claudcloud's Reviews (310)

This was... absolutely fantastic, and Dev and Charlie now have a permanent space carved out in my heart???

From how the book approached mental health, to the "we're gonna have all the tough conversations that we need to have because we're both adults", to the love just pouring through every word, to the realization that what the other person needs and deserves is nothing short of the best version of yourself??? Not to mention the reality TV-show setting which was the perfect amount of drama??? Yeah I loved this and now I want a whole spin-off with Daphne's journey, please and thank you!!!!

I will read anything and everything Alison Cochrun writes (and I'm aching to go ahead and read the Christmas short story that she wrote for Dev and Charlie - but I'll wait for actual Christmastime for the vibes!)

I went into this keeping my expectations reasonable but I was so pleasantly surprised by how much of a good time I had!! The characters are so full of life and well-written, the story, while centering a trope that we all know and love, still felt fresh and exciting, and I especially loved Scottie's journey throughout! 

Also - Irene Abraham you will always be famous mwah 🥰

I am officially and firmly on board of the hype train for this book because oh. Oh.

I can't describe it any other way than to say that it is pure poetry. The writing is phenomenal, and the story made me ache. So beyond happy to have finally experienced it for myself 😭

Absolutely adorable and so full of heart as well! I will always be a sucker for books that have animals in them, especially in a capacity like this, where we get to be part of their little worlds for a bit 🥺

I love this series, I love what Seanan is able to do with short-form books, and I loved Rini and Sumi's journey throughout this installment, I thought it was really beautiful! 

Unfortunately, this particular one was kind of hard for me to read, for various reasons - but the phenomenal writing and (most of) the characters - especially Kade and Christopher?? Who I will protect with my life???? - definitely made up for that!

In the best way possible, this feels exactly like the second arc of a D&D campaign, and I had such a good time with it!

I did have some gripes with the book, mainly due to the plot feeling a bit lacking, the magic system being kind of just there and the characters being a little underdeveloped and too heavily reliant of the TTRPG archetypes that we all know and love, especially the secondary characters, which pains me a little to say because they're all so cool!!! If I didn't have that background knowledge of D&D and how it works (thank you, Critical Role!) I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed this nearly as much as I did, and the book feels like it couldn't stand on its own without said knowledge.

Despite all that, I just... you can't present me with pining and foretold romance and a situation that you can only escape by falling in true, real love, and not expect me to eat it up! You just can't!! I was yelling at Arek and Matt constantly and wanting to just shake them and stick them in a room together until they told each other the truth (get it? cause even that didn't work????) but I still deeply rooted for them, even with the full knowledge of what the endgame would be. If the characters in a book don't make me scream at least once, either in exasperation, frustration or joy? I don't want them!

Also, I know that I'll expose myself a little bit by saying this, but here goes - give me all the miscommunication and wondering from a distance and being unsure of everything all the time. I understand it, deeply, even in my late 20s, and I will always love seeing brains like my own represented in my books!

This was SO cute, so sweet, and so earnest, and I'm so happy to have finally picked up an Adiba Jaigirdar book! I absolutely loved the Bengali and Muslim representation, I heavily related to both Hani and Ishu (can we just talk about how adorable Ishu's name is btw???) and seeing them come to terms with not only their feelings for each other but their feelings towards themselves was really beautiful - what else do we wish for as human beings other than to be known and loved for exactly who we are, and to find the people who encourage us to do just that?

A sweet little graphic novel that I really enjoyed! The representation is its absolute strongest suit, and I really loved Nova and Tam together and their entire dynamic - I just wish it would've been longer, so the pacing would've had room to breathe and the plot could've been fleshed out a little better. 

Overall, though, this is heartwarming and full of witchy found family vibes, which I will eat up on any given day 👏🏻

Casey McQuiston has never disappointed me a single day of their life??? I loved this, and my sole purpose in life is now to infuse myself with even 10% of Chloe Green's coolness and badass bicon energy thank you very much

P.S.: I will protect Smith Parker with my whole entire life?????????

This was such a delightful little read! I related to Keiko and her situation so much, and I was pleasantly surprised to read about a character who's considered a failure by pretty much everyone around her, but who proves that as long as you're happy with yourself and with what you do, nothing else matters.

I loved the writing style, I loved the translation, and I will definitely be picking up more of Sayaka Murata's works in the future!