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samanthaardenlockheart's reviews
56 reviews
Fix Your Attitude by Kassanovella
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
5.0
<i>There <b>are</b> spoilers in this review. Proceed with caution. ♥️</i>
This work of fanfiction is utterly incredible, so is it really a surprise that I’m left speechless? And written by Kassanovella, no less? I’m currently dealing with a stage in my life of being single and staying away from love in real life, and it has not been easy. I’ve had a lot of lonely days, isolating nights, and difficult feelings in general… but I really needed to read this. I feel very loved after reading fics like this, and since Kylo Ren has been my fictional soulmate since December 28th, 2019, it’s only fitting that <i>he</i> is the specific character I would want to be loved by! ✨🌌
In <i>Fix Your Attitude<i>, Reader-chan (RC) is an engineer working for the First Order who is stationed at Starkiller, tasked with working on the Command Shuttle. Her best friends are Samuel Foster and Minks Loren, and for a long time, she’d had a massive crush on Sam—with his charming smile and blond hair. But RC ultimately runs into Commander Kylo Ren whilst he’s reading her thoughts, prodding into her mind. That is a core plot point of this story: the fact that he is able to see, and <i>feel<i> her thoughts. There are many sexual scenes involved, and some are a bit more violent than others, but the scenes with slow, passionate sex tugged at my heart and made me feel so many emotions. I loved the angst between Commander Ren and RC throughout this entire story. It truly feels like I’ve gone through this experience. The final chapter of this book, “The Closest I’ll Come,” shattered my heart into a million pieces. Getting to feel and experience everything Kylo was going through at the end of this story was utterly soul-shaking. RC still chose her own destiny in the end, trusting that Ren would come back to her. That he would find her. No matter what, he would never, truly, let her go.
I’m a little bit of a crying mess now after reading this, but paradoxically, books such as this have true, definitive power of healing heartbreaks. Thank you, Kass, for writing this. As an author, her sense of emotionality and conveying that through her writing is not comparable to anything else I have read. When I read this, I felt transported to a place where I am loved and healed. Reader-insert stories affect me in that way because my mind interprets RC’s characters as if they are my own—in a similar way if I was reading a book told from the first or third person, but in a <i>deeper</i> way. Kassanovella has such a beautiful way of characterising Kylo Ren; I love his complexity, depth, inscrutability, and vulnerability she has woven into his soul and mind. Kylo’s fierce, guarded love pierces my heart in such a profound way. I love being his <i>sweet thing</i>. ♥️
As I have mentioned before in this review and in other reviews, I’ve very much been in love with Kylo Ren for such a long time, and he’s my fictional soulmate without a shadow of a doubt. Most of those feelings are due to Kass’s excellent writing, including her other fic, <i>Little Bird</i> which is a masterpiece just as <i>Fix Your Attitude</i>. Thank you for reading this review. It goes without saying that I can not wait to read her future works. ✨♥️✨♥️✨♥️✨♥️
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
5.0
This is personally my FAVOURITE Harry Potter book out of the whole series. I read it a very long time ago when I was much younger, and even then Professor Severus Snape was the greatest character in these books. He was portrayed to be a cold, callous man with ulterior motives, yet he turned out to be extraordinarily brave and selfless, sacrificing so much of himself for the sake of Harry Potter, and of course, Lily whom he was madly in love with. All of the books are just such great novels, and I am lucky to have been able to read it and in the future, I will certainly read it again. The story will be with me always. ♥️
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
5.0
A classic book filled with memories, nostalgia, and magic! You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, I will read these books again, in the future. ♥️
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
5.0
A classic book filled with memories, nostalgia, and magic! You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, I will read these books again, in the future. ♥️
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Ravenclaw Edition by J.K. Rowling
5.0
A classic book filled with memories, nostalgia, and magic! You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, I will read these books again, in the future. ♥️
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
5.0
A classic book filled with memories, nostalgia, and magic! You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, I will read these books again, in the future. ♥️
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
5.0
A classic book filled with memories, nostalgia, and magic! You can never go wrong with the Harry Potter series. Hopefully, I will read these books again, in the future. ♥️
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
5.0
Okay… because where do I even start??!! Well, one word: Reylo. And then two more words: Kylo Ren. Based on the things I am interested in reading, the fact that the main male character in this story was inspired by my fictional soulmate, Kylo Ren, makes The Love Hypothesis all the more unique and extraordinarily special to me. I’ve read fanfiction for so long, and it’s such a beautiful thing to know that people in this fandom are getting published!! Wooo!!!
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
4.0
This book tells the very moving, heartbreaking story of a world people live in that contains the technology to inform them of the dates on which they will pass away—known as their End Day. When one is living during their end day, they are referred to as Deckers. A company called Death-Cast. I personally find this concept terrifying: I would be paralyzed with fear day by day instead of actually going out to live. I do not think it would be very much of a pleasant world if this technology did, in fact, exist, but I am getting ahead of myself here.
This entire book follows the story of two main characters named Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio all in the time span of one day: September 5th, 2017. It opens with Mateo getting a call at 12:22 am with an operator on the other side of the phone informing him that today he will be meeting an untimely end. I came to learn about him, his personality, and some of his foundation; life experiences. In the second chapter, Rufus is introduced, and he happens to be called at 1:05 am in the middle of a fight with another character (who is not important for this review). They meet on an app called Last Friend, which is essentially a service that connects people to someone on their End Day, either a fellow human or even Decker. Nevertheless, Rufus and Mateo are both Deckers and after being connected through the app, they make a commitment to make their Last Day as memorable and meaningful as possible.
To my greatest happiness… their short (bittersweetly short) friendship blossoms into a romance, which is great because it adds pain and teen angst to the already tense atmosphere. It makes you feel even more heartbroken as you read the story because it’s so clear how much Mateo and Rufus love one another despite their differences in upbringing and personality; you can not think of one of them without thinking of the other. A scene that will forever stick with me is towards the end, when they are laying together in Mateo’s room together, and Rufus steals his glasses. They then take a picture, just like that, and they are as happy as they can be before they fall asleep in each other’s arms.
While I was reading this book, I found so many good playlists on Spotify, as I do for many other books I read. A good theme song for this is Someone to Stay by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, which greatly enhances the many sad and frustrating emotions Mateo and Rufus experience together as they face their End Day together. Reading their story has been so emotional and I did find myself crying at many different instances. You truly do feel everything that they are feeling, and I think that is what should always be at the heart of good writing.
Ultimately, things take a turn for the worst for poor Mateo and Rufus—but I won’t reveal those details here. This story has reminded me that in life, the most important things are people and the ones we love. You never know when your time on this earth will run out, so living each day without regrets is the best way to go. At least I’ve finished this book with one peaceful thought: Mateo and Rufus lived out their day, and they lived it as best as they could have. They made memories, and they loved each other until the very end. At no point were they ever really alone on their End Day. And in the afterlife, I believe that they will find each other again, because souls are never really gone, are they?
This entire book follows the story of two main characters named Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio all in the time span of one day: September 5th, 2017. It opens with Mateo getting a call at 12:22 am with an operator on the other side of the phone informing him that today he will be meeting an untimely end. I came to learn about him, his personality, and some of his foundation; life experiences. In the second chapter, Rufus is introduced, and he happens to be called at 1:05 am in the middle of a fight with another character (who is not important for this review). They meet on an app called Last Friend, which is essentially a service that connects people to someone on their End Day, either a fellow human or even Decker. Nevertheless, Rufus and Mateo are both Deckers and after being connected through the app, they make a commitment to make their Last Day as memorable and meaningful as possible.
To my greatest happiness… their short (bittersweetly short) friendship blossoms into a romance, which is great because it adds pain and teen angst to the already tense atmosphere. It makes you feel even more heartbroken as you read the story because it’s so clear how much Mateo and Rufus love one another despite their differences in upbringing and personality; you can not think of one of them without thinking of the other. A scene that will forever stick with me is towards the end, when they are laying together in Mateo’s room together, and Rufus steals his glasses. They then take a picture, just like that, and they are as happy as they can be before they fall asleep in each other’s arms.
While I was reading this book, I found so many good playlists on Spotify, as I do for many other books I read. A good theme song for this is Someone to Stay by Vancouver Sleep Clinic, which greatly enhances the many sad and frustrating emotions Mateo and Rufus experience together as they face their End Day together. Reading their story has been so emotional and I did find myself crying at many different instances. You truly do feel everything that they are feeling, and I think that is what should always be at the heart of good writing.
Ultimately, things take a turn for the worst for poor Mateo and Rufus—but I won’t reveal those details here. This story has reminded me that in life, the most important things are people and the ones we love. You never know when your time on this earth will run out, so living each day without regrets is the best way to go. At least I’ve finished this book with one peaceful thought: Mateo and Rufus lived out their day, and they lived it as best as they could have. They made memories, and they loved each other until the very end. At no point were they ever really alone on their End Day. And in the afterlife, I believe that they will find each other again, because souls are never really gone, are they?
If He Had Been with Me by Laura Nowlin
4.0
This book was very emotional, nostalgic, yet completely heartbreaking in every way. Autumn is such a lovable character and I feel so bad for the things she went through, and ultimately what happened at the end. As far as I am concerned, Finny and Autumn are together and they will always be.