dapperreads's Reviews (1.29k)

This is a book that captivated me from page one. I really enjoyed the cult-like story that wasn’t completely cultish the entire time. The acknowledgment chapter was absolutely fabulous as well and it really added to the story for me. 

I received this from NetGalley and it took me much longer to pick it up than I originally planned. By the time I did, I had already ordered a physical copy from Aardvark Book Club and my audiobook copy had come in from the library. So I listened to the audiobook and it added so much to the story. I really enjoyed the audio performance and highly recommend. 

Overall this story is one that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. 4.5⭐️

This was an interesting book. I received a copy of this through NetGalley and I was very excited about it. I love reading about cults and this fictional account sounded like it was going to be right up my alley. I was half right.

This was an interesting look into cults and how anyone can fall victim to the charismatic leader. It’s also a story about finding yourself, learning to function as an adult in society and rebuilding a broken family. It was a decent story and told well. 

My problem with it is that this was advertised more as a comedy and there were far too many sad emotions for this to be a comedy in my eyes. Yes, I laughed, but laughter does not a comedy make. I read books labeled as funny to get away from those sad emotions and this one included many sad parts. I honestly hate that. I know many people like that as it’s more relatable or something but I can’t stand it.

So as a comedy this is a flop. If I’d gone in with different expectations I think I would have enjoyed it more. Regardless, it’s not a bad book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fictional cult story, a story about finding yourself or a story about repairing a broken family. 

3.5⭐️

I read a decent amount of books like this and this one just wasn’t my favorite. I didn’t develop any feelings for the characters and in the end just didn’t care what happened with them - I still finished it, but it wasn’t something I was attached to.

I just didn’t like this. I didn’t care for the timeline or the format and the story itself wasn’t enough for me. It’s a really interesting concept but the execution wasn’t there for me. 

I really enjoyed this. It was one of those books I just couldn’t wait to get back to. While I did find it to be decently predictable- the only real surprise being the epilogue -it was intriguing enough to keep me coming back. 

I will say there were plenty of parts that were just annoying, but overall this was a fast paced read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a serial killer story!

Ok this one took me awhile to finish but in all reality I’ve been in one heck of a slump and I’ve either been sleeping or watching TV…and by watching I mean staring at it while it makes noise.

But enough about me - because even though I didn’t have the brain space to actually pick this up and read it, it sure crept its way into my thinking space! I kept wondering what was going on with Mel and her friends - how was she going to deal with this contest, her love life, her roommate and his love life…all the things. 

It was a nice story with plenty of open door sexy time included. This is how I prefer my romance to be written so it’s a positive. The type of relationship is new to me and I found the romantic entanglements to be quite interesting and (in my uneducated opinion) was well done! I’m not qualified to speak on the representation in this book so idk how accurate anything is, but I do like seeing the diversity and that also made me happy. 

I enjoyed getting to see Mel learn so much about herself throughout this book. It’s definitely something I recommend!