30something_reads's Reviews (820)

Hot sapphic gaming nerds being exceptionally antagonistic (then sweet) and nerdy. What more do you need?

Cat (she/her) is the new temp writer hired on the team developing Compass Hollow, an up and coming game designed by the infamous Andi Zhang (she/they). Highers ups believe the game needs a romance component and Cat is thrilled to be involved in the addition. Andi, on the other hand is stubbornly against romance being included in their game. Naturally, these opposites butt heads at every conceivable pass until they eventually realize they may have a lot more in common than they originally thought. 

Truly, SO nerdy. It may be too much nerd culture for some readers but I enjoyed it thoroughly. 

 "The world is wide and full of grace, I promise you."

🥹🥹🥹

I loved this. The entire time I was thinking "oh, what if-" and then the "if" in question happened and I was GIDDY.

Christopher and James were such wonderfully soft characters. This was a slowwww burn but I ate up the tension and yearning that radiated between these two. And the entire cast of side characters were so delightful.


T.J., Please, I'd like 3 more queer Hist Roms just like this! 😁🩷 (Verbena Montrose needs a hot wife, I BEG 🙏🏻) 

An acerbic little shit who's like, "yeah, late night marathon sex in a dingy laundromat is fine (👌🏻) but I draw the line at affectionate little good morning kisses. (😤)"

And I love that energy.

I wish there were more of it. 

THRICE I wept over this webtoon. It was just so sweet and lovely 😭🩷 So unexpectedly wonderful. 

This is a slice of life, slow burn romance that follows college sophomore, YuYang, and college freshman, LiHuan, who are total opposites at first glance.

We follow their stories as they navigate a friendship that slowly becomes more as they get to know one another. We get glimpses into their pasts and home lives, their relationships with family and friends, and really get to know them as they stumble through their growing attraction to each other.

This has:

How did I live with that cliff hanger FOR TWO YEARS, TRACY 😭❤️

Umm. So if we just ignore that last side story, this was very cute, overall. (So that's how I'll rate this)

Omegaverse BL manhwa.

Doyun is an unconventionsl omega. He doesn't look like a typical omega (in this case that means a smaller stature, softer features, and a gentle attitude- all of which Doyun does not have) so he's often mistaken for an alpha or beta. And that's also because he's a "latebloomer" meaning that, at the age of 26, he has yet to go into heat or produce pheromones.

And, of course, that all changes when he unfortunately goes into heat for the first time while at work and the only person around is one of his alpha coworkers (and rival), Taehan, who has no idea that Doyun is an omega. It's in his instinct to help Doyun, albeit begrudgingly since they fight constantly.

That's where their really funny and sweet relationship begins. It's all very low angst and plays around with the stereotypical alpha/omega dynamics (which I appreciate). They bicker and they banter and are on totally equal footing when it comes to being smitten with the other. And obviously it's very smutty.

Regarding the final side story: it's not necessary to the main plot between Doyun/Taehan. It follows the relationship of two side characters and is SO tonally opposite of the main story that it was very jarring. It's a dark/taboo story featuring an unhealthy relationship, SA, and incestuous moments. Not MY jam for sure. If I had known, I would have just skipped it 🥲

GODDAMN I love this book 😭💜 even better on the reread. Not a single crumb out of line.

(All the signs for Bree/Sel/Nick are THERE! Tracy has been saying it from day one! )

"For a moment, the three of us stare at one another in wordless comprehension. I look between the two of them- a fallen angel and a king, the dark and the light, and feel a deep churning thrill at what I've done. What we've done. This is how it will be now. Oaths between us. Bound to each other forever."

Found this after stumbling on 945's current project and wanted to read something complete. I read the whole thing online and have no idea how the volumes are broken up. So this is the one I'll be logging 😅

Fun! 

And then between the 60-80% I was questioning why I was still reading. (It just felt so repetitive at that point but I refused to give up)

And then the last few chapters really landed and were super sweet. 

So overall, a cute and silly read. I'm definitely more intrigued by the authors current project though.

I'm always in awe of Abdurraqib's reverence and the love he exudes for whatever he's writing about.  

I inhaled this book. My God, Han and Kenny are two of the sweetest characters I've read in a long while.

These boys loved each other SO much before they ever realized they were in love. And I adore a friends to lovers story when the author can really sell their backstory/friendship and Sonora Reyes does a great job with that here.

This has some really great things:

I do think the final 25% of this book struggled a little in terms of story progression. There are a lot of external factors at play in Han and Kenny's story and it was a lot to try and wrap up without feeling like we were rushing through it all. 

But oh, that final chapter and epilogue just warmed my heart so thoroughly 🥹💕