cielosiluminado's Reviews (443)

special thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i am not the target audience because i found some pop culture references too cringy for me as gen z, or i did not understand some references completely, BUT! i can see millennials absolutely loving this.

what i really liked about this book was that heavy topics mentioned, and their impact, throughout the book, i.e. cancer and death, was softened by the humor, making it easier to read and digest. i also really liked all the quirks of the main characters – alison mullally and adam berg – and their family and friends.

but definitely one of my favorite things in the entire book was the banter between alison and adam. they were hot and cold, and overall just cuteness overload.

it was nice and informative seeing representation of carriers and survivors of the BRCA-1 gene and double-mastectomies. not only that, it was refreshing seeing how normalized and expressed talking about, or experiencing intense, extreme emotions (such as survivor's guilt, grief, self-acceptance, etc.) were in this book. no one was ever shamed for feeling what they felt.

what could need some more work was the pacing of the book. some things felt like extremely fast paced but then it all slowed down and i had to push myself forward.

overall, this book felt like watching a romcom. it had all the classic themes seen in romcoms, with the cliché grumpy-sunshine main characters, the "scandal" that separates them, and the public proclamations of love. a promising debut for the author.

initially dnf’d ages ago, multiple times, and finally decided to pick it up again. and honestly i still don’t get how this is a loved and renowned “classic.” it’s okay and i only finished because i found the audiobook and listened to the rest.

special thanks to NetGalley and to R. Dugan (author) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

let me tell you a story... that is so gut wrenching, mesmerizing and beautiful. a unique, captivating story within a story that is written so intricately.

the story is told from the eyes of Audra Jashowin, a Storycrafter from Vallanmyre, the capital city of Mithra-Sha. like every Storycrafer in her world, she lost the ability to find endings for the magical stories they were able to tell. this lost ability and power sent their world into disarray, where disease, droughts and poverty plagued the formerly prosperous nation.

continuously ostracized and forgotten by family and friends, Audra travels up and down Mithra-Sha in hopes of a new life – yearning to one day find a home – and she briefly sets roots in Krylan, where she finds employment at a tavern as a server. one day, the tavern keeper convinces her to entertain patrons by telling them a story, despite her inability to complete one, and she agrees in hopes of not losing her job. while telling her story, she briefly locks eyes with a farmhand (who she learns is Jaik Grissom after the fact).

for some inexplicable reason, she felt a pull to Jaik while telling her story, so she kept her eyes on him – no, told the story to him – and with their gazes locked on each other, it lead to her finishing a story. to its entirety. something that hasn't been done in this nation in a very long time. that's when the whirlwind, tangled story – one filled of magic, misunderstandings, monsters, and mayhem – of Audra Jashowin and Jaik Grissom truly begins... again.

i don't want to get too into the details without spoiling too much, so all i can say is that you have to read it to understand the complexity of the characters, the detailed world and magnificent magic. i'm still in awe at how brilliant and unique this story is.

the length of the novel can be intimidating, but i assure you, once it captures your attention, it is extremely hard to put down.

the epilogue left me with so many raw emotions, and questions, so i'll be here sitting and waiting for the sequel.

special thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

the premise of the story was interesting, but there was a poor execution overall. i was confused 70% of the time with all the introduction of random characters and subplots. i had to push myself to get past the first 30% of the book because it was so bland.

also, magic? i really believe that this could have been a unique heist story but because of the unnecessary addition of magic, it all fell flat.

and personally, i'm disappointed with who she chose in the end.

tldr: i was excited when i first started reading but in the end, it wasn't for me. bummer.

initially dnf'd in november 2023 because it felt like such a 2014 wattpad story and after finally finishing it, that opinion didn't change. the writing style literally felt like a teenager in 2014 wrote it.

i truly felt like i was sent back in time to when teenage me would've loved this – especially with how cute the mmc was – but current me wasn't really impressed in the end because the "plot" could've easily been resolved in one chapter if the main characters just communicated. 

this wasn't a bad story, nor was it great either. it was an okay story.

for a debut novel, it shows that the author has a lot of promise as a writer. it's impressive how she was able to create a world where the reader can easily immerse themselves in.

despite reading a lot of sports romance, i still know nothing about sports so i really want to thank the author for explaining the world of f1 – culture, rules and regulations – in easy terms. it made it more enjoyable to read.

this was written in 3rd pov and that's not everyone's cup of tea so just an FYI.

kamari monroe and thiago valencia's relationship was interesting. he was the "bad boy f1 driver" who needed to clean his image so he enlisted kamari, a "simple" girl – meaning not a model, celebrity, influencer, etc. – to help him. how or why she agreed to the whole charade made no sense to me and that was never fully clarified. she hated the spotlight so what was in it for her? *shrugs*

at times, i felt no chemistry and other times they were steaming. i do agree with their friends in the end, it was never fake between them. also their banter? *chefs kiss* i always loved the banter between the two. that was possibly my favorite part.

thiago's recollection of everything kamari told him, even in passing, was so adorable. it was so heartwarming how we saw both of them being vulnerable. these two are two broken people who had been hurt in their past and were able to find sincere love for one another and mended each others broken pieces.

i commend thiago's complete 180 in his character. that man improved throughout the 510 pages or maybe the bar set in hell for men and that was nice to read. kamari, my sweet girl, stayed true to her character and didn't change for no one, even after experiencing everything she went through.

i will say this book definitely could've been better paced. for 486 pages, it felt both very long-winded and fast-paced. at times, it was too cringy like thiago called kamari his "moonbeam" ffs! and every time "green orbs met silver moons," i rolled my eyes. hard. why do authors love describing eye color like that?! and half of what kamari and thiago said were taylor swift lyrics. i'm not a big fan of tswift so that was very *yawn* for me.

i need to get this off my chest: i hate kamari's older brother, kieran. he pissed me off so much. HE CHOSE THE SIDE OF HER CHEATING EX, WHO HE STAYED FRIENDS WITH, THAN HIS OWN SISTER. THE CHEATING EX LITERALLY CALLED HER AN ATTENTION SEEKING WHORE. FUCK BOTH OF THEM. i have no idea how kam forgave her brother like honestly she is a way bigger person than i am because i would never forgive my brother if he sided with his friend than his own sister.

lastly i have to mention that i was kind of bummed we didn't see a lot of their respective friends who sometimes seemed more interesting after kamari and thiago's relationship started evolving more. like it makes sense, because the book is about kam and thiago's love story, but i also really liked whenever indy, diana, alex, and cal were nearby and i hope they all get books.

like we were teased about indy bailey and f1 driver miles huxley, so are they getting a book!? and what about thiago's f1 teammate, rowan emerson, and thiago's PR officer, ava, being together in the epilogue. are they also getting a book!? what's alex story!? during the yacht party in the beginning of the book, we got a glimpse of diana and cal bickering but after that, we don't see them interact again. so...? WHAT'S NEXT IN THE FULL THROTTLE SERIES? I NEED TO FIND OUT!

---
read if you like:
♡ 3rd pov
♡ f1 sports romance
♡ reverse grumpy x sunshine
♡ fake dating
♡ slow burn
♡ he falls first, harder
♡ sharing one bed

update

the world building was beautiful but i no longer support my initial review. after some time has passed and i researched more on topics of oppression, i can’t get behind on this colonizer romance.

---
original review

special thanks to NetGalley and Del Rey / Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this is the first ever Asian historical fantasy i have ever read and wow, wow, wow. i was blown away!

this world – where heroes die and cowards live – is so beautifully and intricately written: the history of the crumbling Er-Lang Empire in Pangu, the hard life of the citizens in the struggling Jing-City, the misunderstood magic of the Xianlings and the undisclosed science advances of the Romans... wow. it all comes together to create an intense world where there is so much misguided loyalty, undisclosed secrets that could topple empires and worlds, and lies and deceptions which leads to betrayal and heartbreak.

the magic system, especially the qi-cells mentioned, in this world is one i have never read before, it's unique, mysterious. and it has me wondering if there's more to it (probably) and the science of the Romans seems... futuristic? so many instances in which the Romans talked as if they are truly from another world, another time...

the main character – named Yang Ruying – is a girl blessed by Death, which is one of the things she fears the most. the name her late mother chose for her means “brave”, and brave she is. her having to make all the wrong decisions and place her loyalty in the hands of the wrong people in order to protect her loved ones, kin and empire, is so difficult, yet honorable to watch unfold. because in the end, like her, i have no idea if what she is doing will be worth it in the end, if it'll be the right thing to do. which is the reason why morally gray characters are so interesting to me. and she isn't the only morally gray character in the series, mostly everyone is.

also can i say that the the small glimpse of the love triangle subplot between Antony, Ruying, and Baihu that we were teased with throughout the entire book was *chefs kiss* i am really curious to see where that goes because both of the men fell first, and hard.

the ending of book 1 – which honestly left me bug-eyed and shocked – has me wanting book 2 so badly. i am really looking forward to it.

---
important to note that this book has: mentions of colonization, oppressor/oppressed “romance”, drug (ab)use, war, violence, human trafficking and kidnapping, misogyny and sexism, torture and human exploitation/experimentation

initially, i dnf'd this in november 2023 because i got distracted with other reads. but i picked it up again after looking for something lighthearted to read. it was exactly that. easy and lighthearted, very romcom-esque.

i found it so romantic how roman "mickey" riviera lives, kills, breathes, and bleeds for isabella garcia

i initially dnf'd this in october 2023 because of the bad writing and i'm so embarrassed to have given this another try. even more embarrassed to say that this really could've been a cute story if it didn't try so hard to be in with the young, cool crowd. the author literally wrote "bombastic side eye".

i give this a one-star solely because the kingman family are lovable idiots and there was sort of a meaningful lesson about not being afraid of taking up space. other than that, cringy and predictable plot.