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zluvsreading's reviews
423 reviews
Not in My Book by Katie Holt
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
(4.9 stars**)
This was such a good book! The things I liked most about it are the fact that it has a love story within a love story. I think that’s difficult to write, but the author achieved it really well. Even though the two are intertwined, you could also see the slight differences and I enjoyed seeing the excerpts at the end of each chapter from Aiden and Rosie’s book.
I also enjoyed the little spice that we got. The two characters had so much tension, you could tell that they needed to work it out desperately (and did!)
The friendships and friend characters that we got to see were also fun. Logan was so funny, he made me laugh out loud at something he said towards the end.
Now onto the audiobook aspects of the story, since I read it through the audio format, primarily. I did have the ebook of it as well, but the audio was dominating.
I think the narrators voice fit with each character that was being voiced. I especially loved the Spanish, from the mother and Rosie occasionally. As someone who knows/understands Spanish, it was lovely to read/listen to it spoken so well. I did have to put the audiobook on 2.5x, as opposed to my normal 1.75-2x speed because it was sorta slow, but I didn’t mind it too much.
The narrators voice and the story fit well together in my opinion. I don’t know if I would necessarily recommend the audio format of this book vs print/ebook but it was still well done. I’d recommend it if you didn’t know how to pronounce Spanish, but otherwise, I think it’s better as an ebook or print book.
It didn’t get confusing when there were excerpts read, or when there were scenes of the book they were writing in the book, but I think I would’ve gotten confused if I didn’t see it in the ebook. I would’ve thought the characters were thinking/saying it out loud, besides the fact that the character names were different.
I love third act breakups because it makes the book more devastating to read, but some things said kind of irked me away from their relationship. There could’ve been more groveling in my opinion, but that’s just me. I still enjoyed the book!
Thank you to RB Media for the ALC and Alcove Press for the eARC via Grab A Galley PW. All opinions are my own.
This was such a good book! The things I liked most about it are the fact that it has a love story within a love story. I think that’s difficult to write, but the author achieved it really well. Even though the two are intertwined, you could also see the slight differences and I enjoyed seeing the excerpts at the end of each chapter from Aiden and Rosie’s book.
I also enjoyed the little spice that we got. The two characters had so much tension, you could tell that they needed to work it out desperately (and did!)
The friendships and friend characters that we got to see were also fun. Logan was so funny, he made me laugh out loud at something he said towards the end.
Now onto the audiobook aspects of the story, since I read it through the audio format, primarily. I did have the ebook of it as well, but the audio was dominating.
I think the narrators voice fit with each character that was being voiced. I especially loved the Spanish, from the mother and Rosie occasionally. As someone who knows/understands Spanish, it was lovely to read/listen to it spoken so well. I did have to put the audiobook on 2.5x, as opposed to my normal 1.75-2x speed because it was sorta slow, but I didn’t mind it too much.
The narrators voice and the story fit well together in my opinion. I don’t know if I would necessarily recommend the audio format of this book vs print/ebook but it was still well done. I’d recommend it if you didn’t know how to pronounce Spanish, but otherwise, I think it’s better as an ebook or print book.
It didn’t get confusing when there were excerpts read, or when there were scenes of the book they were writing in the book, but I think I would’ve gotten confused if I didn’t see it in the ebook. I would’ve thought the characters were thinking/saying it out loud, besides the fact that the character names were different.
I love third act breakups because it makes the book more devastating to read, but some things said kind of irked me away from their relationship. There could’ve been more groveling in my opinion, but that’s just me. I still enjoyed the book!
Thank you to RB Media for the ALC and Alcove Press for the eARC via Grab A Galley PW. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent
Only for the Week by Natasha Bishop
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
FULL RTC BUT mwah chefs kiss
Rifqa by Mohammed El-Kurd
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Full rtc but such a powerful read, sometimes I didn’t understand certain things so I would probably retain more if I read it with an annotated version of breaking everything down like an English class.
Flirting With Disaster: A Novel by Naina Kumar
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
Oh my god I need everyone to preorder this book right now and add another copy for your friends to read because this should be read by EVERYONE.
When Meena flies to Houston to get her estranged husbands signature on divorce papers after 7 years apart, she gets stranded when news of a hurricane hitting soon keeps her there.
The forced proximity was so funny!!!!! I loved them being stuck together in a house because of a hurricane and everything that occurred while they couldn’t leave the house due to flooding/rain/roads. It was so much pain!!!! So much pain, but I adored it.
The flashbacks to their early marriage days and even before that were so sad and bittersweet. You’re rooting for them the entire time, but then remember that nothing comes easy in books, or love.
Second chance romances are quickly becoming my favorite thing ever and this book is easily, hands down, one of my favorites with that trope, and also maybe just one of my favorite romances ever.
I enjoyed the Texas location so much!! The references were top notch. I will not spoil any of them so you can see them for yourself but I loved that the author incorporated them in here and had the characters talk about one in particular. That whole conversation was so funny!!! (Meena was right, Nikhil was wrong y’all)
Books are so political, and if you’re thinking “what? No they’re not. This is just a silly little romance.” No, I think you need to reread this!!!!
The lawyer aspect of this was just everything. You can really tell how passionate Meena was regarding everything she wanted to achieve and the Texas seat/running for Senate/Congress and everything else. I like when authors do a lot of research or just have background knowledge about stuff and incorporate that in their books. You can really tell Naina knows stuff about law. It made the book so much better, and it was never confusing or boring. Everything was written very concisely and I enjoyed that.
The familial relationships made me really happy, by the end. It really just goes to show that communication is key to any sort of relationship, whether romantic or platonic.
THATS WHAT I LOVED ABOUT MEENA AND NIKHIL!!!!!! Their communication and growth. Yes, deep down they are the same people they were when they got married all those years ago, but also, growth!!! They’ve grown!!!
The epilogue made me cry and happy at the same time!!!! This book just felt too short, I need MORE. I may just reread it again because I feel so empty without it in my life anymore. 10/10. Possibly an infinity read!!!!! Just so amazing I can’t.
Thank you to Dell Romance for the ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
When Meena flies to Houston to get her estranged husbands signature on divorce papers after 7 years apart, she gets stranded when news of a hurricane hitting soon keeps her there.
The forced proximity was so funny!!!!! I loved them being stuck together in a house because of a hurricane and everything that occurred while they couldn’t leave the house due to flooding/rain/roads. It was so much pain!!!! So much pain, but I adored it.
The flashbacks to their early marriage days and even before that were so sad and bittersweet. You’re rooting for them the entire time, but then remember that nothing comes easy in books, or love.
Second chance romances are quickly becoming my favorite thing ever and this book is easily, hands down, one of my favorites with that trope, and also maybe just one of my favorite romances ever.
I enjoyed the Texas location so much!! The references were top notch. I will not spoil any of them so you can see them for yourself but I loved that the author incorporated them in here and had the characters talk about one in particular. That whole conversation was so funny!!! (Meena was right, Nikhil was wrong y’all)
Books are so political, and if you’re thinking “what? No they’re not. This is just a silly little romance.” No, I think you need to reread this!!!!
The lawyer aspect of this was just everything. You can really tell how passionate Meena was regarding everything she wanted to achieve and the Texas seat/running for Senate/Congress and everything else. I like when authors do a lot of research or just have background knowledge about stuff and incorporate that in their books. You can really tell Naina knows stuff about law. It made the book so much better, and it was never confusing or boring. Everything was written very concisely and I enjoyed that.
The familial relationships made me really happy, by the end. It really just goes to show that communication is key to any sort of relationship, whether romantic or platonic.
THATS WHAT I LOVED ABOUT MEENA AND NIKHIL!!!!!! Their communication and growth. Yes, deep down they are the same people they were when they got married all those years ago, but also, growth!!! They’ve grown!!!
The epilogue made me cry and happy at the same time!!!! This book just felt too short, I need MORE. I may just reread it again because I feel so empty without it in my life anymore. 10/10. Possibly an infinity read!!!!! Just so amazing I can’t.
Thank you to Dell Romance for the ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol
The Complex Art of Being Maisie Clark by Sabrina Kleckner
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
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? Yes
5.0
This novel was everything and I want to tell you why.
So we have Maisie Clark, an 18-year old artist who has been doing art for as long as she can remember. However, now she’s moving to London to university to study art, but not portraits because she feels like she needs to find herself and that means trying new things and discovering her art away from her dad (whose art she can’t tell the difference between hers and his).
London also has her brother and his boyfriend there so she’s not completely alone.
I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this and the friendships/relationships. They felt so real and raw and I liked that things were said bluntly and Maisie's inner dialogue was just so funny. She is what it means to be a teenager moving abroad to study in another country!
I really loved London as the setting, along with their small town in New York. I also loved the characters in this.
Maisie felt so relatable, but was also frustrating at times which yeah. She was known to be “a lot” but that doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person.
I liked how her and Eli balanced each other out. The scenes between them were hilarious and awkward, I loved them!! I am happy with how their story turned out and for everything that happened in between.
Calum was the older brother, by quite a large margin but I could also relate and understand that sort of relationship as I also have an older sibling that is 10 years my senior. As soon as I read that, I was like “oh yeah I’m going to love this book.” And I do! It’s just really fun, but also about discovering yourself, distinct art styles, family dynamics, and a little bit of romance thrown in there.
I definitely would be interested in reading the novel that came before this, that depicts Maisie when she was 12 instead of 18. I gravitated towards this because of the age of the main character, but now that I sort of see who she has grown into, it’d be interesting to read about how she used to be.
The character arcs in this were amazing. Maisie grew so much, not only in herself but understanding her art that was great to see.
Overall, a very YA college, funny, artsy, book that I had fun reading!
Thank you to Flux Books for the auto-approval via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
So we have Maisie Clark, an 18-year old artist who has been doing art for as long as she can remember. However, now she’s moving to London to university to study art, but not portraits because she feels like she needs to find herself and that means trying new things and discovering her art away from her dad (whose art she can’t tell the difference between hers and his).
London also has her brother and his boyfriend there so she’s not completely alone.
I really enjoyed the family dynamics in this and the friendships/relationships. They felt so real and raw and I liked that things were said bluntly and Maisie's inner dialogue was just so funny. She is what it means to be a teenager moving abroad to study in another country!
I really loved London as the setting, along with their small town in New York. I also loved the characters in this.
Maisie felt so relatable, but was also frustrating at times which yeah. She was known to be “a lot” but that doesn’t necessarily make her a bad person.
I liked how her and Eli balanced each other out. The scenes between them were hilarious and awkward, I loved them!! I am happy with how their story turned out and for everything that happened in between.
Calum was the older brother, by quite a large margin but I could also relate and understand that sort of relationship as I also have an older sibling that is 10 years my senior. As soon as I read that, I was like “oh yeah I’m going to love this book.” And I do! It’s just really fun, but also about discovering yourself, distinct art styles, family dynamics, and a little bit of romance thrown in there.
I definitely would be interested in reading the novel that came before this, that depicts Maisie when she was 12 instead of 18. I gravitated towards this because of the age of the main character, but now that I sort of see who she has grown into, it’d be interesting to read about how she used to be.
The character arcs in this were amazing. Maisie grew so much, not only in herself but understanding her art that was great to see.
Overall, a very YA college, funny, artsy, book that I had fun reading!
Thank you to Flux Books for the auto-approval via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
Lonely Places by Kate Anderson
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
My mind is so numb and broken after reading this (in a good way!!!)
This is full of family trauma, nature, vortexes, and just everything creepy. It’s almost frustrating in a way, the way the characters interact with one another (specifically Chase and her parents), but when you find out all that has happened to make them that way, you understand.
After Chase’ sister Guthrie goes missing in the woods, and comes back with her voice gone, and her essence gone basically as well, the family moves to a lookout in Pando.
However, there’s a negative vortex there and things from the past that come back to haunt them. And knotholes!!! It’s eery. It’s chilling. It makes goosebumps rise on your skin.
They are a traveling family, their van/bus/home known as a skoolie. Ever since her grandparents died when they were little, Chase has longed to go back to Boone, where they lived since that’s the only place she felt like was home.
I really enjoyed this storyline and felt like I could relate to Chase, even as someone who has lived in the same house, town, and state my whole life.
The chapters were short, and packed a punch which i really enjoyed. I liked the tiny bit of romance that we got from Chase and Wilder. I thought it was great that Chase was able to find a home in someONE rather than someTHING and that she had someone to lean on during the absolute rollercoaster that was this book.
I’m really satisfied with the ending and how everything turned out. I wish nothing but the best for this family and how they will move forward/are moving forward.
This has a much darker vibe to it than Kate’s’ debut “Here Lies Olive” but I really enjoyed it. The psychological/realistic fiction of it all. It really makes me want to visit Pando IRL (since it actually exists!!)
Thank you to Flux Books and NetGalley for the ARC . All opinions are my own.
This is full of family trauma, nature, vortexes, and just everything creepy. It’s almost frustrating in a way, the way the characters interact with one another (specifically Chase and her parents), but when you find out all that has happened to make them that way, you understand.
After Chase’ sister Guthrie goes missing in the woods, and comes back with her voice gone, and her essence gone basically as well, the family moves to a lookout in Pando.
However, there’s a negative vortex there and things from the past that come back to haunt them. And knotholes!!! It’s eery. It’s chilling. It makes goosebumps rise on your skin.
They are a traveling family, their van/bus/home known as a skoolie. Ever since her grandparents died when they were little, Chase has longed to go back to Boone, where they lived since that’s the only place she felt like was home.
I really enjoyed this storyline and felt like I could relate to Chase, even as someone who has lived in the same house, town, and state my whole life.
The chapters were short, and packed a punch which i really enjoyed. I liked the tiny bit of romance that we got from Chase and Wilder. I thought it was great that Chase was able to find a home in someONE rather than someTHING and that she had someone to lean on during the absolute rollercoaster that was this book.
I’m really satisfied with the ending and how everything turned out. I wish nothing but the best for this family and how they will move forward/are moving forward.
This has a much darker vibe to it than Kate’s’ debut “Here Lies Olive” but I really enjoyed it. The psychological/realistic fiction of it all. It really makes me want to visit Pando IRL (since it actually exists!!)
Thank you to Flux Books and NetGalley for the ARC . All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Mental illness, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Cursing and Sexual content
Swift and Saddled by Lyla Sage
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
Lyla Sage, you have my heart.
This was yet another wonderfully written banger from Lyla and I can’t wait to read L&L and W&W now.
From the beginning, Ada and Wes’ chemistry was off the charts and from there it sort of blossomed as they were forced to see each other for a prolonged amount of time.
I liked the forbidden esque part of their relationship because it was a work project for Ada and it would seem wrong to sort of turn that into a personal relationship. However, I’m very happy for them.
Ada’s past with her ex-husband was written so boldly, and I’m glad that she was able to sort of work through what he put her through in order to have a relationship with Wes.
Lyla sage writing spice will never not make me sob. And scream. And giggle. And kick my feet. It’s just so HOT, i can do nothing but read it and weep.
I read the majority of this through audio (highly recommend y’all!!!!! So good!!) and the last like 17% or so digitally (while still imagining the narrators voices.)
Gosh, i sobbed so hard while reading the last 5% or so because THAT WAS BRUTAL!!! It was FRUSTRATING!!!! I wanted to knock some sense into a certain someone, but alas, everything was alright in the end. Maybe? Maybe not? I don’t know, read it and find out.
10/10. Love this book!!! (Just wish it had more diversity).
- zluvsreading
This was yet another wonderfully written banger from Lyla and I can’t wait to read L&L and W&W now.
From the beginning, Ada and Wes’ chemistry was off the charts and from there it sort of blossomed as they were forced to see each other for a prolonged amount of time.
I liked the forbidden esque part of their relationship because it was a work project for Ada and it would seem wrong to sort of turn that into a personal relationship. However, I’m very happy for them.
Ada’s past with her ex-husband was written so boldly, and I’m glad that she was able to sort of work through what he put her through in order to have a relationship with Wes.
Lyla sage writing spice will never not make me sob. And scream. And giggle. And kick my feet. It’s just so HOT, i can do nothing but read it and weep.
I read the majority of this through audio (highly recommend y’all!!!!! So good!!) and the last like 17% or so digitally (while still imagining the narrators voices.)
Gosh, i sobbed so hard while reading the last 5% or so because THAT WAS BRUTAL!!! It was FRUSTRATING!!!! I wanted to knock some sense into a certain someone, but alas, everything was alright in the end. Maybe? Maybe not? I don’t know, read it and find out.
10/10. Love this book!!! (Just wish it had more diversity).
- zluvsreading
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Mental illness and Death of parent
Only Santas in the Building by Alexis Daria
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Oh my god, this was such a wonderful short story to end this beautiful collection, I cannot.
I CRIED over this one y’all!!!!! So good!!!!!!
While this one was also a spicy romantic story set in Christmas times, it also had a strong overtone of grief and talked about grief in it which made the story just that much better.
The dedication was also really heartfelt and I knew it was going to be a story that was going to be near to my heart.
Evie was so real, I adored her. The messy hair no showering while on deadline was so funny of her. It’s something I’ve heard of from authors IRL so for a comic book illustrator to be the same in a book just made me giggle.
I loved the references in this as well. This may have been the funniest one out of all of these novellas, Evies head is just such a funny place to be in.
The caretaking of the MMC, Theo, was top notch. I liked the little things he did for her and the fact that he had a cat.
This one would have been my favorite in this whole thing, if the word “sp00k” had not been used. I recently learned that it’s a slur that was used against Black people and have taken it out of my vocabulary, so to see it in a book that is recently published was just disappointing, but I understand not everyone may not know about the origins of the word.
Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for access to this arc. All opinions are my own.
I CRIED over this one y’all!!!!! So good!!!!!!
While this one was also a spicy romantic story set in Christmas times, it also had a strong overtone of grief and talked about grief in it which made the story just that much better.
The dedication was also really heartfelt and I knew it was going to be a story that was going to be near to my heart.
Evie was so real, I adored her. The messy hair no showering while on deadline was so funny of her. It’s something I’ve heard of from authors IRL so for a comic book illustrator to be the same in a book just made me giggle.
I loved the references in this as well. This may have been the funniest one out of all of these novellas, Evies head is just such a funny place to be in.
The caretaking of the MMC, Theo, was top notch. I liked the little things he did for her and the fact that he had a cat.
This one would have been my favorite in this whole thing, if the word “sp00k” had not been used. I recently learned that it’s a slur that was used against Black people and have taken it out of my vocabulary, so to see it in a book that is recently published was just disappointing, but I understand not everyone may not know about the origins of the word.
Thank you to Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for access to this arc. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Grief
Moderate: Death
Minor: Cursing
Merriment and Mayhem by Alexandria Bellefleur
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
OH MY GOD!!!! I JUST FOUND MY NEW FAVORITE FIREFIGHTER ROMANCE AND I NEED MORE RECS!!!!
This was just—so perfect. The Christmas lonely vibes paired with the first responder, firefighter coming to the rescue on top of the friendships and side characters in this??? Too good.
The romance between the main characters was so witty and spicy and I think that they were fun together.
Goofy is a word I’d use to describe Griffin, the MMC and love interest. He was so funny, and quick with his banter/humor as well. Love to see it.
I also really loved the FMC (Trouble) hehe. She was really refreshing and sort of had a black cat, loner vibe to her that I connected with.
I’m glad she had neighbors that were there to call 911 when certain things were happening. This sort of reminded me of 9-1-1/Greys Anatomy/Station 19!!!
The names. The water scene (I swear there was a S19 episode like that) and some other aspects. I loved it!!!!!
Definitely going to be looking to read more works from this author. 5 stars!!
Thank you to Amazon Original Publishing and NetGalley for access to this arc. All opinions are my own.
This was just—so perfect. The Christmas lonely vibes paired with the first responder, firefighter coming to the rescue on top of the friendships and side characters in this??? Too good.
The romance between the main characters was so witty and spicy and I think that they were fun together.
Goofy is a word I’d use to describe Griffin, the MMC and love interest. He was so funny, and quick with his banter/humor as well. Love to see it.
I also really loved the FMC (Trouble) hehe. She was really refreshing and sort of had a black cat, loner vibe to her that I connected with.
I’m glad she had neighbors that were there to call 911 when certain things were happening. This sort of reminded me of 9-1-1/Greys Anatomy/Station 19!!!
The names. The water scene (I swear there was a S19 episode like that) and some other aspects. I loved it!!!!!
Definitely going to be looking to read more works from this author. 5 stars!!
Thank you to Amazon Original Publishing and NetGalley for access to this arc. All opinions are my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail