dlrosebyh's Reviews (773)

this was a good book overall. a grumpy / sunshine, enemies to lovers, with the love interest sent to kill the main character— all those superior tropes.

i’m a sucker for retellings, especially fairytale retellings. they have me on a chokehold; so i loved this book.

the only concern i have about this book was rather ivory’s personality. she’s too bratty for me, and i was expecting for a character development that never or barely happened.

what was this book and why did i keep reading it

madeline miller, please break my heart. break it a thousand times. it was only ever yours to break, anyway.

i was skeptical of buying this. before reading circe, i barely knew anything about her, and the stories i’ve heard ? they formed circe in a “villainous way”. they painted her as the villain, so i didn’t expect to love her as much as i did.

i saw myself in circe in numerous ways. though it took some time to finish this (probably because i’m in the worst reading slump), i’m glad that i picked this up. 

after this, i am now declaring as the number one madeline miller stan.

read for school, i barely can understand anything. it did have some strengths, though.

next to the fifty shades of grey, this is the worst book i have ever read.

firstly, the writing style was intolerable. this book was like a wattpad book written by a twelve year old— heck, wattpad books like those might have a better writing style, actually. 

secondly, this book romanticizes sexual assault. i’m not going to explain further, but drunk consent is NOT consent. taking your partner’s clothes off while they were asleep is not any better either.

thirdly, the characters were so unlikable. the only trait jason has is being a movie star and calling olive “little one”. he’s blander than mal from shadow and bone. on the other hand, olive is literally the definition of a kid in an adult body. i wanted a sunshine main character, not the whole solar system.

i wish i could tell you that it lived up to the hype, that it’s as beautiful as it sounds in the book’s description. unfortunately, it wasn’t.

(never trusting contemporary romance booktok again lol)

sick, twisted, disgusting— what’s the similarity ? these adjectives are mostly used for negative discussions. well, when i tell you, this book are those three exact words with a positive connotation.

things have gotten worse since we last spoke is a book you’d rather hate or love. for me, i personally loved this book. yes, the characters are unlovable. yes, the plot is basically nonexistent. but i enjoyed the story all throughout the end.

whilst reading this book, i felt nothing but the difficulty to breathe. it’s so sick to the point that it’s good at being sick; making me love the book. larocca has done a wonderful job taking my empathy of zoe and agnes; applause to them. that rarely happens in horror books for me. i guess that’s why i loved the book.

exquisite prose ? traumatized characters ? and reflective ? exactly my favorite thing ever.

honestly, i have no words left to describe what i felt reading this book. there were times i felt like throwing up, there were times i was sobbing so hard i couldn’t breathe, there were times i didn’t know what was going on, there were rare times that i was smiling like an idiot. the vanishing half falls more onto the darker side of literary fiction. and you know what ? i love dark books.

brit bennett is now one of my favorite authors. i was hesitant to read this book at first, but i’m extremely glad i did. 

i went into this book blindly. i knew nothing about it except that it’s a ya romance book.

and if you want to go into this book, i definitely recommend reading it blindly. in that way, you can experience all the shocks, laughter, grief, and basically just the whole roller coaster in this book.

teddy was an insufferable character at first. his head was too big, but he eventually redeemed himself in the end, which made his character very lovable. alice, on the other hand, is one of the most relatable protagonists i’ve read.

the friends to lovers trope and miscommunication trope did not do it for me, though. i found it frustrating that alice and teddy were getting into fights because of such simple things that can be solved in less than ten minutes.

windfall is a contemporary romance that revolves around luck, meaning it’s extremely unrealistic. if you’re looking for realistic fiction, this book is not for you. though if you want a quick lighthearted romance, this might be the book you are looking for.