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sweetsxrrxw's reviews
103 reviews
Moxon's Master by Ambrose Bierce
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
read this for my literary translation class and, honestly, it's not as bad as i thought it would be.
moxon's monologue was a bit too long for my liking but i guess his philosophical points were lowkey convincing. and i think his opinions are still relevant today, especially with the rise of ai, but there's a couple of details that don't really make sense to melike how was the robot so well-developed if it was only made of wood and iron...? and when did haley get inside of the house? was he actually the robot...?
ultimately, i guess it's up to the reader to figure that cliffhanger out.
moxon's monologue was a bit too long for my liking but i guess his philosophical points were lowkey convincing. and i think his opinions are still relevant today, especially with the rise of ai, but there's a couple of details that don't really make sense to me
ultimately, i guess it's up to the reader to figure that cliffhanger out.
The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i usually never pick up dark fantasy books because they're simply not my cup of tea. however, over a year ago, one of my twitter mutuals made a thread about short books she liked and since i trust her taste, i added this one to my tbr and it has been shelved until today.
in short, i think it's a great book and, because its length, maybe the best thing to do is just dive in blindly. if you're anything like me, you probably won't care much about the medieval setting and the war plot... but i promise it's worth it to keep on reading.
it was mind-blowing to realize, alongside the main character, how she was stuck in a time-loop and that she was the little girl, the devil and the saint. it genuinely has to be one of the best plots i've ever read.
maybe it's a bit of a clichΓ© but i'd be lying if i said i did not enjoy the few romantic crumbles i got π because wdym the mc had nightmares on the daily and could have accidentally killed gwynne every night while dreaming but he never batted an eye because he knew she would never hurt him ππ
and of course, it was interesting to see the prince's growth and how that impacted the relationship the mc had with him. she would literally kill anyone to be appreciated by someone who is beloved and respected by so many people. while he eventually becomes king, emperor, and then god, she slowly realizes that relationship is straight up abusive. he does not love her and doesn't care if she gets hurt, as long as she's okay enough to be of use. she keeps looking back at all the mistakes she has made, at all the valuable details she has overlooked and thinks she can't do anything about it. until she finally has the chance to do so.
sure, maybe altogether it's just a tale as old as time: what you really desire and what you keep fighting for might not always be what's best for you. maybe sometimes, in order to end the loop, you must choose the tragic path you have once despised so much. but the way the author wrote all of this story just makes it all so fresh and surprising.
in short, i think it's a great book and, because its length, maybe the best thing to do is just dive in blindly. if you're anything like me, you probably won't care much about the medieval setting and the war plot... but i promise it's worth it to keep on reading.
maybe it's a bit of a clichΓ© but i'd be lying if i said i did not enjoy the few romantic crumbles i got π because wdym the mc had nightmares on the daily and could have accidentally killed gwynne every night while dreaming but he never batted an eye because he knew she would never hurt him ππ
and of course, it was interesting to see the prince's growth and how that impacted the relationship the mc had with him. she would literally kill anyone to be appreciated by someone who is beloved and respected by so many people. while he eventually becomes king, emperor, and then god, she slowly realizes that relationship is straight up abusive. he does not love her and doesn't care if she gets hurt, as long as she's okay enough to be of use. she keeps looking back at all the mistakes she has made, at all the valuable details she has overlooked and thinks she can't do anything about it. until she finally has the chance to do so.
sure, maybe altogether it's just a tale as old as time: what you really desire and what you keep fighting for might not always be what's best for you. maybe sometimes, in order to end the loop, you must choose the tragic path you have once despised so much. but the way the author wrote all of this story just makes it all so fresh and surprising.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Blood and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse
Himawari House by Harmony Becker
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
i'm so so so glad i blindly picked up this as my first 2025 read, because words can't explain how much i loved it.
it is a slice of life book (and a graphic novel) so, sure, there wasn't much "on-screen" character development but i ended up laughing, crying and loving the three main characters. each one of them was so different, however i could find parts of myself in each one of them.
nao is a immigrant who left japan as a kid to go live in usa but who went back to japan for a year just to reconnect with her japanese side. if you're an immigrant or a child of one, you know how it feels: you're never enough for any of the sides. you'll always be an outsider to both of them, no matter how hard you try to adapt yourself to fit in. some people, especially your closest family and friends will understand and believe you're enough. others won't. but you just have to learn to live with that and keep making changes that will make you happy.another thing i genuinely loved and that actually brought me to tears is looking up and trying to watch the events unfold by your parents' point of view. it's so gut-wreching to think of how it must feel to see your kid turn into a stranger, refuse to get involved with cultural traits from your country, for whatever reason they might have and still staying strong in front of them.
hyejung had always been the perfect daughter for her parents, a girl who "fitted herself into whatever mold you wanted if that made you want her." she studied and studied so hard just to make her parents happy, at seeing how she could break the ceiling glass they had always been under. however, she never really stopped to think of what she really wanted to do (i felt so seen by all of that lmao). when she decided to study artshe had a huge fallout with her parents which led up to her moving to another country to try to figure out herself. and why she always missed every little comfortable thing that happened at home, she never kept in touch with her parents, until her mother came visit a year and a half later. (her father still refused to talk to her. i felt seen by that too because if i ever find myself in that scenario, i know for certain that's how it will develop.) hyejung saying she loved her home but hated how she felt at home will never not be heartbreaking to me.
i think tina is definitely the one who stole most of my heart. the literal definition of remaining gentle despite the horrors (or failures). she is a hopeless romantic, with a huge heart filled of love for her friends. she deserves so much better.despite relating a lot to her when she just said that she didn't have any dream (me) and maybe she just wanted to be an ordinary person enjoying every day of her life, i genuinely hope she finds the love that exists inside of her. i'm also glad that, despite her and her mom not being the most communicative (me, again) she could also catch up with her.
but i think what i loved the most about these characters is their friendship and how, despite facing their hardships on their own, had always each other's backs. female friendships are just so beautiful and i'm glad that this book wasn't all centered in the romantic side plot but more on the girls' growth over a year.
i didn't mind stuff such as the accents, the translations under the kanjis and hangul or the humor in such a "serious" story (i actually loved all of that). but i do think the pace was a bit off-ish? during hyejung's storyline it was so hard for me to distinguish between present and past, at some points. and whenever a new chapter started i was expecting a bigger time jump but some of them started the day after the last chapter finished.
i can't deny this has kinda became a bit of a comfort book for me, however i think the effects of this story can only work with people who can relate to it and won't mind its peculiarities. so, i would only recommend it if you're one of those people!
it is a slice of life book (and a graphic novel) so, sure, there wasn't much "on-screen" character development but i ended up laughing, crying and loving the three main characters. each one of them was so different, however i could find parts of myself in each one of them.
nao is a immigrant who left japan as a kid to go live in usa but who went back to japan for a year just to reconnect with her japanese side. if you're an immigrant or a child of one, you know how it feels: you're never enough for any of the sides. you'll always be an outsider to both of them, no matter how hard you try to adapt yourself to fit in. some people, especially your closest family and friends will understand and believe you're enough. others won't. but you just have to learn to live with that and keep making changes that will make you happy.
hyejung had always been the perfect daughter for her parents, a girl who "fitted herself into whatever mold you wanted if that made you want her." she studied and studied so hard just to make her parents happy, at seeing how she could break the ceiling glass they had always been under. however, she never really stopped to think of what she really wanted to do (i felt so seen by all of that lmao). when she decided to study art
i think tina is definitely the one who stole most of my heart. the literal definition of remaining gentle despite the horrors (or failures). she is a hopeless romantic, with a huge heart filled of love for her friends. she deserves so much better.
but i think what i loved the most about these characters is their friendship and how, despite facing their hardships on their own, had always each other's backs. female friendships are just so beautiful and i'm glad that this book wasn't all centered in the romantic side plot but more on the girls' growth over a year.
i didn't mind stuff such as the accents, the translations under the kanjis and hangul or the humor in such a "serious" story (i actually loved all of that). but i do think the pace was a bit off-ish? during hyejung's storyline it was so hard for me to distinguish between present and past, at some points. and whenever a new chapter started i was expecting a bigger time jump but some of them started the day after the last chapter finished.
i can't deny this has kinda became a bit of a comfort book for me, however i think the effects of this story can only work with people who can relate to it and won't mind its peculiarities. so, i would only recommend it if you're one of those people!
A Sheltered Woman by Yiyun Li
this year hasn't been the best for me book-wise, since i have been constantly having reading slumps and i have had to change my reading goal a few times, lmao. i just haven't been able to get into most of the books i tried to read. however, reading has always been one of my hobbies and, for whatever reason, i especially missed it today. so, thanks to my audiobook app i have been able to find a short story that i genuinely ended up loving!
the story follows a "one-month nanny", a late middle-aged woman who takes care of mothers and their newborns during their first month. she never gets attached to any of the families she works with but, of course, this new mother and baby she is nursing seem to break her rules. i believe this is an interesting topic to write about and one thing about me is i am a sucker for stories about human connection so, yeah!
i think i need to shoutout both the author and the narrator of the book. the writing style blurs the line between what the main character feels and thinks (and should probably say out loud) and what her actual utterances. i feel like if i hadn't listened while reading my experience would probably be a bit different. oh, and also, despite the shortness of the story, there were some fun one liners as well as deeper ones. once again, loved that.
i often enjoy short stories and i am aware that they usually stick to giving a brief glimpse into a situation or a character's life and i am okay with that!i am not surprised by open endings, even though in this case i would have loved to know if the nanny decided to keep the baby she was nursing or move on with her life. but i feel like with this book i really wanted to get some more back story of every single character and mostly the main one.
regardless of that, if you, like me, enjoy short stories i totally recommend this one! i believe it's worth it to spend about 30 minutes reading it because it will 100% make you reflect on one or even more different topics.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
you can go on talking and thinking about your mother and your grandmother and all those women before them, but the problem is, you donβt know them. if knowing someone makes that person stay with you forever, not knowing someone does the same trick: death does not take the dead away; it only makes them grow more deeply into you.
this year hasn't been the best for me book-wise, since i have been constantly having reading slumps and i have had to change my reading goal a few times, lmao. i just haven't been able to get into most of the books i tried to read. however, reading has always been one of my hobbies and, for whatever reason, i especially missed it today. so, thanks to my audiobook app i have been able to find a short story that i genuinely ended up loving!
the story follows a "one-month nanny", a late middle-aged woman who takes care of mothers and their newborns during their first month. she never gets attached to any of the families she works with but, of course, this new mother and baby she is nursing seem to break her rules. i believe this is an interesting topic to write about and one thing about me is i am a sucker for stories about human connection so, yeah!
i think i need to shoutout both the author and the narrator of the book. the writing style blurs the line between what the main character feels and thinks (and should probably say out loud) and what her actual utterances. i feel like if i hadn't listened while reading my experience would probably be a bit different. oh, and also, despite the shortness of the story, there were some fun one liners as well as deeper ones. once again, loved that.
i often enjoy short stories and i am aware that they usually stick to giving a brief glimpse into a situation or a character's life and i am okay with that!
regardless of that, if you, like me, enjoy short stories i totally recommend this one! i believe it's worth it to spend about 30 minutes reading it because it will 100% make you reflect on one or even more different topics.
when she moved on to the next place, she would leave no mystery or damage behind; no one in this world would be disturbed by having known her.
The Multilingual Subject by Claire Kramsch
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
i have read this book as a part of my thesis investigation and, while i don't usually rate books i read for uni assignments, i feel like this one deserves a high rating.
as a multilingual person myself, i saw myself mirrored in so many parts of the first half of this book. i actually even teared up at some parts, especially when the author included writings made by other multilingual authors or students. i just felt... so understood. and reading some theory about this whole topic also felt nice.
it is unfortunate that the last two or three chapters didn't catch my attention that much and that there have been many terms i still can't fully understand (hopefully i will once i start writing my thesis). but overall it was a really nice read and yeah i am just so glad this was the first book i read during my investigation process <3
as a multilingual person myself, i saw myself mirrored in so many parts of the first half of this book. i actually even teared up at some parts, especially when the author included writings made by other multilingual authors or students. i just felt... so understood. and reading some theory about this whole topic also felt nice.
it is unfortunate that the last two or three chapters didn't catch my attention that much and that there have been many terms i still can't fully understand (hopefully i will once i start writing my thesis). but overall it was a really nice read and yeah i am just so glad this was the first book i read during my investigation process <3
The Situationship by Abby Jimenez
i think this was way too short to properly review it; it would have worked better as a bonus chapter on just for the summer. but yeah, it was kinda fun i guess
ps. im so sorry but the preview to the next book made me cringe soo many times and its only about 10 pages π so yeah since i already finished this trilogy, i think its time for me to stop reading this author's books
ps. im so sorry but the preview to the next book made me cringe soo many times and its only about 10 pages π so yeah since i already finished this trilogy, i think its time for me to stop reading this author's books
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
well, i really liked the premise of this book. two people trying to break a dating curse together, so they can find "the one"? sounds fun and it's obvious that they are meant to be. of course that doesn't take away the thrill of getting to know the characters.
starting with justin, i appreciate how he is the "most flawed" mmc of this trilogy (even if his flaws are just him holding grudges or being angry at stuff, lmao) and, well, i love me a nerdy boy who does nerdy stuff for the girl he likes! maybe him fist pumping in the air every time he got excited was a little cartoon-ish, but well, it didnt really bother me so much.
then, emily was really nice. i could relate to some of her isolating/avoiding tendencies at some points and i really tried to empathize with her and the reasons why she acted in certain wayseven though, if we're being real, *her* curse only existed bc she has an avoiding attachment style and probably cut off every guy once she started feeling any kind of butterflies π and i really loved the symbolism that her different homes held.
even though i was disappointed that the curse plot stopped about 30 pages in, i actually liked the secondary plot of the different family dynamics of each main character and their relationships with their momit took me a while to realize who amber and neil were btw and i ended up appreciating that they brought it up because it allowed to give the characters a desire for a more mundane type of love (having breakfasts together, taking care of each other when sick...) and omggg i always eat that kind of romance up.
while reading, i wanted to give this 4 stars but the ending was *so* rushed, it left me wanting more and i think that's my main problem with this author. not every story needs a third act breakup that gets magically and quicky solved in the last 5% of the book, quite literally, because of the power of love π i really wish we had gotten to see more of their healing process or their "make up" process because, no matter how forgiving you are, i don't think it's that easy to forgive someone after 6 months of ghosting lmao.
so yeah, it may not be thee book of the summer, but i think it's a nice august/september read!
ps. i like to think emily and i share birthdays because hers is some time during late september but maybe a week or two before october and mine is on the 22nd sooo
starting with justin, i appreciate how he is the "most flawed" mmc of this trilogy (even if his flaws are just him holding grudges or being angry at stuff, lmao) and, well, i love me a nerdy boy who does nerdy stuff for the girl he likes! maybe him fist pumping in the air every time he got excited was a little cartoon-ish, but well, it didnt really bother me so much.
then, emily was really nice. i could relate to some of her isolating/avoiding tendencies at some points and i really tried to empathize with her and the reasons why she acted in certain ways
even though i was disappointed that the curse plot stopped about 30 pages in, i actually liked the secondary plot of the different family dynamics of each main character and their relationships with their mom
while reading, i wanted to give this 4 stars but the ending was *so* rushed, it left me wanting more and i think that's my main problem with this author. not every story needs a third act breakup that gets magically and quicky solved in the last 5% of the book, quite literally, because of the power of love π i really wish we had gotten to see more of their healing process or their "make up" process because, no matter how forgiving you are, i don't think it's that easy to forgive someone after 6 months of ghosting lmao.
so yeah, it may not be thee book of the summer, but i think it's a nice august/september read!
ps. i like to think emily and i share birthdays because hers is some time during late september but maybe a week or two before october and mine is on the 22nd sooo
Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-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
4.0
i was looking forward to pick this book up for a while, since one of my booktwt mutuals recommended it to me and said she loved it. i think it is such a shame that i got into a reading slump so bad that it took me about a month to finish it, because i genuinely liked it.
i have to admit i'm not a huge fan of the fake dating trope because, usually, it involves miscommunication and that's a trope that i actually dislike. i do understand that the book would have been about 100 pages shorter without it, since miscommunication was the main issue of the story. but i just hate that it took over more than half of the bookand then there was the third breakup act... i hate ittt.
however i did like this book better than the first one. 'yours truly' had everything that i missed in 'part of your world' and that is a slow(er) burn romance and more wholesome, soft, not so-spicy moments between the main couple. i totally loved their "being harmless to each other" dynamic, their exchange of letters, how they slowly fell in love before even jumping to physical touch and i loved how the author still kept the theme of having two total (and partly different) strangers get to dive in each other's worlds and create one of their own.
of course, i also loved the main characters. i appreciate how this time the author tried to make the mmc more "relatable" by giving him anxiety. it was still hard for me to find him real because he was still a bit too perfect but i get it, since, at the end of the day, he is just a figment of a romance author's imagination.
i liked and laughed at briana's interventions on the first book so it was nice to get to know her more in depth and have a closer look at her dealing with her brother and her divorce. i understand her story was supposed to be more of a rom-com so that's why the author didn't delve further into her background and trauma. even so, she was still a very relatable characterso i am so glad she got her happy ending with a man who, despite his anxiety, loves her so much that he is willing to go out of his comfort zone and show up for her every time.
this second book put the bar a bit higher for the second one, so i hope it can exceed my expectations!
i have to admit i'm not a huge fan of the fake dating trope because, usually, it involves miscommunication and that's a trope that i actually dislike. i do understand that the book would have been about 100 pages shorter without it, since miscommunication was the main issue of the story. but i just hate that it took over more than half of the book
however i did like this book better than the first one. 'yours truly' had everything that i missed in 'part of your world' and that is a slow(er) burn romance and more wholesome, soft, not so-spicy moments between the main couple. i totally loved their "being harmless to each other" dynamic, their exchange of letters, how they slowly fell in love before even jumping to physical touch and i loved how the author still kept the theme of having two total (and partly different) strangers get to dive in each other's worlds and create one of their own.
of course, i also loved the main characters. i appreciate how this time the author tried to make the mmc more "relatable" by giving him anxiety. it was still hard for me to find him real because he was still a bit too perfect but i get it, since, at the end of the day, he is just a figment of a romance author's imagination.
i liked and laughed at briana's interventions on the first book so it was nice to get to know her more in depth and have a closer look at her dealing with her brother and her divorce. i understand her story was supposed to be more of a rom-com so that's why the author didn't delve further into her background and trauma. even so, she was still a very relatable character
this second book put the bar a bit higher for the second one, so i hope it can exceed my expectations!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Miscarriage, Sexual content, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
one of my booktwt mutuals recommended me the 2nd book of this series but i decided to blindly go for the first one instead, because it felt more logical to me.
in retrospect, i found myself enjoying this book but i think i liked the subplots better than the main romance plot.
i guess it is mainly because i might be somewhere in the ace spectrum, but i just will never understand how two total strangers can hook up and then feeling like they have a special connection without barely speaking to each other ??? ofc by the end i thought their relationship was cute and i liked how they kept bringing parts of each other in their own world. but yeah i think i would have loved the romance part better if it was more of a slow burn and less spicy. and maybe if daniel (mmc) was a bit more flawed? like he was... too perfect π and i know that is usually the point in romance books, but in this one it felt weird, since everyone else had their own issues.
i think the stories going on in wakan were nice; i love me some found family vibes lmao. at first i felt like the village characters were a bit one-dimensional but i believe that was mainly because their descriptions came from alexis' pov and in her world everybody is pretty shallow, so i guess i can understand why said descriptions were that way.but i liked to see how throughout the narration we could see the similarities of the royaume with the grant house and how they're both kingdoms in their own way and how both characters felt somehow trapped in them at some point or another in the story
moreover, the exploration of the so many forms of abuse that exist was interesting.and i like how it was not only shown in the neil-alexis and the liz-jake situation but also in amber-daniel, alexis-cecil, jennifer-cecil. and i also liked how each situation was talked about differently because of the characters' positions on it. and it was nice to see neil taking accountability for his actions by the end, without forcing alexis into forgiveness. the only thing that i disliked about it was how alexis highkey blamed her mom too for being "quiet" or "too tired to argue". just because she accepted the abuse and total control from her husband doesn't mean she did not care about him hurting her or her children
so yeah, i think my rating is actually more 3.85-ish but i dont feel like giving it 4 solid stars, so i guess it'll stay this way, with 3.75!
in retrospect, i found myself enjoying this book but i think i liked the subplots better than the main romance plot.
i guess it is mainly because i might be somewhere in the ace spectrum, but i just will never understand how two total strangers can hook up and then feeling like they have a special connection without barely speaking to each other ??? ofc by the end i thought their relationship was cute and i liked how they kept bringing parts of each other in their own world. but yeah i think i would have loved the romance part better if it was more of a slow burn and less spicy. and maybe if daniel (mmc) was a bit more flawed? like he was... too perfect π and i know that is usually the point in romance books, but in this one it felt weird, since everyone else had their own issues.
i think the stories going on in wakan were nice; i love me some found family vibes lmao. at first i felt like the village characters were a bit one-dimensional but i believe that was mainly because their descriptions came from alexis' pov and in her world everybody is pretty shallow, so i guess i can understand why said descriptions were that way.
moreover, the exploration of the so many forms of abuse that exist was interesting.
so yeah, i think my rating is actually more 3.85-ish but i dont feel like giving it 4 solid stars, so i guess it'll stay this way, with 3.75!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual content
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Medical content, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Abandonment
I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i've been stuck in a reading slump for so many months that i absolutely forgot to read this book when it came out, even though i was looking forward to do so. i know that, for now, she only has three published books, but i would dare to say this one is ann liang's best.
let's start by focusing on the characters. i loved sadie, she is just like me: a chronic people pleaser who also used to be the smartest girl in class (in past tense bc i don't think there's a "smarter person" in college. also, i have always sucked at sports lol). so i totally related to her urge of always priorizing everyone else's happiness before hers and the urge to be liked by everyone and keeping her family happy by doing what she "needs" to do, aka getting the best grades she can. oh, and her abandonment issues were on point too. i annotated "she is so me" quite a lot while reading the book, lmao.
as for julius, i honestly wish this had been a dual pov book because i was really curious to see a little insight of his life. i would have loved to see his reactions to sadie's letters and how he tried to keep his crush on her undercover. and, most importantly, i think he also deserved his own "healing" arc and a glimpse of how he deals with his family dynamic.
i feel like the story had a good mix of rivalry, romance, fun scenes and sadie's introspection. some parts of the plot were maybe a bit predictable(such as julius' obvious crush like... why else would he memorize ALL of sadie's emails... he is so pathetic and i love him for that lmaoo) but idk i just loved it overall and even though im too old now to have an academic rivals-to-lovers trope, i hope someday i find someone who sees me and understands me as well as julius sees and understands sadie <3
ps. i would totally watch a movie adaptation, my hopeless romantic ass would love to giggle blush and kick her feet over these two losers once again <3
let's start by focusing on the characters. i loved sadie, she is just like me: a chronic people pleaser who also used to be the smartest girl in class (in past tense bc i don't think there's a "smarter person" in college. also, i have always sucked at sports lol). so i totally related to her urge of always priorizing everyone else's happiness before hers and the urge to be liked by everyone and keeping her family happy by doing what she "needs" to do, aka getting the best grades she can. oh, and her abandonment issues were on point too. i annotated "she is so me" quite a lot while reading the book, lmao.
as for julius, i honestly wish this had been a dual pov book because i was really curious to see a little insight of his life. i would have loved to see his reactions to sadie's letters and how he tried to keep his crush on her undercover. and, most importantly, i think he also deserved his own "healing" arc and a glimpse of how he deals with his family dynamic.
i feel like the story had a good mix of rivalry, romance, fun scenes and sadie's introspection. some parts of the plot were maybe a bit predictable
ps. i would totally watch a movie adaptation, my hopeless romantic ass would love to giggle blush and kick her feet over these two losers once again <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship and Abandonment
Moderate: Alcohol