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eashani's Reviews (177)
I first read this book 3 years ago and fell so in love with the idea of a Scottish university that I spent months trying to convince my parents to let me apply there. Turns out it's very expensive to study abroad but hey, at least I got cool daydreams out of it.
Okay but seriously, I reread it and 13 year old me had great taste picking this up for the first time! Royals is about Daisy Winters, a 16 year old Floridian girl whose sister Ellie is now engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. After Daisy's frankly trash ex boyfriend creates a scandal, she has to fly out to Scotland to try and fix it. Cue fancy palaces, glamourous balls, Scottish Highlands, cute boys, and more kilts than Daisy bargained for.
I genuinely enjoyed this book so much because of Daisy's sharp wittedness. She can never hold her tongue and the sheer masterpiece sentences that come out of her mouth are gold. Shakespeare could never.
There was also some pretty nice character development (looking at you Prince Alexander The Boring :P) and Daisy slowly understanding the constant pressure her sister was under made for an interesting read. Also, Miles' slowly increasing sarcastic responses that rival Daisy's???? Absolutely wonderful, thank you very much.
I know a lot of people didn't like how Hawkins didn't do proper research on Scotland and how it was written for a purely American audience, but alsoooo not every book needs to be a well researched thing. Not every book you read needs to start Serious Conversations About Humanity (trademark pending) and be the next classic. Some books can be read purely for how sweet and fun they are. Sometimes you just need to escape your boring ol' life and Royals allows you to do that!
It's cutesy and quick to read, highly recommend for getting out of a reading slump.
P.S. you will absolutely despise this book if you start looking for logic within the healthcare part. It's fiction, things are allowed to be fake, it's in the name. You have to truly give into the insanity to enjoy it.
Okay but seriously, I reread it and 13 year old me had great taste picking this up for the first time! Royals is about Daisy Winters, a 16 year old Floridian girl whose sister Ellie is now engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. After Daisy's frankly trash ex boyfriend creates a scandal, she has to fly out to Scotland to try and fix it. Cue fancy palaces, glamourous balls, Scottish Highlands, cute boys, and more kilts than Daisy bargained for.
I genuinely enjoyed this book so much because of Daisy's sharp wittedness. She can never hold her tongue and the sheer masterpiece sentences that come out of her mouth are gold. Shakespeare could never.
So I’m not going to be able to get up on the fence and sing ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy’ while waving six American flags and twirling a baton?
There was also some pretty nice character development (looking at you Prince Alexander The Boring :P) and Daisy slowly understanding the constant pressure her sister was under made for an interesting read. Also, Miles' slowly increasing sarcastic responses that rival Daisy's???? Absolutely wonderful, thank you very much.
I know a lot of people didn't like how Hawkins didn't do proper research on Scotland and how it was written for a purely American audience, but alsoooo not every book needs to be a well researched thing. Not every book you read needs to start Serious Conversations About Humanity (trademark pending) and be the next classic. Some books can be read purely for how sweet and fun they are. Sometimes you just need to escape your boring ol' life and Royals allows you to do that!
It's cutesy and quick to read, highly recommend for getting out of a reading slump.
P.S. you will absolutely despise this book if you start looking for logic within the healthcare part. It's fiction, things are allowed to be fake, it's in the name. You have to truly give into the insanity to enjoy it.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I LOVED THIS BOOK SO MUCH!!! AHHHHH
Okay so yes, I'm biased, I read an aroace character who experiences the same things I do. I saw an Indian ace and almost cried.
Loveless encompasses everything that comes with being an aromantic asexual. There's always people saying "It's an internet identity" or "you just haven't found the one" and it sucks.
Georgia is a hopeless romantic, always waiting for - or sometimes trying to force - a crush. She doesn't get care about who she falls in love with as long as she does.
Okay so yes, I'm biased, I read an aroace character who experiences the same things I do. I saw an Indian ace and almost cried.
Loveless encompasses everything that comes with being an aromantic asexual. There's always people saying "It's an internet identity" or "you just haven't found the one" and it sucks.
Georgia is a hopeless romantic, always waiting for - or sometimes trying to force - a crush. She doesn't get care about who she falls in love with as long as she does.
"You might find a lovely young man on your course!"
"Maybe," I said. Or a lovely young woman. God, anybody. Please. I'm desperate.
Georgia's the first character who's made me feel seen and represented. She's the first who's made me feel like maybe I don't need a romantic partner and platonic relationships will always be more than enough. I think I speak for quite a few aroaces when I say Loveless felt like reading a personal diary.
"People always put romance over friendships-"
"Says who?" Rooney spluttered, smacking her hand on the ground in front of us. "The heteronormative rulebook? Fuck that, Georgia. Fuck that."
I think the one thing I would critique about the book is Sunil's character. Now, don't get me wrong, an Indian non binary ace was the perfect addition to the book. Sunil had my heart and soul BUT I was disappointed by how they were introduced using "he/they" pronouns but were not referred to by "they/them" A SINGLE TIME. This could've been the perfect time to normalize "he/they" by using them interchangeably, but unfortunately that didn't happen.
Overall I think this was a beautiful book that helped me come to terms with my sexuality, and I think it's so important for people to read because of its aroace representation (the enby rep could use some work though).
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
I received an ARC from netgalley in exchange for this review
Let me preface this by saying this was not a bad book and I genuinely did enjoy reading it. Maybe not the most reassuring words but at least they're accurate ? The cover is gorgeous though, so extra points!
Meet Me At The Summit is the story of Marly, a 19 year old girl who's struggling to come to terms with her parents deaths. She's working a job she hates, and is stuck in a routine she can't seem to break. So when her mom's side of the family practically forces her into a VW bus and tell her to travel, she doesn't know how to respond. A previous Marly, one before her parent's death, would've jumped on the opportunity, but now... things were different. She doesn't feel like the same person so how could she possibly do this trip? Eventually, Marly accepts her family's bus if only in an attempt to break her boring everyday routine.
This is a story of loss, grief, and dealing with the Feelings that come when you lose loved ones and it portrayed those emotions in a way that made sense. Marly's anxiety attacks, the way she could never sleep without the constant buzz of the television so no thoughts could overtake her, how she stopped taking pictures, and dropped out of college were all little things that gave glimpses of how she felt.
But sometimes, it fell flat. I liked the premise and the plot but it got repetitive really quick. I know there's only so many things that can happen living out of a VW bus and going on trails, but still. It became a cycle where we could only read about how pretty a trail was, how Marly had a panic attack, and oh look she's eating yet another hot dog, yay Marly! The only thing that seemed to break this entire cycle was Dylan, and somehow he failed.
Dylan had so much potential!!! He could've been like a 30 year old guy who stopped hiking for whatever reason and seeing Marly overcome her grief could've been motivated and it would've been awesome. And yet somehow, he just ended up joining this whole entire Marly cycle. At times, it honestly felt like Marly was using Dylan as a replacement for her dad not as a romantic partner.
Which brings me to My Issue™. Dylan should never have been a lover. You're telling me that a teenage girl who desperately needs therapy and has been bottling up her emotions for a 9 whole months, is EMOTIONALLY STABLE ENOUGH TO BE IN A FREAKING RELATIONSHIP WITH A GUY SHE *JUST* MET??? No thank you. Dylan is friend material and that's it.
And finallyyyy, let's talk about Lori cuz why not! I really liked her character but sometimes I forgot she existed. There were times when Marly would call Lori and I'd just be like huh?? why her?? Her defining characteristic was the bubbly sunshiney best friend who needed more hobbies than stalking Marly's friends on Facebook but we can't all be fully developed characters I suppose.
As for final thoughts, the writing style was pretty decent and there were some really great moments on Marly's journey that I enjoyed. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who's interested in hiking because there was a lot of that in here! I heard this is going to be a series and I'd definitely be interested in checking book 2 out :)
Let me preface this by saying this was not a bad book and I genuinely did enjoy reading it. Maybe not the most reassuring words but at least they're accurate ? The cover is gorgeous though, so extra points!
How can I imagine a future without them when they were in every memory of my past
Meet Me At The Summit is the story of Marly, a 19 year old girl who's struggling to come to terms with her parents deaths. She's working a job she hates, and is stuck in a routine she can't seem to break. So when her mom's side of the family practically forces her into a VW bus and tell her to travel, she doesn't know how to respond. A previous Marly, one before her parent's death, would've jumped on the opportunity, but now... things were different. She doesn't feel like the same person so how could she possibly do this trip? Eventually, Marly accepts her family's bus if only in an attempt to break her boring everyday routine.
This is a story of loss, grief, and dealing with the Feelings that come when you lose loved ones and it portrayed those emotions in a way that made sense. Marly's anxiety attacks, the way she could never sleep without the constant buzz of the television so no thoughts could overtake her, how she stopped taking pictures, and dropped out of college were all little things that gave glimpses of how she felt.
But sometimes, it fell flat. I liked the premise and the plot but it got repetitive really quick. I know there's only so many things that can happen living out of a VW bus and going on trails, but still. It became a cycle where we could only read about how pretty a trail was, how Marly had a panic attack, and oh look she's eating yet another hot dog, yay Marly! The only thing that seemed to break this entire cycle was Dylan, and somehow he failed.
Dylan had so much potential!!! He could've been like a 30 year old guy who stopped hiking for whatever reason and seeing Marly overcome her grief could've been motivated and it would've been awesome. And yet somehow, he just ended up joining this whole entire Marly cycle. At times, it honestly felt like Marly was using Dylan as a replacement for her dad not as a romantic partner.
Which brings me to My Issue™. Dylan should never have been a lover. You're telling me that a teenage girl who desperately needs therapy and has been bottling up her emotions for a 9 whole months, is EMOTIONALLY STABLE ENOUGH TO BE IN A FREAKING RELATIONSHIP WITH A GUY SHE *JUST* MET??? No thank you. Dylan is friend material and that's it.
And finallyyyy, let's talk about Lori cuz why not! I really liked her character but sometimes I forgot she existed. There were times when Marly would call Lori and I'd just be like huh?? why her?? Her defining characteristic was the bubbly sunshiney best friend who needed more hobbies than stalking Marly's friends on Facebook but we can't all be fully developed characters I suppose.
As for final thoughts, the writing style was pretty decent and there were some really great moments on Marly's journey that I enjoyed. I would especially recommend this book to anyone who's interested in hiking because there was a lot of that in here! I heard this is going to be a series and I'd definitely be interested in checking book 2 out :)
