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skillyillian's reviews
77 reviews
Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
First things first a very heavy trigger warning for domestic violence. It's not pictured on the page explicitly as it happens, but it's described by the victim as well as the FMC and other characters throughout the book.
That being said:
Honestly this is SO good. The language used is so descriptive and really fits the tone of the story. I loved having an FMC that wasn't barely legal, and her determination to do impossible things was incredible. The dust-wife was awesome but I think Agnes stole the show and I would have loved to have seen and learned more from her. Honestly, I think the story would've benefitted from more character backstory and development? But it's not like they were cardboard cutouts by any means, either.
The timeline, or at least the way it's presented in the story, was a little hard to follow for a minute? But once the past caught up to the story it made sense, so 🤷🏻♀️
I think my favorite part was the humor, honestly. It balanced things out and added levity in a way that I think prevented the whole story from being too heavy. It was witty and wry and the kind of jokes that fit perfectly for a group comprised of a dog made of bones, a cursed chick, a demon hen (no relation), and two traumatized young-ish people traveling with two powerful old women who are each other's opposites in every way.
Overall, this is a great story with some really interesting characters I think we could've learned about a bit more. I loved it so much though, and jumped right into another Kingfisher book (What Moves the Dead) which I'm also enjoying so far. I'm excited to keep reading more from this author :)
That being said:
Honestly this is SO good. The language used is so descriptive and really fits the tone of the story. I loved having an FMC that wasn't barely legal, and her determination to do impossible things was incredible. The dust-wife was awesome but I think Agnes stole the show and I would have loved to have seen and learned more from her. Honestly, I think the story would've benefitted from more character backstory and development? But it's not like they were cardboard cutouts by any means, either.
The timeline, or at least the way it's presented in the story, was a little hard to follow for a minute? But once the past caught up to the story it made sense, so 🤷🏻♀️
I think my favorite part was the humor, honestly. It balanced things out and added levity in a way that I think prevented the whole story from being too heavy. It was witty and wry and the kind of jokes that fit perfectly for a group comprised of a dog made of bones, a cursed chick, a demon hen (no relation), and two traumatized young-ish people traveling with two powerful old women who are each other's opposites in every way.
Overall, this is a great story with some really interesting characters I think we could've learned about a bit more. I loved it so much though, and jumped right into another Kingfisher book (What Moves the Dead) which I'm also enjoying so far. I'm excited to keep reading more from this author :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Cannibalism
Stardust by Neil Gaiman
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 32%.
I'm sorry but I just can't with the older style vernacular. I just can't. I'm bored to tears every time I pick this up. I was forcing myself to read it and I just don't have the time or patience for that in my life rn
Bunny by Mona Awad
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.
Oh my god I cannot spend another minute with this. The FMC comes off so whiny and self-pitying, her best friend is one of the most selfish, disrespectful, toxic and cringey edgelords I've ever read, and the bunnies are genuinely intolerable. This whole thing reads like something written in high school during the peak of someone's "I'm not like other girls" pick-me era. Maybe that's the whole point and I'm missing the forest for the trees here but I can't listen to another minute of how whiny and pathetic the FMC is. I'm not going to waste another nine hours of my life on this, I'm sorry but I just can't 😮💨
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Cursing
Minor: Rape and Murder
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 28%.
I picked this up at my local library bc I remember reading it in middle school and loving it. Unfortunately I picked this up after finishing Two Twisted Crowns, and to go from all of the beautiful intensity of that and straight into "little mouse fights big rat" was like jumping from the high dive and hitting concrete. Immediate slump, I'm sorry but I'm so bored with this. If I want to avoid the ADHD habit curse of "I didn't do a thing for three days and now I'm never doing it again" I simply can't be reading this right now 🤷🏻♀️
Raising Good Humans: A Mindful Guide to Breaking the Cycle of Reactive Parenting and Raising Kind, Confident Kids by Hunter Clarke-Fields, Carla Naumburg
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
Did not finish book. Stopped at 23%.
I'm too busy in my life rn for a book where the author tells you that you *have* to keep an extensive journal in order for it to make any difference in your life. If I'm essentially being told "don't even bother reading this unless you do the homework too" I'm sorry but between my life, my kid, and my ADHD, it's just not for me 🤷🏻♀️
The Umbrella Academy, Vol. 1: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
We all knew my emo ass would get here eventually. ☂️
✨spoilers✨
The characters are so cool and unique, but I feel like we don't see any development from them. Vanya gets told off by Diego one time and is like "fuck it I'm gonna destroy the world then" and outright becomes the villain. While I'm not opposed to that move, it was very sudden, just like the kiss between Luther and Allison. That's not to say there isn't more development in the future with their stories and relationships, bc I'm sure there is, and I trust Gerard with it. But in this volume specifically, I feel like we don't know anything about the characters save for their surface personality traits.
Unfortunately for me, I saw the Netflix show before I read the story. I'm so disappointed that Netflix changed SO much about the story. I think seeing the relationships between the siblings develop was, now that I know the source material, the only part of the show that made sense. Seeing the connections fleshed out more in the show was nice, but I'm sure it happens in the other volumes later on, too. It's just hard to feel attached to the characters when you don't know almost anything about them except they're stern or selfish or a coward, ykwim? I'd be interested to see that develop more later on for sure.
But yeah Netflix what the fuck were you doing? They should've kept viktor as the villain and had him still become the white violin, that's such an iconic thing from the book and, while the suit was cool and everything, the violin body was way better. And what happened to the evil orchestra?? And the terminauts and all of that??? Idk lmao. This is not a review for the show though, and doesn't affect my review for the book by any means.
I would've liked to have seen more character development and connections besides surface level stuff. We see almost nothing from Klaus the entire time, except that he?? Stopped the meteor from the moon, but what happened with the meteor? Did he just, push it somewhere else? Did they destroy it? I have questions. Gerard's characters are unique and interesting people with a lot of personality, but we don't see much of it here bc they're too busy fighting and saving the world, I think. I trust it to develop more but I thought there could've been more in this one. That being said, Gabriel Bá, Dave Stewart, and Nate Piekos absolutely KILLED it with the art. The colors, shapes, facial expressions, all stunning. Phenomenal. Gerard's concept art was so fun and I loved seeing in the back of the book how Gerard started and where their whole team took the people he created. This is a work of love, determination, and teamwork, and you can really tell. I'd really love to read more of these and see how they flesh out the characters' backstories more for the audience.
✨spoilers✨
The characters are so cool and unique, but I feel like we don't see any development from them. Vanya gets told off by Diego one time and is like "fuck it I'm gonna destroy the world then" and outright becomes the villain. While I'm not opposed to that move, it was very sudden, just like the kiss between Luther and Allison. That's not to say there isn't more development in the future with their stories and relationships, bc I'm sure there is, and I trust Gerard with it. But in this volume specifically, I feel like we don't know anything about the characters save for their surface personality traits.
Unfortunately for me, I saw the Netflix show before I read the story. I'm so disappointed that Netflix changed SO much about the story. I think seeing the relationships between the siblings develop was, now that I know the source material, the only part of the show that made sense. Seeing the connections fleshed out more in the show was nice, but I'm sure it happens in the other volumes later on, too. It's just hard to feel attached to the characters when you don't know almost anything about them except they're stern or selfish or a coward, ykwim? I'd be interested to see that develop more later on for sure.
But yeah Netflix what the fuck were you doing? They should've kept viktor as the villain and had him still become the white violin, that's such an iconic thing from the book and, while the suit was cool and everything, the violin body was way better. And what happened to the evil orchestra?? And the terminauts and all of that??? Idk lmao. This is not a review for the show though, and doesn't affect my review for the book by any means.
I would've liked to have seen more character development and connections besides surface level stuff. We see almost nothing from Klaus the entire time, except that he?? Stopped the meteor from the moon, but what happened with the meteor? Did he just, push it somewhere else? Did they destroy it? I have questions. Gerard's characters are unique and interesting people with a lot of personality, but we don't see much of it here bc they're too busy fighting and saving the world, I think. I trust it to develop more but I thought there could've been more in this one. That being said, Gabriel Bá, Dave Stewart, and Nate Piekos absolutely KILLED it with the art. The colors, shapes, facial expressions, all stunning. Phenomenal. Gerard's concept art was so fun and I loved seeing in the back of the book how Gerard started and where their whole team took the people he created. This is a work of love, determination, and teamwork, and you can really tell. I'd really love to read more of these and see how they flesh out the characters' backstories more for the audience.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Medical content, Violence, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Body horror, Murder, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Child death and Pregnancy
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 2 by Sorata Akiduki
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Laxdo is one of my favorite moments 🖤 and izana is a rat bastard ✨🖕🏻✨
Dai Dark, Vol. 3 by Q Hayashida
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
I'm sorry but why is he 16? He better be lying. We're getting closer to more plot stuff now (I think?) And I'm excited to see it. Q is great as always
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death, Blood, Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual content, and Violence
Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
second verse same as the first, this book goddamn slaps. i will say, everyone's right about this one being better than the first. one dark window goes so fuckin hard, and two twisted crowns goes even harder. it picks up right where the first one left off and just. keeps. going. it's fast paced, every page matters and i felt like there wasn't really a scene where i didn't feel like it mattered in one way or another. i annotated my copy, and i used literally 383 tabs. in a 430 page book. and 26 sticky notes with thoughts and theories. almost every single page has something highlighted, tabbed, noted, a scribble in the margins or just "oh my god what the fuck" or "ugh i love them" somewhere. this book is incredible.
mild spoilers ahead, big spoilers will be tagged
elspeth and ravyn continue to be excellent together, even when they're apart and don't have a good way to communicate, you can still see how much they love each other. i do still think they were kinda insta-lovey, but honestly with them i don't even mind. i feel like they didn't develop as characters quite as much as the first book. not to say they didn't have character development, just that it wasn't as prevalent. they actually spent the entire book apart save for a handful of times they got to talk to each other, so i feel like it kinda makes sense their relationship didn't really deepen that much.
that being said, the person that got the most, the very best, the most incredible character development, was Elm. my brave, wise, wonderful elm. i'd die for him tbh, i loved him SO MUCH. he fucking carried this book (along with the shepherd king), i'm not even exaggerating. seeing him grow as a person, watching his romance with ione bloom, was so good. every elm chapter held me captive, edge of my seat, biting my nails. the torture he went through, the pain and trauma, just to come out on the other side stronger and even more determined to never hurt anyone like that again?? i wept. i cried. i want to hug him!!!!! and ione!!!! oh my god every line she had was important, every action she took mattered, i absolutely adore her so much. those two getting their justice together was phenomenal, i couldn't look away. i loved seeing ione develop as a character despite her maiden card being hidden for most of the book. like that was so awesome. she did great. i adore her. she and elm are so perfect for each other. and oh my god they're so horny lmfao the flirting, the steamy moments, the spice, were all great. i loved every one of their moments together.
i have lovingly nicknamed the shepherd king as "shep", mostly because it fit in the margins the best lmfao but also i just think he would say he disliked it very much but secretly think it was amusing. his sass, the banter and bickering with the yews and his smartass remarks to elspeth, were so fucking funny. i highlighted literally all of them. his personality really, really shines in this book. telling ravyn "elspeth says she's sick of you" and ravyn replying "she didn't say that" made me laugh every time. the bickering back and forth between shep and ravyn was so good. i loved the little moments of levity it created. shep and elm took turns carrying this book and it was so fun and kept things interesting, even when switching POVs. there wasn't a single POV where i went "ugh oh my god not this again, i'm probably just going to skim this pointless shit." (looking at you, tharion and ithan. smfh)
i loved, loved, loved shep's backstory. learning about how he came to be who he was before and after he met elspeth, and the affects that the events of both books had on him, was just wonderful. he had the best character development but i love that we saw it from the past and the present. i absolutely adored the way gillig gave her lore, especially with him. the memories elspeth went through, experiencing them as shep, was fucking genius. seeing the political and magical settings of blunder in the past was cleverly woven in with how shep's obsession with the cards consumed him. you see the affects of the mist and infection in the present, and then go back and see how it all came to be, and how shep kinda just let it all happen but then also was like "wait this is a problem. i'll just make more cards about it" was so well thought out. seeing his current self develop and then watching him unravel in the past, knowing how it would change him over five centuries of living death, was really moving. the way he was an absent father and then became so protective of elspeth and jespyr just broke my heart. when he called jespyr by his daughter's name i let out a huge "awwwww oh my god!" and almost cried lmao. not worried about ravyn dying at all, but so fucking sad for shep. the backstory for him was done immaculately, i wouldn't change a fuckin thing about it.
my biggest grievance with this one was the same as the first: elspeth and ravyn are borderline clueless throughout the entire book. shep, and sometimes others, have to spell everything out for them. shep's sarcasm about the yews being idiots is 10/10 but i also kinda don't really think he was wrong lmfao. he had to explain literally everything they were doing. also, i'm so miffed that elspeth and ravyn didn't realize the yews were shep's descendants. for one, elspeth should have recognized her lover's face when she was in shep's memories. from how it was described, both taxus and bennett were basically identical to ravyn. how did she not see him in their faces??? she spent so much time in shep's head, seeing these memories over and over, but didn't make the connection, despite seeing ravyn through shep's eyes whenever she wasn't in his memories. how?? and how did ravyn not realize he was looking in a mirror as soon as the spirit started showing him taxus's past. like. she didn't want to give him the card, he asked for hints, and then she was like "you're literally the same. look. you could be twins." even the first hint, before she showed him anything, should've been enough to reveal his true name. but he didn't get it literally at all, until she showed him bennett essentially rebranding into the last name of yew instead of taxus. it was right there and neither ravyn nor elspeth got it until it was spelled out for them. i also thought it was a little weird that the spirit didn't want to surrender the card, but then made it super easy for ravyn to take it lmao. but whatever. deities are wild. yeah idk i just don't like that kinda shit. like no one ever claimed elspeth was the smartest, and i don't remember that for ravyn either. but they're both supposed to be clever, as with the whole "be wary be clever be good" thing, but i feel like, besides getting themselves out of tight spots, that didn't really happen.
i will say, ravyn being able to destroy cards was a theory i had, and i loved that i was right bc that's a super cool way to get rid of them since uniting the deck didn't make all of the cards disappear. destroying the nightmare card to get rid of shep and bring elspeth back was great. i just know when shep paused before telling ravyn he could bring her back, he was giggling to himself like the punk ass he is lmao. letting ravyn be all sad and then just going "sike! gotcha!!! i knew how to do it the whole time and i didn't tell anybody!!" was fucking funny. he made some very good points though, about rewriting the past and helping get elm the throne and stuff. like he was being selfish in a lot of ways, but also with good reason. ravyn would've ripped the nightmare to bits the second he found out, and it would've done more harm than good. i get why shep didn't say anything until after they won. they literally would not have been able to do it without him.
overall, this book is as excellent as everyone says it is. the worldbuilding is awesome. the author stuck to the rules she created for her incredibly unique magic system. the characters, for the most part, grow and develop really well so they feel like they've finished their arcs by the end of the book. i loved the lore and the way it was delivered. backstories galore, in the best way. justice was served to those who deserved it, and in the most satisfying way possible. as shep said, "poetry is as judicious as violence." the book itself is wonderful. one weird thing i did notice is that, at least in my copy? there's a bunch of typos. like i think i must've found at least a dozen, if not more. it was weird, bc like. how many people read this book before it went to print, y'know? didn't ruin the story or anything but i would see them and just be like "huh. weird that got missed, but whatever i guess?" ykwim? oh well.
side note, but the print quality of my paperback copy (which i'm not blaming the author for by ANY means, don't get me wrong. this is not included in my score of the book, just a complaint i have bc i'm just Like This) was wildly disappointing. i had pages that were a deep black, like they should be, but most pages were much, much lighter than that. i even had pages where the ink was so faint it was like a steel grey, nowhere near black. if my highlighter had been a darker shade it would've just covered the words as if i were redacting them. it was really irritating to have some pages (very few) be as dark as they should've been, while most of the ink in my copy was half as dark as the standard black. it was a bummer bc it didn't stick out nearly as well as it should have against my highlighter. like their printers were running out of ink and they just went "eh, you can still see it more or less. close enough." and it was a bummer for sure. but anyway, like i said, that's not included in my score here. i'm just bitching. the book is very very good, i loved almost all of it, i'd just recommend checking the inside of your physical copy before you buy it lmao.
mild spoilers ahead, big spoilers will be tagged
elspeth and ravyn continue to be excellent together, even when they're apart and don't have a good way to communicate, you can still see how much they love each other. i do still think they were kinda insta-lovey, but honestly with them i don't even mind. i feel like they didn't develop as characters quite as much as the first book. not to say they didn't have character development, just that it wasn't as prevalent. they actually spent the entire book apart save for a handful of times they got to talk to each other, so i feel like it kinda makes sense their relationship didn't really deepen that much.
that being said, the person that got the most, the very best, the most incredible character development, was Elm. my brave, wise, wonderful elm. i'd die for him tbh, i loved him SO MUCH. he fucking carried this book (along with the shepherd king), i'm not even exaggerating. seeing him grow as a person, watching his romance with ione bloom, was so good. every elm chapter held me captive, edge of my seat, biting my nails. the torture he went through, the pain and trauma, just to come out on the other side stronger and even more determined to never hurt anyone like that again?? i wept. i cried. i want to hug him!!!!! and ione!!!! oh my god every line she had was important, every action she took mattered, i absolutely adore her so much. those two getting their justice together was phenomenal, i couldn't look away. i loved seeing ione develop as a character despite
i have lovingly nicknamed the shepherd king as "shep", mostly because it fit in the margins the best lmfao but also i just think he would say he disliked it very much but secretly think it was amusing. his sass, the banter and bickering with the yews and his smartass remarks to elspeth, were so fucking funny. i highlighted literally all of them. his personality really, really shines in this book. telling ravyn "elspeth says she's sick of you" and ravyn replying "she didn't say that" made me laugh every time. the bickering back and forth between shep and ravyn was so good. i loved the little moments of levity it created. shep and elm took turns carrying this book and it was so fun and kept things interesting, even when switching POVs. there wasn't a single POV where i went "ugh oh my god not this again, i'm probably just going to skim this pointless shit." (looking at you, tharion and ithan. smfh)
i loved, loved, loved shep's backstory. learning about how he came to be who he was before and after he met elspeth, and the affects that the events of both books had on him, was just wonderful. he had the best character development but i love that we saw it from the past and the present. i absolutely adored the way gillig gave her lore, especially with him.
my biggest grievance with this one was the same as the first: elspeth and ravyn are borderline clueless throughout the entire book. shep, and sometimes others, have to spell everything out for them. shep's sarcasm about the yews being idiots is 10/10 but i also kinda don't really think he was wrong lmfao. he had to explain literally everything they were doing.
i will say,
overall, this book is as excellent as everyone says it is. the worldbuilding is awesome. the author stuck to the rules she created for her incredibly unique magic system. the characters, for the most part, grow and develop really well so they feel like they've finished their arcs by the end of the book. i loved the lore and the way it was delivered. backstories galore, in the best way. justice was served to those who deserved it, and in the most satisfying way possible. as shep said, "poetry is as judicious as violence." the book itself is wonderful. one weird thing i did notice is that, at least in my copy? there's a bunch of typos. like i think i must've found at least a dozen, if not more. it was weird, bc like. how many people read this book before it went to print, y'know? didn't ruin the story or anything but i would see them and just be like "huh. weird that got missed, but whatever i guess?" ykwim? oh well.
side note, but the print quality of my paperback copy (which i'm not blaming the author for by ANY means, don't get me wrong. this is not included in my score of the book, just a complaint i have bc i'm just Like This) was wildly disappointing. i had pages that were a deep black, like they should be, but most pages were much, much lighter than that. i even had pages where the ink was so faint it was like a steel grey, nowhere near black. if my highlighter had been a darker shade it would've just covered the words as if i were redacting them. it was really irritating to have some pages (very few) be as dark as they should've been, while most of the ink in my copy was half as dark as the standard black. it was a bummer bc it didn't stick out nearly as well as it should have against my highlighter. like their printers were running out of ink and they just went "eh, you can still see it more or less. close enough." and it was a bummer for sure. but anyway, like i said, that's not included in my score here. i'm just bitching. the book is very very good, i loved almost all of it, i'd just recommend checking the inside of your physical copy before you buy it lmao.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Gore, Blood, Torture, Alcohol, Body horror, Child abuse, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.5
Okay i'm not usually a romcom girlie but this one got me. The little bit of magic, wanderlust, romance, banter, and characters just pulled me in and held me tight.
Clementine is stubborn, but funny. Girl does not know the meaning of the word "relax" but she got there eventually. I loved that her job was realistic and detailed, and her hobby was too. It was a really unique, cool hobby, and I loved hearing about it. I wanted to actually see the travel guides. She spends a little too much time dwelling on the past, but that's part of her character development so I still feel like it fit her.
Iwan? Oh my god. obsessed. he's flirty and fun and also very wise? he was just everything. he carried this book without even flinching istg. clementine was great but seeing past iwan and present iwan and learning what got him from point a to point b was insanely well done. i loved, loved, loved his passion for cooking and the way he expressed it, both with words and with the skill itself. 10/10. i loved seeing things he did in the past and guessing how it would manifest in his future.
the characters are well written and feel realistic. clementine had some moments where i was kinda iffy on her, but it didn't ruin anything by any means. she was just a bit dramatic, but isn't that the point of these kinds of books? the big city backdrop was fun, i loved the travel elements too. it was present, like her aunt, but it didn't take the foreground and trample the city. Poston writes grief incredibly well, too. her grandfather passed away from suicide as she was working on this book and you can tell she put her whole heart and all of her pain into clementine's grief for the loss of her aunt. it made me cry.
the time travel, and timing, of the apartment was great. oh, and Mother and Fucker were a key highlight. i loved them so much lmfao. i also really enjoyed that both clementine's friends as well as iwan's had their own lives, their own stories and subplots, going on too. they weren't just cardboard cut-outs.
my only gripe really was that poston got repetitive with a few things here and there. her aunt's two rules for the apartment, the passport covered in enough stamps to make any world traveler jealous, and a few others like that. the flashbacks to her aunt's rules almost felt like they happened as often as a shonen flashback lmao. the characters made some goofy decisions sometimes but they weren't bad enough to ruin the book or anything.
overall, this is a great, fun, flirty read and i loved it so much. the apartment, the characters, the romance, are all really well written. i was giggling and grinning and at one point just screaming in my car because iwan was being,,,,,, WHEW. it was excellent. the narrator for the audiobook, brittany pressley, absolutely killed it with this. her character voices were spot on, to the point of me even forgetting a few times that she wasn't a dude when iwan was talking lmao. she did great. i'll be recommending this book to my friends for sure.
Clementine is stubborn, but funny. Girl does not know the meaning of the word "relax" but she got there eventually. I loved that her job was realistic and detailed, and her hobby was too. It was a really unique, cool hobby, and I loved hearing about it. I wanted to actually see the travel guides. She spends a little too much time dwelling on the past, but that's part of her character development so I still feel like it fit her.
Iwan? Oh my god. obsessed. he's flirty and fun and also very wise? he was just everything. he carried this book without even flinching istg. clementine was great but seeing past iwan and present iwan and learning what got him from point a to point b was insanely well done. i loved, loved, loved his passion for cooking and the way he expressed it, both with words and with the skill itself. 10/10. i loved seeing things he did in the past and guessing how it would manifest in his future.
the characters are well written and feel realistic. clementine had some moments where i was kinda iffy on her, but it didn't ruin anything by any means. she was just a bit dramatic, but isn't that the point of these kinds of books? the big city backdrop was fun, i loved the travel elements too. it was present, like her aunt, but it didn't take the foreground and trample the city. Poston writes grief incredibly well, too. her grandfather passed away from suicide as she was working on this book and you can tell she put her whole heart and all of her pain into clementine's grief for the loss of her aunt. it made me cry.
the time travel, and timing, of the apartment was great. oh, and Mother and Fucker were a key highlight. i loved them so much lmfao. i also really enjoyed that both clementine's friends as well as iwan's had their own lives, their own stories and subplots, going on too. they weren't just cardboard cut-outs.
my only gripe really was that poston got repetitive with a few things here and there. her aunt's two rules for the apartment, the passport covered in enough stamps to make any world traveler jealous, and a few others like that. the flashbacks to her aunt's rules almost felt like they happened as often as a shonen flashback lmao. the characters made some goofy decisions sometimes but they weren't bad enough to ruin the book or anything.
overall, this is a great, fun, flirty read and i loved it so much. the apartment, the characters, the romance, are all really well written. i was giggling and grinning and at one point just screaming in my car because iwan was being,,,,,, WHEW. it was excellent. the narrator for the audiobook, brittany pressley, absolutely killed it with this. her character voices were spot on, to the point of me even forgetting a few times that she wasn't a dude when iwan was talking lmao. she did great. i'll be recommending this book to my friends for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual content, Death, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy