I did like this book, I just wasn’t really connected to the K-Pop culture part of things. The author describes Korea in a really cool way, and definitely made me hungry for the food, but if I were a KPop fan I know I would have loved it. 

At first I wasn’t into this one, but after I settled into the rhythm I was a fan. I think I just have to remember that YA pacing and depth are not always the same as non-YA, so I just had to adjust. Once I did, I found I really enjoyed the world. The choice to call Joan and her family “monsters” was an interesting one, normally you would see some made up word to describe a different species. The twists and turns were fun, even if I still had a lot of questions by the end. I think I’ll read the sequel, just to see where it goes next!

Honestly this book was basically perfect for me. A Relationship based on snark, check. A swoon worthy leading man, check. An honest and emotional dive into grief, specifically a grandparent, check. And yet I feel like there was something missing. That something is small, because I did very much enjoy this book, but it just took me a while to really settle in. I love books about grief, and this one was really great with that. It just needed a bit of extra sparkle for it to be a full 5 stars for me. 

Once I settled in for the twists, this book became really good. The last third of this book create a total different narrative, which is a strong way to finish but makes the first two thirds a bit cheap. I do enjoy good twists, so I’m not mad at it, but it was a very mixed experience on reading. 

Very solid mystery. I enjoyed the format, and the way that the information was shown. Very intriguing from start to finish. 

I enjoyed this quite a bit! The premise was really fun and original, and it made for a very refreshing plot. Even though there were tropes, it didn’t feel overdone or clique. I also really enjoyed Finn and thought he was a good love interest. Very solid and fun story!

Martha Waters and India Holton are the only authors who can get me to enjoy historical romance. Waters adds so much humor and charm to her books, and is able to make ridiculous plots work so well. I’m excited about the last book in the series, although I’m sad to see it end. 

I’m not quite sure how to review this book. Don’t let the cover fool you, this is not a light or happy book. This needs major trigger warnings, especially because of how unexpected the story was. However dark and difficult the story was, it isn’t any less important. The main reasons for my rating comes down to the pacing. The backstory was Infinitely more interesting to me, but it wasn’t a big part of the book. The things that happened in current day were very slow, and I wish there was more with Beatrice. It definitely set an interesting bar for Jennifer Wiener’s books. 

I did not expect to end up loving this book, because for most of it I didn’t. Sam was hard to read, and the circumstances Sadie went through were difficult. But it was Marx’s charm that really swayed me

even if his death ended up devastating me. And that’s when I felt like the book finally found itself. I was crying and so upset, but by the end that was the only thing that made sense. 

. I was ultimately so moved by this story and am really happy to have read it.