Take a photo of a barcode or cover
shaun_trinh's Reviews (126)
4/5 stars
This volume is a lot more mellowed out then the past 2 volumes but that's okay. It's a lot more focused om building up the band itself, more then it is on pushing the relationships between the bandmates. We still got cute stuff for the group, but the volume wasn't focused on it as much.
I enjoyed thi volume as much as the others, but what leaves me a little dissapointed is that the first 2 volumes are making so built to Mafuyu and Ritsuka's relationship, only for it to be pretty anti-climatic in both them confessing their feelings to one another, and actually acting like a couple afterwards. We get pretty small things once they start dating, but it's al ittle underwhelming when their relationship is supposed to be the main attraction of the story. With that said I did like the little moment we got where Ritsuka said he loved hearing Mafuyu sing about his past love, despite his initial concerns about it, and now wants to be a part of Mafuyu's next song. Really cute.
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about Akihiko, I like him, I like the mess he's starting to bring, but I don't know how I feel about him and Haruki's relationship yet. Not against it, just want more.
This volume is a lot more mellowed out then the past 2 volumes but that's okay. It's a lot more focused om building up the band itself, more then it is on pushing the relationships between the bandmates. We still got cute stuff for the group, but the volume wasn't focused on it as much.
I enjoyed thi volume as much as the others, but what leaves me a little dissapointed is that the first 2 volumes are making so built to Mafuyu and Ritsuka's relationship, only for it to be pretty anti-climatic in both them confessing their feelings to one another, and actually acting like a couple afterwards. We get pretty small things once they start dating, but it's al ittle underwhelming when their relationship is supposed to be the main attraction of the story. With that said I did like the little moment we got where Ritsuka said he loved hearing Mafuyu sing about his past love, despite his initial concerns about it, and now wants to be a part of Mafuyu's next song. Really cute.
I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about Akihiko, I like him, I like the mess he's starting to bring, but I don't know how I feel about him and Haruki's relationship yet. Not against it, just want more.
I read this first installment of this series back when I was a senior in high school before COVID struck and I absolutely loved it. It was a cute, feel-good read about some gay kids figuring their shit out. While this book still delivers on that sweet, feel-good vibe I just didn't enjoy it AS much as I did the first book.
Just off the back I wasn't that big of a fan of how going into this book both Ben and Arthur had a new boyfriend/situationship. It just gave me the dreadful feeling of an emotional blow up because we all know those relationships weren't going to last. If it was just one of them then I don't think I would have minded as much, but just having to read through both of their relationships from both their perspectives just made some parts of the book harder to read. Especially Arthur who was on his own harder to read through his perspective. His relationship with Mickey just kind of felt like it was there? It was a plot device which is to be expected, but at least Ben's relationship with Mario felt more authentic, Arthur and Mickey's was just sad. Not sad in a heart wrenching way, but a 'put them out of their misery" kind of way. Speaking of Mario I still don't know why he didn't just ask Ben out, we know why Ben was too afraid to, but why didn't Mario? I mean he wanted Ben to move with him but never wanted an official relationship? Weird.
Nitpick, but why was the play 1 page? Like Arthur spends a lot of his free time working on this play and we don't get more then 1 page of a dress rehearsal for an actual performance? We could have at least had a longer scene between Arthur and Ben during the rehearsal.
What I did really like was that wholesome, cute gay vibe the entire book had going on, like how
the running universe joke between Ben and Arthur, Dylan was super fun and got a fleshed our story, and the epilouge really leaves us off on a high note that made me feel a lot better about the book.
While I didn't love this book as much as I did the first, I still had a fun time reading and getting Ben and Arthur's happily ever after.
Just off the back I wasn't that big of a fan of how going into this book both Ben and Arthur had a new boyfriend/situationship. It just gave me the dreadful feeling of an emotional blow up because we all know those relationships weren't going to last. If it was just one of them then I don't think I would have minded as much, but just having to read through both of their relationships from both their perspectives just made some parts of the book harder to read. Especially Arthur who was on his own harder to read through his perspective. His relationship with Mickey just kind of felt like it was there? It was a plot device which is to be expected, but at least Ben's relationship with Mario felt more authentic, Arthur and Mickey's was just sad. Not sad in a heart wrenching way, but a 'put them out of their misery" kind of way. Speaking of Mario I still don't know why he didn't just ask Ben out, we know why Ben was too afraid to, but why didn't Mario? I mean he wanted Ben to move with him but never wanted an official relationship? Weird.
Nitpick, but why was the play 1 page? Like Arthur spends a lot of his free time working on this play and we don't get more then 1 page of a dress rehearsal for an actual performance? We could have at least had a longer scene between Arthur and Ben during the rehearsal.
What I did really like was that wholesome, cute gay vibe the entire book had going on, like how
the running universe joke between Ben and Arthur, Dylan was super fun and got a fleshed our story, and the epilouge really leaves us off on a high note that made me feel a lot better about the book.
While I didn't love this book as much as I did the first, I still had a fun time reading and getting Ben and Arthur's happily ever after.
3-3.5/5 stars
This was an alright read. Honestly I found the first half kind of slow and hard to get into. The opening scenes about their training was hard to imagine and when we returned to Unimak I honestly wish we could have spent book 1 there with Alli building her life there and the book ending with her needing to go on the run. I thought the caste and career premise was pretty coold and was disappointed when she almost immediately fled. Also Underhill's destruction was just, odd? Like we're told it happens but it just kind of happens out of no where, we as the reader have no idea what it actually looked like and when it happened it just felt very iffy
The magic system is also very unclear, there are multiple different colors that are used but it's not clear what this means and why certain magic has a certain color. Like why is Alli's indigo? Very confusing.
I'm gonna be real, I did not feel the chemistry between Alli and Faloen for most of this book. It was supposed to come off as this slick, and cunning relationship, but it just felt very me. And sad. Not sad as in heart warming sad, but 2nd hand embarrasment sad because Alli was just constantly humiliatiing herself. It got a lot better after the ship scene, but i really spent like 3/4th's of this book hoping for another love itnerest and was very happy with Drake. Hope Drake comes back.
While the first half wasn't amazing, I found the pace of the 2nd half to be much better and more interesting. It was more action packed, the build ups felt more meaningful, and it was just a lot more fun. Though Alli's dad dying like that was kinda, there.
I did like the twist, thought that was pretty coold that it was a setup because I was not digging how Alli just randomly destroyed Underhill by accident.
This was an alright read. Honestly I found the first half kind of slow and hard to get into. The opening scenes about their training was hard to imagine and when we returned to Unimak I honestly wish we could have spent book 1 there with Alli building her life there and the book ending with her needing to go on the run. I thought the caste and career premise was pretty coold and was disappointed when she almost immediately fled. Also Underhill's destruction was just, odd? Like we're told it happens but it just kind of happens out of no where, we as the reader have no idea what it actually looked like and when it happened it just felt very iffy
The magic system is also very unclear, there are multiple different colors that are used but it's not clear what this means and why certain magic has a certain color. Like why is Alli's indigo? Very confusing.
I'm gonna be real, I did not feel the chemistry between Alli and Faloen for most of this book. It was supposed to come off as this slick, and cunning relationship, but it just felt very me. And sad. Not sad as in heart warming sad, but 2nd hand embarrasment sad because Alli was just constantly humiliatiing herself. It got a lot better after the ship scene, but i really spent like 3/4th's of this book hoping for another love itnerest and was very happy with Drake. Hope Drake comes back.
While the first half wasn't amazing, I found the pace of the 2nd half to be much better and more interesting. It was more action packed, the build ups felt more meaningful, and it was just a lot more fun. Though Alli's dad dying like that was kinda, there.
I did like the twist, thought that was pretty coold that it was a setup because I was not digging how Alli just randomly destroyed Underhill by accident.
I am thoroughly surprised of how much I loved this volume despite it not being focused on the main couple. This volume was focused on Haruki and Akihiko individual characters and their relationship with one another. Given (no pun intended) that they're closer to being side characters in the previous volumes, it's a nice change of pace to have them and their drama fleshed out more. It feels more like a complete band and not the two leads and co.
I thought it was pretty cute, though if I was Haruki i'd stay a mad at Akihiko a little longer for the shenanigans he tried to pull. But you know life is all about love and forgiveness right? Oh well, I had a fun time either way.
I thought it was pretty cute, though if I was Haruki i'd stay a mad at Akihiko a little longer for the shenanigans he tried to pull. But you know life is all about love and forgiveness right? Oh well, I had a fun time either way.
2.5-3/5 star read
So I don't know what yall's edition of this book is laced with, but my book clearly doesn't have it, because why is everyone so down bad and on their knees for Warner???? What about his dialouge is alluring???? I am so deeply concerned with how much fanart and shipping of Warner and Juliet that I've seen on Tiktok. I didn't even know who Adam was going in! Is this the original ACOTAR? Will Warner teach the audience about women's rights at the cost of Adam's character? Something has to happen because I don't know how Warner has the entire fandom of this book in a relentless choke hold, and when I do find out what happens i'm going to be so sad. Justice for Adam!! Hopefully the fandom just wishing for what could have been and not what actually was. I know there's a novella or something about Warner way down the line, so im just going to have to hope that it's his own seprate redemption book.
Before giving more objective critisism, is it just me or is Warner, Nevel from iCarly reincarnated? Like actually they talk exactly the same and force themselves on the female leads. So again WHAT ARE YALL SMOKING TO BE THIS DOWN BAD. WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIKE ADAM BECAUSE I CANT BE ALONE IN THIS.
To the actual book itself, I actually kind of liked it. When I was first considering getting into this series at my local Barnes and Noble, I was actually stopped by an ex-exmlpoyee who straight up told me "no...don't do it...it's not good its really bad", not in those exact words but that's what they were getting at, and then another shopper chimed in and agreed. Overall very funny experience. I do see what they meant though, the writing is frequently very juvenile, especially surronding anything concerning Juliete and Warner. My god the way his obsession was written was....definetly something. There was a similar issue with how Juliet and Adam's relationship was written, but at least with that it was more of how their dynamic was evolving and a little less about their dialouge with one another. But nothing could have prepared me for how Juliet and Warner's interactions were written, which again makes me question what this fandom sees in this???/
Premise wise I like the x-men esque story, I really liked the aspect of the psych ward, though when Juliet was taken to the armory while I didn't dislike what was going on, it just felt really aimless. Like the story was stalling for the sake of developing Juliet and Adam more at the expense of forcing us to read juvinile dialouge between Juliet and Warner. I wouldn't be as bothered with this if it felt like there was more agency in Warner, we get told he's being patient because he wants Juliet to want being with him, but that doesn't mean they can't be doing something more engaging, something that doesn't just relay the same information about his character over and over again.
With all of that said though, I'm also trying to not hold that too hard against the book. While YA it's very clearly written for teenage girls around the ages of 14-16. Not that others can't enjoy the seires, but i recognize that I, a 21 year old male, am not the prime target for this book series. So for who it's targeting, I feel like it hit the nail.
The main saving grace of this book which makes it a 3/5 star read and not a 2-2.5/star read is that this book is EASY TO READ. Not even just the plot was always moving (because it wasn't), but I could just breeze through pages pretty quickly. In around an hour I could get through 100 pages and I LOVE that. I thoroughly enjoy books regardless of objective quality a lot more when i feel like I'm never stuck in one section of the book. I don't feel the need to re-read what I just read, the story and wording wasn't unecessarily convuluted, it was just a simple read that didn't steal too much of my time. So for that, it made my reading expereince a lot better and took away some of the uncomfortableness or feelings of annoyance I occasionally had throughout the book.
So I don't know what yall's edition of this book is laced with, but my book clearly doesn't have it, because why is everyone so down bad and on their knees for Warner???? What about his dialouge is alluring???? I am so deeply concerned with how much fanart and shipping of Warner and Juliet that I've seen on Tiktok. I didn't even know who Adam was going in! Is this the original ACOTAR? Will Warner teach the audience about women's rights at the cost of Adam's character? Something has to happen because I don't know how Warner has the entire fandom of this book in a relentless choke hold, and when I do find out what happens i'm going to be so sad. Justice for Adam!! Hopefully the fandom just wishing for what could have been and not what actually was. I know there's a novella or something about Warner way down the line, so im just going to have to hope that it's his own seprate redemption book.
Before giving more objective critisism, is it just me or is Warner, Nevel from iCarly reincarnated? Like actually they talk exactly the same and force themselves on the female leads. So again WHAT ARE YALL SMOKING TO BE THIS DOWN BAD. WHERE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIKE ADAM BECAUSE I CANT BE ALONE IN THIS.
To the actual book itself, I actually kind of liked it. When I was first considering getting into this series at my local Barnes and Noble, I was actually stopped by an ex-exmlpoyee who straight up told me "no...don't do it...it's not good its really bad", not in those exact words but that's what they were getting at, and then another shopper chimed in and agreed. Overall very funny experience. I do see what they meant though, the writing is frequently very juvenile, especially surronding anything concerning Juliete and Warner. My god the way his obsession was written was....definetly something. There was a similar issue with how Juliet and Adam's relationship was written, but at least with that it was more of how their dynamic was evolving and a little less about their dialouge with one another. But nothing could have prepared me for how Juliet and Warner's interactions were written, which again makes me question what this fandom sees in this???/
Premise wise I like the x-men esque story, I really liked the aspect of the psych ward, though when Juliet was taken to the armory while I didn't dislike what was going on, it just felt really aimless. Like the story was stalling for the sake of developing Juliet and Adam more at the expense of forcing us to read juvinile dialouge between Juliet and Warner. I wouldn't be as bothered with this if it felt like there was more agency in Warner, we get told he's being patient because he wants Juliet to want being with him, but that doesn't mean they can't be doing something more engaging, something that doesn't just relay the same information about his character over and over again.
With all of that said though, I'm also trying to not hold that too hard against the book. While YA it's very clearly written for teenage girls around the ages of 14-16. Not that others can't enjoy the seires, but i recognize that I, a 21 year old male, am not the prime target for this book series. So for who it's targeting, I feel like it hit the nail.
The main saving grace of this book which makes it a 3/5 star read and not a 2-2.5/star read is that this book is EASY TO READ. Not even just the plot was always moving (because it wasn't), but I could just breeze through pages pretty quickly. In around an hour I could get through 100 pages and I LOVE that. I thoroughly enjoy books regardless of objective quality a lot more when i feel like I'm never stuck in one section of the book. I don't feel the need to re-read what I just read, the story and wording wasn't unecessarily convuluted, it was just a simple read that didn't steal too much of my time. So for that, it made my reading expereince a lot better and took away some of the uncomfortableness or feelings of annoyance I occasionally had throughout the book.
Good lord what did I just read.
Juliet spends the near entirety of this book in a literal fetal position and you know what, girl me too. I just want to go into a bush and WEEP. I didn't have an issue with her character in the last book, I didn't particularly like her but I didn't dislike her either. But in this book Juliet went out of her way to make the most idiodic decisions to be the most useless and incapable person she could be. I don't think a rational or critically dirven though was to be had by her in this entire book. Just choice after choice she makes things far more difficult then they need to be. I think this is the most 2nd hand embarassment a book as ever made me endure. Any opportunity she has to do something right or be useful is just thrown out the window for the most counter-productive decision she could make. Juliet keeps making the same choices over and over to screw herself and the people around her over. I don't like the way Kenji went about telling her off, but most of what he said was right! She's a self-centered brat who is too concerned over her love life to actually help around in the WAR EFFORT she chose to join and stay with.
Hell she had a job to extract information from Warner as some of their friends were also taken hostage and she IMMEDIATLY went and had a make-shift first date with him instead. GET UP GET UP. The romance is fine but please.
Where is Katniss Everdeen when you need her.
I will say that the writing for Warner was signficiantly better this time around. He no longer reminds me of Nevel from iCarly and I can appreciate his character for what her is. How the story moves his character is still a little cringy but overall this is much better.
Adam, I like the drama with him not being able to touch Juliet anymore but then he's just kind of stagnant the whole book. Just kind of repeating the same scenes again and again. He's present pretty often, but he's been phased back if you know what I mean.
I did not expect the twist the happened mid way through the book. I don't know if I like it, feels very contrived and depending on if they take it the obious route longer term I might end up disliking it more.
Thank the lord almighty that these books are a quick read because the 2nd hand-embarassment was stronger then any semblance of character that Juliet had.
Juliet spends the near entirety of this book in a literal fetal position and you know what, girl me too. I just want to go into a bush and WEEP. I didn't have an issue with her character in the last book, I didn't particularly like her but I didn't dislike her either. But in this book Juliet went out of her way to make the most idiodic decisions to be the most useless and incapable person she could be. I don't think a rational or critically dirven though was to be had by her in this entire book. Just choice after choice she makes things far more difficult then they need to be. I think this is the most 2nd hand embarassment a book as ever made me endure. Any opportunity she has to do something right or be useful is just thrown out the window for the most counter-productive decision she could make. Juliet keeps making the same choices over and over to screw herself and the people around her over. I don't like the way Kenji went about telling her off, but most of what he said was right! She's a self-centered brat who is too concerned over her love life to actually help around in the WAR EFFORT she chose to join and stay with.
Hell she had a job to extract information from Warner as some of their friends were also taken hostage and she IMMEDIATLY went and had a make-shift first date with him instead. GET UP GET UP. The romance is fine but please.
Where is Katniss Everdeen when you need her.
I will say that the writing for Warner was signficiantly better this time around. He no longer reminds me of Nevel from iCarly and I can appreciate his character for what her is. How the story moves his character is still a little cringy but overall this is much better.
Adam, I like the drama with him not being able to touch Juliet anymore but then he's just kind of stagnant the whole book. Just kind of repeating the same scenes again and again. He's present pretty often, but he's been phased back if you know what I mean.
I did not expect the twist the happened mid way through the book. I don't know if I like it, feels very contrived and depending on if they take it the obious route longer term I might end up disliking it more.
Thank the lord almighty that these books are a quick read because the 2nd hand-embarassment was stronger then any semblance of character that Juliet had.
This was actually a lot more enjoyable then I thought it was going to be, and you wanna know why? This book barely had any plot and it was the best choice this author could have made. Don't get me wrong there was some structure in the sense that there was an end goal being worked towards (the revived rebellion), but really this book was just for character and relationship building and im here for it!
Now I have fallen for the Warner propaganda, I actually do love their relationship. Once he stopped being a Nevel dopplganger you can see he actually a pretty interesting character. While I don't agree with all the choices made for this character, I think he's one of the strongest parts of Ignite Me. He definetly felt more humanized and fleshed out with him being a focal point for the entirety of the book. I really enjoy his relationship with Juliet and felt it was earned and not just thrown at us now that Adam is pretty much out of the picture. With that said and i'll get more into this later, him talking down on Juliet for having negative assumptions about him based off of how he treated her and his men was ridiculous. ALSO why in the hell is the Hayden Christensen such a popular fancast? That man is not an actual blonde!!!!!!!
Juliet, thank the lord almighty she has become a tolerable character. She was one of the most embarassing main characters, if not THE most embarassing main characters I've ever had to read. But for all of our sakes, the author has made her a capable human being. Her actions make more sense. She does things. She stands up for herself. She has rational thoughts. However I just had to stop reading and laugh when at the start of the book Juliet said that she should be the one to lead the rebellion and that she's the most fit. Im sorry, what? Did we not read the same books? I need someone to point to a singular thing in Unravel Me that shows that Juliet is a capable leader. The girl couldn't even lead herself with dignity, how is she supposed to lead a rebellion? But while comedically dumb, I will take this Juliet any day of the week over Juliet from Shatter Me and Unravel Me.
On a better note though, I thought her conversation with Kenji starting at 243 was pretty powerful. Her venting about how she's never felt like she's had a real choice in her life, that she felt less then human, and shackled herself to the asylum and to a position of victimhood because of her powers. It was nice to finally see Juliet express herself in such a moving way/
Kenji, love him. Love his friendship with Juliet. Funny. Usually does no wrong.
Adam, so now I know why I have never seen a crumb of a piece of fanart for this man. He was an asshole this entire book, but I also can't blame him for that. I'd be pretty pissed about everything too. Though Juliet should have knocked him on his ass at least once. He seemed to come around more at the end. The situation with him Warner, and James went a lot better then I thought it would.
Now something that I briefly alluded too before, the first quarter of this book can be labled "The Gaslighting Of Juliet" because why were both of her love interests (Warner and Adam) gaslighting the fuck out of her??? First it was Warner acting like it's weird and wrong for Juliet to have a Negative impression and understanding of him. Yes a lot of his actions turned out to have reasoning for them, but that doesn't make all of them right or okay. Also everything he brought up doesn't change the terms in which he brought Juliet into the Reestablishment. Terrible experience so no shit everything you did to her and the people around her spoiled her perspective of him. Next Adam, this boy really tried to convince Juliet and the audience that she had it so much better being stuck in that Asylum then citiziens....huh....like it was some sort of privllege to be there in comparisson. Now don't get me wrong they're both terrible experiences with different struggles, so lets not comapre, cuz if we did I'm not liking the chances of Adam winning the opression olympics here.
Now to actualy story/plot stuff. I found a lot of Juliets rise to leadership and action sequences in the climax to be pretty, laughable. Again I don't know why any of her friends followed her into a leadership role when they all have seen how incapable she is. The climax felt pretty underwhelming. The blonde boy who looks "vaguley familiar" in the climax, I assume is another kid of Anderson and therefore Warner, Adam, and James` brother. So what we can take away from this entire book is that Anderson is the blue print for Nick Cannon.
Overall had a much better and enjoyable experience with this book. Critically it's not all that but entertainment wise and compared to what I've endured before this was a much needed upgrade. 4 purley for entertainment value and the character work the author was able to get done.
Now I have fallen for the Warner propaganda, I actually do love their relationship. Once he stopped being a Nevel dopplganger you can see he actually a pretty interesting character. While I don't agree with all the choices made for this character, I think he's one of the strongest parts of Ignite Me. He definetly felt more humanized and fleshed out with him being a focal point for the entirety of the book. I really enjoy his relationship with Juliet and felt it was earned and not just thrown at us now that Adam is pretty much out of the picture. With that said and i'll get more into this later, him talking down on Juliet for having negative assumptions about him based off of how he treated her and his men was ridiculous. ALSO why in the hell is the Hayden Christensen such a popular fancast? That man is not an actual blonde!!!!!!!
Juliet, thank the lord almighty she has become a tolerable character. She was one of the most embarassing main characters, if not THE most embarassing main characters I've ever had to read. But for all of our sakes, the author has made her a capable human being. Her actions make more sense. She does things. She stands up for herself. She has rational thoughts. However I just had to stop reading and laugh when at the start of the book Juliet said that she should be the one to lead the rebellion and that she's the most fit. Im sorry, what? Did we not read the same books? I need someone to point to a singular thing in Unravel Me that shows that Juliet is a capable leader. The girl couldn't even lead herself with dignity, how is she supposed to lead a rebellion? But while comedically dumb, I will take this Juliet any day of the week over Juliet from Shatter Me and Unravel Me.
On a better note though, I thought her conversation with Kenji starting at 243 was pretty powerful. Her venting about how she's never felt like she's had a real choice in her life, that she felt less then human, and shackled herself to the asylum and to a position of victimhood because of her powers. It was nice to finally see Juliet express herself in such a moving way/
Kenji, love him. Love his friendship with Juliet. Funny. Usually does no wrong.
Adam, so now I know why I have never seen a crumb of a piece of fanart for this man. He was an asshole this entire book, but I also can't blame him for that. I'd be pretty pissed about everything too. Though Juliet should have knocked him on his ass at least once. He seemed to come around more at the end. The situation with him Warner, and James went a lot better then I thought it would.
Now something that I briefly alluded too before, the first quarter of this book can be labled "The Gaslighting Of Juliet" because why were both of her love interests (Warner and Adam) gaslighting the fuck out of her??? First it was Warner acting like it's weird and wrong for Juliet to have a Negative impression and understanding of him. Yes a lot of his actions turned out to have reasoning for them, but that doesn't make all of them right or okay. Also everything he brought up doesn't change the terms in which he brought Juliet into the Reestablishment. Terrible experience so no shit everything you did to her and the people around her spoiled her perspective of him. Next Adam, this boy really tried to convince Juliet and the audience that she had it so much better being stuck in that Asylum then citiziens....huh....like it was some sort of privllege to be there in comparisson. Now don't get me wrong they're both terrible experiences with different struggles, so lets not comapre, cuz if we did I'm not liking the chances of Adam winning the opression olympics here.
Now to actualy story/plot stuff. I found a lot of Juliets rise to leadership and action sequences in the climax to be pretty, laughable. Again I don't know why any of her friends followed her into a leadership role when they all have seen how incapable she is. The climax felt pretty underwhelming. The blonde boy who looks "vaguley familiar" in the climax, I assume is another kid of Anderson and therefore Warner, Adam, and James` brother. So what we can take away from this entire book is that Anderson is the blue print for Nick Cannon.
Overall had a much better and enjoyable experience with this book. Critically it's not all that but entertainment wise and compared to what I've endured before this was a much needed upgrade. 4 purley for entertainment value and the character work the author was able to get done.
Edit: So I just realized Zach from the Wall of Winnipeg and Me also by Mariana Zapata which makes a lot more sense and I feel dumb for not putting it together when there was also an entire extended cameo from Aidan and Vanessa from their book, as well as Trevor who was in the story the entire time lmao.
I definetly appreciate this book even more now with that realization
Real sweet book, has a big plot contrivance and emphasis on a weird dynamics but I really enjoyed it.
Bianca is probably the best main character that I've read from Mariana Zapata. I like how she had her own thing going on the entire book and wasn't soley dancing around the lover interest. I found her really funny and I really liked the relationship she had with Zach and every other character. Surpsingly enough I actually enjoyed ALL of the supporting cast. Everyone felt real, characterized and not into outlines, and all enhanced the story.
Zach, a great golden retriever. Nothing is wrong with him at all. Knowing that he's the same Zach from The Wall of Winnipeg and Me makes me appreciate his story even more then before I realized and really gives him and his relationship with Bianca another layer, knowing how knowing where he was and how he felt in the "previous" book.
However certain things need to be discussed.
First and foremost the cause of the main drama of this book was so contrived. How did Bianca and Zach somehow not see each other in person for 10 years? Yes there was the phone drama but they're close family friends, how did they not see each other for any holiday or family social event? Ever??? How did none of their mutual friends and family re-connect the two in any way shape or form???
Next, the dynamic between Bianca and Zach. They have this sort of family-family friend thing going on because Bianca's parents are weird and neglectful. They weren't raised as siblings or anything, but they were raised in the same house for half their childhood. Nothing bad by itself, but it gets a little weird when they refer to each other as family, and Zach's nickname for her is "Kiddo" which can feel strange given they were raised partly together and have around a 6-7 year age difference. Was there no other nickname that could have been used? Really??? I like them. they're cute and funny, but when you keep bringing up this family-like dynamic between them and having the love interest calling her "kiddo" it can feel questionable sometimes.
Lastly this book probably could have been over 100 pages less with how many times Bianca repeated a variation of telling Zach he didn't have to do something if he was busy. Like we get it she has self-worth issues and its fine to go over that. But good god it's likes 4 times every chapter in a book that has like 25 chapters. The conversations were the same everytime. Bianca would say it with a slight variation and Zach would respond in the same exact way. WE GET IT.
Overall had a lot of fun reading this with a few questionable decisions here and there but this is probably the best overall Mariana Zapata book I've read. Almost everyone felt developed and weren't one dimensional, and the relationship dynamic between Bianca and Zach while phrased weirdly at times made up for it with how genuine and sweet they were together.
P.S. I definetly thought Lauren cheated on Boogie and wasn't actually preganant with his kid but we never really followed up on that.
I definetly appreciate this book even more now with that realization
Real sweet book, has a big plot contrivance and emphasis on a weird dynamics but I really enjoyed it.
Bianca is probably the best main character that I've read from Mariana Zapata. I like how she had her own thing going on the entire book and wasn't soley dancing around the lover interest. I found her really funny and I really liked the relationship she had with Zach and every other character. Surpsingly enough I actually enjoyed ALL of the supporting cast. Everyone felt real, characterized and not into outlines, and all enhanced the story.
Zach, a great golden retriever. Nothing is wrong with him at all. Knowing that he's the same Zach from The Wall of Winnipeg and Me makes me appreciate his story even more then before I realized and really gives him and his relationship with Bianca another layer, knowing how knowing where he was and how he felt in the "previous" book.
However certain things need to be discussed.
First and foremost the cause of the main drama of this book was so contrived. How did Bianca and Zach somehow not see each other in person for 10 years? Yes there was the phone drama but they're close family friends, how did they not see each other for any holiday or family social event? Ever??? How did none of their mutual friends and family re-connect the two in any way shape or form???
Next, the dynamic between Bianca and Zach. They have this sort of family-family friend thing going on because Bianca's parents are weird and neglectful. They weren't raised as siblings or anything, but they were raised in the same house for half their childhood. Nothing bad by itself, but it gets a little weird when they refer to each other as family, and Zach's nickname for her is "Kiddo" which can feel strange given they were raised partly together and have around a 6-7 year age difference. Was there no other nickname that could have been used? Really??? I like them. they're cute and funny, but when you keep bringing up this family-like dynamic between them and having the love interest calling her "kiddo" it can feel questionable sometimes.
Lastly this book probably could have been over 100 pages less with how many times Bianca repeated a variation of telling Zach he didn't have to do something if he was busy. Like we get it she has self-worth issues and its fine to go over that. But good god it's likes 4 times every chapter in a book that has like 25 chapters. The conversations were the same everytime. Bianca would say it with a slight variation and Zach would respond in the same exact way. WE GET IT.
Overall had a lot of fun reading this with a few questionable decisions here and there but this is probably the best overall Mariana Zapata book I've read. Almost everyone felt developed and weren't one dimensional, and the relationship dynamic between Bianca and Zach while phrased weirdly at times made up for it with how genuine and sweet they were together.
P.S. I definetly thought Lauren cheated on Boogie and wasn't actually preganant with his kid but we never really followed up on that.
2.5/5 stars
I read this for a college course.
Overall I thought I'd be rating this lower, but the latter half of this book really picked up for me. I found myself feeling like I was sludging through the book in the first half, going at an incredibly slow pace, not feeling invested in what was going on, and found the actions of Finn and Toby to be wildly irresponsible and inappropriate. Though I did somewhat come around.
One of my main gripe with the book besides the slow pacing, is the implications of Toby's actions. Had this not been a book plot, Toby would have been a predator. He does everything that we're warned about in grade school during health class when we have that 1 week a year talking about the warning signs of human traficking and predators. From self-admitidly luring June out by using her belongings, to flat out abudcting her from school (yes that was child kidnapping and he would've been arrested if someone saw him), to making odd ball comments like saying the photographer thinks they're dating, randomly referring to her as a woman, or even things such as kissing her neck when they're hugging. ITS ALL WEIRD AND PREDATORY BEHAVIOR. However, I did gain a lot more sympathy for him doing this when he reminded us that he was dying. I had completely forgotten about that and it makes it a little more reasonable that he would do these extreme things, because he himself is going through the extreme thing of y'know, death. There's also the fact that Finn being the brainless idiot that he is, guilt tripped him into reaching out to her. So while everythig Toby did was very questionable for a realism standpoint, I did grow to like him a bit more given the circumstances.
Speaking of Finn throughout this entire book, he has made everything more difficult for everyone. Starting more lightly, it really was kind of fucked up that he just ditched his sister without any heads up. Now he did make valid efforts to stay in touch and the mom was being petty and chose not too, but her anger is a little justifiable. Now to the real issue, June. This man set her up for FAILURE. He knew she was obbsessed with him in every aspect, and yet he allowed and even encouraged her to become his shadow. Everything about June became about Finn and he let that happen. I'm not saying he couldn't still be close to her, but he most certainly should have encouraged her to look into different and new interests so she could still be her own person. He should have encouraged her to make more friends and not just stick to him so she would have a solid support system when he passed. Now you might say that what im saying isn't fair because he was dying, AND THAT MAKES IT WORSE. He knew he was dying and left her out to dry. Now with Finn dead, who did June exactly have? Her relationship with her family was plummeting. She has no friends. And every interest she has is about Finn. June has nothing of her own, and its because Finn refued to see it and help her while he could have in-person. You may also think that it shouldn't be his responsibility, and I raise the fact that he was the ONLY one who could have helped her. From day 1 June had an Us vs Them mentality when it came to Finn, she wouldn't have listned to her mom, dad, or Gretta. Finn was the only one who had the influence to actually push her into the right direction. Maybe that would have hurt her feelings, maybe it would of hurt his own, but he should have done it anyways because he is the ADULT in this scenario and needs to look out for her better interests and he didn't.
I will note that he did try to help fix the relationship with Gretta which I appreciate, and there was the misguided attempt to bring June and Toby together. Speaking of, that was really fucked up too. Let's get the lesser, but still massive, fuck up. Finn doesn't think. Because if he had he would have realized the position he put Toby in by guilt tripping him into reaching out and making contact with June. He knew how his sister was and how Toby wouldn't have been welcomed, and sitll put him in that position to possibly be ARRESTED for the inappropriate actions that would be necessary to have a relationship with June. No thoughts. Now June, guilt tripping a MINOR into being responsible for the grief and mental health of a grown ass man that she doesn't know his NASTY. ITS FOUL. How could you put that on a child. Not only does she not know him, but now being put into this position to take care of him, June can't even move on herself. She can't even find herself or reasonably mend her relationships with her family because all her time and energy is focused into Toby. Now she has to isolate herself off from her family even more because now she has this relationship with Toby. Not only that, but now that she's getting attached to Toby, what's going to happen when he dies from Finn's perspective of making this letter? She's going to be all alone and stuck in grief, AGAIN. But now it'll be for both Finn and Toby and she wouldn't have been in any better position then she was when Finn died. Just no thoughts whatsoever. Finn is an adult with a juvenile headspace. He doesn't think about the consequences of his actions or how others are actually effected.
Next was the entire story line of June having incestual feelings towards her uncle. WHYYYYYY. WHYYYYYY. This book uses gay people has a crux for the entire story and then brings a gay man into a weird incest type of relationship with his neice. Not only that but gay people being pedophiles (how Toby was acting) is also a giant stereotype thrown at the community. How can you base your books themeing so strongly around gay people and their treatment with AIDS, and then perpetuate these other assumptions and stereotypes? I think they tried to explain it near the end with the talk about not being able to control who you love, but that just comes off as the author saying that gay people and incest are one in the same or at least very similar when that isn't the case. It's absurd. I just can't see why this incest storyline was so pivotalto to the plot when it compromises the integrity of the piece talking about the treatment of gay people and AIDS.
Next goes without saying June is fucking weird. Yeah she's a kid but she's a fucking weird kid. Sniffing her uncles boxers???? Wanting to be in a car with Toby because you wanted to feel the crease of the seat Finn sat in???? THERES SO MUCH MORE ITS ALL WEIRDDDD. STAND UP STAND UP PLEASE!!!!!!!
Gretta, not to speak ill on children but fuck Gretta too. I can see where she's coming from and I sympathize to an extent, but she know's she was wrong for what she did. Yes it hurts to see your best friend focus all their attention onto someone else and feel abandoned, but that wasn't a malicious act. Everything Gretta did for those following years was malicious and down right evil! Yes child, so she gets grace. But still, EVIL!.
The mom needs to get it together. Yes I see where shes's coming from with the whole Finn dithcing her situation, but she's grown! She had every opportunity in the world to let bygones be bygones and she just didn't. She also had the choice to try to pursue her own artistic career, which would have been more difficult being a woman in the 1900's, but she didn't need to abandon it all together. Most importantly though, this woman needs to stop having the grief olympics with her children!
The dad. I like him. He's the only likeably character and he only got like 5 pages of actual time. I appreciate him being a voice of reason and not condemning Toby but also trying to support the mom as well. Wish we got more from him.
The ending felt very, weird? Like the mom finds Toby on their couch with June and Gretta and it's now that she decided to stop being a bigot??? After all this???? The parents just had an epiphany about Toby and AIDS and now they're complete allies when finding this man that they were afraid of less then a week ago? The mom had so much vitriol for this man and suddenly realizes the wrongs of her life after asking a few questions to June about why he's there and how she knows him and has been hanging out with him behind their back and taken her across the city to do xyz things??? Be serious!! Like I get why so we can wrap this story up in a nice little bow, but it was a little silly after all this hatred the mom had. I can believe the dad since he actively was more remoseful to Toby throughout the story, the mom however? Nahhh.
I read this for a college course.
Overall I thought I'd be rating this lower, but the latter half of this book really picked up for me. I found myself feeling like I was sludging through the book in the first half, going at an incredibly slow pace, not feeling invested in what was going on, and found the actions of Finn and Toby to be wildly irresponsible and inappropriate. Though I did somewhat come around.
One of my main gripe with the book besides the slow pacing, is the implications of Toby's actions. Had this not been a book plot, Toby would have been a predator. He does everything that we're warned about in grade school during health class when we have that 1 week a year talking about the warning signs of human traficking and predators. From self-admitidly luring June out by using her belongings, to flat out abudcting her from school (yes that was child kidnapping and he would've been arrested if someone saw him), to making odd ball comments like saying the photographer thinks they're dating, randomly referring to her as a woman, or even things such as kissing her neck when they're hugging. ITS ALL WEIRD AND PREDATORY BEHAVIOR. However, I did gain a lot more sympathy for him doing this when he reminded us that he was dying. I had completely forgotten about that and it makes it a little more reasonable that he would do these extreme things, because he himself is going through the extreme thing of y'know, death. There's also the fact that Finn being the brainless idiot that he is, guilt tripped him into reaching out to her. So while everythig Toby did was very questionable for a realism standpoint, I did grow to like him a bit more given the circumstances.
Speaking of Finn throughout this entire book, he has made everything more difficult for everyone. Starting more lightly, it really was kind of fucked up that he just ditched his sister without any heads up. Now he did make valid efforts to stay in touch and the mom was being petty and chose not too, but her anger is a little justifiable. Now to the real issue, June. This man set her up for FAILURE. He knew she was obbsessed with him in every aspect, and yet he allowed and even encouraged her to become his shadow. Everything about June became about Finn and he let that happen. I'm not saying he couldn't still be close to her, but he most certainly should have encouraged her to look into different and new interests so she could still be her own person. He should have encouraged her to make more friends and not just stick to him so she would have a solid support system when he passed. Now you might say that what im saying isn't fair because he was dying, AND THAT MAKES IT WORSE. He knew he was dying and left her out to dry. Now with Finn dead, who did June exactly have? Her relationship with her family was plummeting. She has no friends. And every interest she has is about Finn. June has nothing of her own, and its because Finn refued to see it and help her while he could have in-person. You may also think that it shouldn't be his responsibility, and I raise the fact that he was the ONLY one who could have helped her. From day 1 June had an Us vs Them mentality when it came to Finn, she wouldn't have listned to her mom, dad, or Gretta. Finn was the only one who had the influence to actually push her into the right direction. Maybe that would have hurt her feelings, maybe it would of hurt his own, but he should have done it anyways because he is the ADULT in this scenario and needs to look out for her better interests and he didn't.
I will note that he did try to help fix the relationship with Gretta which I appreciate, and there was the misguided attempt to bring June and Toby together. Speaking of, that was really fucked up too. Let's get the lesser, but still massive, fuck up. Finn doesn't think. Because if he had he would have realized the position he put Toby in by guilt tripping him into reaching out and making contact with June. He knew how his sister was and how Toby wouldn't have been welcomed, and sitll put him in that position to possibly be ARRESTED for the inappropriate actions that would be necessary to have a relationship with June. No thoughts. Now June, guilt tripping a MINOR into being responsible for the grief and mental health of a grown ass man that she doesn't know his NASTY. ITS FOUL. How could you put that on a child. Not only does she not know him, but now being put into this position to take care of him, June can't even move on herself. She can't even find herself or reasonably mend her relationships with her family because all her time and energy is focused into Toby. Now she has to isolate herself off from her family even more because now she has this relationship with Toby. Not only that, but now that she's getting attached to Toby, what's going to happen when he dies from Finn's perspective of making this letter? She's going to be all alone and stuck in grief, AGAIN. But now it'll be for both Finn and Toby and she wouldn't have been in any better position then she was when Finn died. Just no thoughts whatsoever. Finn is an adult with a juvenile headspace. He doesn't think about the consequences of his actions or how others are actually effected.
Next was the entire story line of June having incestual feelings towards her uncle. WHYYYYYY. WHYYYYYY. This book uses gay people has a crux for the entire story and then brings a gay man into a weird incest type of relationship with his neice. Not only that but gay people being pedophiles (how Toby was acting) is also a giant stereotype thrown at the community. How can you base your books themeing so strongly around gay people and their treatment with AIDS, and then perpetuate these other assumptions and stereotypes? I think they tried to explain it near the end with the talk about not being able to control who you love, but that just comes off as the author saying that gay people and incest are one in the same or at least very similar when that isn't the case. It's absurd. I just can't see why this incest storyline was so pivotalto to the plot when it compromises the integrity of the piece talking about the treatment of gay people and AIDS.
Next goes without saying June is fucking weird. Yeah she's a kid but she's a fucking weird kid. Sniffing her uncles boxers???? Wanting to be in a car with Toby because you wanted to feel the crease of the seat Finn sat in???? THERES SO MUCH MORE ITS ALL WEIRDDDD. STAND UP STAND UP PLEASE!!!!!!!
Gretta, not to speak ill on children but fuck Gretta too. I can see where she's coming from and I sympathize to an extent, but she know's she was wrong for what she did. Yes it hurts to see your best friend focus all their attention onto someone else and feel abandoned, but that wasn't a malicious act. Everything Gretta did for those following years was malicious and down right evil! Yes child, so she gets grace. But still, EVIL!.
The mom needs to get it together. Yes I see where shes's coming from with the whole Finn dithcing her situation, but she's grown! She had every opportunity in the world to let bygones be bygones and she just didn't. She also had the choice to try to pursue her own artistic career, which would have been more difficult being a woman in the 1900's, but she didn't need to abandon it all together. Most importantly though, this woman needs to stop having the grief olympics with her children!
The dad. I like him. He's the only likeably character and he only got like 5 pages of actual time. I appreciate him being a voice of reason and not condemning Toby but also trying to support the mom as well. Wish we got more from him.
The ending felt very, weird? Like the mom finds Toby on their couch with June and Gretta and it's now that she decided to stop being a bigot??? After all this???? The parents just had an epiphany about Toby and AIDS and now they're complete allies when finding this man that they were afraid of less then a week ago? The mom had so much vitriol for this man and suddenly realizes the wrongs of her life after asking a few questions to June about why he's there and how she knows him and has been hanging out with him behind their back and taken her across the city to do xyz things??? Be serious!! Like I get why so we can wrap this story up in a nice little bow, but it was a little silly after all this hatred the mom had. I can believe the dad since he actively was more remoseful to Toby throughout the story, the mom however? Nahhh.
A great read. I loved the political intrigue and mystery that pushed the 3 main characters together. Mortem is a really interesting concept that I was pretty confused by at first, but as the book kept moving I caught on fairly quickly. I like the concept of weaving death and necromancy and I'm really glad they chose the name "mortem" for it and not something more on the nose like just referring to it as the power to manipulate death.
Lore I liked as a main character. I thought despite us being in her head that there was a good amount of mystery to her with her background with mortem and the night watch. My big critique for her character is that she is surpisingly bad at a key part of her job. Being a spy. We're told that she's amazing at being undercover but for almost the entirety of this book, she can't tell an everyday lie to save her life. Fumbling at every corner and unable to more soothly blend in. It makes sense that she'd have trouble adjusting, but the basic skill of being able to think on her toes is lost while we see other characters do it far more seemlessly. I know the whole point in the end is that she is being tugged everywhere and is being manipulated, but while she's being manipulated she could be a little self-efficient at least!
Gabe. For some reason I kept picturing this man with white hair, despite the fact I know it's red. He jsut doesn't read as someone who has red hair. Otherwise, I LOVE gabe. I think he is incredibly interesting. I like the fact that he's a part of the church and how he has to struggle between is duties to that and the suspicion of deceit plaguing the citidel. His relationship with Lore is a breath of fresh air, I like how they bounce off of each other, extremely different but blend together well. A big highlight of the book overall.
Bastion. I like him, he's chill and has that whole "oh I act like a dick, but actually, I'm a mastermind, and I care about the people." Very much Rhysand (which I'll get too). But if I'm being honest, despite him being a part of the love triangle, I ain't feeling it. Bastian and Lore have scenes that are meant to be very intimate, but I'm simply not feeling the romantic chemistry. He's a walking sex symbol and yet all I feel when they're around each other is the potential for being great friends.
My biggest concern while reading this book, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T ACOTAR THIS BOOK. For most of the story I could see the gears turning and how it could resemble the plot structure of the ACOTAR series and I am begging the author PLEASE DON'T. We don't need Gabe to turn into an irredemable character to uplift Bastian and Lore PLEASE. They don't have the same chemsitry and aren't as interesting together. We readers, have had ENOUGH of this character plot structure. Nurturing the relationship between Lore and Gabe is far more engaging and has a lot more interesting dynamics and storylines that can be explored vs the same old tired bad boy, but actually a good guy, PLEASE.
Now with how the story ended, I have reasonable hope that we're not going down that line. It seems as if Bastian is going to be the one to go down the deep end and not Gabe, at least to a deeper degree then Gabe. So for that I will pray, because I will be so unhappy and dissapointed if I get ACOTAR'd.
For most of the story I was really sold on it, though the ending was a bit iffy. It felt like Anton just became a completely different character and the handling of Lore's mom coming back just felt mishandled. I also don't like how Lore is now in a queen-adjacent position. I feel like every fantasy story does that and I just hoped we wouldn't be falling into that too. But if it means Bastian goes into the deep end of irredemable and Gabe doesn't, I'll take it.
In regards to the ending, I do like that it didn't end with everything in a nice little bow. Yeah things have seemingly worked out for Lore, Gabe, and Bastian, but their relationships are all still strained, leaving the door open for a very interesting second book that I hope to read.
Lore I liked as a main character. I thought despite us being in her head that there was a good amount of mystery to her with her background with mortem and the night watch. My big critique for her character is that she is surpisingly bad at a key part of her job. Being a spy. We're told that she's amazing at being undercover but for almost the entirety of this book, she can't tell an everyday lie to save her life. Fumbling at every corner and unable to more soothly blend in. It makes sense that she'd have trouble adjusting, but the basic skill of being able to think on her toes is lost while we see other characters do it far more seemlessly. I know the whole point in the end is that she is being tugged everywhere and is being manipulated, but while she's being manipulated she could be a little self-efficient at least!
Gabe. For some reason I kept picturing this man with white hair, despite the fact I know it's red. He jsut doesn't read as someone who has red hair. Otherwise, I LOVE gabe. I think he is incredibly interesting. I like the fact that he's a part of the church and how he has to struggle between is duties to that and the suspicion of deceit plaguing the citidel. His relationship with Lore is a breath of fresh air, I like how they bounce off of each other, extremely different but blend together well. A big highlight of the book overall.
Bastion. I like him, he's chill and has that whole "oh I act like a dick, but actually, I'm a mastermind, and I care about the people." Very much Rhysand (which I'll get too). But if I'm being honest, despite him being a part of the love triangle, I ain't feeling it. Bastian and Lore have scenes that are meant to be very intimate, but I'm simply not feeling the romantic chemistry. He's a walking sex symbol and yet all I feel when they're around each other is the potential for being great friends.
My biggest concern while reading this book, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T ACOTAR THIS BOOK. For most of the story I could see the gears turning and how it could resemble the plot structure of the ACOTAR series and I am begging the author PLEASE DON'T. We don't need Gabe to turn into an irredemable character to uplift Bastian and Lore PLEASE. They don't have the same chemsitry and aren't as interesting together. We readers, have had ENOUGH of this character plot structure. Nurturing the relationship between Lore and Gabe is far more engaging and has a lot more interesting dynamics and storylines that can be explored vs the same old tired bad boy, but actually a good guy, PLEASE.
Now with how the story ended, I have reasonable hope that we're not going down that line. It seems as if Bastian is going to be the one to go down the deep end and not Gabe, at least to a deeper degree then Gabe. So for that I will pray, because I will be so unhappy and dissapointed if I get ACOTAR'd.
For most of the story I was really sold on it, though the ending was a bit iffy. It felt like Anton just became a completely different character and the handling of Lore's mom coming back just felt mishandled. I also don't like how Lore is now in a queen-adjacent position. I feel like every fantasy story does that and I just hoped we wouldn't be falling into that too. But if it means Bastian goes into the deep end of irredemable and Gabe doesn't, I'll take it.
In regards to the ending, I do like that it didn't end with everything in a nice little bow. Yeah things have seemingly worked out for Lore, Gabe, and Bastian, but their relationships are all still strained, leaving the door open for a very interesting second book that I hope to read.