This book was just kind of a drag for me. I really only cared in the last 100 pages of the book which is… less than ideal. It was okay, and it was creepy, but generally not worth the time I spent on it. 

This is a book about hockey. And small towns. And everything in between. Every five star I’ve ever seen about this book has been entirely, unequivocally earned. Backman doesn’t waste a single. Damn. Word. In this entire 400+ page book. I genuinely wouldn’t change a single thing. While this could definitely read as a standalone, I’m sure, I’m so eager to read Backman’s other works that I’m buying the rest of the trilogy as we speak. 

Amazing. This might be the best book I have ever, ever read.  

This was the cutest YA fantasy romance. Did it read a little like a Wattpad fanfic? Like yeah, but I knew that going in. The writing was excellent, the characters were lovable, and I just immensely enjoyed this book! 

This just… wasn’t for me. Got about 50% of the way through and it was struggling to hold my interest so I just stopped. Objectively a good read but just not for me. 

The blurb of this book states that “… by the end of it all, you will wish that you could forget what he never knew.” The blurb is fucking right. This was easily the most dread-inducing, genuinely terrifying horror that I’ve ever read. It didn’t need gore. It didn’t need shock value. It just needed these little breadcrumbs that slowly unravel… absolutely horrifying. Go into it cold, if you can, because it makes it that much worse. 

Solid case of middle book syndrome here. It was okay — probably bearable because it was a VERY quick read — but it feels a little bit like the author had no idea where she was going with the characters, or their plotlines. Some of the plot twists were incredible! But some felt tired, overused, or just plain confused. I’ll read the last book because I think these books are fun, fast, and spicy, but if you’re in it for the incredible plot, I’d stay away. 

An enjoyable, quick, easy romantasy read. I had a lot of fun with it and finished it in MAYBE 3 hours. Really loved Adrian and Isolde’s dynamic, and the side characters are AMAZING! Decent amount of plot for a fantasy romance, so I can’t really complain! 

This is an incredible book. The prose is STUNNING — Madeline Miller has such a way with words, and her telling of the Iliad through Patroclus’s eyes was amazing. I love this story, and I always will, but the second read around dud point out to me that maybe it wasn’t the 5 star read I initially attributed it as. It was beautiful, but some of the storytelling was paced a little oddly, and the dialogue maybe a little awkward. 

Just lost interest. Read several other books during this time frame I was enjoying more. May or may not pursue in the future.