This took me 10 days to read and two weeks later I can barely remember anything about it. It’s entirely possible this is due to my ongoing difficulties focusing on reading right now with everything going on with COVID-19, but this was entirely forgettable. I vaguely remember not giving a flying f&$@ about either of the protagonists or the premise. Probably won’t read more of this series any time soon.

So I was really engaged by the first part of this book, following Ana and her family as their country enters into Civil War. The second half of the book just falls really flat for me. First, we jump from a really horrific scene of mass murder to ten years later from literally one page to the next, and for me it takes the impact away from what should've been one of the more devastating scenes in the book. Later on we revisit that moment and the period of time directly afterwards, but the narrator is trying to keep herself emotionally removed from the memories, so it almost feels more like an omniscient POV rather than being through the eyes of a character living through the story. And I get that it all plays into the character's psyche and her dealing (or refusing to deal) with her trauma, but it made it really difficult to connect to anything that happens after that first part of the story.

Ana is (understandably) traumatized from her experiences, and it doesn't seem like she was ever given the tools she needed to actually work through that trauma. Instead she was encouraged to simply cope with it internally and 'fit in', which for her meant pretending that her story didn't exist. I can't even imagine what that would be like, and it does feel like the choices she made in the book's second half were her attempt to come to terms with her past, but that section of the book feels very rushed and then the book just ends very abruptly in what feels like the middle of the book. It makes me sad because I think books like this, highlighting global atrocities in our recent past, are very important. But an 'important' book isn't necessarily a 'good' book, and that is unfortunately the case for me when it comes to this book.

This was convoluted and silly.

I was going to give this book two stars, but I honestly can't think of anything that I actually enjoyed in this mess. There are just so many contrivances and a suspension of disbelief that bordered on ludicrous.

The first half of this book is one repetitive scene after the other. Nothing much really happens. The past storyline is mildly interesting, but the present-day investigation is boring and Seraphine is inept and at times more concerned with the guy she likes and some teenage drama than actually figuring out what is going on.

Once things are actually revealed, it is drawn out and tedious. It's not like she finds out what happened piece by piece throughout the story leading up to a huge twisty secret. The entire story is laid out over the course of the last third of the book in what is basically one scene interspersed with several flashbacks. Every flashback reveals a piece of the puzzle, then it switches back to the present-day timeline, then a character has a question or an assumption, then there's another flashback that reveals another tiny part, and so on. It's incredibly repetitive and boring. And the 'twist' is really lame. It's predictable and at the same time ridiculous.

I've watched a lot of soap operas in my day, and never seen twins used to this extent. Everyone is a f$&@ing twin and it's absolutely absurd.

I don't want to spend any more time thinking about this dumpster fire, so I'm going to just leave it at that.

It's been about three weeks since I finished The Glass Hotel, and I'm just now getting around to reviewing it. Part of that is because I just haven't had a lot of motivation for anything right now, but the other part is that I'm just unsure of how to talk about this book and my feelings for it.

One of my all-time favorite books is Station Eleven by this author. It's a fantastic exploration of the human spirit and need for connection in the face of chaos and apocalypse. (Just a note, it's not a book I would recommend people to read during a pandemic...but it is an amazing book.)

This book was one of my most anticipated since it was announced. Did I have any idea what it was about? No. Did the synopsis sound at all intriguing or like something I would normally pick up? Nope. I just knew that I loved her other book to pieces, and would absolutely give this one a try.

The end result? A little mixed. I know I gave this book 4 stars, and I stand by it, but I was still a little disappointed at the end, and I'm not sure I can articulate the reason for that. It just didn't feel like all the threads came together the way they did in Station Eleven.

It was actually a very strange reading experience. As I was reading, I was thoroughly engaged with these characters and their stories, even though they are incredibly flawed and there isn't much of an actual plot to speak of. Something about her writing completely sucks me in, even if I can't identify a real purpose for the story. There is a similarity in structure to Station Eleven, jumping back and forth through different points in time with our characters. I think it's less successful here, but it doesn't ruin the story. I did enjoy the alternate reality aspect. Several times throughout the book, we are given a look into what would have happened to these characters if they'd made other choices, and that's something that fascinates me and I think was well done.

At the end of the day, I'll absolutely pick up a book written by her in the future, because I think she is a supremely talented writer, but maybe I'll try to keep my expectations reasonable instead of expecting every book she writes to be another Station Eleven.

This book will not be for everyone. I feel like it's a little mis-marketed. From the title and the cover of the book, I was expecting more of a rom-com. And those banter-filled moments of cuteness are there, but this book delves a little deeper and I can see that rubbing people who came for fun sexy times the wrong way.

I actually want to re-read this soon, so I can go into it with the correct mindset. That said, I loved this book. Emily Henry is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This is her first adult book, but I also enjoyed A Million Junes and When The Sky Fell On Splendor by her (the first more than the second, but both were enjoyable). I think she's really talented at balancing the heavy and the light, and this book is a perfect example. Both the protagonist and love interest have experience heartache and betrayals that have shaped their characters, but they also still yearn for connection and a place to belong.

I loved the premise that each of them were kind of in a writing rut and decided to try their hands at writing in the other person's genre of fiction. I also liked that their agreement ended up manifesting into a sort of fake dating trope, because a lot of their research, at least on her end, end up being dates in disguise as research. I really enjoyed those scenes. But I also liked the scenes where they were researching the darker subject matter for his book. It all worked for me.

Like I said, this book will not work for everyone. If you are looking for a light and fun rom-com romance full of witty banter and fluff (No judgment. I love fluff.) this might not be the book to pick up. But if you are open to something that is a little more layered without getting super melodramatic, maybe look into this one.

I enjoyed this installment much more than the first, which I still liked and gave three stars. It did take a bit for me to get into this, as it's been a couple years now since I read The Bear and the Nightingale, but I think the author did a nice job integrating bits and pieces from the first book in a way that didn't feel like an info-dump to get the reader caught up, and before long I was hooked.

I thought this book did a better job in terms of pacing and story. The first book (from what I remember) was beautiful in atmosphere, setting, and characters, but lacked a little in action and plot. This book still has all of the beauty of the first book, but gives the reader more in terms of action.

I'm really looking forward to finishing the third book, and completing a series that I wasn't sure I would revisit after being a little bored during the first book.

This is a case of the book just not quite working for me. I can look at it objectively and say that the writing is excellent. It’s got a fairytale quality to it with regard to prose and dialogue but the characters are far more developed than your run-of-the-mill fairytale.

However, I found this installment dragged on a bit. It felt repetitive with the number of times Vasya and the Winter King come back together and then part. Back together. Part. Back together...you get the idea.

I may pick up another Katherine Arden book in the future...but it won’t be the top of my list.