpost fanfic on Wattpad or something it reads that way so incredibly well. 
I'm back in my Twilight phase for the year, so I thought I'd read this parody book for the laughs. 
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it, but it was... interesting. 
It was a FEVER DREAM, that's what it was. The breaking of the fourth wall so many times had me feeling dizzy. 
It also wasn't as funny as I was hoping it would be. More so crude, cheap humour that didn't make much sense. But hey ho, that's probably the point of this parody. 

The Carmichaels by Natasha Ellison

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

If you like Stranger Things, you'll LOVE this! 
I really enjoyed how the story just develops almost straight away - it pulls you in and intrigues you from the first page. 
The characters are likeable and believable; Ottoline is such a sassy queen I LOVE HER, and Dean is also such a silly sweetheart 🥰
For a teen author, Natasha has done really well. She's created a story that's engaging and interesting, and is overall fun to read. I finished this one in a day, so that's explanation enough of how captivated I was! 
Perhaps a few adjustments in regard to punctuation and fluidity would make this book even stronger! 
I'm really excited to see what else this young creative comes out with next! 

Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined by Stephenie Meyer

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

3.0

Wow, okay this was SUPER fun and interesting to read. 
I have no idea why I've never read Life and Death before now! I knew it existed, but for some reason I just never picked it up! 
Now that it's getting close to spooky month and autumn is in the air, I was getting in the mood to revisit Twilight. I was debating whether I should reread the first book or not, and then I remembered that this existed and thought it was the perfect solution! 
It was SO interesting to see the story but from a slightly different perspective. 
And DAMN, I love the surprise that Stephenie had for us at the end. Kudos, kudos. 
Overall, I really enjoyed this; it didn't blow me away or shock me too greatly, but I would definitely recommend picking it up and giving it a go if you love Twilight!

Pole Position by Rebecca J. Caffery

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

I love a wholesome LGBTQ+ book, and this one was a lot different to something I would usually read. My fiancé loves Formula One, so when I saw this book, I thought it would be super interesting to read. Like, gay Formula One?? Bring it on, BUT sadly there’s no denying that I was expecting more. 

This one fell a little flat for me. The storyline was quite stale and I was always hoping that something more dramatic would happen. I mean the F1 is one of the most dramatic and gripping sports out there, so I feel as though this book didn’t really capture that. Every time there was a race, we would get like maybe a page about it - without much depth - and that would be it. Now listen, I’m not a motor racing expert AT ALL but from what I know about the sport, I really don’t think half the stuff that happens in this book would be tolerated in real life, so it all just felt unrealistic enough for it to become distracting. 

I didn’t like the characters or their relationship: it felt forced and unbelievable and didn’t make me feel all cute and giggly like I was hoping it would. 

There were also quite a few grammatical errors in the book, which felt disappointing to see. 

Another thing to note: I listened to the audiobook of this whilst reading along and boy did I HATE the audiobook. The narrator for Harper was SO QUIET. He did a lot of whispering and breathy voice work and it was very hard to hear what he was saying at times. Audiobooks aren’t cheap as well, so I do feel as though I’ve been cheated a little. And I do think that the quality of the audiobook has tainted my enjoyment of the book overall. 

Icebreaker by Hannah Grace

funny reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Yeaaaaaah, what do I say about this book? 

I mean, the main thing I gotta say is the spice in this WENT HARD. I’ve never read so much in my life, and honestly it kinda ruined the book a little. It felt really forced and not very tasteful at times, I have to admit. 

When looking back on the book, I guess I feel as though not much actually happened. When I went into this story, I was expecting more of a focus on the actual characters played, but I didn’t really get that at all. Like, were they ever actually studying?? It was well and truly 60% spice, 20% partying and 20% skating. 

There were some sensitive topics covered in the book, which I I thought was done quite well, and I enjoyed reading about, but it felt like a very minor side story. 

I didn’t really feel that connected to any of the characters, either. There was a LOT of them, that at times I sat there in mild confusion and frustration trying to keep up with all the different names. 

The relationship between the two main characters felt a little forced too? From the blurb I was expecting more of an enemies-to-lovers situation but it wasn’t really that at all. It seemed unrealistic, unbelievable, and artificial. There’s also some morally questionable decisions made in regard to be sobriety and consent… idk it’s weird. 

Overall, this book was OK, I guess, but I was sadly expecting something better. 

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata

funny lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.5

Okay, so I know my rating seems a little harsh, and it’s not because of Mariana’s writing. I love the way she writes and describes things. Buuuuuuut, after coming to this one after reading All Rhodes Lead Here, this one just didn’t compare. It was verrrrrrrry drawn out and the romance was verrrrrrrry slow burn. Slow burn is fun, but when the romance is crammed right in at the end, it just takes away from the appeal a little. The story also felt a little bland as well and I think it would have benefited from some sort of bigger plot twist. 

I do really love the way Mariana writes her characters though, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of her books. This one just didn’t grasp me the same way that All Rhodes Lead Here did. 

Fly on The Wall by E. Lockhart

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩," 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙨 𝙢𝙚. "𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙩." 

"𝙄'𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚," 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙮. "𝙎𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚." 

"𝙉𝙤, 𝙣𝙤," 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜. "𝙎𝙞𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩."

-

I’m honestly not too sure how to feel about this book. It was strange, kinda weird, pervy and uncomfortable. 

Having really enjoyed reading E. Lockhart’s We Were Liars and Family Of Liars, I did have high, high hopes, I have to admit. So coming from those and reading this, you can kinda see why I feel disappointed. 

I just feel as though there wasn’t that much change that came from Gretchen’s experience. Like yes, it allowed her to understand boys a bit better, but it never lead her to achieve much aside from talking to the boy she fancies. And I just feel like it gives off the message that the only thing a girl can truly accomplish is become confident enough to talk to her crush. Staying true to herself and standing up to her art teacher by protecting her preferred art style was only minority touched upon, and I think this would have been a much better, more valuable outcome to the story. 

I don’t know, I’m sure there’s a much larger picture that I’m probably missing, but I can’t lie and have to admit that I just found this one a bit bizarre.