buffyreads's Reviews (575)

Thank you to Tundra Books for a chance to read an arc this book! 🖤

5⭐️ Fun, messy, and heartwarming! | tropes: fake dating, ya romance, opposites attract, anxiety rep, Palestinian fmc x Lebanese mmc | digital

"You’re not getting the win on this one, Ben. You started it. Now, I’m going to finish it."

characters
🩶 I loved Jamie immensely! I understood why she wanted Ben back and how that related to her relationship with her absent father. I loved how anxiety was talked about in this book and how it acknowledges that it isn't just something you can think away but something that takes effort and sometimes a physical toll on you. Seeing Jamie struggle but also succeed validated my own struggles with anxiety. I also loved how real she felt. She had a lot of feelings to unravel and process in a short amount of time!
🩶 I liked Axel as well! He was charismatic and fun. I loved that he had a deeper side we got to see with his relationship with his family and his friends. Like yes, he's confident but he also needs reassurance and support.

"If this is supposed to be fake, then why does it feel more real than anything I ever experienced with Ben."

favorite bits
🖤 I love fake dating! I loved Jamie and Axel's relationship and how fun and sweet they were together. I thought they brought the best out of each other and tried to understand each other even when they didn't see eye to eye. But I also appreciated their relationship was perfect and they were still characters with emotions and flaws. It was a messy road but worth it in the end.
🖤 At first I didn't understand why Jamie would want Ben back but then I realized it was more about control and anxiety then Ben himself and I completely understood her. She also really loved him and it's hard to immediately break off with a person you depended on for so long.
🖤 I often complain that parental issues are often are brushed over and rushed to be fixed in YA novels but here we get to see them being worked through on page and I really appreciated that. Jamie's feelings were validated and understood by both her parents and we see them making changes and putting the work to mend those relationships.
🖤 I also enjoyed the conversations about culture and how it's important but also different for each person. I empathize with Jamie's mom a lot about how negative family / community experiences can lead to a intense negative connotations to it in the future but I also empathized with Jamie and her desire to have a relationship with her extended Palestine family and want to know more about her history, language and culture.

"And he likes me. The real me."

final thoughts:
I really loved this book! I meant to read 10% during a emotionally tough day at work but ended up reading the entire book in one day because I fell in love with these characters and their story! I can't wait to get my hands on a physical copy of this book and "Everything comes back to you" next year!

4⭐️ AND THEY WERE ROOMMATES! pt 0.5 | tropes: sapphic romance, friends to lovers, trans fmc | medium steam | digital

📓 Overall Thoughts 📓 

I read this after reading Make Room For Love (5⭐️) and confirm Liao is so good at writing yearning! Frankie and Vivian are best friends and desperately in love with each other. I loved the mutual pining and seeing their different POVs as they begin to blur the line between friendship and something more. I loved seeing the background between these characters after getting a taste often them! I also liked the focus on community building and found families. Community is so important for queer people and it can be hard to build outside of cities so I understood why Frankie's moving was such a different decision.

4⭐️ When broken up with by her fiancé since birth the Crown Prince, the rumored evil Villainess does the unexpected and seduces the heroine away from him and the two begin their new life together!

genre: yuri

tags: villainess, comedic, historical

high steam!

📓Overall Thoughts:

This book was better than I thought it would be! I expected the steamy elements from the cover but what I enjoyed the most was how funny it was and how interesting the characters are. Usually heroine's are these innocent mary sue-esque cardboard cutouts but here Sei is a unique character. She has been treated like a sex object by so many undeserving people that when Akuya not only seduces her but loves and protects her, she falls deeply for her. Akuya also not the typical villainess! She really didn't care about the prince at all and put up with him and the rumors he allowed to spread about her because she simply didn't care about it. She does care about Sei and really protects and cherishes her! Ah! I loved it so much!

<i>I received an e-arc from the author and am leaving a voluntary review! Thank you so much for a chance to read this book! 🖤 </i>

<i>5⭐️</i> Oh these beautiful characters and their beautiful love story... I'M SO SINGLE! | tropes: roommates to lovers, slow burn, butch/femme | high steam | digital

<i>"They would make mistakes and hurt each other. But they could forgive each other, too, and they could forgive themselves. </i>

<i> characters </i>

🩶 Mira is an underpayed and overworked graduate student who has finally escaped her terrible boyfriend and is trying to rebuild her life. I loved her so much! As someone who is also seen as "over-sensitive" I really relate to her feeling hurt at things that we know aren't meant to be hurtful but hurt anyways. 

🩶 Isabel is also healing from a breakup and the death of her sister. Her journey of not feeling good enough and needing to support and be strong for everyone else even when she's falling apart to learning to be vulnerable and feel like she's enough was so important. I loved her so much!

<i> “You know I’m already yours,” Mira said, pressing their foreheads together. Isabel waited for the rest. “And you’re already mine.” </i>

<i> favorite bits</i>

🖤 I loved how real and fleshed out these characters are. A lot of their insecurities and pasts would flair up in conversations with each other but it was easy to understand and empathize with each of them. 

🖤 I loved the conversations about unions, union history and why they're so important. I liked how central to the story that was especially in these chaotic times where we need community more than ever. 

🖤 The mutual yearning between Isabel and  Mira was everything! They both viewed each other so highly but were scared of how big their love was because of the pain it could bring them. I loved how much they tried to support and understand each other even when they were hurt and upset. I'm so glad there wasn't a third act break up!!! They felt like a real couple figuring out their problems and how to heal and do better! 

<i> "Imagining herself with a woman, not suffocating in a man-shaped prison but as herself." </i>

<i> final thoughts: </i>

How is this a debut? It was so amazing and I need to read Liao's novella 'Not just best friends" because if this is good, I know that is good too!

Check out my socials <a href="https://linktr.ee/buffyreads here</a> for more reviews!

<i>I decided to binge all 12 of these books this holiday season so here is my short review! 🖤 </i>

<i>2⭐️</i> tropes: opposites attract, holiday romance | low steam | audio

<i>🎄overall thoughts🎄</i>

Carole is her father's caretaker and proud self-titled spinster who is saddened by her friends falling in love one by one. Adam is a shy duke who's introverted and sometimes antisocial behavior has made it hard to make friends. I wish there was more about the relationship between Carole and her father and his depression. I think I'm tired of this series now since every book is blending together and not as fresh and fun.