cielosiluminado's Reviews (443)

i have been loving the new found family at briar u. but despite how much fun i had while reading this, and almost rating it 5 stars, there was just some things i couldn’t overlook.

1. ⚠️ the lack of content warnings was startling. i read the ebook version and mine didn’t have any mention or warnings despite there being some very triggering scenes that happen in the book. it completely caught me off guard and overwhelmed me while i was reading.

please be advised of the following trigger warnings before reading (contains spoilers):

- ex stalking fmc
- ex assaulting (punching/kicking) fmc
- death of parent
- mentions of terminal illness (cancer)

2. so like even though the book was pretty funny for a good 80% of it before it got incredibly traumatizing, i was still expecting more. the non-ending ending was lackluster. there was something missing. kinda feels like elle ran out of steam which is a bummer.

despite all that, i still want to applaud elle because she has a special talent of writing books with no real plot but still somehow manages to make them entertaining, especially with little random arcs all the main and side characters go on.

shane and diana were so much fun and their banter was top notch. their bickering was hilarious too. i personally wouldn’t classify them as “enemies”-to-lovers as this book was marketed, but they sure enjoyed annoying each other.

fake dating tropes are always a hit or miss and this one was… all over the place? personally i think shane initially wanting to fake date to get back at his ex was *yawn* but diana’s reasoning for wanting to fake date made more sense. i give it a solid 7/10 on the fake dating trope execution.

shane and diana always had a lot of chemistry, as we first saw in TGE, but i was still impressed by how well they were written in their own book. their chemistry was hot. like a lot of romance books have been missing the chemistry between their main characters but this book actually delivered! i knew she would bust his balls outside the bedroom and he’d thank her! shane needed a woman who’d challenge him and diana needed a man to challenge her. perfect match. oh, and that scene between shane, diana, AND will… that was fucking hot…

although i questioned it at first, the ballroom dancing side quest and trashy reality TV show binging incorporated into shane and diana’s story was charming in the end. it suited their personalities. they’re both weird.

i loved the moments where we saw gigi and ryder (and their wedding!), mya, and all the hockey team!! all the other appearances from the previous gens and possibly future gens too…? hello, blake logan and eli di laurentis…

WHO THE FUCK IS CHARLIE?! WHY ARE THEY GETTING A BOOK!?? WHAT ABOUT BECKETT AND WILL!!!

wow this felt like an episode where the criminal minds team would investigate and i was hooked !!

i’m just glad oliver died

so... that was it?

no one talk to me, i’m still processing. i was so underwhelmed because xavier and sloane’s story had so potential. but the way it was written, it’s so obvious how quickly it was done. iirc ana finished this in about 3 months??

i’m bringing out the tomatoes for this review...

don’t get me wrong, there were parts i liked: xavier and sloane were fun to read individually. their banter was hilarious. but once they started sleeping together… *yawn* and that makes me sad! they had so much potential with their chemistry but it just fell flat. 🍅

and for the spice 🌶️ girlies: this won’t be for you. the smut was so badly written lmao like i had no idea ana could get worse at writing smut, but this just proved me she somehow can. (hint: 🐱 + 👞 + 🚽)

the overarching plot was alright, and takes place around a month after KoG epilogue. the classic third act breakup made no sense but their reconciliation was lowkey cute but still really rushed. 🍅

it was intriguing seeing former playboy and renowned hedonist xavier castillo pick up his act and watch him work to earn his huge $7.9 billion inheritance. his backstory was sad and verified my feelings towards his father. i felt no sympathy for that man. fuck that guy! also impressed he donated half his inheritance to spite his father, and to progressive organizations nonetheless.

sloane kensington’s backstory was just as tragic and it made me so sad and angry, no wonder she repressed her emotions for so long. she deserved to be loved the way xavier loved her, i’ll give ana that. for an alleged reverse-sunshine character, sloane’s “ice princess” personality was not done justice imo. kris from ILHAP was a better written ice princess…

xavier being colombian made me really look forward to seeing latinx representation in an ana book because it’s the first time any of her main characters were latino. but then i read the small parts that were in spanish and it was cringe and grammatically incorrect, which irked me more than i expected it would. 🍅

i had to take a second to continue reading, especially when we learn xavier’s childhood nickname was “pequeño toro”… yeah, it’s thatbad (think about back when italians pointed out her using “mia cara” instead of “cara mia” in KoW). like it’s such a bummer to see your language butchered like that lmao. did ana really have no latinx and/or hispanic person on her beta team? or even a fluent spanish speaker??? what happened there? 🍅

not only that, out of all the beautiful, unique, or sexy nicknames xavier could’ve called sloane in spanish, he calls her “luna”???? BORING!! he could’ve called her anything and ana chose “moon”. bffr, that’s a dog’s name; particularly, my dog’s name. 🍅

but i still had some fun, and lowkey got whiplash, seeing so many people and easter eggs from the if love and twisted series be mentioned or appearing:
- farrah and blake ryan
- legends sports bar
- f&j creative
- crumble & bake
- nate reynolds (of course)
- alex volkov (and ava and their twins indirectly)
- the eldorran royals (and it mentions the birth of princess camila!)
- jules (and her being the youngest senior partner at silver & klein)
- stella alonso brand
- christian harper
- harper security

and of course,
- the russos (four of them! viv, dante, their daughter josie, and luca)
- isabella and kai with their strange dino erotica fascination
- ále and dom (briefly)
- a mysterious green-eyed man (roman…? it was never confirmed if it was him, but i really think it was!)

we also saw sebastian laurent and a lot of his restaurants, asher donovan, vuk and his interest in ayana, and obviously ayana herself and news of her new mysterious engagement to vuk’s ex-college friend? and we may have even met a future king of sin: irish-greek ceo killian katrakis.

that being said, there’s nothing i hate more than when the book i’m currently reading makes me more excited for the next mcs’ book than the current mcs. it’s happened with this one. like the small teasers of vuk and ayana had me more captivated than whatever was happening with xavier and sloane!! 🍅🍅🍅

the ending of this was so anticlimactic that i was just left bummed out... like that was it?

all in all, i’m now founding the “ana, slow down and stop pumping out books so fast, you’re not doing your characters and their stories justice” club. join me!

—-—

⟢ : MY THEORIES !?★.ᐟ

kings of sin:

other possible future mcs:

untitled sports romance series:

[preread - 3/25/24]

THE NEW TEASER – OH MY GOD... XAVIER CASTILLO, THE MAN THAT YOU ARE.

[preread - 3/21/24]

just noticed that the paperback has 464 pages?? oh my…

[preread - 3/13/24]

ana posted the first teaser:

i will not get my hopes up. i will not get my hopes up. i will not get my hopes up.

[preread - 2/16/24]

the fanart that’s in the target edition is so fucking pretty

[preread - 12/7/23]

the cover is kinda cunty… i’m digging the navy blue AND THE BLURB???? i will not set my expectations too high.

[preread - 11/30/23]

tropes revealed:

[preread - 11/05/23]

i’m so looking forward for sloane and xavier. she’s such a girl boss and i just know she’s gonna eat him alive and he’ll thank her for it.

AAAHHHHH THIS MADE ME SOB

i’ve read this book at least twice before many years ago and i have always concluded that i do not like the cliffhangers and rereading again, my mind hasn’t changed. though now that i reread it and know it is a series, i am curious about the other books.

i wasn’t ready. the last 3 chapters alone had me SWEATING and SHAKING... this was such a heartbreakingly beautiful novel and it absolutely WRECKED me. literal chills afterwards. i’m questioning my own sanity and wondering what’s real and isn’t.

please. just read this.

to anyone who told me to read this: i will be sending you my therapy bill

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[⊹ ࣪ pre-read review - 4/16/24]

finally picking this up... i don’t know what to expect because i haven’t looked at any spoilers and didn’t even read the blurb but i’m ready to be emotionally destroyed. i think?

[⊹ ࣪ pre-read review - 12/27/23]

i have no idea what this is about but people keep telling me to read it and so i bought it...

not anything groundbreaking but it’s still a promising novella to start off the series. i enjoyed the game aspect inside the story and found myself playing along as well. and tbh i agree with pip, the real answer was too easy. it also shows us pip’s mindset and why she chose her project prompt.

THIS WAS SO GOOD I WAS SWEATING

special thanks to Stephanie Alves (author) for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i liked this book, but i also have to acknowledge that there were some parts that gave me the ick.

this book started out quick. the main characters met within the first 20 pages and were instantly attracted to each other physically. that’s fine. their whole fake relationship dilemma made sense and was smart career-wise for both of them, so i don’t fault them for that.

but i think part of the reason why i’m so conflicted and got the ick early on was because of how jealous and insecure lucas was, even before the whole fake dating situationship he got into with madeline.

HOWEVER! when lucas and madeline officially got together, everything was fine. they worked on themselves, helped heal each other. once they acknowledged their actual feelings, their communication was so mature and genuine. and lucas treated her like a queen (he literally calls her “princesa”!)

i enjoyed all the appearances of the couples from the previous books. rosalie and grayson were as cute as ever. and leila and aiden were hilariously hot like always. also, i’m even more curious as to who gabi ends up with!! gabi confiding her woes in aiden instead of madeline was interesting… like who is the guy!?!

fuck. this was beautifully heartbreaking. this is a beautifully written coming of age book, full of love, pride for ones ethnicity and sexuality, and acceptance of oneself.

it’s sweet, empathetic, compassionate, and very authentic with multicultural representation. while reading i felt so many emotions, including happiness, fury, laughter, sadness, and pride. the love alone in this book, between julián and mat, his friends and family that stayed, was so pure.

jonny’s stories are what i hope and wish young, lqbtq+ teens, especially chicanx and latinx ones, get to read one day.