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chronicallybookish's Reviews (1.53k)
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 2.25/5
Over All: 4.25
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
This is my third Christina Lauren book, and let me just say it was significantly spicier than I was expecting based on the other two I’ve read (The Unhoneymooners and In a Holidaze), so if you’re looking for that level of low spice, this book might not be for you. But if you like or don’t mind a bit more, then you should definitely pick up this book.
Fizzy is tons of fun. She’s spunky and funny and honest. Connor is lovable and swoony. Though I wished it was a little stronger, I enjoyed their emotional connection as well as their chemistry. Though Connor and Fizzy were both fun to read about and easy to love, there were some times and aspects where they felt a little bit flat, like there was just a small amount of depth missing that would have taken this book all the way to five stars.
Similarly, I didn’t love the way that the third act crisis played out. It felt a little too fast and too discombobulated. Connor’s reaction of “It’s okay to need time to process; I’m going to give her time to process” seemed right for his character and the situation… but then it turned out “time to process” meant one hour and that’s it? His immediate reaction vs his next few days reaction felt very disconnected from each other, and I never really understood his point of view in those early conversations. I don’t think it was well articulated or well developed.
That said, the majority of this book was fun and easy to read. I loved the discussions on romance books and reality dating shows and how media directed at women is so easily snubbed—and how it shouldn’t be.
I love reality TV based books, and this was no exception. In this one, the reality show doesn’t start until about halfway through. As I started the book and realized it was going to be a while before we got into that part of the plot, I was a little uncertain, but I ended up really enjoying the fact that we got to know our MCs before all the chaos of the show started. The show was fun, but it was unique, too. I really enjoyed the plot development on that front.
This is technically the spin off/sequel to Christina Lauren’s other book The Soulmate Equation, but I haven’t read TSE and I still found this easy to understand and easy to fall into. It isn’t my favorite Christina Lauren book, but I do think it is a testament to their talent, and it has me wanting to read more of their work.
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 2.25/5
Over All: 4.25
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
This is my third Christina Lauren book, and let me just say it was significantly spicier than I was expecting based on the other two I’ve read (The Unhoneymooners and In a Holidaze), so if you’re looking for that level of low spice, this book might not be for you. But if you like or don’t mind a bit more, then you should definitely pick up this book.
Fizzy is tons of fun. She’s spunky and funny and honest. Connor is lovable and swoony. Though I wished it was a little stronger, I enjoyed their emotional connection as well as their chemistry. Though Connor and Fizzy were both fun to read about and easy to love, there were some times and aspects where they felt a little bit flat, like there was just a small amount of depth missing that would have taken this book all the way to five stars.
Similarly, I didn’t love the way that the third act crisis played out. It felt a little too fast and too discombobulated. Connor’s reaction of “It’s okay to need time to process; I’m going to give her time to process” seemed right for his character and the situation… but then it turned out “time to process” meant one hour and that’s it? His immediate reaction vs his next few days reaction felt very disconnected from each other, and I never really understood his point of view in those early conversations. I don’t think it was well articulated or well developed.
That said, the majority of this book was fun and easy to read. I loved the discussions on romance books and reality dating shows and how media directed at women is so easily snubbed—and how it shouldn’t be.
I love reality TV based books, and this was no exception. In this one, the reality show doesn’t start until about halfway through. As I started the book and realized it was going to be a while before we got into that part of the plot, I was a little uncertain, but I ended up really enjoying the fact that we got to know our MCs before all the chaos of the show started. The show was fun, but it was unique, too. I really enjoyed the plot development on that front.
This is technically the spin off/sequel to Christina Lauren’s other book The Soulmate Equation, but I haven’t read TSE and I still found this easy to understand and easy to fall into. It isn’t my favorite Christina Lauren book, but I do think it is a testament to their talent, and it has me wanting to read more of their work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Sexism
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 4.75 stars
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Special thanks to FierceReads and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
You Don’t Have a Shot has solidified Racquel Marie as one of the best writers in the YA Contemporary sphere, in my opinion. Her debut, Ophelia After All was one of my top reads of 2022, and while this didn’t quite reach the level that OAA did, it was still an absolutely phenomenal book.
The only thing keeping me from giving this book five stars right now is Vale. I could not stand her in the first 30% of the book. I know she was supposed to be unlikeable and grow on the reader as she grew as a person—and she did—but she was driving me up the wall to the point where I almost didn’t want to keep reading. If the other characters and the plot and writing hadn’t been as incredible as they were, I might have DNFed. Vale did become a better person, and I did grow to love her. By the 40% mark, I was rooting for her, and by the 60% mark, I was fully invested in her as a character.
Unlike OAA, this is a contemporary romance, and I’m glad because I love Leticia and I love her and Vale together. It’s the perfect rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, with all the angst and banter. Leticia’s banter was INCREDIBLE. Vale’s barbs were fun, but Leticia’s retorts were always next level. I adore her. But Leticia wasn’t the only lovable character in the cast. The entire team was so well developed, so easy to love. One of Racquel Marie’s skills is definitely the writing of a cast. There are few books that I find to have a cast that is as well developed as hers. I do wish we’d seen a little more of Ovie, Dina, and Vale interacting, because I think that got a little lost during the 60-90% mark, but for the most part, I think the story was really well balanced despite having such a large cast of important supporting characters.
While this book was fun and light and even a bit swoony, it also dealt with hard topics, such as cancer (off page), parent death, grief, and an emotional abusive father. These aspects were handled with such care and compassion, and added a necessary depth to the story, and to Vale’s character. I don’t have any experience with these topics, but they felt well written to me.
All in all, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I cannot recommend it more, and I cannot wait to see what Racquel Marie does next. She is definitely one of my favorite new authors.
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 4.75 stars
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Special thanks to FierceReads and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
You Don’t Have a Shot has solidified Racquel Marie as one of the best writers in the YA Contemporary sphere, in my opinion. Her debut, Ophelia After All was one of my top reads of 2022, and while this didn’t quite reach the level that OAA did, it was still an absolutely phenomenal book.
The only thing keeping me from giving this book five stars right now is Vale. I could not stand her in the first 30% of the book. I know she was supposed to be unlikeable and grow on the reader as she grew as a person—and she did—but she was driving me up the wall to the point where I almost didn’t want to keep reading. If the other characters and the plot and writing hadn’t been as incredible as they were, I might have DNFed. Vale did become a better person, and I did grow to love her. By the 40% mark, I was rooting for her, and by the 60% mark, I was fully invested in her as a character.
Unlike OAA, this is a contemporary romance, and I’m glad because I love Leticia and I love her and Vale together. It’s the perfect rivals-to-friends-to-lovers, with all the angst and banter. Leticia’s banter was INCREDIBLE. Vale’s barbs were fun, but Leticia’s retorts were always next level. I adore her. But Leticia wasn’t the only lovable character in the cast. The entire team was so well developed, so easy to love. One of Racquel Marie’s skills is definitely the writing of a cast. There are few books that I find to have a cast that is as well developed as hers. I do wish we’d seen a little more of Ovie, Dina, and Vale interacting, because I think that got a little lost during the 60-90% mark, but for the most part, I think the story was really well balanced despite having such a large cast of important supporting characters.
While this book was fun and light and even a bit swoony, it also dealt with hard topics, such as cancer (off page), parent death, grief, and an emotional abusive father. These aspects were handled with such care and compassion, and added a necessary depth to the story, and to Vale’s character. I don’t have any experience with these topics, but they felt well written to me.
All in all, this is one of the best books I’ve read this year. I cannot recommend it more, and I cannot wait to see what Racquel Marie does next. She is definitely one of my favorite new authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Xenophobia, Grief
Minor: Cancer, Transphobia, Death of parent
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
<b>Quick Stats</b>
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2 stars
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
- 1 star because of some weird race stuff and also because of pacing, world building, plot holes, etc.
I’m going start this review by saying that the only reason I requested an ARC of this book was because I was told it would be a future illumicrate pick (my source was incorrect), and because of past controversies surrounding this author’s association with Jay Kristoff*, I wanted to read a copy before I decided whether to pass or not—normally, when an author is controversial I would just pass, but I wanted to give Amie Kaufman a chance, since her controversy is by association.
That said, I was interested in the premise of this book, and I saw many people hyping it up. After reading it, I’m not sure why that is. I think that at its core, this book is average. Reading this made it clear that the real talent behind Illuminae and Aurora Rising are Kristoff.
This book is told in five first person POVs, but the characters are bland and voiceless. I couldn’t tell one character from another while reading. If I skipped over the chapter heading, or set down the book in the middle of a chapter, I had to go back and check which character’s POV it was, because unless they addressed the other characters, it was unclear. I don’t think a single one of our characters had a personality outside of the most basic archetype: the tomboy sailor, the flirty prince, the socially awkward bookworm, the ambitious one, and the one whose just trying to save himself. The characters did, for the most part, have clear motivations (although Keegan and Selly’s weren’t the most convincing). However, that wasn’t enough to make them compelling to read about.
The plot of this book was interesting, but the execution made it fall flat. The stakes were high, but the pacing was off. It dragged for much of the book, except for a couple of chapters near the middle and the very end. Similarly, there were a lot of plot holes. Some came from the plot itself being underdeveloped (I can’t address those without spoiling things), and others came from the fact that the world building was… weird. The magic system is twofold: the spirits and the gods. We get explanation of the gods, but we never get any worldbuilding about the spirits. What are they? Why do they help people? Why are some people magicians and others not? It seems like it’s hereditary, but where did it come from originally? How are the spirits and gods connected? It felt like two different magic systems thrown into one book that don’t make sense together. The worldbuilding and plot were both very weak overall.
The last thing I want to address is the fact that the villain POV character is Black. This is a book written by a white woman. Of the five POV characters 3 are good guys (2 white, one POC), one is a villain (Black), and one is sort of a good guy but working for the bad guy under threat (POC). Mainly it makes me uncomfortable that the villains of the story are two Black girls who are evil because they used to be impoverished, and now that they’re not, they’re so desperate for power they’d commit countless atrocities and mass murder in order to gain more power for themselves. Also found it uncomfortable that the one fully good guy who is a POC specifically describes the villain POV character as being darker skinned than him.
Now, I don’t think this was purposeful racism, but it was weird, and it was uncomfortable, and I wanted to point it out.
Age Rating: 13+
Over All: 2 stars
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
- 1 star because of some weird race stuff and also because of pacing, world building, plot holes, etc.
I’m going start this review by saying that the only reason I requested an ARC of this book was because I was told it would be a future illumicrate pick (my source was incorrect), and because of past controversies surrounding this author’s association with Jay Kristoff*, I wanted to read a copy before I decided whether to pass or not—normally, when an author is controversial I would just pass, but I wanted to give Amie Kaufman a chance, since her controversy is by association.
That said, I was interested in the premise of this book, and I saw many people hyping it up. After reading it, I’m not sure why that is. I think that at its core, this book is average. Reading this made it clear that the real talent behind Illuminae and Aurora Rising are Kristoff.
This book is told in five first person POVs, but the characters are bland and voiceless. I couldn’t tell one character from another while reading. If I skipped over the chapter heading, or set down the book in the middle of a chapter, I had to go back and check which character’s POV it was, because unless they addressed the other characters, it was unclear. I don’t think a single one of our characters had a personality outside of the most basic archetype: the tomboy sailor, the flirty prince, the socially awkward bookworm, the ambitious one, and the one whose just trying to save himself. The characters did, for the most part, have clear motivations (although Keegan and Selly’s weren’t the most convincing). However, that wasn’t enough to make them compelling to read about.
The plot of this book was interesting, but the execution made it fall flat. The stakes were high, but the pacing was off. It dragged for much of the book, except for a couple of chapters near the middle and the very end. Similarly, there were a lot of plot holes. Some came from the plot itself being underdeveloped (I can’t address those without spoiling things), and others came from the fact that the world building was… weird. The magic system is twofold: the spirits and the gods. We get explanation of the gods, but we never get any worldbuilding about the spirits. What are they? Why do they help people? Why are some people magicians and others not? It seems like it’s hereditary, but where did it come from originally? How are the spirits and gods connected? It felt like two different magic systems thrown into one book that don’t make sense together. The worldbuilding and plot were both very weak overall.
The last thing I want to address is the fact that the villain POV character is Black. This is a book written by a white woman. Of the five POV characters 3 are good guys (2 white, one POC), one is a villain (Black), and one is sort of a good guy but working for the bad guy under threat (POC). Mainly it makes me uncomfortable that the villains of the story are two Black girls who are evil because they used to be impoverished, and now that they’re not, they’re so desperate for power they’d commit countless atrocities and mass murder in order to gain more power for themselves. Also found it uncomfortable that the one fully good guy who is a POC specifically describes the villain POV character as being darker skinned than him.
Now, I don’t think this was purposeful racism, but it was weird, and it was uncomfortable, and I wanted to point it out.
emotional
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
<i>Quick Stats</i>
<b>Age Rating: 18+</b>
<i>Spice Level: 2/5</i>
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
<i>Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>
This book is basically Every Summer After in a different font. Big city girl returns to her lakefront haunt and is face to face with a guy she’s hasn’t seen in 10 years, and has been heartbroken over that entire time, and the book also deals with grief and loss of a mother, and like Every Summer After, this book takes place in alternating chapters between the past and now. Plus, it has all the angsty longing and vibes of a second chance romance, even if I’m not sure it technically counts as one.
That said, I liked Every Summer After, and I liked this book, too. I think that if you liked Fortune’s debut, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t like Fortune’s debut, you probably won’t like this one.
The writing in this book is engaging, absorbing. I was drawn into Fern’s emotions, her grief over her mother, her angst and confusion and heartbreak surrounding Will. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure Fern had much of a personality. I find myself unable to imagine her as a fully fleshed out person, which is an issue I had with Percy as well, however I never struggled to connect with her on an emotional level. Fern was going through it, but I don’t think there was much to her as a character outside of those specific emotions, and while that didn’t take away from my reading experience, I think it will effect how much the book sticks with me as time goes on. Fortune’s books are perpetually compared to Emily Henry’s books, and I agree with that statement, but Henry’s characters feel real to me in a way that Fortune’s don’t, and I think that’s why, despite having read them around the same time, Emily Henry’s books have stuck with me more than Every Summer After, and why I feel like Happy Place will have more of a lasting impact on me than Meet Me at the Lake.
Despite falling a little short of the comparison to Emily Henry (and let’s be honest, when has anyone actually lived up to that comparison?) Meet Me at the Lake was a fun, yet emotional, read. It’s one that I highly recommend. I know many people are looking forward to its release, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed by it. I look forward to Carley Fortune’s next book, though I hope she branches out a little. I think she’s immensely talented, and I want to see what else she can tackle.
<b>Age Rating: 18+</b>
<i>Spice Level: 2/5</i>
Over All: 4.25 stars
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
<i>Special thanks to Berkley Romance and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.</i>
This book is basically Every Summer After in a different font. Big city girl returns to her lakefront haunt and is face to face with a guy she’s hasn’t seen in 10 years, and has been heartbroken over that entire time, and the book also deals with grief and loss of a mother, and like Every Summer After, this book takes place in alternating chapters between the past and now. Plus, it has all the angsty longing and vibes of a second chance romance, even if I’m not sure it technically counts as one.
That said, I liked Every Summer After, and I liked this book, too. I think that if you liked Fortune’s debut, you’ll like this one. If you didn’t like Fortune’s debut, you probably won’t like this one.
The writing in this book is engaging, absorbing. I was drawn into Fern’s emotions, her grief over her mother, her angst and confusion and heartbreak surrounding Will. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure Fern had much of a personality. I find myself unable to imagine her as a fully fleshed out person, which is an issue I had with Percy as well, however I never struggled to connect with her on an emotional level. Fern was going through it, but I don’t think there was much to her as a character outside of those specific emotions, and while that didn’t take away from my reading experience, I think it will effect how much the book sticks with me as time goes on. Fortune’s books are perpetually compared to Emily Henry’s books, and I agree with that statement, but Henry’s characters feel real to me in a way that Fortune’s don’t, and I think that’s why, despite having read them around the same time, Emily Henry’s books have stuck with me more than Every Summer After, and why I feel like Happy Place will have more of a lasting impact on me than Meet Me at the Lake.
Despite falling a little short of the comparison to Emily Henry (and let’s be honest, when has anyone actually lived up to that comparison?) Meet Me at the Lake was a fun, yet emotional, read. It’s one that I highly recommend. I know many people are looking forward to its release, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed by it. I look forward to Carley Fortune’s next book, though I hope she branches out a little. I think she’s immensely talented, and I want to see what else she can tackle.