I think this is the most classic fantasy I’ve read. It had magic and mystery, and of course unicorns. I read this because I enjoyed the movie as a kid, even if it freaked me out. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the author wrote the screenplay, and was interested to read the book. The characters were even better on the page, and there was so much melancholy and longing in the language. The descriptions were beautiful, and the action was described so well. I’m glad this ended up being as good as it was!

Ok I understand the hype, but it wasn’t really for me. Connell was not very sympathetic, and him and Marianne were incredibly dysfunctional. I also don’t always love books that are so character driven. But, there was some good writing in it so it wasn’t terrible. 

This book is genius. I loved Babel, and I knew this one by Kuang would be just as brilliant. What a nuanced portrayal of a terrible protagonist, that also doesn’t let anyone else get away with anything. June is awful, but so is everyone else (including Athena), and this book is able to examine so much. Kuang has become an auto-buy author for me, with Yellowface dealing that for me. 

This book was enraging, in the best way. It was honest and powerful, and you could feel the passion the author has for this topic in the pages. You could feel the tension she feels between her love of what Hollywood creates, and her rage with the various people and structures that create the awful reality behind the creation of those things. I loved that she ended the book with possible solutions, because sometimes there just needs to be a place to start. I appreciate the drive she put into this book, and her willingness to dig into the ugliness in the world of Hollywood. 

This was a good sequel to the first in the series, and Manuela’s story was very interesting. I liked the ending drama, and how the third act breakup was unique. It did feel like a lot of nothing happened, plot wise, at least for me, but the overall story and world is still really fun!

This book was fun, and certainly an interesting setting for a historical romance. It was fresh and new, and I did really enjoy the characters. And boy the spice was very much there! I think my biggest frustration is the eternal “complication” of the marriage of convenience where both parties act like children because they don’t think the other person actually wants them. It always just frustrates me, so it’s more to do with the trope than the book itself. This one had really intriguing characters and action that felt real, so I enjoyed it!

I think maybe Tessa Bailey isn’t for me? I really enjoyed the first book, but looking back I have less love for it than I did at the time. I objectively liked the setup of this one a little more, but there were a lot of things that were in the writing that I didn’t like. I hated Fox’s self-loathing and how it contributed to the third act breakup, and Hannah veered pretty close to “pick me” a few times for me. I will say, the epilogue got me, but overall this wasn’t one for me. 

Such a fun follow up! I loved seeing Alanna mature and learn to accept herself. It did move pretty fast for me, but it was still a good adventure. 

This book was interesting! The main character was fun and had such a unique story. My biggest issue is that, even though we were with August for most of his life, he still felt fairly distant. That may have been due to how quickly the plot moved, but even still it was an enjoyable story.