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redsrecs's Reviews (310)
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Love Notes PR for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I absolutely loved jumping back into the world of Maple Hills. It was really fun to be able to read more about characters from book 1 but also get to know more about Russ.
Poor little damages Russ is honestly book boyfriend marriage material and I loved everything about him. He was shy, a gentleman, has good morals, is really good in bed and has some parental trauma he's dealing with.
He meets and falls for Aurora, outgoing, confident, doesn't want a relationship, but it's all a facade while she also deals with parental trauma.
They have a one night half drunk stand, then to their surprise meet again at summer camp where they're both working.
From here, they become friends, they fall in love, they share their trauma and they navigate whatever us between them all while working full time.
I really loved the pace of this book, it became a bit slow in the middle with a lot of trauma dumps between the characters, but overall I never lost interest and always felt like I needed to read more.
The plot was interesting throughout and we see so much of what makes each of these characters uniquely suited for each other.
The writing was impeccable. The world building was easy to follow. Overall this was just a really fun read.
Slow burn. Strangers to friends to lovers. The most witty banter.
10/10 would recommend.
I absolutely loved jumping back into the world of Maple Hills. It was really fun to be able to read more about characters from book 1 but also get to know more about Russ.
Poor little damages Russ is honestly book boyfriend marriage material and I loved everything about him. He was shy, a gentleman, has good morals, is really good in bed and has some parental trauma he's dealing with.
He meets and falls for Aurora, outgoing, confident, doesn't want a relationship, but it's all a facade while she also deals with parental trauma.
They have a one night half drunk stand, then to their surprise meet again at summer camp where they're both working.
From here, they become friends, they fall in love, they share their trauma and they navigate whatever us between them all while working full time.
I really loved the pace of this book, it became a bit slow in the middle with a lot of trauma dumps between the characters, but overall I never lost interest and always felt like I needed to read more.
The plot was interesting throughout and we see so much of what makes each of these characters uniquely suited for each other.
The writing was impeccable. The world building was easy to follow. Overall this was just a really fun read.
Slow burn. Strangers to friends to lovers. The most witty banter.
10/10 would recommend.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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
Thank you to Penguin Random House for gifting me a PR package that included this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Rating Breakdown:
Plot: 5
Pacing: 4.83
Writing: 5
Language: 5
World Building: 5
Characters: 4
Romance: 3
Hades & Persephone retelling. Young Adult. Slow Burn. Fake dating/Marriage of convenience. Chosen one. Powerful FMC.
This is the most fun I've had, reading a Hades & Persephone retelling. This version of the story is not only grounded in so much of the reality of how people lived in these times, but it was also the most real and human that I've experienced with these characters.
The biggest thing for me was how real the issues Persephone experienced with her parents were, especially with her mother. It really resonated with some of my personal trauma. Kudos to the author for being able to capture those emotions.
Overall I loved that Persophone finding her place in the Underworld, had nothing to do with Hades, but that they had the opportunity to find and love each other anyway.
Everything in this book was just about flawless, the only thing that got to me in some sense was the romance. It felt like it took so long for them to not only communicate their feelings and stop denying each other and themselves, but even after doing so, it still took such a long time for them to move on to the next step in their relationship. Considering that this book is YA, I don't begrudge it. So maybe it just felt worse for me as someone who isn't a young adult who also tends to read New Adult just as much as I read Young Adult.
The author did an amazing job in creating these characters, this story and bringing the real history into every facet of this book.
Rating: 4.5 stars
Rating Breakdown:
Plot: 5
Pacing: 4.83
Writing: 5
Language: 5
World Building: 5
Characters: 4
Romance: 3
Hades & Persephone retelling. Young Adult. Slow Burn. Fake dating/Marriage of convenience. Chosen one. Powerful FMC.
This is the most fun I've had, reading a Hades & Persephone retelling. This version of the story is not only grounded in so much of the reality of how people lived in these times, but it was also the most real and human that I've experienced with these characters.
The biggest thing for me was how real the issues Persephone experienced with her parents were, especially with her mother. It really resonated with some of my personal trauma. Kudos to the author for being able to capture those emotions.
Overall I loved that Persophone finding her place in the Underworld, had nothing to do with Hades, but that they had the opportunity to find and love each other anyway.
Everything in this book was just about flawless, the only thing that got to me in some sense was the romance. It felt like it took so long for them to not only communicate their feelings and stop denying each other and themselves, but even after doing so, it still took such a long time for them to move on to the next step in their relationship. Considering that this book is YA, I don't begrudge it. So maybe it just felt worse for me as someone who isn't a young adult who also tends to read New Adult just as much as I read Young Adult.
The author did an amazing job in creating these characters, this story and bringing the real history into every facet of this book.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Penguin Random House for giving me the opportunity to read this e-arc via Netgalley.
Total rating: 4.83 stars
Rating breakdown:
Plot: 5
Pacing: 4.83
Writing & Language: 5
World building & Characters: 5
Romance: 5
Spice: 4
WOW. This book absolutely BLEW me away.
I was enthralled from the moment we meet Bjorn up until the very last page that left me wanting for more.
The pacing was absolute perfection from start to finish and I never felt as if the story dipped or became boring. The pacing was also really good, it never felt like the story was happening too fast or too slow.
The writing and use of language overall was really good and was done in a way that really suited the characters and world. I felt like at every turn I was reading the dialogue in the same accent as in the series “Vikings”.
The world building was done to perfection, my understanding of the land, where places were from each other, the gods and how the magic worked all given through in a way that was easy to understand and wasn’t an info dump.
The characters on their own were each also very interesting and lovable and it was easy to want to know what will happen with them.
Lastly, the romance was amazing. The slow burn, the tension of wanting each other from day one but having to deny themselves, keeping their feelings from each other. These are the things I live for.
There wasn’t a lot of spice but what was there was well written and didn’t feel cringe. I did wish there was more sexual tension between the characters but overall it did not impact the story.
I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy and though this book has not yet been published I’m looking forward to the next book!
Total rating: 4.83 stars
Rating breakdown:
Plot: 5
Pacing: 4.83
Writing & Language: 5
World building & Characters: 5
Romance: 5
Spice: 4
WOW. This book absolutely BLEW me away.
I was enthralled from the moment we meet Bjorn up until the very last page that left me wanting for more.
The pacing was absolute perfection from start to finish and I never felt as if the story dipped or became boring. The pacing was also really good, it never felt like the story was happening too fast or too slow.
The writing and use of language overall was really good and was done in a way that really suited the characters and world. I felt like at every turn I was reading the dialogue in the same accent as in the series “Vikings”.
The world building was done to perfection, my understanding of the land, where places were from each other, the gods and how the magic worked all given through in a way that was easy to understand and wasn’t an info dump.
The characters on their own were each also very interesting and lovable and it was easy to want to know what will happen with them.
Lastly, the romance was amazing. The slow burn, the tension of wanting each other from day one but having to deny themselves, keeping their feelings from each other. These are the things I live for.
There wasn’t a lot of spice but what was there was well written and didn’t feel cringe. I did wish there was more sexual tension between the characters but overall it did not impact the story.
I can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy and though this book has not yet been published I’m looking forward to the next book!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
