Scan barcode
opalmars's reviews
305 reviews
Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
royalty belongs to the gays šāāļøšāāļøšāāļø exactlyyyyyyy
In this book weāre following Rose (the princess of a small country) and Danni (an immigrant who got accepted into the prestigious boarding school Rose attends). There, Rose and Danni strike a friendship and (shocker) fall for each other.
Iāll start by saying I really enjoyed the characters! Sophie Gonzales is great at creating characters, so Iām not surprised I really enjoyed both MCsā POVs.
Danni was a fish out of water, being in a new country, a new school, and a completely different type of environment (sheād never attended a boarding school + being surrounded by millionaire VIPs is a lot lol). She accommodated pretty quickly, though. Additionally, Danni was also dealing with her stage fright, and, later in the storywhen she gets outed she falls back on the whole ~people are mocking and being fake-nice to me~ mentality, since sheād been bullied at her previous school. Through it all, Danni managed to be pretty mature for her age, which I enjoyed.
Rose is very self-assured, witty and sarcastic, and I really liked following her. Sheās still dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, though, particularly the fact that sheās expected to stay in the closet forever, marry a man and birth children, which she (a lesbian) obviously doesnāt want. However, the most compelling conflict in Roseās life, in my opinion, has to do with her relationship with her ex-friend Molly. We can see early on that Rose is very clearly suppressing her feelings so she doesnāt have to deal with the grief and trauma she went through, which dampens her friendship with Molly.
I reeeeally liked slowly uncovering what went on between them that made Molly start disliking Rose, and I thought the whole thing was SO WELL DONE!!! šš»Molly being hurt because Rose acted like she didnāt care at all about what happened and just brushed it off whenever Molly even tried to bring it up, so Molly couldnāt even count on her best friend for comfort made so much sense. And Rose, on the other hand, brushing it all off because she was shutting down and suppressing her feelings, not necessarily because she didnāt *care*, which was also so understandable. And I really liked that they talked through everything that happened and explained their feelings. I just really liked this conflict and its resolution. Probably my favourite aspect of this whole book!
And I overall REALLY liked Molly! She was so interesting and mature, and I absolutely LOVE that she was an integral part of the story, and was important for both Danni and Rose. One of the best uses of side characters Iāve seen! I enjoyed the other SCs as well! Eleanor was a nice supporting character, and I appreciate that she was friends with both MCs; Alfie was also an interesting character, and I liked that he had thought-out justifications for his actions (even if they were flawed). I do wish weād seen more of Danniās mum and her bestie from her country, though.
Overall, the characters were really well-written. They were well-rounded and three-dimensional, and I liked their inter- and intra-personal arcs.
Now for the āØ romance āØ. Rose is a very sarcastic character and she starts lowkey messing with Danni from the get go. I was afraid this would feel very one-sided, but, fortunately, Danni is also quite witty, and teases Rose right back. Iām really glad they were on the same level when it came to this type of banter! It made them feel very much like equals, which is exactly what I want when we have sarcastic characters like Rose. When I started reeeeally liking their back-and-forths was when they became friends, though! Their text messages were so fun!! Loved their banter! š¤š¤š¤
I will say that I wish their romance had been a bit more of a slow-burn, though. I just didnāt fully *feel* their romance, tbh. I still liked them, but I wanted to LOVE them, and I didnāt. ā¹ļøā¹ļøā¹ļø I really liked the crush confession, but I didnāt care about their 1st kiss. I enjoyed their moments together, but I thought their āI love youās came too soon. The realest moment of the book for me was when Molly said āYour life is bigger than Danni, and hers is bigger than you.ā, because, YEAH, it just kinda felt like they were all in for each other (they literally thought about how they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together lol), but since *I* didnāt feel it, it just felt a bit to sudden (even though months had passed). Idk. I just felt a little detached from their romance, for some reason. š
I am glad, though, that Danni and Rose actually communicated with each other! Iām sick and tired of miscommunication that gets dragged out just for the sake of conflict, and this book didnāt have that!When Danni broke up with Rose halfway through she explained herself really well (and in a way that I fully agreed with, btw!! Danni was extremely mature!). Rose started trying to make Danni jealous by holding Alfieās hand and stuff, which felt a little vindictive, but I guess it made sense for her character, in that moment.
I thought Danniās justification for getting back together with Rose was quite absurd, though. š She was so smart about the breakup and had *very valid* reasons for it, so seeing her later say that breaking up months or years in the future canāt hurt more than breaking up after dating for only like, 2 weeks, was justā¦ā¦ š«¤š«¤š«¤ Girl. Letās be serious. 2 weeks vs maybe YEARS? One will hurt MUCH MORE than the other. Be so for real right now. š
Another thing I didnāt love was Harrietās inclusion in the story. When Harrietās drunk she misreads the signs and thinks Danni wants to kiss her, so she kisses Danni. Now, Iām not saying that was right ā Iām the #1 defender of asking for consent for even the smaller acts! However, it kind of felt like people were being too hard on Harriet??? I totally understand Danni not wanting to be friends with Harriet anymore! Rose, thoughā¦ She was soooo quick to threaten Harriet, meanwhile Alfie did pretty much the same thing (not while drunk) and she didnāt even think about it? Maybe itās because that happened to her, and not to her gf, though. Iām not trying to defend Harriet. Itās just that the double standard left me a little šµāš« up until Rose finally called Alfie out for doing the same thing she hated Harriet for (except Alfie hadnāt been wasted).
Iām happy that the 3rd act conflict wasnāt a stupid breakup due to miscommunication. Instead, it was Danni getting outed and expelled for drinking + Rose deciding she didnāt want to stay in the closet forever and would rather give up her future as queen. These conflicts made sense for their characters and I like how they were resolved.
Regarding the writing: it flowed well and was easy to read. There were some instances of telling instead of showing, but, overall, I thought the book was good, in terms of writing. There were a couple of typos and a continuity mistake (Danniās bff goes from Hayley to Rachel lol), but Iām sure those will be corrected in the final version. Also, I think itād be better if the epilogue was āX years laterā instead of ā2026ā, because this reeeally dates the book.
Overall, this was a really enjoyable book! Sophie Gonzales is incapable of writing a bad book, methinks. šāāļø Also, THANK YOU for that mention of Zach from āIf This Gets Outā. š¤
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
In this book weāre following Rose (the princess of a small country) and Danni (an immigrant who got accepted into the prestigious boarding school Rose attends). There, Rose and Danni strike a friendship and (shocker) fall for each other.
Iāll start by saying I really enjoyed the characters! Sophie Gonzales is great at creating characters, so Iām not surprised I really enjoyed both MCsā POVs.
Danni was a fish out of water, being in a new country, a new school, and a completely different type of environment (sheād never attended a boarding school + being surrounded by millionaire VIPs is a lot lol). She accommodated pretty quickly, though. Additionally, Danni was also dealing with her stage fright, and, later in the story
Rose is very self-assured, witty and sarcastic, and I really liked following her. Sheās still dealing with some pretty heavy stuff, though, particularly the fact that sheās expected to stay in the closet forever, marry a man and birth children, which she (a lesbian) obviously doesnāt want. However, the most compelling conflict in Roseās life, in my opinion, has to do with her relationship with her ex-friend Molly. We can see early on that Rose is very clearly suppressing her feelings so she doesnāt have to deal with the grief and trauma she went through, which dampens her friendship with Molly.
I reeeeally liked slowly uncovering what went on between them that made Molly start disliking Rose, and I thought the whole thing was SO WELL DONE!!! šš»
And I overall REALLY liked Molly! She was so interesting and mature, and I absolutely LOVE that she was an integral part of the story, and was important for both Danni and Rose. One of the best uses of side characters Iāve seen! I enjoyed the other SCs as well! Eleanor was a nice supporting character, and I appreciate that she was friends with both MCs; Alfie was also an interesting character, and I liked that he had thought-out justifications for his actions (even if they were flawed). I do wish weād seen more of Danniās mum and her bestie from her country, though.
Overall, the characters were really well-written. They were well-rounded and three-dimensional, and I liked their inter- and intra-personal arcs.
Now for the āØ romance āØ. Rose is a very sarcastic character and she starts lowkey messing with Danni from the get go. I was afraid this would feel very one-sided, but, fortunately, Danni is also quite witty, and teases Rose right back. Iām really glad they were on the same level when it came to this type of banter! It made them feel very much like equals, which is exactly what I want when we have sarcastic characters like Rose. When I started reeeeally liking their back-and-forths was when they became friends, though! Their text messages were so fun!! Loved their banter! š¤š¤š¤
I will say that I wish their romance had been a bit more of a slow-burn, though. I just didnāt fully *feel* their romance, tbh. I still liked them, but I wanted to LOVE them, and I didnāt. ā¹ļøā¹ļøā¹ļø I really liked the crush confession, but I didnāt care about their 1st kiss. I enjoyed their moments together, but I thought their āI love youās came too soon. The realest moment of the book for me was when Molly said āYour life is bigger than Danni, and hers is bigger than you.ā, because, YEAH, it just kinda felt like they were all in for each other (they literally thought about how they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together lol), but since *I* didnāt feel it, it just felt a bit to sudden (even though months had passed). Idk. I just felt a little detached from their romance, for some reason. š
I am glad, though, that Danni and Rose actually communicated with each other! Iām sick and tired of miscommunication that gets dragged out just for the sake of conflict, and this book didnāt have that!
I thought Danniās justification for getting back together with Rose was quite absurd, though. š She was so smart about the breakup and had *very valid* reasons for it, so seeing her later say that breaking up months or years in the future canāt hurt more than breaking up after dating for only like, 2 weeks, was justā¦ā¦ š«¤š«¤š«¤ Girl. Letās be serious. 2 weeks vs maybe YEARS? One will hurt MUCH MORE than the other. Be so for real right now. š
Another thing I didnāt love was Harrietās inclusion in the story. When Harrietās drunk she misreads the signs and thinks Danni wants to kiss her, so she kisses Danni. Now, Iām not saying that was right ā Iām the #1 defender of asking for consent for even the smaller acts! However, it kind of felt like people were being too hard on Harriet??? I totally understand Danni not wanting to be friends with Harriet anymore! Rose, thoughā¦ She was soooo quick to threaten Harriet, meanwhile Alfie did pretty much the same thing (not while drunk) and she didnāt even think about it? Maybe itās because that happened to her, and not to her gf, though. Iām not trying to defend Harriet. Itās just that the double standard left me a little šµāš« up until Rose finally called Alfie out for doing the same thing she hated Harriet for (except Alfie hadnāt been wasted).
Iām happy that the 3rd act conflict wasnāt a stupid breakup due to miscommunication. Instead, it was Danni getting outed and expelled for drinking + Rose deciding she didnāt want to stay in the closet forever and would rather give up her future as queen. These conflicts made sense for their characters and I like how they were resolved.
Regarding the writing: it flowed well and was easy to read. There were some instances of telling instead of showing, but, overall, I thought the book was good, in terms of writing. There were a couple of typos and a continuity mistake (Danniās bff goes from Hayley to Rachel lol), but Iām sure those will be corrected in the final version. Also, I think itād be better if the epilogue was āX years laterā instead of ā2026ā, because this reeeally dates the book.
Overall, this was a really enjoyable book! Sophie Gonzales is incapable of writing a bad book, methinks. šāāļø Also, THANK YOU for that mention of Zach from āIf This Gets Outā. š¤
Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Outing
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, and Homophobia
Minor: Bullying and Suicidal thoughts
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't A Guy At All, Vol. 3 by Sumiko Arai
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
just as ~meh~ as the previous books: disjointed, confusing and not really making me feel much about the MCsā relationship, but with a great art style, so thereās that.
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't A Guy At All Vol. 2 by Sumiko Arai
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Similar as Book 1. While the art style is gorgeous and the characters are sweet, the story is difficult to understand.
ā The story doesnāt flow from chapter to chapter. Itās like the chapters were written as singular little moments of the charactersā lives, so they simply do not mesh together to make a cohesive narrative. The story is extremely disjointed and sometimes borderline incoherent. I often wonder what the hell is going on before realizing the previous 3 pages were actually happening on a completely different day and were not related to the previous pages *at all*.
ā The text is really confusing and you canāt always tell what is dialogue VS thoughts VS narration.
ā I still donāt really *feel* Mitsuki and Ayaās connection. They are friends (which mostly happened off-page in Book 1), and now theyāre both aware they like each other (I also donāt really know why)ā¦ā¦ I just donāt feel much about them, tbh. š
ā The story doesnāt flow from chapter to chapter. Itās like the chapters were written as singular little moments of the charactersā lives, so they simply do not mesh together to make a cohesive narrative. The story is extremely disjointed and sometimes borderline incoherent. I often wonder what the hell is going on before realizing the previous 3 pages were actually happening on a completely different day and were not related to the previous pages *at all*.
ā The text is really confusing and you canāt always tell what is dialogue VS thoughts VS narration.
ā I still donāt really *feel* Mitsuki and Ayaās connection. They are friends (which mostly happened off-page in Book 1), and now theyāre both aware they like each other (I also donāt really know why)ā¦ā¦ I just donāt feel much about them, tbh. š
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All, Vol. 1 by Sumiko Arai
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
3,5 *
ā The art style is AMAAAAZINGGGGGGG!!! Iām literally obsessed with all the details! Itās just so pretty!
ā I wish their relationship had been developed a bit more. Ayaās crushing on Mitsuki right from the start, and Mitsuki pretty quickly shows interest in Aya too. Additionally, their friendship seemed to develop mostly off-page?? Like, they talked about how they were friends (to the point where they even had a falling out!), but we didnāt get to SEE much of that friendship, tbh. There were even big moments and events that straight up just happened off-page. Too much *telling* instead of *showing* š.
ā The story felt veeeery disjointed. The chapters felt more like little moments in the characters lives, rather than a full cohesive narrative, so when you read the whole thing, it doesnāt feel like a full story, just short fragments of a story. ā¹ļø
ā There was a bit of ~*Iām not like other girls*~ rhetoric, with the whole āIām the only one who knows Nirvana and Aerosmithā thing. Like, at some point Aya literally says āThereās no way people at school would know Radioheadā š. Bitchā¦. Those are some of the most popular bands on earth. Be so fucking for real. š„“š„“š„“
ā The writing was a bit weird, at times, but Iām assuming thatās mostly because of the translation (though I wish I could unread the sentence āThatās totes embawkwardā lmao). Additionally, it wasnāt always clear what piece of text was dialogue, or thoughts, or narration (the speech and thinking bubbles were incoherent and varied a lot, and sometimes there were no bubbles at all, making it hard to distinguish what each piece of text was supposed to be). The clunky writing + the fact that it wasnāt always clear what was dialogue/thoughts/narration + the disjointed chapters made this story a bit hard to follow.
ā Still overall an alright story. Iām hoping book 2 will be better.
ā The art style is AMAAAAZINGGGGGGG!!! Iām literally obsessed with all the details! Itās just so pretty!
ā I wish their relationship had been developed a bit more. Ayaās crushing on Mitsuki right from the start, and Mitsuki pretty quickly shows interest in Aya too. Additionally, their friendship seemed to develop mostly off-page?? Like, they talked about how they were friends (to the point where they even had a falling out!), but we didnāt get to SEE much of that friendship, tbh. There were even big moments and events that straight up just happened off-page. Too much *telling* instead of *showing* š.
ā The story felt veeeery disjointed. The chapters felt more like little moments in the characters lives, rather than a full cohesive narrative, so when you read the whole thing, it doesnāt feel like a full story, just short fragments of a story. ā¹ļø
ā There was a bit of ~*Iām not like other girls*~ rhetoric, with the whole āIām the only one who knows Nirvana and Aerosmithā thing. Like, at some point Aya literally says āThereās no way people at school would know Radioheadā š. Bitchā¦. Those are some of the most popular bands on earth. Be so fucking for real. š„“š„“š„“
ā The writing was a bit weird, at times, but Iām assuming thatās mostly because of the translation (though I wish I could unread the sentence āThatās totes embawkwardā lmao). Additionally, it wasnāt always clear what piece of text was dialogue, or thoughts, or narration (the speech and thinking bubbles were incoherent and varied a lot, and sometimes there were no bubbles at all, making it hard to distinguish what each piece of text was supposed to be). The clunky writing + the fact that it wasnāt always clear what was dialogue/thoughts/narration + the disjointed chapters made this story a bit hard to follow.
ā Still overall an alright story. Iām hoping book 2 will be better.
The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich
3.0
This was an alright book, but I think I wouldāve enjoyed it more had it been a movie. The plot is basically the Princess Diaries: an american teenager (Jamie) finds out heās the prince of a small nation and goes there for the summer. His father, the king, asks the prince of another country (Erik) to teach Jamie how to be a prince. You reeeally have to suspend your disbelief here ā if the world just found out that an american boy has a claim to a whole countryās throne, the king would be finding a bunch of tutors and a whole PR team to teach that boy how toā¦ you knowā¦ not ruin the monarchyās reputation or the countryās relations with other countries lol. Itās quite absurd that the king was just like āYeah yeah Iāll just ask a teenage prince from another country to tutor and media-train you lolā. š„“ It was just a very contrived reason for them to be spending time together.
I was okay with suspending my disbelief for the sake of the romance, you know? The problem is that the romance was justā¦ really meh, to me. š Jamie and Erik very quickly started liking each other, and Iām very much a slow-burn kinda gal, so their relationship just felt too sudden and lowkey insta-lovey. They supposedly became friends, and they had their whole mentor-mentee thing going on, but neither of those were very well developed, so I just never felt their bond and I didnāt understand why they even liked each other. Overall, I just think their relationship wasnāt that developed, which made it impossible for me to care *at all* about the romance. How am I supposed to feel anything about their romance when I barely even see them as *friends* yet? ššš
I will say, though, that I enjoyed their relationship, once they got together. I mean, I didnāt *feel* anything, but I reeeally appreciated that they actually cared about each other and were super respectful. Jamie and Erik always talked openly about their feelings and had comprehensive conversations, which made their relationship feel really healthy.
I actually think that was my favourite aspect of this book: both MCs openly communicated their feelings, which was not only really healthy and refreshing to see, but also made it so that the book didnāt have any annoying miscommunication trope. šš»šš»šš» Whenever I thought we were about to reach a stupid miscommunication plot-line that would unnecessarily drag on for 50 pages, the characters immediately discussed their feelings and talked not only to each other, but to the other characters as well, instead of hiding everything and wallowing in self-pity. It was sooooo nice to not be constantly annoyed at the book for creating unnecessary conflict by making the characters hide things for no reason!!!! šš»
Regarding the actual story: this is supposedly a book about Jamie finding out heās a prince and going to his fatherās country. However, we focus pretty much only on the romance. And like, I get it; this is a romance book. But I definitely think more time shouldāve been spent with Jamie bonding with the other characters as well. His parents went with him to Mitanor, he had like 4 besties back in the US, he had his birth father, his stepmum and his half-brother in Mitanor, as well as his maternal grandparents, and yet he barely even interacts with any of them them! š I think the most egregious case of this was with his grandparents; he meets them one time and theyāre crying because Jamie looks so much like his deceased birth mother. They tell Jamie theyād love to get to know him and tell him more about their daughter (his birth mother) and then we never get to see any of that????? In the epilogue he mentions he got close to his grandparents, but likeā¦.???? It all happened off-page, I guessā¦
Actually, a lotttt of things seemed to happen off-page. They were usually pretty small things, but I think we shouldāve gotten to see them, not only because *telling instead of showing* is annoying, but also because showing these little moments couldāve helped the relationships feel more developed (especially the romance between Jamie and Erik).
Random thing: some of the conflicts felt a little forced and were lowkey unnecessary.Like, Erikās grandma (the queen of Sunstad) insisting that Erik needs to find a date to look stable or whatever?? And wanting him to date that Sebastian dudeā¦ for what?? And Erik fake-dating him? (Except they barely even did that lol. Sebastian was completely inconsequentialā¦). And then his grandma not wanting Erik and Jamie to date because she didnāt think they were a good match?? Just silly conflicts, omgā¦
Overall, this was a fine book, but I wish that: 1) Jamie and Erikās relationship had been better developed; 2) Jamie had interacted more with the SCs; 3) there was more *showing* instead of *telling. The story we got kind of fell flat to me. In general, I think this would be a cute movie.
I was okay with suspending my disbelief for the sake of the romance, you know? The problem is that the romance was justā¦ really meh, to me. š Jamie and Erik very quickly started liking each other, and Iām very much a slow-burn kinda gal, so their relationship just felt too sudden and lowkey insta-lovey. They supposedly became friends, and they had their whole mentor-mentee thing going on, but neither of those were very well developed, so I just never felt their bond and I didnāt understand why they even liked each other. Overall, I just think their relationship wasnāt that developed, which made it impossible for me to care *at all* about the romance. How am I supposed to feel anything about their romance when I barely even see them as *friends* yet? ššš
I will say, though, that I enjoyed their relationship, once they got together. I mean, I didnāt *feel* anything, but I reeeally appreciated that they actually cared about each other and were super respectful. Jamie and Erik always talked openly about their feelings and had comprehensive conversations, which made their relationship feel really healthy.
I actually think that was my favourite aspect of this book: both MCs openly communicated their feelings, which was not only really healthy and refreshing to see, but also made it so that the book didnāt have any annoying miscommunication trope. šš»šš»šš» Whenever I thought we were about to reach a stupid miscommunication plot-line that would unnecessarily drag on for 50 pages, the characters immediately discussed their feelings and talked not only to each other, but to the other characters as well, instead of hiding everything and wallowing in self-pity. It was sooooo nice to not be constantly annoyed at the book for creating unnecessary conflict by making the characters hide things for no reason!!!! šš»
Regarding the actual story: this is supposedly a book about Jamie finding out heās a prince and going to his fatherās country. However, we focus pretty much only on the romance. And like, I get it; this is a romance book. But I definitely think more time shouldāve been spent with Jamie bonding with the other characters as well. His parents went with him to Mitanor, he had like 4 besties back in the US, he had his birth father, his stepmum and his half-brother in Mitanor, as well as his maternal grandparents, and yet he barely even interacts with any of them them! š I think the most egregious case of this was with his grandparents; he meets them one time and theyāre crying because Jamie looks so much like his deceased birth mother. They tell Jamie theyād love to get to know him and tell him more about their daughter (his birth mother) and then we never get to see any of that????? In the epilogue he mentions he got close to his grandparents, but likeā¦.???? It all happened off-page, I guessā¦
Actually, a lotttt of things seemed to happen off-page. They were usually pretty small things, but I think we shouldāve gotten to see them, not only because *telling instead of showing* is annoying, but also because showing these little moments couldāve helped the relationships feel more developed (especially the romance between Jamie and Erik).
Random thing: some of the conflicts felt a little forced and were lowkey unnecessary.
Overall, this was a fine book, but I wish that: 1) Jamie and Erikās relationship had been better developed; 2) Jamie had interacted more with the SCs; 3) there was more *showing* instead of *telling. The story we got kind of fell flat to me. In general, I think this would be a cute movie.
Hearing Red by Nicole Maser
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
The atrocious AI cover is jail-worthy. The story isā¦ fine. This was definitelyā¦ a bookā¦ that I read. š«„
I really enjoy apocalyptic stories, and I ESPECIALLY love ROMANCES in apocalyptic stories, so I thought Iād absolutely adore this book! I was hooked, at first, but around halfway through I started losing interest, and by the 70% mark I was so bored that I wanted to DNF. I pushed through, though. I definitely donāt think this is a bad book! Itās just that I personally never managed to connect with the characters or care about their romance. š¢
Maddie and Saff were good characters on their own, and I liked their connection, but I just never felt their *love*. They started catching feelings and having sweet moments and I justā¦ didnāt care. The most jarring moment for me was when it became apparent that Maddie cared more about Saff (who sheād known for like 3 weeks) than her OWN FAMILY (who she got separated from, which is a HUGE deal because theyāre literally in the apocalypse + Maddie is blind and would be all alone if Saff hadnāt decided to take her in!). Itās literally a MIRACLE that Maddie even managed to find her family again, and yet sheās willing to separate from them AGAIN just to be with Saff?! Girl be for real. š„“
When Maddie admitted that she basically started liking Saff after theyād known each other for like 3 days I was likeā¦ā¦ yeah. šš„± Okay. Why not. š«¤ The 3rd act breakup was unnecessary and silly, but I cared so little about their romance (or the story in general) that I didnāt even mind. I just wanted to get this over with lmao. Overall, the romance gave me nothing.
The writing was fine. There were some typos, but this is self-published, so Iāll let those slide (though the 2 instances where the author used āthereāsā instead of ātheirsā lowkey made me want to throw my phone). However, unironically using any variation of the godforsaken āShe released a breath she hadnāt realized sheād been holdingā (let alone TWO!) is actually jail-worthy. The term āsoaking wet foldsā was also something I wish I could unread.
I really enjoy apocalyptic stories, and I ESPECIALLY love ROMANCES in apocalyptic stories, so I thought Iād absolutely adore this book! I was hooked, at first, but around halfway through I started losing interest, and by the 70% mark I was so bored that I wanted to DNF. I pushed through, though. I definitely donāt think this is a bad book! Itās just that I personally never managed to connect with the characters or care about their romance. š¢
Maddie and Saff were good characters on their own, and I liked their connection, but I just never felt their *love*. They started catching feelings and having sweet moments and I justā¦ didnāt care. The most jarring moment for me was when it became apparent that Maddie cared more about Saff (who sheād known for like 3 weeks) than her OWN FAMILY (who she got separated from, which is a HUGE deal because theyāre literally in the apocalypse + Maddie is blind and would be all alone if Saff hadnāt decided to take her in!). Itās literally a MIRACLE that Maddie even managed to find her family again, and yet sheās willing to separate from them AGAIN just to be with Saff?! Girl be for real. š„“
When Maddie admitted that she basically started liking Saff after theyād known each other for like 3 days I was likeā¦ā¦ yeah. šš„± Okay. Why not. š«¤ The 3rd act breakup was unnecessary and silly, but I cared so little about their romance (or the story in general) that I didnāt even mind. I just wanted to get this over with lmao. Overall, the romance gave me nothing.
The writing was fine. There were some typos, but this is self-published, so Iāll let those slide (though the 2 instances where the author used āthereāsā instead of ātheirsā lowkey made me want to throw my phone). However, unironically using any variation of the godforsaken āShe released a breath she hadnāt realized sheād been holdingā (let alone TWO!) is actually jail-worthy. The term āsoaking wet foldsā was also something I wish I could unread.
Here Goes Nothing by Emma K. Ohland
I also really liked Beatrice and Heroās sisterly relationship and how it developed throughout the book. It felt very realistic and while they both messed up, I understood where they both came from, with their flawed choices.
Beatrice and Bennieās romance was really sweet! š„¹ I do wish it couldāve been developed a bit more ā I wouldāve liked to see more moments between them to fully establish their feelings for each other. But, other than that, I really liked them. Bennie was soooo cute! I love how she gave Beatrice the friendship bracelet sheād wanted to give her 8 years prior, and how she invited Beatrice over to build a Billy bookshelf because Beaās favourite moment the whole year was their little Ikea date, and how she promposed while they were building the shelf because she knew Beatrice wouldnāt like a public promposal. š„ŗš¤§š And Bennie was sooo understanding and supportive of Beatrice when it came to her asexuality + her struggle with the future. They were just so cute, and I wish we couldāve seen more of them!
I do wish the book had been a bit longer (to better establish Beatrice and Heroās sisterly bond at the very start of the book, to develop Bennie and Beatriceās crushes a bit better, and to expand upon other things ā like Beatriceās relationship with her father). Beaās story isnāt all wrapped up neatly ā she still doesnāt know what she wants to do with her future, her father is still a bum, and Bennie is still going away to college next year. However, sometimes thatās just how life is, so I guess this story had a great ending, given that Beatrice was so lost in life. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and Iād definitely recommend it!!! š„°š„°š„°
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I ate this one upppppp!!!! I donāt know anything about the original Shakespeare play, so I can only speak of this as a story on its own. It was really intriguing and fast paced, and made me want to stay up all night to finish it!
The story starts off with our MC Beatrice being pulled into a new friend group because her sister (and only friend) is now hanging out with her new boyfriend and his besties. Beatrice isnāt happy with this arrangement because 1) she feels like a 5th wheel, and 2) a girl she doesnāt really like (Bennie) is part of that group.
She starts hanging out with these people more often and one day overhears them talking about the fact that Bennie has a crush on Beatrice. I wasnāt the biggest fan of this at first, because I personally prefer to see crushes develop instead of getting a pre-established crush. HOWEVER!!!!!!! The way this played out was soooo interesting! It was just really compelling to see Beatrice freaking out about this revelation and not knowing what to do in front of Bennie, and also starting to think about her own sexuality because of the prospect of being with a girl.
AND THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thereās a SICKKKK revelation that truly shocked me!The fact that the group was just setting Beatrice and Bennie up by making them believe the other had a crush on them was SOOOOO SICK AND TWISTED!!!!!!!! š± I was SHOCKED!! And I felt soooo bad for Beatrice! She was finally understanding herself and her sexuality better, so finding out it was all based on a deception and her own sister was manipulating her HURT!
The rest of the story develops really naturally after this reveal, and I enjoyed where things went ā with Beatrice and Heroās sisterly bond, with Beatriceās self-discovery journey, and with Beatrice and Bennieās romance.
Now for the characters: Beatrice was a really relatable MC, to me. She was just so lost in life and didnāt know what she wanted to do in the future; she had no friends and always felt like a 5th wheel; and she was asexual!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Iām SO EXCITED to see more asexual representation, ESPECIALLY when thereās still romance in the story!!! š„¹š„¹š„¹ I think Beatriceās struggle with her sexuality was really well portrayed! Some of my favourite lines that made me feel very #seen:
The story starts off with our MC Beatrice being pulled into a new friend group because her sister (and only friend) is now hanging out with her new boyfriend and his besties. Beatrice isnāt happy with this arrangement because 1) she feels like a 5th wheel, and 2) a girl she doesnāt really like (Bennie) is part of that group.
She starts hanging out with these people more often and one day overhears them talking about the fact that Bennie has a crush on Beatrice. I wasnāt the biggest fan of this at first, because I personally prefer to see crushes develop instead of getting a pre-established crush. HOWEVER!!!!!!! The way this played out was soooo interesting! It was just really compelling to see Beatrice freaking out about this revelation and not knowing what to do in front of Bennie, and also starting to think about her own sexuality because of the prospect of being with a girl.
AND THEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thereās a SICKKKK revelation that truly shocked me!
The rest of the story develops really naturally after this reveal, and I enjoyed where things went ā with Beatrice and Heroās sisterly bond, with Beatriceās self-discovery journey, and with Beatrice and Bennieās romance.
Now for the characters: Beatrice was a really relatable MC, to me. She was just so lost in life and didnāt know what she wanted to do in the future; she had no friends and always felt like a 5th wheel; and she was asexual!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Iām SO EXCITED to see more asexual representation, ESPECIALLY when thereās still romance in the story!!! š„¹š„¹š„¹ I think Beatriceās struggle with her sexuality was really well portrayed! Some of my favourite lines that made me feel very #seen:
ā¤ āI couldnāt tell if my heart was trying to tell me that I liked Bennie. Or just that there was an excitement in being liked.ā
ā¤ āI didnāt have a celebrity to claim as my queer awakening. I wasnāt even sure I was fully awake yet.ā
ā¤ āEveryone around me was either already having sex or constantly talking about it, and I felt like that was ludicrous behavior. Like the whole universe was hypersexual and I was normal. I mean, I liked romance in movies and books, but I always saw it as separate from my realityāsomething that happened in those spaces, but not to me.ā
I also really liked Beatrice and Heroās sisterly relationship and how it developed throughout the book. It felt very realistic and while they both messed up, I understood where they both came from, with their flawed choices.
Beatrice and Bennieās romance was really sweet! š„¹ I do wish it couldāve been developed a bit more ā I wouldāve liked to see more moments between them to fully establish their feelings for each other. But, other than that, I really liked them. Bennie was soooo cute! I love how she gave Beatrice the friendship bracelet sheād wanted to give her 8 years prior, and how she invited Beatrice over to build a Billy bookshelf because Beaās favourite moment the whole year was their little Ikea date, and how she promposed while they were building the shelf because she knew Beatrice wouldnāt like a public promposal. š„ŗš¤§š And Bennie was sooo understanding and supportive of Beatrice when it came to her asexuality + her struggle with the future. They were just so cute, and I wish we couldāve seen more of them!
I do wish the book had been a bit longer (to better establish Beatrice and Heroās sisterly bond at the very start of the book, to develop Bennie and Beatriceās crushes a bit better, and to expand upon other things ā like Beatriceās relationship with her father). Beaās story isnāt all wrapped up neatly
Midnights With You by Clare Osongco
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 9%.
DNF @ 9% because of the insta-love and the pathetic MC.
The book begins and the MC takes a photo of a stranger she spoke to for 20 seconds. Bizarre, right off the bat.
She randomly finds this guy the following day and does the following: āI (ā¦) tug my shorts down slightly so itās more obvious Iām wearing a crop topāā¦ā¦ That has to be the most ridiculously pathetic thing Iāve ever seen someone do. š All this so a STRANGER willā¦ā¦ what?? Notice your bellybutton?? Bitch STAND UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ššš
The dude (who at this point she spoke to for a total of 1 minute in her entire lifetime) is making her feel āpins-and-needlesā in her chest, and when their fingers accidentally brush it āsends a little joltā down her spineā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ š¤”š¤”š¤” Yup. Itās insta-loveā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦
When she gets home, she canāt stop thinking about this random boy: āJayās laugh rings in my ears. Iām trying not to think about his eyes in the golden afternoon light. Or his hands, the way they do that nervous flexing thing. Or his mouth when it curled into a smirk.ā. Mind you, she doesnāt even know him, at this pointā¦
I looked through the ebook and they kiss at around 40%, and she says sheās āwanted this for so longā, which, yeah, I could tell, because sheās literally catching feelings from the moment they first talkā¦ā¦ š
Affā¦ Anyways. I was really excited to read this book, but I am sooooooooooo sick and tired of insta-love!!!!!!! So I just refuse to set myself up for another mediocre read. Iām not gonna waste more time on a book that most definitely wont go above 3 stars. If you donāt mind looking past the insta-love, maybe youāll enjoy this. I, however, am already annoyed, and I only read like 30 pages, so goodbye forever.
The book begins and the MC takes a photo of a stranger she spoke to for 20 seconds. Bizarre, right off the bat.
She randomly finds this guy the following day and does the following: āI (ā¦) tug my shorts down slightly so itās more obvious Iām wearing a crop topāā¦ā¦ That has to be the most ridiculously pathetic thing Iāve ever seen someone do. š All this so a STRANGER willā¦ā¦ what?? Notice your bellybutton?? Bitch STAND UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ššš
The dude (who at this point she spoke to for a total of 1 minute in her entire lifetime) is making her feel āpins-and-needlesā in her chest, and when their fingers accidentally brush it āsends a little joltā down her spineā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ š¤”š¤”š¤” Yup. Itās insta-loveā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦
When she gets home, she canāt stop thinking about this random boy: āJayās laugh rings in my ears. Iām trying not to think about his eyes in the golden afternoon light. Or his hands, the way they do that nervous flexing thing. Or his mouth when it curled into a smirk.ā. Mind you, she doesnāt even know him, at this pointā¦
I looked through the ebook and they kiss at around 40%, and she says sheās āwanted this for so longā, which, yeah, I could tell, because sheās literally catching feelings from the moment they first talkā¦ā¦ š
Affā¦ Anyways. I was really excited to read this book, but I am sooooooooooo sick and tired of insta-love!!!!!!! So I just refuse to set myself up for another mediocre read. Iām not gonna waste more time on a book that most definitely wont go above 3 stars. If you donāt mind looking past the insta-love, maybe youāll enjoy this. I, however, am already annoyed, and I only read like 30 pages, so goodbye forever.
The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
yet another sapphic book I did not care aboutā¦ will I ever find a wlw book I love? Iām starting to lose hopeā¦
I was suuuuper excited to read āThe Jasmine Throneā. I literally waited for the 3rd book to come out so I could binge the entire series. I was CERTAIN Iād like it! Wellā¦ā¦ā¦ I didnāt even like it enough to read book 2, let alone the whole trilogy. š«
The plot wasā¦ something. I couldnāt really tell you much about the story, because honestly it mostly felt like we were just doing whatever. It didnāt feel like there was an overarching goal or main plot thread to follow, which made the story a little difficult to get into. Like, if I donāt know what the characters are trying to achieve, why would I care? This book felt like a reeeeally long introduction to what could be a great story. But, Iām sorry. A 530+ page long introduction is justā¦ Boring. To me, this book read more like a setup for book 2 instead of a story in itself.
At every turn it seemed like the story was about to get interesting, that something BIG was finally gonna happen. But nope. The characters just kept doing little side quests here and there. I still didnāt know what the plot of the book was supposed to be because there was no main plot to follow, and even now, having finished the book, I couldnāt summarize the story for you, because, like,,,,,,, what story????? The only reason I got through this book so quickly is because I listened to the audiobook (which was really good!). But even then, I have to say that the last 20% I listened at 2,5x speed and lowkey dozed offā¦ š«£ Irrelevant side characters were dying, the stakes were (supposedly) high, things were finally happeningā¦ but I just felt zero urgency. I was BORED and at that point I didnāt care about what happened.
The characters were cool and I did enjoy them individually, but I wouldāve liked to follow them doing something interesting instead of just meandering with no overarching goal. š«¤ I also didnāt care at all about the relationships. Priyaās relationship with that little boy Rukh was just boring to me. And I sure as hell didnāt care about her bff Sima, who was barely in the book. The romance was also really lackluster, in my opinion. They just started crushing on each other for no reason and I never felt any of the tension or the butterflies. Fucking whatever. ššš
I did enjoy the world and the magic system. Itās a shame this book was just a boring introduction to a grand story, instead of being an actual story itself, because Iād love to read more about this world.
The writing was mostly alright, though I did have a couple of issues. Firstly, it sometimes was hard to understand when we were in a flashback. I donāt think the author always did a good job differentiating the timelines. Secondly, it was sometimes hard to visualize some of the characters. Like, Prem, Santosh, Rao, Ashok, Vikram and Aditya were just names on the page, to me. Either their appearances werenāt described that well, or they were only mentioned once in passing and I somehow managed to skip or forget about all of their descriptions. Whatever. Itās not like I really cared, tbh.
I was suuuuper excited to read āThe Jasmine Throneā. I literally waited for the 3rd book to come out so I could binge the entire series. I was CERTAIN Iād like it! Wellā¦ā¦ā¦ I didnāt even like it enough to read book 2, let alone the whole trilogy. š«
The plot wasā¦ something. I couldnāt really tell you much about the story, because honestly it mostly felt like we were just doing whatever. It didnāt feel like there was an overarching goal or main plot thread to follow, which made the story a little difficult to get into. Like, if I donāt know what the characters are trying to achieve, why would I care? This book felt like a reeeeally long introduction to what could be a great story. But, Iām sorry. A 530+ page long introduction is justā¦ Boring. To me, this book read more like a setup for book 2 instead of a story in itself.
At every turn it seemed like the story was about to get interesting, that something BIG was finally gonna happen. But nope. The characters just kept doing little side quests here and there. I still didnāt know what the plot of the book was supposed to be because there was no main plot to follow, and even now, having finished the book, I couldnāt summarize the story for you, because, like,,,,,,, what story????? The only reason I got through this book so quickly is because I listened to the audiobook (which was really good!). But even then, I have to say that the last 20% I listened at 2,5x speed and lowkey dozed offā¦ š«£ Irrelevant side characters were dying, the stakes were (supposedly) high, things were finally happeningā¦ but I just felt zero urgency. I was BORED and at that point I didnāt care about what happened.
The characters were cool and I did enjoy them individually, but I wouldāve liked to follow them doing something interesting instead of just meandering with no overarching goal. š«¤ I also didnāt care at all about the relationships. Priyaās relationship with that little boy Rukh was just boring to me. And I sure as hell didnāt care about her bff Sima, who was barely in the book. The romance was also really lackluster, in my opinion. They just started crushing on each other for no reason and I never felt any of the tension or the butterflies. Fucking whatever. ššš
I did enjoy the world and the magic system. Itās a shame this book was just a boring introduction to a grand story, instead of being an actual story itself, because Iād love to read more about this world.
The writing was mostly alright, though I did have a couple of issues. Firstly, it sometimes was hard to understand when we were in a flashback. I donāt think the author always did a good job differentiating the timelines. Secondly, it was sometimes hard to visualize some of the characters. Like, Prem, Santosh, Rao, Ashok, Vikram and Aditya were just names on the page, to me. Either their appearances werenāt described that well, or they were only mentioned once in passing and I somehow managed to skip or forget about all of their descriptions. Whatever. Itās not like I really cared, tbh.
Fortunate Misfortune by Miah Onsha
lighthearted
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
IāM FINALLY FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE šššššššššššš. Listen!!! This book wasnāt terrible or offensive or anything. I donāt even think it was *bad*. BUUUUUT for some reason it took me *3 WEEKS* to get through!!! That is CRIMINAL!!! I canāt even fully point out why this happened; all I can say is that I was never fully invested in this book, and it never managed to make me care about the characters or story that much š¤.
This is a ārivals to loversā story, but Kenneth and Malloryās reasons to become rivals were just plain dumb. Basically, he instantly found her cute and wanted to make her laugh, and proceeded to compare her colourful outfit to rainbow vomit, which she obviously didnāt appreciate. They then started doing little competitions and keeping score of who won what game. It was honestly not that engaging. Also, their ārivalryā never felt intense enough for random waitresses and bartenders to know them as enemies, but whatever.
I think the biggest reason the romance didnāt work for me was the fact that we never really saw much development. This is described as a slow burn, and, yeah, they only get together at like 60%, but Kenneth literally admits he liked Mallory from the moment they met, and throughout the whole book heās obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with her! And, listen: I enjoy a pathetically-in-love man as much as everyone else, but likeā¦ He was *insanely* down bad, but we never saw a concrete reason as to WHY his feelings were so intense. This was insta-love on his side, but it was *off-page insta-love*, because he already liked her before the book even began, and it seems like he only fell for her because she had a contagious laugh and he became fucking hellbent on being the reason she was happy. š
They are forced to work together on a group project and start spending more time together, and (supposedly) become friends. In my opinion, they got too close, too quickly. Like, Kenneth gives her a super intense speech thanking her for hanging out at a lake with him, they intertwine their fingers, she gets super happy when he smiles at her, they start hugging (he literally says at some point āI wanted nothing more than to hug youā), he pulls her into his lap and she cuddles him, they sleep next to each otherā¦ Just like, suuuper intense for people who were supposedly rivals for YEARS and have only been friends for like, 1 week or something. I just never really believed their friendship ā it often felt too forced. ššš
Another thing: a LOT of lines in this book feel like they were written specifically for the tiktok girlies to swoon over. Thereās just such an abundance of them, and his feelings seem too intense for the relationship weāve seen. This makes me believe that the reason heās so weirdly head-over-heels was specifically BECAUSE the author wanted those swoon-worthy lines, but unfortunately she never managed to make them make sense. š Like, she was excited to get those tab-worthy quotes without doing the work to make them feel warranted, given Kenneth and Malloryās relationship.
So. Yeah. They accept that they like each other at 50%, and then kind of drop their friends because theyāre now mega close with each other somehow. They admit their feelings at 60%, and the rest of the book is just them being together. Not bad, but not really a slow-burn either (especially given the fact that Kenneth was obsessed with Mallory for years before the book starts). Deceptive marketing, in my opinion.
I did enjoy their relationship, though. I mean, their crush, friendship and romance never felt fully developed to me, because I couldnāt understand their reasons to feel so deeply for each other, but I did appreciate how much they cared about one another. They were sweet, they apologized for their wrongdoings, they communicated, they cared about each otherā¦ Overall a very sweet and healthy relationship!
The sex scenes were a bit much for me (especially with lines like āI unwrap her body like the gift it isā and āher perfect pussyā lol. The criiiinge š„“), but that might just be because Iām too asexual for this šµāš«šµāš«šµāš«. Them having unprotected sex stressed me out, even though she was on birth control š. I do appreciate that he was a virgin and she was the more knowledgeable one when it came to sex; at least itās different from what we usually see in these straight adult romances. This virgin ass dude being able to make her cum from penetration was funny, though lmaooo.
I enjoyed the MCs, individually. Kenneth has the very typical āItās not MY dream, dad! Itās YOURS!ā plotline, which I didnāt care about, but whatever. While I didnāt love or understand his intense obsession with Mallory, I did appreciate that at least he was kind and caring, instead of being one of those cocky and mean LIs. Mallory was also a cool character. I especially liked to learn about diabetes through her. Itās the type of thing we never see much representation for.
With that said, I honestly didnāt care about the SCs at all. I appreciate the healthy friendships, but I just didnāt care about them. Also, whenever the author tried to make the āquartetā thing happen with those random football girls, it just seemed silly to me. š I also didnāt care about the MCsā relationships with their parents. Justā¦ whatever.
The writing wasnāt always great. Some conversations didnāt flow very well. And the passage of time was REEEALLY unclear. Like, the book starts in what Iām assuming is the Summer (theyāre at a pool party), and not long after itās snowing????? Iām guessing several months passed between chapters without mention. š¤Ø Afterwards, itās Valentineās Day, and the following chapter itās March, with no mention of a month passing. š¤Ø Later, he fingers her and then asks her to be his girlfriend. The chapter ends. New chapter begins and sheās at his door because heās sick. š¤Ø It all just felt so disjointed, at times! And not only did this make the book feel very clunky, but it also made me question the plot. Like, youāre telling me theyāve been partners for a group project for MONTHS and only met up TWICE to talk about said project? Doesnāt make much senseā¦
There was also too much ātelling instead of showingā. Soooo many times the characters would just *mention* things that had happened and we never got to actually *see*, and likeā¦ā¦ why did so much stuff happen off-page? š If we actually got to see these little moments between the characters, perhaps it wouldāve been easier to *feel* their romance.
Overall, this was justā¦ā¦ a book. š Definitely not terrible, but not great either. For some reason, it took me 3 weeks to finish, but I never really wanted to DNF it (I did want it to be over, though, but that might be because Iād been reading it for what felt like a lifetime lol). Whatever. You might enjoy it more than I did. Idk.
This is a ārivals to loversā story, but Kenneth and Malloryās reasons to become rivals were just plain dumb. Basically, he instantly found her cute and wanted to make her laugh, and proceeded to compare her colourful outfit to rainbow vomit, which she obviously didnāt appreciate. They then started doing little competitions and keeping score of who won what game. It was honestly not that engaging. Also, their ārivalryā never felt intense enough for random waitresses and bartenders to know them as enemies, but whatever.
I think the biggest reason the romance didnāt work for me was the fact that we never really saw much development. This is described as a slow burn, and, yeah, they only get together at like 60%, but Kenneth literally admits he liked Mallory from the moment they met, and throughout the whole book heās obsessed, and I mean OBSESSED with her! And, listen: I enjoy a pathetically-in-love man as much as everyone else, but likeā¦ He was *insanely* down bad, but we never saw a concrete reason as to WHY his feelings were so intense. This was insta-love on his side, but it was *off-page insta-love*, because he already liked her before the book even began, and it seems like he only fell for her because she had a contagious laugh and he became fucking hellbent on being the reason she was happy. š
They are forced to work together on a group project and start spending more time together, and (supposedly) become friends. In my opinion, they got too close, too quickly. Like, Kenneth gives her a super intense speech thanking her for hanging out at a lake with him, they intertwine their fingers, she gets super happy when he smiles at her, they start hugging (he literally says at some point āI wanted nothing more than to hug youā), he pulls her into his lap and she cuddles him, they sleep next to each otherā¦ Just like, suuuper intense for people who were supposedly rivals for YEARS and have only been friends for like, 1 week or something. I just never really believed their friendship ā it often felt too forced. ššš
Another thing: a LOT of lines in this book feel like they were written specifically for the tiktok girlies to swoon over. Thereās just such an abundance of them, and his feelings seem too intense for the relationship weāve seen. This makes me believe that the reason heās so weirdly head-over-heels was specifically BECAUSE the author wanted those swoon-worthy lines, but unfortunately she never managed to make them make sense. š Like, she was excited to get those tab-worthy quotes without doing the work to make them feel warranted, given Kenneth and Malloryās relationship.
So. Yeah. They accept that they like each other at 50%, and then kind of drop their friends because theyāre now mega close with each other somehow. They admit their feelings at 60%, and the rest of the book is just them being together. Not bad, but not really a slow-burn either (especially given the fact that Kenneth was obsessed with Mallory for years before the book starts). Deceptive marketing, in my opinion.
I did enjoy their relationship, though. I mean, their crush, friendship and romance never felt fully developed to me, because I couldnāt understand their reasons to feel so deeply for each other, but I did appreciate how much they cared about one another. They were sweet, they apologized for their wrongdoings, they communicated, they cared about each otherā¦ Overall a very sweet and healthy relationship!
The sex scenes were a bit much for me (especially with lines like āI unwrap her body like the gift it isā and āher perfect pussyā lol. The criiiinge š„“), but that might just be because Iām too asexual for this šµāš«šµāš«šµāš«. Them having unprotected sex stressed me out, even though she was on birth control š. I do appreciate that he was a virgin and she was the more knowledgeable one when it came to sex; at least itās different from what we usually see in these straight adult romances. This virgin ass dude being able to make her cum from penetration was funny, though lmaooo.
I enjoyed the MCs, individually. Kenneth has the very typical āItās not MY dream, dad! Itās YOURS!ā plotline, which I didnāt care about, but whatever. While I didnāt love or understand his intense obsession with Mallory, I did appreciate that at least he was kind and caring, instead of being one of those cocky and mean LIs. Mallory was also a cool character. I especially liked to learn about diabetes through her. Itās the type of thing we never see much representation for.
With that said, I honestly didnāt care about the SCs at all. I appreciate the healthy friendships, but I just didnāt care about them. Also, whenever the author tried to make the āquartetā thing happen with those random football girls, it just seemed silly to me. š I also didnāt care about the MCsā relationships with their parents. Justā¦ whatever.
The writing wasnāt always great. Some conversations didnāt flow very well. And the passage of time was REEEALLY unclear. Like, the book starts in what Iām assuming is the Summer (theyāre at a pool party), and not long after itās snowing????? Iām guessing several months passed between chapters without mention. š¤Ø Afterwards, itās Valentineās Day, and the following chapter itās March, with no mention of a month passing. š¤Ø Later, he fingers her and then asks her to be his girlfriend. The chapter ends. New chapter begins and sheās at his door because heās sick. š¤Ø It all just felt so disjointed, at times! And not only did this make the book feel very clunky, but it also made me question the plot. Like, youāre telling me theyāve been partners for a group project for MONTHS and only met up TWICE to talk about said project? Doesnāt make much senseā¦
There was also too much ātelling instead of showingā. Soooo many times the characters would just *mention* things that had happened and we never got to actually *see*, and likeā¦ā¦ why did so much stuff happen off-page? š If we actually got to see these little moments between the characters, perhaps it wouldāve been easier to *feel* their romance.
Overall, this was justā¦ā¦ a book. š Definitely not terrible, but not great either. For some reason, it took me 3 weeks to finish, but I never really wanted to DNF it (I did want it to be over, though, but that might be because Iād been reading it for what felt like a lifetime lol). Whatever. You might enjoy it more than I did. Idk.