megreads613's reviews
377 reviews

Binding 13 by Chloe Walsh

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

First off, this book ends on a cliffhanger. I feel like that needs to be more clearly stated before embarking on 600+ pages. 

Now onto the book. It’s FINE but also it’s bad but also it hooked me. There are moments of magic hidden in here but the book needed some serious editing. 

Johnny is shocking developed as a character in comparison to everyone else. I found him very endearing. 

Shannon is sometimes too naive, sometimes too mature. It seems like it toggles for whatever is convenient in the moment. 

I don’t like how Johnny book spent 200 pages talking about how small Shannon is, how underdeveloped, how she’s a kid, etc. He’s right! But then something switches and he ignores all that. 

A romance between a 15-turning-16-year-old and a 17-turning-18-year old is tough for me. Especially when their discrepancies in experience are always called to attention. 

It’s a tad concerning to me how much this book is being romanticized on TikTok because I’d hardly call it a “romance” and there are a lot of issues within it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse

Minor: Miscarriage, Sexual assault

The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

3.5

I think I waited too long to read this. Every salacious part was already revealed online. The writing was…tough but I guess that’s the authenticity of it. Not the worst book, and I’m happy she got to share her side of the story. 

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.75

This book was super cute! Admittedly I don’t read a lot of YA, but it started to feel very one note. There was some stuff I felt we didn’t get closure on. But overall I thought it was a good read! 

If You Hate Me by Helena Hunting

1.0

I don’t know why I finished this. It was not good. 

A Five-Letter Word for Love by Amy James

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

3.0

I was desperate to love this book because I love Wordle, but it just fell flat. 

Emily is flighty, she’s presumptuous, and at times she’s rude. 

John is BORING. He’s boring!!!!!!! 

This read as women’s fiction to me. The love story was second fiddle to Emily finding 50 dream jobs. 

We had no closure on Emily’s friends. And after a MONTH she’s asking her friends about soulmates? Meanwhile, she hasn’t even told her “soulmate” that she’s thinking of moving to New York. I just found her selfish and inconsiderate.

Plus, her Wordle strategy was awful. 

On the Plus Side by Jenny L. Howe

hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

The more I read this book, the lower the rating got. It was SLOW. And it was uneventful. 

This was much more women’s fiction than romance. I didn’t quite “get” Logan. He was grumpy but sweet but funny but dry but quiet but chatty. I know we’re all made up of different qualities but he just seemed to conveniently be whatever was needed as opposed to his own character that reacted the way HE would. 

Everly was sweet but a bit naive. Obviously reality tv is edited?? It bothered me that

Logan kept dismissing Everly when she said she didn’t trust Sady. I also don’t understand how Logan had no idea she was doing all these shady practises when he apparently knew her so well.

I wanted to absolutely love this, because I think there’s not enough plus size representation in romance books, but this focused far too much on Everly’s size for it to be enjoyable to me. The disclaimer said she doesn’t want to hide because of her size, but because she’s too much…yet her “too much” almost always related to her size. 

Anyway. I would read something else by this author, but I’m not chomping at the bit. 

Here For The Cake by Jennifer Millikin

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

You know that episode of Friends where Joey uses a thesaurus to write a letter of recommendation for Chandler and Monica? That’s what this book felt like. I love the concept of a MMC who’s a writer, but did he have to be so annoying? 

The plot was fine, except

it’s pretty naive of someone who OWNS A MARKETING FIRM to not understand how idiotic it is to tell the world the relationship is fake and assume no one in the family will find out.

Overall, it was fine. Had a lot of promise, didn’t really deliver. It could have been about 100 pages shorter, too. 

Stranded Ranch by Cindy Steel

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

2.75

This was short and still felt too long for me. I don’t enjoy instalove, especially after 2 days. The FMC was extremely insecure but once a boy tells her she’s fine, then it’s magically fixed. 

The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Solid three stars. I read it in one sitting and I found the story fun and captivating. 

I will say, though, that I found the author’s ago (or at least her dated views) to be a bit tougher to deal with. The whole catfishing subplot was a bit icky, the constant mentions to peoples’ weights and body shape, and how Ezra cyber “stalked” Ivy before she bought the house, all sort of made me go “ugh okay.”

The Christmas Wager by Holly Cassidy

lighthearted fast-paced

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

2.75

This was lacklustre. The writing style was choppy, there was way too much repetition, it barely covered the games, and I didn’t want to root for either character. It should have been called The Christmas Assumptions. The first 80 pages were about Jesse and Bella assuming things about each other. They kept making guesses about each other and operating like it was fact.