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nathaniacalaee's reviews
198 reviews
Check & Mate by Ali Hazelwood
4.75
So who was going to tell me I would LOVE Ali Hazelwood’s books (granted this is my first but whatever) this was reminiscent on 2000s romcoms and my wattpad/episode days! This isn’t a 5 star because (spoiler territory-ish):
HE SAID I LOVE YOU TOO EARLY (which cringed me out but life’s too short to care that much… it’s fiction) BUT THEN SHE DIDNT SAY IT BACK (which I’ve always wanted to see in a book, but now that I have… I cannot handle that I need both characters to say those words)
SPOILER TERRITORY ISH OVER!!!!
I ate this book up and I need to read more Ali Hazelwood books!!
HE SAID I LOVE YOU TOO EARLY (which cringed me out but life’s too short to care that much… it’s fiction) BUT THEN SHE DIDNT SAY IT BACK (which I’ve always wanted to see in a book, but now that I have… I cannot handle that I need both characters to say those words)
SPOILER TERRITORY ISH OVER!!!!
I ate this book up and I need to read more Ali Hazelwood books!!
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 30%.
It’s not that I disliked this book at all!!! I just wasn’t in the mood to be reading this and I actually wanted to understand what was going on because I’m intrigued to know what happens, so skimming wasn’t going to be an option, but I’ll have to revisit it in the future when I’m not incredibly busy and have a physical copy… lol
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
4.5
So what now… OH MY GOSH!! Celeste Ng is a genius. This book was one of the closest things you could get to perfection (even though I didn’t get those 5 star feels, but who knows maybe I’ll bump up my rating). I don’t know how she was able to flush out FIVE CHARACTERS in less than 300 pages and some authors— no hate— can’t do it in 500 😐 this book made me want to cry and scream and yell and while I didn’t do those things (I was incredibly close), the thought alone is enough for me to know that this book was good especially since I still loved all the characters through it all. This book is a perfect example of the lost lines and complications with communication…
(SPOILER TERRITORY-ish)
All of the characters communicated— for the most part— the things they wanted— Marilyn: to become a doctor + her daughter to succeed; James: to fit in + have his children fit in; Nath: to feel accepted by his father + to leave his family; Hannah: to feel seen + wanted; and Lydia: make her parents happy. Yet somehow, this wasn’t enough! Every one of the characters could understand what the other felt (besides poor Hannah…), yet the still could not understand each other. There was a complication they couldn’t get over due to their selfishness (but can we even call it that? Isn’t it just their basic human qualities?) I don’t even want to get into this anymore because I could go on and on and on
Anyway, the powerful message about communication and dynamics and relationships between family members was interesting and the writing was exceptional and exquisite (yes I am going to be pretentious about it), yet simple and easy to understand! I loved this book and everyone needs to read it!
… now I need to go tell my family how much I love them (but is that even enough?! I can communicate but will they interpret what I mean correctly? How will they know unless I talk? But that leads to conversations I don’t want to explore? So do I just leave it or do I say something? But it’s not important because saying “i love you” should be enough? Right?)
Yeah… those are the type of questions this book posed.
Safe to say this is a great book 🫶🏾 (sorry for the rambling and if this makes no sense… mind your business 🤪🥰😘)
(SPOILER TERRITORY-ish)
All of the characters communicated— for the most part— the things they wanted— Marilyn: to become a doctor + her daughter to succeed; James: to fit in + have his children fit in; Nath: to feel accepted by his father + to leave his family; Hannah: to feel seen + wanted; and Lydia: make her parents happy. Yet somehow, this wasn’t enough! Every one of the characters could understand what the other felt (besides poor Hannah…), yet the still could not understand each other. There was a complication they couldn’t get over due to their selfishness (but can we even call it that? Isn’t it just their basic human qualities?) I don’t even want to get into this anymore because I could go on and on and on
Anyway, the powerful message about communication and dynamics and relationships between family members was interesting and the writing was exceptional and exquisite (yes I am going to be pretentious about it), yet simple and easy to understand! I loved this book and everyone needs to read it!
… now I need to go tell my family how much I love them (but is that even enough?! I can communicate but will they interpret what I mean correctly? How will they know unless I talk? But that leads to conversations I don’t want to explore? So do I just leave it or do I say something? But it’s not important because saying “i love you” should be enough? Right?)
Yeah… those are the type of questions this book posed.
Safe to say this is a great book 🫶🏾 (sorry for the rambling and if this makes no sense… mind your business 🤪🥰😘)
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
adventurous
fast-paced
4.0
This book was so good omg!! The way that this is the 10th fantasy book I've ever read and FINISHED in my life and it ate! Roshani Chokshi I LOVE YOU!! As much as I don't want to say it because this book should stand on its own, it reminded me of Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I have been searching for a book that would give me anything to cure my Six of Crows hangover and I have found the book! Although, as fun and great as I think the book is, I'm rating it a 4 star because I think I needed 100 extra pages to give me more worldbuilding (which I know I shouldn't fault because this is the first in a series, but I have no idea how the magic system even works lol... powder? mind affinity-- at least I think that's what it's called-- matter affinity? forging? WHAT DO THESE WORDS MEAN?!), less scenes between Severin and Laila (just so I would be able to soak up the previous scene and have time to long for another one between them... if that makes sense), and more down time so I could see how they reason through hatching another plan for a mission (this is just a personal thing because I want to go through the motions with them and I felt like there was minimal space between the plan and the mission being done). Critiques aside, I think this book was strong enough to make me want to continue the series and go along the fun ride!!
You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle
4.25
This book had me squealing and kicking my feet!! NICHOLAS BENJAMIN ROSE THE MAN THAT YOU ARE!!!! I had a fun time reading this book. It was short, quick, and easy to read! My only complaint is that I wish the whole antics/pranks part lasted longer because I started to skim the last 2 chapters because the relationship part was too long and that part was too short 😣
Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 10%.
I’m only DNFing the book because this feels like a book I could give five stars when I’m in the mood (+ it feels like an audiobook type of read) I will be back to read this book but now is not the time!
Out On a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young
3.25
I might change this rating because I’m still contemplating my opinions about this book, even though I haven’t really thought about it since I’ve finished it… which isn’t a GREAT sign. (Get ready for a slightly confusing review)
I can’t lie that I loved the two main characters. I found Win to be likeable and relatable. I loved Bo Durand!! He was so sweet, kind, and gentle and just all the perfect things you could want in a guy! Their dynamic and romance was sweet and honestly felt like I was sucking on a lollipop the whole time.
However, contrary to everything I just wrote, I feel like the story was missing a couple things. I think if Bo’s POV was a part of this book, I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. Honestly, this is quite funny because I sometimes love single person POV because I can usually assume what the guy is thinking in the scenes, but I think this book missed out on his POV to add to the story. Additionally, I was a bit disappointed overall with the book (even though I enjoyed the characters and whatnot…) I felt like I had such high expectations and I just felt “meh.” I didn’t like that minor but very odd ex-drama part in the book. ANOTHER MAJOR THING IS THAT I don’t mind accidental pregnancy if that’s what I’m looking to read in the moment (I.e. this book), but I did not like the use of forced proximity because that made their romance feel forced… I KNOW I PUT THAT IT WAS SWEET BUT IT WAS MISSING SOMETHING! I would’ve preferred if they had a mini friendship after that night and THEN she found out she was pregnant because I would’ve believed their relationship a whole LOT more! I also was skimming the end because I felt like it dragged a bit too much for me. I wanted to see the birth of August because that’s what we were working up towards… and the author just didn’t show it. ANOTHER THING is that I had more interest with Sarah and Caleb’s relationship than I did with Bo and Win…
Okay since I’m just ranting about various things about this book, here are some more random thoughts I had:
1. Sarah and Caleb were scene stealers whenever they were on the page
2. Yes Bo was super sweet but I felt like he was just written to be super sweet and that’s it…
3. I was not on board for the nickname “honey” I feel like we could’ve kept “Fred” because I liked that one
4. I loved the disability representation especially since it felt so personal to the author
OVERALL: cute book, don’t go into it with high expectations, needed Bo’s POV, funny, and fast-paced
I can’t lie that I loved the two main characters. I found Win to be likeable and relatable. I loved Bo Durand!! He was so sweet, kind, and gentle and just all the perfect things you could want in a guy! Their dynamic and romance was sweet and honestly felt like I was sucking on a lollipop the whole time.
However, contrary to everything I just wrote, I feel like the story was missing a couple things. I think if Bo’s POV was a part of this book, I would’ve enjoyed it a lot more. Honestly, this is quite funny because I sometimes love single person POV because I can usually assume what the guy is thinking in the scenes, but I think this book missed out on his POV to add to the story. Additionally, I was a bit disappointed overall with the book (even though I enjoyed the characters and whatnot…) I felt like I had such high expectations and I just felt “meh.” I didn’t like that minor but very odd ex-drama part in the book. ANOTHER MAJOR THING IS THAT I don’t mind accidental pregnancy if that’s what I’m looking to read in the moment (I.e. this book), but I did not like the use of forced proximity because that made their romance feel forced… I KNOW I PUT THAT IT WAS SWEET BUT IT WAS MISSING SOMETHING! I would’ve preferred if they had a mini friendship after that night and THEN she found out she was pregnant because I would’ve believed their relationship a whole LOT more! I also was skimming the end because I felt like it dragged a bit too much for me. I wanted to see the birth of August because that’s what we were working up towards… and the author just didn’t show it. ANOTHER THING is that I had more interest with Sarah and Caleb’s relationship than I did with Bo and Win…
Okay since I’m just ranting about various things about this book, here are some more random thoughts I had:
1. Sarah and Caleb were scene stealers whenever they were on the page
2. Yes Bo was super sweet but I felt like he was just written to be super sweet and that’s it…
3. I was not on board for the nickname “honey” I feel like we could’ve kept “Fred” because I liked that one
4. I loved the disability representation especially since it felt so personal to the author
OVERALL: cute book, don’t go into it with high expectations, needed Bo’s POV, funny, and fast-paced
A Love Letter to Whiskey by Kandi Steiner
4.0
So… I tried reading the fifth edition novella and I was so bored. I just couldn’t do it! THIS book was actually great; I enjoyed the characters and I didn’t find them to be annoying OR insufferable, contrary to other people’s opinion. Although, if we are speaking about the little novella, it was so not good… I had to DNF it because it just wasn’t necessary. I felt like with common sense I was able to decipher his emotions in the OG book without the extra added things at the end (especially since he only thought about her sexually like… LADY BONER GONEEEEE). Anyway, this was a dramatic book and it had all the things I expected to find while going into it! This author is 2/2 in terms of books I’ve read and enjoyed by her so I will def be picking up another book by this author!! (If we ignore the novella 😁)