anyaemilie's Reviews (1.57k)

This was SOOOO GOOD!!!! I definitely should have read it earlier 👀 But for some reason I got an ARC of the sequel in the mail last week (an excellent surprise), so that was great motivation to start this one. And tbh maybe it was good I waited because omg that cliffhanger!!! Now I don't have to wait to find out what happens 😈

Anyway, I loved both Clem and Cris and their story arcs (together and separate) and their different relationships with magic. I also loved that this was more urban fantasy (I think that's the term?) rather than full-on second world fantasy (I don't know if that's a real term either, I could just be making things up here). Like, it's our world that everyone is familiar with, but there just happens to be magic. My brain barely has the capacity for epic, sweeping fantasy these days, but I still love the genre, so when I don't have to use my limited brain power to learn a whole new made up world/language/culture, it's much more enjoyable for me.

And all this was really well done--mixing real southern culture and politics with magic and family drama was so much fun! The setting felt like its own character in the book (and also made me more excited for my upcoming trip to New Orleans in January!).

I also was fully invested in the characters. I was frustrated right along with the kids when the adults were keeping all their secrets, I was very into the mystery and Cris's attempt at figuring out what was going on, and don't even get me started on Clem and Yves. I would like to have some words with you about all of that, Terry 👀

And now that I've written all that, excuse me while I go start book 2 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

This was fine, but a little cheesy. Just working my way through Kennedy Ryan's backlist until her new book comes out!

CW: FMC deals with mild eating disorder and there is some fatphobia throughout the book from side characters

This was really cute! My first Christmas book of the season, and definitely a good choice. Ariel and Trey had really good chemistry

even though they didn't actually REALLY get together in the book

and I liked that they spent most of the book being friends and getting to know each other.

Also the bookstore setting was super cute. I always love books about books, and this one had all the best plot elements: family-owned indie bookstore in trouble, community rallying around it, MCs growing closer throughout the process.

All in all, lots of fun, and a really good Christmas read. Generally low-stakes conflict, so it was perfect for me since I've been having trouble reading (again!). I finished the whole thing in one Saturday afternoon :) Also, the Christmas playlist (with the songs at the beginning of each chapter) is awesome!

 This was so cute and so much fun! Most of my favorite MG books have been like this one--magical, small-town cozy vibes and pretty low stakes overall. Yes, there's conflict, but it's not end-of-the-world type stuff. Plus, recipes! 🤤 

Reading an author's backlist is always a gamble, especially if their writing has noticeably improved in their more recent works. I'm finding that to be especially true as I make my way through Talia Hibbert's backlist.

This wasn't bad, per se, but it didn't really impress me. I wasn't very interested in either of the main characters, who both seemed a little too flat to me. Jasmine had a this idea that she wasn't a good person and ruined every relationship, but it wasn't super clear why she thought that, based on her character. On page, she was kind and caring to Rahul but was convinced she was terrible due to a lot of off-page stuff that we never see (and therefore isn't super consistent with her character). It just made her self-sabotage of her relationship with Rahul seem a little overly dramatic.

And Rahul was just on the wrong side of too perfect, in my opinion. Yeah, I know we read romance for the escapist fantasy of it, and the fictional too-good-to-be-true hero is one part of that, but this was a little too much. He was too accommodating, willing to do anything for Jasmine, constantly saying how perfect she was, and all of that made him a little boring to me.

I was so annoyed with both of them that I almost DNF'd the book at 75% 😵‍💫 I did skim through the rest of the book though

Also, the audiobook almost ruined the whole thing for me. I was reading the ebook, but I've been having so much trouble this year just READING that whenever I can, I also listen to the audio along with print/ebook versions. But that was a mistake with this book. Because whoever decided that an old white man was the best narrator for a Black woman and an Indian man needs to reevaluate some things 🤨 I don't normally like when men narrate romance novels anyway (unless the only POV is a man, which this book is NOT) because they get weird when they do female voices. But this one bothered me so much that I couldn't keep listening to it. He gave Rahul a sort-of Indian accent that was there sometimes, and not other times, which was weird. Because first off, inconsistent, and second, there's nothing in the book that says he ever lived in India, so why wouldn't he just have an English accent like Jasmine does?

ANYWAY. Audiobook aside, this was just...okay. I am going to keep working my way through Talia Hibbert's backlist until the Skybriar books come out (when???), but since I've finished all the main series, I've unfortunately been encountering a lot of duds 😵‍💫

This was really good! I did think that Eleanor and Ruby's stories would overlap a little more, but I liked the little tidbit in the epilogue.

The author's note was also really interesting since I am a history nerd 🤓 It's really interesting, but also sad, that she wanted to tell a story based on her own family but was disappointed by the lack of historical information on Black people and kind of wrote this story to make up for that lack of information. I also liked that some of the characters were based on real people. And the fact that Eleanor was an archivist was really fun for me personally, since I have a degree in Archival Studies, and that's not a job I've seen a lot 😊

I haven't read The Yellow Wife yet, but I definitely want to after this! Also, 2023 seems to be my year of returning to historical fiction because I've read so many good ones this year, and I'm hoping to keep it up going into 2024 🙌🏻