alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

i have to be honest, i wanted to like this, and listening on audio with great british accents helped a bit, but mostly i was SO FRUSTRATED and annoyed by all the characters (nobody had redeeming qualities? everyone was annoying?) and the general incompetence within their retail store setting, and all the tangled lies within the fake amnesia plot line... i just truly couldn't do it. i DNFed at about 50% through and honestly wish i had quit sooner and I AM SO SORRY TO SAY IT because i have loved other alexis hall books!!! this just was not it for me.

the unfortunate thing about this book is… it was not good. 🫣 it was HEAVILY hyped as being “gilmore girls meets practical magic” and while there was magic (albeit shoddily crafted and with so little clarity or actual sense), there was none of the gg charm or wit or warmth. and yall — if i had a penny for every dang simile in this book, i could quit my job. THERE WERE SO MANY IT WAS PAINFUL. i truly wanted to find constructive ways to review and share this book because there’s been so much buzz around it but… i’ve got nothing. i didn’t like it. it wasn’t for me. i don’t recommend it and i should have called it a DNF when i first noticed how often “like a …” was used by like page 5… 🫠🫠🫠

FINALLY FINISHED. 🙌🏼✨ three (!!!) years after starting the throne of glass series, i have come to the end, feeling all kinds of emotions for the characters and the world i came to truly love over time. (it really did take time though!)

this was a near perfect conclusion to the series, wrapping up storylines beautifully and poignantly, telling sweeping stories and tugging on my heartstrings with all its talk of a better world. the themes are DEEP in this one, and i looooved it.

these characters, y’all, they’re just SO GOOD. they feel like family now, but i guess when you spend hundreds and hundreds of pages with them each book in the 7-book series, that’s what happens. i’ll love this crew forever, especially its leading ladies. 🥹

phew. what a journey. glad i stuck it out and made it through the slower start to the series and the tandem read of books 5 and 6 and the 900+ pages of this one to see these storylines through to their glorious ends.

are these books good? not really! do i like them? honestly unsure. will i keep reading them? of course. 

they aren’t getting better as the series goes on but i still want to know what happens to these sweet little spoiled babies as they do big brave things like decide to not be dukes and princesses and things!!! ~what a life~

set a book on a reality cooking show and you will have me HOOKED. then add in a quirky main character and a nonbinary love interest? i am all in!! we love to see the representation! the relationship between london and dahlia is PRECIOUS and felt so authentic, even with its mishaps and fumblings, and it melted my heart. loved their story and this book and the wonderfully tender way anita kelly writes queer love. 

(ps— the ben caravalho easter egg from something wild and wonderful was the best! 🥰)

fake dating! sapphic love! anxiety representation! incredible queer found family! an emotionally guarded romance author who loves sex, and a shy theatre nerd who loves romance and needs help open up physically… WHATEVER WILL HAPPEN?!?!

it’s cute, it’s cheesy, the third act break up is dumb, the easter eggs to characters to the first two books in the series are fun, and these mainly are books to read for a delightful and steamy and sweet good time!

when @anniesfivestarbooks gives a book five stars and says nothing happens but that it’s beautiful… I AM INTO IT. and holy moly, i loved this tiny treasure. i teared up so many times, loving the absolutely perfect poetry of total normalcy, even putting the book down to write my own words because i felt so inspired.

absolutely adored this one. might read it again tomorrow. a gem of a gem of a gem.

my ONLY complaint about this one was that the MC was a blond man. i do not do blond men. but besides that?! IT WAS PERFECT I LOVED IT I SWOONED I LAUGHED I TEARED UP!!! it’s a retelling of much ado about nothing (which i remembered nothing about) and it’s adorable and it kept me company my whole drive to ATL this weekend and made it bearable and for that i am forever grateful. ilysm @chloe_liese, thank you for writing the very best love stories with the most representation. you’re a gem. 🥰