Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

Wow!! This was such a sweet, wholesome, and enchanting read! Red was an amazing character and I loved how this story explored important topics while also remaining kid friendly and fun. I loved where the story went and I also loved the world that this author built. A beautiful story and you should all read it.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

Wow!! This was such a sweet, wholesome, and enchanting read! Red was an amazing character and I loved how this story explored important topics while also remaining kid friendly and fun. I loved where the story went and I also loved the world that this author built. A beautiful story and you should all read it.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

Darcy is becoming one of my favorite authors! I really enjoyed the atmosphere, characters, the mystery. The pacing was definitely slower than I preferred but it was written so well that I can overlook it. It was a page turner for sure.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

I liked the light-heartedness, I liked the topics of growth and coming to yourself but this missed the mark for me. It was mostly just okay, I didn't particularly like any characters and I found myself not wanting to pick it up. I did DNF at 45% for full transparency.

This was such an interesting concept for a middle grade! I've read a lot of magical middle grades but nothing VR/AI like this! I loved Hana and the complicated family dynamics, the wish for understanding from a parent, and wanting to feel included. It was very relatable. I also loved the friendship in this, it was incredible! Sylvia Liu was a master of world building, I was sucked in from the first page.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

So I actually didn't realize that this was part of a series but it worked as a standalone which I appreciate. It was really easy to get immersed in the story and I devoured this book! I loved the spice, dialogue, and characters. The writing felt effortless and it made it easy to read this book quickly. I'm a fan and now I must go back and read the other books!

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

I'm disappointed, I was hoping for so much more. The plot sounded interesting but it just lacked in every possible way. The friends to lovers trope felt forced and there were no sparks (in my opinion), the pacing was sooo slow, and either the characters had no personality or they felt so over the top it came off as obnoxious. I felt myself drifting away from this book and I had to DNF at 50%.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

My only issue was that it took awhile for the pacing to go a little faster but the buildup was worth it. I like the dual POVs, I liked the mother daughter dynamic, I like how the author talked about the forgotten black girls and how we, as a society, tend to ignore them when they are missing or murdered. I liked how the author wove in the topics of abuse and trauma. I also loved the horror aspect, although it was more just creepy and the maggots gave me the ick. Wonderful book!

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

The suspense did have a chokehold on me and I liked mystery of it, I also thought the premise was pretty unique to a lot of things I've read. The main character was just a bit boring for me.

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

So I actually requested this book before reading the first one in the series because I had a feeling I would love it and I was right! This mystery was so good! I liked the attention to the mystery, the characters felt fleshed out, and the pizza shop sounded amazing! I also liked that I could read this as a standalone!