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opalmars's Reviews (350)
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
I already know this is going to be one of my favourite books of 2025! šāāļø I literally had to force myself to put it down, otherwise I wouldnāt sleep š
. I was sad when it ended bc I wanted this book to go on foreverrrrrrr!
We are following 2 MCs, Mason and Cameron, both of whom have had difficult lives, which made them put on faƧades and withdraw from their peers. This story explores both of their struggles in a very raw and vulnerable way, which was difficult to read at times, but it was also a very realistic portrayal of these problems (definitely check out the TWs)! I really liked seeing Mason and Cameron growing to overcome these issues, and being there for each other through these difficult moments.
Individually, the characters were great! Cameron is a really funny character (Amanda Woody always manages to write funny MCs. Itās not often I highlight funny one-liners in books, but with this author, itās a staple!). Mason was a more introverted character, but still quite sassy, so their banter was just >>>>>>. Both MCs were really well-developed.
Their romance was really sweet!! š„ŗš¤§š I looooved seeing Mason and Cameron growing closer and trusting each other more and more, to the point where they finally felt comfortable being themselves! They were so kind and understanding of each otherās boundaries, and their romance gave this story such a hopeful undertone; while there were difficult moments in the story, I knew these characters would always have each other to lean on. I just adoooored them!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I donāt really give quarter-stars, but if I did, this would be a 4,25 *. I feel like, if I read it again, Iād bump it up to 4,5 *. I just really enjoyed this book, and I canāt wait to have a physical copy! š«
Thanks to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book!
We are following 2 MCs, Mason and Cameron, both of whom have had difficult lives, which made them put on faƧades and withdraw from their peers. This story explores both of their struggles in a very raw and vulnerable way, which was difficult to read at times, but it was also a very realistic portrayal of these problems (definitely check out the TWs)! I really liked seeing Mason and Cameron growing to overcome these issues, and being there for each other through these difficult moments.
Individually, the characters were great! Cameron is a really funny character (Amanda Woody always manages to write funny MCs. Itās not often I highlight funny one-liners in books, but with this author, itās a staple!). Mason was a more introverted character, but still quite sassy, so their banter was just >>>>>>. Both MCs were really well-developed.
Their romance was really sweet!! š„ŗš¤§š I looooved seeing Mason and Cameron growing closer and trusting each other more and more, to the point where they finally felt comfortable being themselves! They were so kind and understanding of each otherās boundaries, and their romance gave this story such a hopeful undertone; while there were difficult moments in the story, I knew these characters would always have each other to lean on. I just adoooored them!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I donāt really give quarter-stars, but if I did, this would be a 4,25 *. I feel like, if I read it again, Iād bump it up to 4,5 *. I just really enjoyed this book, and I canāt wait to have a physical copy! š«
Thanks to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Biphobia, Sexual violence
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book follows Alisā struggles with his mental health. It was a hard read, at times, but it seemed like a very realistic and honest portrayal of depression. There was a very good exploration of Alisā feelings when it came to his self-harm, his abusive family, the bullying he suffered and his ex-bestie Jordan; I also really liked seeing Alis grow and heal, slowly, through his new friendships.
This is definitely not a bad book, at all, and Iād still recommend it! For some reason, however, it just never managed to fully grab my attention. š I genuinely canāt pinpoint what happened here, but I was disengaged and extremely bored the whole way through, and I never wanted to pick this book up. It took me 10 days to finish such a simple book. I canāt even explain why I was so uninterested in this story, but alas.
I also didnāt really care about the romance. The book takes place in a week and Alis and Craig never really spoke to each other before, so they go from basically strangers to friends to lovers in just a couple of days, which wasnāt very believable to me. They show interest in each other really early on in the book. I feel like they werenāt even friends and they were already into each other, just based on looks (which like, is how attraction usually works, sure, but *I* personally find it boring to read about. I prefer it when characters fall for the otherās personality first. Just a personal thing, which unfortunately made me not care about their romance).
With that said, Craig was really sweet and understanding of Alisā problems, which I really appreciated. I also LOOOOOVE to see a fat LI! We rarely see different types of bodies in romances, especially with the male characters, so I really liked this representation.
So, overall, this is a very well-done book that tackles important topics in a sensitive yet raw way, and Iād definitely recommend it (though check out the TWs!). Unfortunately, though, it just didnāt work for me. š¢
This is definitely not a bad book, at all, and Iād still recommend it! For some reason, however, it just never managed to fully grab my attention. š I genuinely canāt pinpoint what happened here, but I was disengaged and extremely bored the whole way through, and I never wanted to pick this book up. It took me 10 days to finish such a simple book. I canāt even explain why I was so uninterested in this story, but alas.
I also didnāt really care about the romance. The book takes place in a week and Alis and Craig never really spoke to each other before, so they go from basically strangers to friends to lovers in just a couple of days, which wasnāt very believable to me. They show interest in each other really early on in the book. I feel like they werenāt even friends and they were already into each other, just based on looks (which like, is how attraction usually works, sure, but *I* personally find it boring to read about. I prefer it when characters fall for the otherās personality first. Just a personal thing, which unfortunately made me not care about their romance).
With that said, Craig was really sweet and understanding of Alisā problems, which I really appreciated. I also LOOOOOVE to see a fat LI! We rarely see different types of bodies in romances, especially with the male characters, so I really liked this representation.
So, overall, this is a very well-done book that tackles important topics in a sensitive yet raw way, and Iād definitely recommend it (though check out the TWs!). Unfortunately, though, it just didnāt work for me. š¢
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship
Minor: Animal death, Fire/Fire injury
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is kind of a mess, and not in a fun way, more like a āwe lost the plotā way. ššš
At first this book was supposed to be about Amelia dating her exes to find out what she lacked as a girlfriend. However, we never actually get to see this happen. Other than 2 dates, all of the dates happened OFF-PAGE, and weād only get to hear about them in 1 paragraph at the beginning of some chapters. Literally just *1 paragraph* where theyād quickly mention the dates and thatās it. Just *telling* instead of *showing* the literal premise of the book! What the hell?! ššš
This whole thing became so confusing that I didnāt even fully understand if those were dates she was CURRENTLY going on, or if she was looking back and analyzing old dates from past years (which would make sense since the dates were never even *mentioned* outside of those paragraphs at the start of chapters). It was just a mess!
Later, one of her exes (Leon) shows back up, and Amelia IMMEDIATELY makes it clear that she still likes him, even though they havenāt seen each other in 2 years + he literally broke up with her and ghosted her. She supposedly āhatesā him, yet she still has feelings for him, which like, I get it, because she did like him at one point. However, itās kind of pathetic to see her clearly still in love with the dude who broke her heart several years ago. š„“ Additionally, her girlfriend Perri breaks up with her at the start of the book, yet Amelia never even thinks about her! Yet sheās obsessed with Leonā¦ā¦ š Okay.
Leon literally dumped and ghosted her YEARS ago, and when he shows up again he keeps messing with her, + he never apologizes for hurting her. And then he asks to be her friend again?????? The audacity of menā¦ā¦ š¤” She accepts it with the intention of making him fall for her so she can break his heart, just like heād done to her. This became the whole plot of the book, since the dating-the-exes thing was discarded by the author after a grand total of 2 dates. However, this was also not very well doneā¦ā¦ š«„
Amelia quickly falls in love with Leon again (they almost kiss at 44% š), even though he never even apologized for hurting her 2 years prior. I never understood why they liked each other. Second-chance relationships are hard to sell, and this author didnāt manage to make this romance believable. Their relationship in the present is solely based on their past relationship, but we didnāt see enough of them in the past for me to care about their romanceā¦ š At some point Leon mentions that his favourite memories are the ones with her, and I was sitting there thinking āDamn. Wouldnāt itāve been nice to see more of those, so I could at least TRY to understand why yāall got together in the first place, let alone why you fell for each other AGAIN?!ā š«¤
Leon pissed me off throughout the whole book, because he simply refused to apologize for hurting Amelia, or to, at the very least, explain himself. It was infuriating, especially since Amelia constantly acknowledged that she deserved an apology, yet she was still in love with him????? š¤” Maybe Iām just built different, but if a man treats me poorly and then refuses to apologize I am NOT going to be swooning over him! š¤·š»
At the end of the book, a bunch of characters turn out to be evil lmao.Arno, the nice boy Amelia had a thing with, literally becomes a caricature of a bad guy. š Itās revealed that Ameliaās aunts lowkey manipulated Leon into breaking up with Amelia; MULTIPLE GROWN ASS ADULTS doing everything they can to break up these teenagersā relationship because they genuinely believe they are ācursedā is fucking idiotic. š¤”
Leon then finds out about Ameliaās plan to hurt him back and asks why she didnāt just tell him she was still angry about him breaking her heartā¦ā¦ā¦ Bro. Because you literally treated her like garbage and she wanted to do the same to you, especially since you never apologized! Likeā¦??? š¤”š¤”š¤”
Sure, it turns out her aunts manipulated him into going away and breaking up so I guess heās forgiven. HOWEVER, I hate that he kept grilling her! Her actions were all because of what heād done, so the way he was expecting apologies as if sheās evil, when in actuality she was having a VERY NORMAL reaction to being hurt, is totally absurd! And HE only apologizes AFTER she does? Ughhhhhhh.
Everyone lowkey sucks in this book. I just wish Amelia would cut them all off and find happiness on the other side of the world. šš
Speaking of Amelia: I didnāt really like to be in her head š„“. The fact that she was so obsessed with her ex who hurt her without apologizing already makes her annoying. She was also clumsy to the point where it became fucking absurd; she was always tripping, falling, dropping things, getting dirty or soaked. It became a caricature! At some point she doesnāt want Leon to get on a train so she EATS his ticket????? What the actual fuck?? The physical comedy simply never landed. It was just unfunny. Leon was also constantly rescuing her, + helping her as if she is a child (putting on her shoes, buckling her inā¦). Amelia is PATHETIC and INCOMPETENT!!!
There were also some typos and continuity mistakes, but I guess thatās the least egregious thing in this book lmao. It is proof that it wasnāt properly edited, though. Perhaps if someone had paid more attention to this book during editing they wouldāve noticed that the author literally lost the plot, lmaoooo. ššš
At first this book was supposed to be about Amelia dating her exes to find out what she lacked as a girlfriend. However, we never actually get to see this happen. Other than 2 dates, all of the dates happened OFF-PAGE, and weād only get to hear about them in 1 paragraph at the beginning of some chapters. Literally just *1 paragraph* where theyād quickly mention the dates and thatās it. Just *telling* instead of *showing* the literal premise of the book! What the hell?! ššš
This whole thing became so confusing that I didnāt even fully understand if those were dates she was CURRENTLY going on, or if she was looking back and analyzing old dates from past years (which would make sense since the dates were never even *mentioned* outside of those paragraphs at the start of chapters). It was just a mess!
Later, one of her exes (Leon) shows back up, and Amelia IMMEDIATELY makes it clear that she still likes him, even though they havenāt seen each other in 2 years + he literally broke up with her and ghosted her. She supposedly āhatesā him, yet she still has feelings for him, which like, I get it, because she did like him at one point. However, itās kind of pathetic to see her clearly still in love with the dude who broke her heart several years ago. š„“ Additionally, her girlfriend Perri breaks up with her at the start of the book, yet Amelia never even thinks about her! Yet sheās obsessed with Leonā¦ā¦ š Okay.
Leon literally dumped and ghosted her YEARS ago, and when he shows up again he keeps messing with her, + he never apologizes for hurting her. And then he asks to be her friend again?????? The audacity of menā¦ā¦ š¤” She accepts it with the intention of making him fall for her so she can break his heart, just like heād done to her. This became the whole plot of the book, since the dating-the-exes thing was discarded by the author after a grand total of 2 dates. However, this was also not very well doneā¦ā¦ š«„
Amelia quickly falls in love with Leon again (they almost kiss at 44% š), even though he never even apologized for hurting her 2 years prior. I never understood why they liked each other. Second-chance relationships are hard to sell, and this author didnāt manage to make this romance believable. Their relationship in the present is solely based on their past relationship, but we didnāt see enough of them in the past for me to care about their romanceā¦ š At some point Leon mentions that his favourite memories are the ones with her, and I was sitting there thinking āDamn. Wouldnāt itāve been nice to see more of those, so I could at least TRY to understand why yāall got together in the first place, let alone why you fell for each other AGAIN?!ā š«¤
Leon pissed me off throughout the whole book, because he simply refused to apologize for hurting Amelia, or to, at the very least, explain himself. It was infuriating, especially since Amelia constantly acknowledged that she deserved an apology, yet she was still in love with him????? š¤” Maybe Iām just built different, but if a man treats me poorly and then refuses to apologize I am NOT going to be swooning over him! š¤·š»
At the end of the book, a bunch of characters turn out to be evil lmao.
Leon then finds out about Ameliaās plan to hurt him back and asks why she didnāt just tell him she was still angry about him breaking her heartā¦ā¦ā¦ Bro. Because you literally treated her like garbage and she wanted to do the same to you, especially since you never apologized! Likeā¦??? š¤”š¤”š¤”
Sure, it turns out her aunts manipulated him into going away and breaking up so I guess heās forgiven. HOWEVER, I hate that he kept grilling her! Her actions were all because of what heād done, so the way he was expecting apologies as if sheās evil, when in actuality she was having a VERY NORMAL reaction to being hurt, is totally absurd! And HE only apologizes AFTER she does? Ughhhhhhh.
Everyone lowkey sucks in this book. I just wish Amelia would cut them all off and find happiness on the other side of the world. šš
Speaking of Amelia: I didnāt really like to be in her head š„“. The fact that she was so obsessed with her ex who hurt her without apologizing already makes her annoying. She was also clumsy to the point where it became fucking absurd; she was always tripping, falling, dropping things, getting dirty or soaked. It became a caricature! At some point she doesnāt want Leon to get on a train so she EATS his ticket????? What the actual fuck?? The physical comedy simply never landed. It was just unfunny. Leon was also constantly rescuing her, + helping her as if she is a child (putting on her shoes, buckling her inā¦). Amelia is PATHETIC and INCOMPETENT!!!
There were also some typos and continuity mistakes, but I guess thatās the least egregious thing in this book lmao. It is proof that it wasnāt properly edited, though. Perhaps if someone had paid more attention to this book during editing they wouldāve noticed that the author literally lost the plot, lmaoooo. ššš
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
ā¤ I had a really hard time getting into this book. It took me over a week just to read the first 30% of the book. I then switched to the audiobook, even though I didnāt like the narrator, just so I could finish this damn thing.
ā¤ The plot was interesting *on paper*: a murder mystery in a sci-fi setting? Sign me up! However, the plot moved soooooo slowly! Literally NOTHING happened for most of the book, and even when the story started moving it was still not that interesting. I just found this book painfully uninteresting. š
ā¤ The climax of the story was BORING as hell lmao.Mahit found out the Teixcalaanli emperor wanted to invade Lsel (where sheās from), and Yskandr (the previous ambassador)ās death was ~very convenient~ (if he died he couldnāt keep the peace between Teixcalaan and Lsel). She warned Lsel about Teixcalaanās invasion plans. People at Lsel tell her about some other invaders and Mahit just tells the Teixcalaanli emperor like āYeah dude, you should fight these other invaders instead of annexing my station!ā and thatās it. ššššššš So dull, so obvious, so easy, so anticlimacticā¦ Why did I read all this for???
ā¤ The writing was a little confusing. There were A LOT of āasidesā in the middle of sentences (in between em dashes), but these were so long that it became difficult to remember how the original sentence even started, because at that point we had had 4 lines of unrelated and UNNECESSARY stuff in between those em dashes lol.
ā¤ The world was interesting and rich. I especially liked the focus of the nuances of languages, ways to address people, customs, traditions and gestures. With that said, it kind of feels like a waste to have this expansive and interesting world and do so little with it. This book takes place in one city (that we barely see) during like 1 week. It could honestly take place anywhere. The setting was mostly irrelevant, tbh.
ā¤ The plot was interesting *on paper*: a murder mystery in a sci-fi setting? Sign me up! However, the plot moved soooooo slowly! Literally NOTHING happened for most of the book, and even when the story started moving it was still not that interesting. I just found this book painfully uninteresting. š
ā¤ The climax of the story was BORING as hell lmao.
ā¤ The writing was a little confusing. There were A LOT of āasidesā in the middle of sentences (in between em dashes), but these were so long that it became difficult to remember how the original sentence even started, because at that point we had had 4 lines of unrelated and UNNECESSARY stuff in between those em dashes lol.
ā¤ The world was interesting and rich. I especially liked the focus of the nuances of languages, ways to address people, customs, traditions and gestures. With that said, it kind of feels like a waste to have this expansive and interesting world and do so little with it. This book takes place in one city (that we barely see) during like 1 week. It could honestly take place anywhere. The setting was mostly irrelevant, tbh.
ā¤ Mahit was a bad MC. She is literally in danger of being murdered but honestly she doesnāt seem to care that much. š She is supposed to be knowledgeable on the Teixcalaanli Empire (since sheās literally an ambassador) yet doesnāt even know how the emperor gets heirs. The author sometimes made her dumb just for the sake of getting that information conveniently told to the reader. š Like, this bitch literally tells Teixcalaan about Lselās very secret technological advancements on HER FIRST DAY THERE!!!! š It takes her 70% of the book to think about putting Yskandrās imago in her brain, so she could access his memories (which was literally my first thought, from chapter 1 lol)ā¦ ššš <b>Mahit is STUPID, and it makes NO SENSE that sheād be chosen to be an ambassador between 2 warring nations.</b> Byeeee.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is why you donāt give authors 2nd chances. š I didnāt hate āLike Real People Doā (if I did, I wouldnāt have touched any of her work ever again lol). I thought her 1st book had potential, and I liked some things about it, but unfortunately the *telling instead of showing* and the *underdeveloped relationships* made that book underwhelming. And this book has the exact same problems.
My first issue with the book (and the reason I wanted to quickly DNF) was the instant hate + instant attraction. The moment Damien and Rome meet for the 1st time they instantly find each other hot and both think āOh noā, and it left me wonderingā¦ why? Why are both of you already worried about the other? Or are you worried you might fall in love? š¤Ø Either way, thinking that *the moment* you meet someone is strange to me.
Rome immediately says that Damien is āirritatingly well-groomedā (okayā¦ forced hatred despite the attraction, sureā¦), and Damien thinks about how he wants to TOUCH Rome! A STRANGER!!!! š¤Øš¤Øš¤Ø (Side note: Damien spends A LOT of the book thinking about how much he wants to touch Rome, even BEFORE they become friends. He has some weird obsession with touching this boy, literally from the moment they meet. Itās WEIRD!).
Their ārivalryā was absurd. They instantly hate each other, and itās all just super forced. Like, sure, they both ended up showing reasons for the other to hate them (like Rome being dismissive of his white privilege and being standoffish and cold, and Damien going through Romeās phone without permission and ignoring the fact that Rome is not rich). HOWEVER!!!!!!! They both start disliking each other BEFORE they have justifiable reasons to (especially Rome)! I justā¦ didnāt get it. I genuinely feel like they were ārivalsā just so this could be advertised as an enemies-to-lovers. There was no reason for them to be immediately antagonistic. Their rivalry just wasnāt properly developed.
Speaking of not being properly developed: a lot of this story happened off-page. š« š« š« This was also a problem for me in E.L. Masseyās 1st book. This author has never heard of āshow, donāt tellā. All she does is tell, and she rarely shows anything. We donāt get to experience the things that are happening, because the author just keeps making their moments happen off-page, only mentioning them as if theyāre irrelevant little things, and likeā¦ā¦ Theyāre NOT! These moments are IMPORTANT! Theyāre RELEVANT! If you donāt show Damien and Romeās relationship develop, how can we believe that they went from (forced) enemies to friends to lovers?????
I had hope that the author had grown from her 1st book, but itās clear thatās not the case. Weeks go by, and we only see like 3 moments between them. š MONTHS pass and we barely see any of what happened during that time. š Weāre told Rome is an incredible hockey player, and that he and Damien have an insanely good chemistry when they play together, but we never get to see that. š They realize their rivalry might be unfounded and start noticing nice things about each other (and by that I mean that we get paragraphs and paragraphs LISTING these things instead of, you know, getting to SEE them notice these things about each other?). š All of this just in the first 11% of the book, by the way. The rest of the book is similar, though. Just soooo much telling instead of showingā¦ it was infuriating, and it made it hard for me to care about their relationship.
At 16% Rome mentions that he enjoyed Damien touching him āa little bit too muchāā¦ And, as I already mentioned, Damien was wanting to touch Rome from the moment they metā¦ Ughhhhhhhhhhh. It was not surprising that this was lowkey insta-lovey, since they were instantly attracted to each other, but it was still disappointing to see them be so into each other only 16% in. We need to abolish this type of stuff fr. Give me slow burns or give me NOTHING.
At some point I just accepted that they were both super into each other and went along with it. There were still a lot of little moments that were furthering their relationship happening off-page, which certainly didnāt help, but whatever. They started sleeping next to each other for some reason, which also felt unwarranted, but sure. They kissed for the 1st time and Rome immediately wanted sexā¦ okay. Overall, I just didnāt care at all about their relationship.
However, I did find them cute, once they got together! This author is really good at writing wholesome relationships, and sweet moments that make you feel warm and fuzzy and give you butterflies. Damien and Rome had a fun bickering dynamic, but they also really cared about each other, talked through their feelings and were really sweet overall.
Still, though, I couldnāt fully jive with their relationship. Not only did I find their instant attraction tooā¦ *instant*, but I also thought their relationship moved waaaay too quickly! Like, what do you MEAN yāall 17-18 y/o high schoolers are thinking aboutADOPTING A CHILD TOGETHER after dating only for like **3 MONTHS**????? šØšØšØ And then 5 months in youāre joking about marriage??? š¶š¶š¶ The whole situation was A LOT and thereās definitely nuance here, and I totally understand Romeās position. But I just feel like Rome and Damien being soooooo ready for all that after only dating for a couple of months, especially as TEENAGERS, was a bit much. If the characters were older, a life decision like that would be more understandable (though I still think their relationship was too new for all that lmao). But as HIGH SCHOOLERS?????? Insanity š.
Regarding the characters: I thought they were fine. I donāt have much to say about them, individually, though I think they both had interesting stories. I will say that, once again, a lot of things happen off-page that make it harder to care about them. Like, we never see them doing anything for school, or practice hockey. We donāt see Damienās poetry recitals. We donāt see Rome bonding with the rest of the team, even though the author for sure wanted this to be a āfound familyā. In the end, both Rome and Damien win very important prizes (literally making history) in their respective fields despite being 19-20, and I was like š. Whateverrrr. At that point I was so detached from this story that I didnāt care anymore.
The writing wasnāt terrible. There were minimal typos/continuity errors, but I donāt mind that in a self-published book. My biggest problem was for sure the *telling instead of showing*. I just donāt think thatās a great way to write a story, personally.
Iām clearly in the minority, though. I read a 2nd book by this author because there were things I really liked about her 1st book, so, if youāre not bothered by the same things Iām bothered by, you might really enjoy this author! I wish I did, too, because I genuinely love the wholesomeness of her romances. Alasā¦
My first issue with the book (and the reason I wanted to quickly DNF) was the instant hate + instant attraction. The moment Damien and Rome meet for the 1st time they instantly find each other hot and both think āOh noā, and it left me wonderingā¦ why? Why are both of you already worried about the other? Or are you worried you might fall in love? š¤Ø Either way, thinking that *the moment* you meet someone is strange to me.
Rome immediately says that Damien is āirritatingly well-groomedā (okayā¦ forced hatred despite the attraction, sureā¦), and Damien thinks about how he wants to TOUCH Rome! A STRANGER!!!! š¤Øš¤Øš¤Ø (Side note: Damien spends A LOT of the book thinking about how much he wants to touch Rome, even BEFORE they become friends. He has some weird obsession with touching this boy, literally from the moment they meet. Itās WEIRD!).
Their ārivalryā was absurd. They instantly hate each other, and itās all just super forced. Like, sure, they both ended up showing reasons for the other to hate them (like Rome being dismissive of his white privilege and being standoffish and cold, and Damien going through Romeās phone without permission and ignoring the fact that Rome is not rich). HOWEVER!!!!!!! They both start disliking each other BEFORE they have justifiable reasons to (especially Rome)! I justā¦ didnāt get it. I genuinely feel like they were ārivalsā just so this could be advertised as an enemies-to-lovers. There was no reason for them to be immediately antagonistic. Their rivalry just wasnāt properly developed.
Speaking of not being properly developed: a lot of this story happened off-page. š« š« š« This was also a problem for me in E.L. Masseyās 1st book. This author has never heard of āshow, donāt tellā. All she does is tell, and she rarely shows anything. We donāt get to experience the things that are happening, because the author just keeps making their moments happen off-page, only mentioning them as if theyāre irrelevant little things, and likeā¦ā¦ Theyāre NOT! These moments are IMPORTANT! Theyāre RELEVANT! If you donāt show Damien and Romeās relationship develop, how can we believe that they went from (forced) enemies to friends to lovers?????
I had hope that the author had grown from her 1st book, but itās clear thatās not the case. Weeks go by, and we only see like 3 moments between them. š MONTHS pass and we barely see any of what happened during that time. š Weāre told Rome is an incredible hockey player, and that he and Damien have an insanely good chemistry when they play together, but we never get to see that. š They realize their rivalry might be unfounded and start noticing nice things about each other (and by that I mean that we get paragraphs and paragraphs LISTING these things instead of, you know, getting to SEE them notice these things about each other?). š All of this just in the first 11% of the book, by the way. The rest of the book is similar, though. Just soooo much telling instead of showingā¦ it was infuriating, and it made it hard for me to care about their relationship.
At 16% Rome mentions that he enjoyed Damien touching him āa little bit too muchāā¦ And, as I already mentioned, Damien was wanting to touch Rome from the moment they metā¦ Ughhhhhhhhhhh. It was not surprising that this was lowkey insta-lovey, since they were instantly attracted to each other, but it was still disappointing to see them be so into each other only 16% in. We need to abolish this type of stuff fr. Give me slow burns or give me NOTHING.
At some point I just accepted that they were both super into each other and went along with it. There were still a lot of little moments that were furthering their relationship happening off-page, which certainly didnāt help, but whatever. They started sleeping next to each other for some reason, which also felt unwarranted, but sure. They kissed for the 1st time and Rome immediately wanted sexā¦ okay. Overall, I just didnāt care at all about their relationship.
However, I did find them cute, once they got together! This author is really good at writing wholesome relationships, and sweet moments that make you feel warm and fuzzy and give you butterflies. Damien and Rome had a fun bickering dynamic, but they also really cared about each other, talked through their feelings and were really sweet overall.
Still, though, I couldnāt fully jive with their relationship. Not only did I find their instant attraction tooā¦ *instant*, but I also thought their relationship moved waaaay too quickly! Like, what do you MEAN yāall 17-18 y/o high schoolers are thinking about
Regarding the characters: I thought they were fine. I donāt have much to say about them, individually, though I think they both had interesting stories. I will say that, once again, a lot of things happen off-page that make it harder to care about them. Like, we never see them doing anything for school, or practice hockey. We donāt see Damienās poetry recitals. We donāt see Rome bonding with the rest of the team, even though the author for sure wanted this to be a āfound familyā. In the end, both Rome and Damien win very important prizes (literally making history) in their respective fields despite being 19-20, and I was like š. Whateverrrr. At that point I was so detached from this story that I didnāt care anymore.
The writing wasnāt terrible. There were minimal typos/continuity errors, but I donāt mind that in a self-published book. My biggest problem was for sure the *telling instead of showing*. I just donāt think thatās a great way to write a story, personally.
Iām clearly in the minority, though. I read a 2nd book by this author because there were things I really liked about her 1st book, so, if youāre not bothered by the same things Iām bothered by, you might really enjoy this author! I wish I did, too, because I genuinely love the wholesomeness of her romances. Alasā¦
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
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, Homophobia
Minor: Bullying, Suicidal thoughts
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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.
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.