marie_22's reviews
303 reviews

Lover Birds by Leanne Egan

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted

3.0

I’m kind of bummed because at first I thought I would like this, but I just didn’t really.

I liked the ADHD representation and the way the author really showed and made you understand how living with ADHD impacted Lou. That was nicely done. 
But I found myself struggling to like Lou, and since she was the main character, this made enjoying this book tricky for me. She came across as very judgmental and dare I say mean. Like the way she treated Isabel in the beginning really bothered me. Yes, she said something mean about you, yes, everyone is like 16 years old so they’re going to be a bit dramatic about things. But she borderline bullied her for a while there imo, and I’m not into those kinds of romances, and therefore couldn’t take the romance seriously after that. 

Overall, it was a quick, well-paced read that just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review. 

The Luminaries by Susan Dennard

adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

3.75 stars

I haven’t had this kind of reading experience in a long time, this story really pulled me in and while it took me a while to finish it, I enjoyed spending more time in this world with these characters. 

The whole concept of a mysterious forest full of monsters felt quite unique to me, I can’t remember the last time I’ve read something similar. It was really atmospheric, even creepy at times (I’m easily scared, though) and it would have probably been an even better reading experience had I read it in autumn. The way we just jumped straight into the story very much added to this atmospheric and creepy feeling, imo. I’ll admit, I was a bit confused about everything in the beginning, but I figured it out eventually (well, mostly). I don’t want to give away more about the plot because I think going in kind of unaware of it really makes it that much better, at least it did for me.

Winnie was a great main character. The author really managed to portray her in a realistic way, she is just a bit of a mess but so relatable and the author really made it work because I liked her a lot. It took me a while to warm up to Jay, I was questioning why everyone was so into him, but I get it and I would have probably loved him, too, had I read this as a teenager (he’s in a band, he rides a motorcycle and ofc he’s built…)

Now, it wasn’t without its flaws. I’m still a bit confused about some things and I found the whole Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, … family thing really annoying for some reason. I could never remember who belonged to which family and what family was doing what. Also, the last 10% or so annoyed me, I did not like the ending.

But I don’t care too much about that because I had such a great time reading this, and I can’t wait to start the second one!

Wish I Were Here by Melissa Wiesner

3.0

This seemed like a cute romance with an interesting plot (Catherine basically loses her identity overnight) but it ended up being more about self discovery with a romance side plot.
Which wasn’t what I expected nor hoped for so that led to some disappointment on my part. 

I struggled to get into the story from the beginning, and I never really connected with nor cared for the characters.

The romance between Catherine and Luca was somewhat lackluster, there wasn’t really any chemistry between them and I just wasn’t invested.

Might be because Luca’s character wasn’t very fleshed out at all. The only thing I remember about him is that he had tattoos..
I enjoyed some of the other characters and subplots, though.

Overall, an interesting story that didn’t deliver for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review. 

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

I teared up while finishing this, it was that good.

This book was an experience. I expected it to be what a lot of sports romances are for me, which is kind of over the top, dramatic and a bit unrealistic (which if done well can be a great time). 
But this book wasn’t that at all. 
It was really quiet and soft and gentle but also heavy at times. And it still worked so very well!

The writing was phenomenal, so immersive, I felt like I was right there with them in New York City in 1960. The characters felt authentic and nuanced, and their relationship was beautifully developed. The way they slowly fell in love with each other.. <3
This is a perfect slow burn in every way, but maybe keep that in mind, because someone who isn’t into that might get a bit bored here.

What's keeping me from giving this 5 stars is that the romance took somewhat of a backseat in the second half imo and I just wanted more of Eddie and Mark.

But that might just be me, and ultimately it was a wonderful story. 

Fangirl Down by Tessa Bailey

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

This was recommended to me, and I don’t think I would have picked it up on my own. Mostly because I’ve read Tessa Bailey before and didn’t like it and also, this is a golf romance?!
But I’m so glad I tried it anyway.

Wells and Josephine were great characters, and they had amazing chemistry.

I liked Wells a lot, even though he was down bad from the beginning, and I’m not always into that, it just worked here. His character development throughout this story was excellent, best I’ve seen in a while in a sports romance.
Josephine was the real star of this story for me, though, I loved her. The way she was such a positive influence on him, helped him be a better person all around while also just being her funny, loyal, considerate, thoughtful self and dealing with diabetes? Truly unmatched.

There were some things I disliked, but in the end I don’t really care because I had a great time! <3

The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

funny lighthearted

2.0

One day, I'll find another sports romance I love..

I just never really got into the story. 
The way the characters (Nora) spoke was so annoying and childish, like you’re supposed to be adults?!
Derek was fine but didn’t really do anything for me just like this whole book, unfortunately.

I get why others might like it, I just can't with this cringy behaviour. 

The Crown of Oaths and Curses by J. Bree

adventurous dark emotional slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

I’m kind of conflicted about this. 
It was an entertaining and intriguing story, I’ll admit, but at the same time I was bored a lot while reading. It started out a bit slow and continued that way, which at first didn’t bother me, I found it to be interesting enough to keep going. But there was a lot of inner monologue that got kind of repetitive after a while. 

Now my real problem with this story though were the characters.

I literally hated every character except for Rooke, who’s a saint and I love her <3 
This is a 700-page book (almost) in which she was treated horrifically from beginning to end, and at first this kind of made sense considering what’s going on in the story. However, Rooke never did anything that would justify this mistreatment, she proved herself to them over and over again and still nothing changed. 
Why she continued to help them is honestly beyond me…

In my opinion, the author went way too hard on the enemies aspect of this story, there is no way they can turn this around in the sequels. You’ll never make me like any of these characters now after I had to suffer through this whole book, like they’re irredeemable.

Ironically, I’m still kind of interested in seeing the author try and change my mind in the next book, so I might continue… 

Savor It by Tarah DeWitt

slow-paced

2.0

I almost didn’t finish it, that’s how bored I was reading this..
Like there’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s nothing really happening either. They’re into each other from the start, and the story drags along from there.

I’m a bit disappointed because I was looking forward to reading this one, but it just wasn’t for me, I guess 🤷‍♀️ 

You Belong with Me by Mhairi McFarlane

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

In this sequel to Who’s That Girl, the story picks back up right where it left off years ago. With Edie and Elliot giving their relationship another chance, they must try and navigate their very different lives together.

I really liked it, it was a fun read. Edie and Elliot work so well together as a couple, their chemistry was palpable. I really liked the exploration of their new relationship, especially in the light of the added difficulties that came with him being an actor and them having to spend a lot of time apart.
Mhairi McFarlane is just an excellent storyteller and her characters are always well-developed and fleshed out, main characters as well as side characters, which I find to be rather rare. They just feel real to me, which always makes it an immersive experience.

I did struggle a bit with it being a sequel to a book that came out years ago, though. I read the first book when it came out (before I even had this account) and I didn’t remember that much of it. And that wasn’t ideal (for me), I sometimes felt like I was missing some backstory and I think it kept me from really understanding everything that was going on. So personally, I would recommend reading Who’s That Girl before starting this one.

Apart from that, it was a great read!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

It’s amazing to me how this author manages to captivate me with her stories every time. One thing that contributes to that I think is that her books are never what I’m expecting going in but in a good way, like it’s better than what I was expecting, if that makes sense.

In this story we follow Emlyn who works as a guide for fishing and hunting tours. She lives by herself in a small community in Idaho and mostly keeps to herself after a traumatic experience in the past which has her struggling with trusting herself and others. Coming back from a fishing trip, she finds out that an old friend is missing. After her ex-boyfriend begs her to help, she reluctantly agrees, and together they set out to find her. 

Emlyn was a great main character. I liked her from the start, and the more I found out about what had happened in the past, the more I was rooting for her. Sadly, the other characters kind of felt one dimensional to me, there wasn’t much (believable) character development and thus the stakes were low. Especially Varden was set up to be a great addition to the story, but then he was barely even in the book, missed opportunity imo. 

Pacing wise, I found it to be a bit slow, it only picked up around the 60% mark. I didn’t mind it that much because I enjoyed the story and for the most part it has a nice flow to it, but the flashbacks just took away the suspense for me sometimes.

Overall, I was really excited about this one and while it didn’t quite meet my expectations, I still think it’s a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.