dlrosebyh's Reviews (773)

I genuinely do not know where the hype is coming from. It's been the same THING all over again and there's barely any progress ??? There's a while different side of Zanders, sure, but for me he's not even a character, just pure words on paper. I tried to love this because I really do like Stevie, but I fear it's just not for me lol.

feels so good to be back w/ austen

hey...so! I'm unwell!

this was the first book I read from the series simply because I had no interest in hockey, straight romances, and well...just romance in general. if you know me for a decent amount of time, you know that the only romance tropes i enjoy are grumpy/sunshine (but only when the girls are grumpy) and second chance. heavy on second chance. god forbid a girl wants her angst!!! and from the title itself, it's obvious that rewind it back *is* a second chance romance.

still, i was hesitant to read it. i did not have the best history when it comes to reading hockey romances. in all honesty, i think this was the only one i enjoyed.

rewind it back follows rio & hallie. rio plays for a hockey team in chicago, and hallie is an intern for her dream job in chicago. fate intertwined in their hands, they crossed paths as hallie was assigned to be the interior designer of rio's new house. just like any other romance, sparks flew, tension arised, and eventually rio & hallie found comfort in each other's company like they used to. if chicago by louis tomlinson were a book, it would be this book. and that alone makes me emotional.

as i've mentioned, this is the only book i've read in the series so far; which is ironic as this is the last installment in the series. what i can tell from what i have read so far is that tomforde LOVES her characters. she knows how to write them. tomforde's pen was on fire writing this book. when people told me that she knew how to write yearners, they were true. these characters, even for a first-time reader felt like home. no wonder people who read the whole series were crying & sobbing over the epilogue...because i almost did.

the plot was cliché, but the story was full of elements that made riohallie's stories their own: from cassette tapes, to their birthdays being the exact opposite of each other, and to rooftops. this book serves as a reminder that clichés are not inherently bad. you just need to personalize them a bit, and obviously add flavor.

that being said, the only reason why i didn't rate this book higher is that i found the pacing a little bit off. not a huge deal, just a preference of mine for it to keep ongoing. after the 20% mark, in my opinion, the book became more consistent, thus making me enjoy more. i won't comment on other plot devices as i did not know how the series started. from this book alone, i have a lot of questions but i surmised that these questions are answered from the past installments of the series. i feel like tomforde wrote this for the readers who actually read the previous installments so this book came off very straightforward and me being slightly confused as there are no really "previously on disney channel" moments, you know? but again, that's on me. i may reread this if i ever want to read the other books, but that's where i am right now (& also, i found the beginning too straight for my liking, but again. that's on me).

overall, rewind it back is your perfect palette cleanser. it gives you what you expect it (& maybe even more), so i'd recommend it.

not sure why, but this book had so much potential to be a decent read. but it wasn’t. 

 

i was mistakened that this book would talk about sisterhood & dysfunctional family. while that is the case, it was not appealing at all. 

 

yes, yes. i know that it’s not the point of the book, but i found the characters all insufferable. everyone was annoying and in dire need of therapy. in literary fiction with insufferable characters, i would prefer if i knew why the characters would act this way—but this novel just poses an interesting moral question instead. 

 

my sister’s keeper follows anna, the savior sister. she was born specifically to be the donor of her sister, kate. kate suffers from leukemia, and this unfortunately continues throughout kate’s life. 

 

while it does tell a character’s story, i still firmly believe that it was unnecessarily long. i’m sure that jodi picoult tried to be “philosophical” but failed. there were so many inner thoughts that bothered the hell out of me. i don’t think there was a chapter i didn’t roll my eyes in. if you told me that this was written by a white man, i would definitely believe you. because why the hell was there ROMANCE in the middle of a book about leukemia??? jesus!!! i feel like picoult tried to write something unknown back then, but there was seriously a lack in research and depth. you’d think that in over 500 pages it would give you profound knowledge, but no. everything is surface level. the novel was just purely written & full of cliches. cliches are usually okay, but in this given case, i don’t think that’s the ideal. 

 

do not even get me started on the ending. it was rushed & you can tell that picout ran out of creative juices. or she was just tired of writing. because that’s the dumbing ever. it was like the cherry on top of this being a bad book. if she looks at her reflection thinking that she’s a genius, she should think again. i feel like she added the “plot twist” as a shock factor—but it simply just didn’t work. 

 

overall, i did think it had great potential but ultimately failed to deliver. while it aimed to explore sisterhood and a dysfunctional family, the characters were unlikable and lacked depth. despite its length, the book remained superficial, full of cliches and unneeded subplots. i know that a lot of people love this book, but personally it’s just not for me. 

now THIS is a propaganda everyone should fall for. it's cozy and acts as a good palette cleanser. like okay !!!! maybe i do not want rain & key's roles in the society, but damn i would DIE to live in this setting. the tea sounds so good too and i'm not even a tea person ???

i was hesitant to pick this up because i've read cozy fantasies before—i did not like them. if my memory serves me correctly, this is the first cozy fantasy i've picked up and enjoyed. i was such in a massive reading slump, but the fact that i finished this in two days says a lot. i expected it to be a snoozefest, but damn instead of sleeping, i was losing hours of sleep. i think it's also important to note that while it is marketed as a cozy fantasy, it still has mystery & some high-stake scenes included. as someone who NEEDS action in their fantasy, i think that's what helped me distinguish this book from other cozy fantasies.

the premise is simple—two (iconic) lesbians wanting to open up a bookshop with tea to rest from their responsibilities for a bit. no mental gymnastics is needed for one to digest this book.

let's get more to the technical stuff.

objectively, was this well-written? no (..which is strange as poetic prose is one of my favorite literary elements). but was it addicting? absolutely. the characters are so nuanced and you can tell that rebecca thorne LOVES the characters and the world she built. the history is so rich. as a reader, finding an author who has so much love for their characters is extremely rare.

one thing i would've loved though is adding a prologue for the characters. key & rain's relationship was established from the very beginning of the book, thus taking more time in getting to know them (& obviously their relationship).

that being said, there were also so many fantasy elements here that made the plot kinda messy (??). i would've preferred if rebecca throne only focused on just a few elements & then polishing that. when more and more elements kept being added, the details in the world building started getting less and less and started becoming more...fanfiction-y? you really start to rely on the characters more & i know that can be such a miss for some people.

speaking of the characters, i literally talked about this so much already, but i found myself in kianthe so much!!! she's now one of my favorite characters. she's so so hardworking and also so hard on herself. she blames herself for everything and all i could just say is poor baby :((.

if you have a short attention span, i'm here to say that the pacing is slowwww!!! it took me a long time to get engrossed in the book. as people say, patience is a virtue. and i think in this case, it was veryyy worth it.

i told myself this year that i wouldn't commit to a series anymore, but i may just break that promise as the next book includes pirates (MY ABSOLUTE FAVS) !!! i'm already attached to the characters, so at this point...why not.

homoerotic friendship final boss