Everything I could hope for in a charming historical romance. Having watched the netflix season prior to reading, I was very surprised how different the two storylines 
are but enjoyed each in their own right regardless.

 

This book had me giggling with the clever witt and loveable family interactions, the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers romance had me blushing and the last 30 pages had me in an absolute emotional chokehold.

The carriage crash at the end - my god I did not keep my cool!

 

What I love most about this book is the way Julia Quinn hones in on how the emotions develop between Kate and Anthony which felt very organic as well as facing their own fears creating really interesting, loveable yet flawed characters.

 

 

Something noted by other readers is that in some ways this story does follow a very similar path to the Duke and I, but personally find this is the stronger of the two and has enough differences to not feel like I was re-reading the same story. Others also address  having issues with Anthony Bridgeton's behaviour at the start of the book - but i felt that his development throughout the book is so important and I appreciate a romance where not everyone is meant to be perfect!

Overall when comparing to the previous book and netflix series I can understand why some people may not love this book but I really can't fault it! The pacing, the plot, the characters mixed in with the balance of humour, romance and tension. I honestly loved this book!

As my first Stephen King novel you can imagine my surprise when rather than a gripping horror, I found myself enjoying more of a coming-of-age story with an glint of eerie mystery. 

The book is incredibly character driven rather than plot. That alongside the chosen writing style, which portrays the book as more of a memory recounting, did lead the book to feel a
 bit disjointed and slow in places. That being said, the character relationships felt very real and the immersive writing style made Joyland really come to life. 

Whilst I did enjoy this book on some level, I feel the overall plot of the book fell a bit flat for me in the end and did not give me the gripping horror/mystery storyline I had hoped for.

 I doubt I will re-read Joyland in future, I am keen to read some other 'darker' and more plot heavy books by Stephen King.

A very sweet and heartwarming story. Can honestly say it didn’t take the route I was initially expecting outside of the main plot for the search for the girl on the 88 Bus. 

The subplots felt very well thought out and carried significant weighting to the character development (particularly of Libby) and relationship dynamics. The romance and friendships were very wholesome within this story also. 

Overall a delightful easy-read - my only critique was I wished the ending had been fleshed out a little bit more but enjoyed nonetheless. 

My 3rd Lisa Jewell book and feel this is probably my favourite plot of hers so far. I really enjoyed this story being told through the 3 perspectives/time frames and with both the Audio book and physical paperback, it’s not a surprise this was a 2 day read for me. 

The way Lisa has written the interactions amongst the different character relationships was really well done. The manipulation and control contrasting with the motherly love made it feel very dynamic. I really found myself curious and sucked into the mystery of it all. 

At times the book did feel like a tad dragged out  where the plot didn’t gain much traction which did mean for a thriller the tension wasn’t as impactful as it could have been. There were some twists that felt a bit predictable earlier on and the final end was a little flat but still enjoyable. 

Overall a solid book with a strong sense of mystery throughout with interesting set of characters.

This book disappointed me in so many ways - not helped by the overhype on booktok - I really should have DNFed.

I  really didn’t love anything about it. The characters felt one note and the main POV Autumn was honestly insufferable! The author has tried to push this “quirky” girl narrative and actually it just felt like a girl who would be the most self-involved person ever!

Dancing on tables, sitting at the teachers desk and wearing a tiara to school for 4 years randomly!

The plot was dreadfully slow ,  zero character, relationship or plot development for over 90% of the book. Whilst the ending was subjectively sad, it had absolutely no emotional impact for me as I didn’t like the characters involved and ultimately we already know it’s all doomed from the starting chapter. 

The plot itself was super weak relying -  on basic tropes (

Teen pregnancy TWICE and poorly founded miscommunication trope!

) and whilst it tried to touch on themes of mental health it felt half done and rushed as though just thrown in with not much thought. 

The writing style was poor for a YA which made listening to the audio book so frustrating particularly during dialogue scenes.

Overall this book was mixture of a non-engaging plot, poor writing style and unlikeable characters throughout. 

Would NOT recommend. 

Another fantastic read by T.J Newman! 

I love her writing style as this book provides a great balance of fast pacing whilst still allowing for a tension build up that didn’t feel rushed.

I was hooked to this book and did not want to put it down and also enjoyed the audio book experience alongside the physical read so I didn’t have to stop the story for work! 

The only reason this wasn’t a 5 star for me was for the final twist on the very last page! 

I felt that the implied death of Chris after her rescue attempt for Will and Shannon and being reunited with Annie was so emotional that the fact she is shown as survived  kinda spoilt for me. I had hoped maybe it was a figment of Will’s imagination from PTSD but the exclusive Waterstones chapter only confirmed her surviving.

Overall a very good read and would read again! 

I really enjoyed this book and didn’t want to put it down - easily would have been a 1 day read if not for work. As my first Alice Feeney book I really enjoyed the writing style which was atmospheric and allowed for fast pacing. 

I enjoyed the characters a lot and the sinister poetry element really added a level of thrill for this trapped style thriller book which felt unique. Whilst I did like the overall plot, the final plot twist for me - though not something I predicted - wasn’t my favourite but didn’t ruin my enjoyment of reading the book.

I can definitely see myself re-reading this during the spooky Halloween  season and am keen to read some of Alice’s other work! 

I had reservations about this book as I’m not usually a fan of the second-chance romance tropes but hoped Beth O’Leary would pull a lighthearted comedic road trip romance - sadly this just didn’t live up to my expectations. 

All the characters felt really flat to me and made them hard to care for which isn’t ideal in a romance book. I found Dylan particularly unloveable - his “gut-wrenching” love for Addi felt so surface level with every thing being heavily focused around Addi’s looks rather than her personality. I constantly found myself eye-rolling at his character who just came across as incredibly self involved throughout.

With the take of the miscommunication plot - I really hated the way Dylan behaved and therefore it completely eliminated any routing for the second chance romance.

I think for me this book was filled with too many tropes that just aren’t my cup of tea and even though I usually enjoy Beth’s writing style - this really missed the mark for me in terms of character and plot. 

This was my first book by C.J Tudor and really enjoyed the horror writing style and the plot was very intriguing although at times did feel I could predict some of the big twists. 

There was a lot packed in the plot of this book -  lots characters to keep track of to try and catch any interconnections between the plot points - did start to feel very complex and confusing at times and as a result perhaps some moments didn’t quite feel as impactful as it should have. 

The pacing in the book wasn’t consistent  - I feel like the start and end were very strong with some really interesting moments though the middle didn’t quite pack as hard a punch with nothing overly noteworthy happening in my opinion.

Overall I did enjoy this book and am intrigued to read some of her other works in future. 

I feel bad for rating a book so low which addresses such important themes of exploiting power over young people to getaway with abuse - particularly in the film industry. 

 

Whilst Ella has been able to portray a sense of empathy towards Grace and her clear PTSD, it really felt like the overall plot and emotional depth was a missed opportunity. Though I can appreciate the 'show' rather than 'tell' aspect in the writing style when depicting manipulation, all other emotions outside of this felt like it could have done with so much more depth. 

After starting with strong initial tension and building the background to Grace's sad story (40%), there really was not a lot of plot progression for the majority of the book which made it feel incredibly 
 drawn out and became very disengaging. 

 

Rather than being an exposure/revenge #metoo thriller or emotional journey of trying to make peace with the past - this story was predominately surface level interactions with other characters (none which I particularly care for).

With a drawn out plot, only the last 10% of the book held that long awaited exposure which then ultimately felt rushed and not nearly as impactful as it could have been. 

I think the true downfall of this book is that while the initial concept of the plot was promising - it wasn't overly layered or complex and therefore really needed a strong emotional narrative to keep it moving forward… which this really didn't have for me. 

Overall, I feel that if i had not read this as an audio book, I would have DNF'd at the midway point and at the end of the book I can't help but feel pretty unsatisfied.