Maybe I’ll come back to this, but this was entirely too much for my brain to handle right now. Too much explanation, not enough exposition. 

This was very well written! It was just kind of… meh. The storyline was interesting, and I like how it ended bleakly. The point of view from the parents was a good take, it just fell a little generally flat for me. 

The plot in this book wasn’t super existent, honestly. However, it was written so beautifully that it’s worthy the 4 stars and worth the read anyways. 

This was exceedingly average. very interesting story, very claustrophobic, very spooky, liked how neither of the main characters were particularly likable, but fell flat in execution. Really only one part where I was unsettled, and it had a very unsatisfying ending. 

I don’t have the patience to be reading a book that starts off as slow as this. It had me in the first 10 pages and then didn’t get me back for the next 40, and I just don’t think it’s worth it to continue. 

This was AMAZING. This is the cozy book that everyone says it is; I consumed it all in one sitting, and every second of it was impactful, but not in a way that hurts. Instead, it felt like somebody was looking into the heart of me and seeing exactly what I needed to hear, but instead of telling me something hard to digest, it told me that sometimes it’s okay to just be. Absolutely amazing. 

This was an exceedingly mediocre read. There is no conclusion, there is no climax, there is no real satisfaction to this novel. It simply starts, and things happen, and it ends. I finished this thinking there would be some answers to something, and instead it just. It just ends. Disappointing to say the least. 

Listen. I’m not a romance guy. At ALL. I like dark fantasy and horror and unhappy endings, and I certainly don’t like modern, contemporary romance in particular. But this book? AMAZING. The characters felt so real and had real world problems that worked so well in this trope. It wasn’t insta-love. It was well thought out and beautiful. I get the Emily Henry hype now. 

This book is probably objectively like a 3/5, but lucky for the author I am NOT objective. Did this read a little bit like a fanfiction? Sure! But it was an IMMENSELY well researched book, to the point where it was incredibly easy to imagine a forbidden romance set in 1330s England. I loved the characters a truly stupid amount — the cast was lovable, and the love story? Absolutely smashing. Honestly, I’d suggest this for anybody looking for a nice queer period piece.

Honestly fast-paced for a 600 page book, and the kind of sci-fi horror that rides the line of realistic and fantastical SO well. Super creepy and fascinating read.