anyaemilie's Reviews (1.57k)

If I had known how basketball-heavy this book was before I read it, I don't think I would have read it. However, I don't want to take stars away for that, because the book was good for what it was. It definitely fills a much-needed hold in YA lit because when I worked in my middle school library, the boys were always looking for sports books. And because it's a book by a Native author with a Native MC, it offers a different perspective than most currently available sports books. So I think it's definitely a worthwhile book to read, even though it wasn't up my alley

This was super cute and the perfect Christmas Eve read 🥰

This was frustrating. It was only 84 pages but I almost DNF'd it because Lennox, one of the two main characters, was so infuriating. I get that this was supposed to be a grumpy/sunshine situation but it was way more like asshole/sunshine. She was SO rude and at times outright hostile to Noelle and I think any reasonable person would have left a situation where they were so obviously not wanted rather than try to "let's look on the bright side!" their way through it. At the beginning she basically kept telling Noelle to shut up when Noelle barely spoke, saying she hated chatter. The amount of time Noelle spent talking barely counted as conversation, let alone chatter (and this is from someone who hates small talk).

And then this line made me so mad, just as Noelle thinks Lennox is warming up to her: "She was almost like the boy who pulled your pigtails on the playground. Maybe I was getting to her and she was grumpier because she didn't want to admit it." NO! That's not cute! Don't reinforce the stereotype that people who are mean to you actually secretly like you. If someone likes you, they should SHOW you that rather than being an asshole (or in this case being compared to a petulant child) 🤬

Honestly, with how horrible Lennox was to Noelle, even RIGHT UP until they kissed for the first time, I'm surprised they even. made it any further than that. I just wasn't interested in a relationship that starts off with one person treating the other so horribly for absolutely no reason.

There were also too many grammatical errors for me to enjoy the story. It was pretty distracting. I try to be a little more lenient with that kind of stuff when I'm reading self-published stuff, but it was so distracting even through the first 20-ish pages that I found myself reading sentences two or three times before fully understanding them 😫

I started skimming halfway through and even that was a bit of a waste. I should have DNF'd.

I read this whole book in a day. Not because it was amazing. Mostly because I didn't have a lot to do today and I listen to audiobooks on 3x speed.

Pros: no 3rd act breakup but still had an interesting conflict/resolution; MMC's daughter is Deaf and the FMC and other characters know ASL and actually try to communicate with her; the cover (tbh the only reason I read it--the artist is the same person who illustrated the Lovelight Farms covers)

Cons: Kinda boring? I mean, it was fine, but there wasn't anything mind blowing about it. The only unique thing was that I've never read a romance with a comedian as a main character. Also why do both the MCs have last names for first names? FMC: Farley, MMC: Meyer

Overall just mid. Recommend if you're bored and need an audiobook to keep you entertained/distracted for a day and you don't have anything else to read

This was cute, and a very quick read (4 hours on audio).

However, I did NOT know it was Christian fiction when I started it and probably wouldn't have read it if I had known that ahead of time (the publisher is a Christian fiction imprint. I had a feeling before, but when I looked that up, that confirmed it). It wasn't terrible, but the almost constant talk of god and praying and needing answers got a little too much towards the end of the book 🙃 

Needless to say, there is zero spice in this. It mostly consists of the couple going out and maybe a couple kisses. So it was cute, but that's about it. There's some family drama with the Starr's horrible sister marrying Starr's ex. And she also recently lost her job. Waylon, the love interest, is perfectly boring (boringly perfect) despite his own problems (mom recently died and he's stuck with her Christmas-themed shop).

My overall impression is I'm glad that it was only 4 hours and that I listened to it on 3x speed because I don't feel like I wasted too much of my time 😬

This was a very odd book. Like a sort of fairytale mixed with irl plot elements. I'm not sure what I thought of it, but I enjoyed the experience of reading it. While I was listening, I kept getting flashes of Tehereh Mafi's Furthermore series, even though this is much more set in the real world. Similar vibes of modern-day fairytales though