such a good first book to a series like i was already a huge fan of samantha shannon after the priory of the orange tree and a day of fallen night but ik we would be locked in for life after i read this. i love liss btw

her last lines with paige devastated me

i love her character work; paige, arcturus, nashira, julian, liss...i could go on and on but every character feels so unique. i especially loved paige and warden's relationship develop. watching them slowly open up and trust each other after the hardships that they've both been through i loved it

 a charming and sweet ya romance and drama! i would give it 3.75 stars.

this book is exactly what it says it is: a sweet and pretty low-stakes romance and fantasy story. i liked how this story didn't solely focus on the relationship between niamh and kit, and i thought the relationships between kit and jack, kit and sinclair, rosa and niamh, and sofia and jack were well-written. the reveal of who was [redacted] genuinely shocked me!

i enjoyed this book! i've enjoyed the author's previous works and this is a solid and good addition to her previous writing! i would definitely recommend this if you enjoyed her previous books or if you like romantasy and a good ya romance.

thanks to netgalley and st. martin's press for this book 

note: i finished this book before i knew of the st. martin's press boycott! i advocate for the boycott entirely and support the freedom of palestine! 

this was a sweet romcom! 3 stars

this was a quick and light romcom between opal, a former minimum-wage worker and newly crowned lottery worker who takes her earnings and buys a flower farm, and pepper, the granddaughter of the deceased owner of the flower farm. i liked it

i did appreciate the dual pov's; i feel like i never see it in romance books and it helps because you can see the differences between the two mc's. i remember thinking the writing, at times, was a bit cringy(don't ever reference current events in a book cause that dates it bad), but for the most part it was fine.

the characters was fine if just a tad underdeveloped; i would've liked for them to have a stronger difference in voice but i liked them and i also liked the sisters of opal

all in all, if you're looking for a quick, sweet, light-hearted romcom that has queer and neurodivergent representation, then you should consider picking this up 

this book was not good at all 

i usually do okay with romances; they're not my favorite genre and the third-act conflict structure does grow tedious at times, but i like them for the most part. however, this book was boring and i had to push myself to continue reading just so i could get feedback in

it felt like such a slog to get through; the writing is boring and the romance had no chemistry. you could not convince me emma and lucy were actually attracted to each other??? like their dialogue was dry as hell

the premise interested me but ultimately the boring and stilted writing, the bland characters, and the chemistryless romance made this book a negative experience for me

thanks to netgalley and bold strokes for giving me this arc 

timeless, powerful, feminist. to want is an act of resistance. especially relevant this year, even if i truly wish it wasn't. should be required reading in schools. 

paige needs a costco (scionco?) vacation package stat she's getting kidnapped beat up jumped tortured at every given opportunity i'm begging her please take a break. 

in all seriousness i liked this book. i will note that samantha shannon is my favorite writer and i doubt i'll ever hate any of her books. i thought this book was a compelling character study of paige as a leader and as someone who's struggling to carry the weight of the mime order on her back while also balancing her relationship with warden.

she got jaxon good i know he was mad asf after that fight...he was definitely sitting in his room steaming and shit

another great book from my queen samantha shannon. i really liked the first book's setting of oxford, but i also enjoyed watching paige navigate a world that's familiar with her. it was also good to see deeper into the different gangs and gang members. the final fight in particular was great; very creative. 

a perfectly servicable romance novel that i thought was fine for the most part. however was this really rivals to lovers?? it was like one-sided annoyance-FUCKING-fwb-third act conflict-actually dating. like i'm not gonna lie [redacted] caught me off guard it was so quick

 i liked this! it was a quick read for me and the premise was interesting; it follows brynn, this matchmaker/relationship counselor person who sets up relationships by coaching people on how to win their crush's affection, but quickly falls down the social standing at her school after a video of her alledgedy cheating with her ex-best friend's boyfriend goes viral at her school.

i liked brynn. she was a interesting main character and i liked her relationships with her friends; they all truly seemed to care for each other. in particular, i loved brynn's relationship with cadence. i also thought brynn's relationships with her mom and brother were written very well, especially her relationship with smith, her older brother who suffers from a drug addiction.

i liked the side characters, such as cadence, tahlia, and marlowe. i will say that i think charlie served as a perfectly fine love interest but the book for me would have been the same with or without him. also brynn saying she loves him when they've been close for only a year or even less??? that is crazy to me but you do you girl.

the story was interesting as well. i thought the way the video was handled was good and the femolution club was good. brynn was getting stomped on every step of the way though like why was she the school's antichrist at five different points in the book??? hello

overall i thought this book had an interesting premise and delivered on it reasonably well! the characters and plot were the standout to me, the romance less so.

thank you to netgalley and penguin group for the arc! 

aww i really liked this!

so i really liked the mix of different characters in this story: gwen, art, sidney, gabe, bridget, and agnes were such a fun cast and the different conversations and interactions between them really was the heart of this novel. shout=out to gwen and art's hate-to-close friends arc; watching them go from haters to close friends was really nice and i thought it a natural progression. the banter in this story was so funny like the conversations would be so unserious sometimes. each character had their own distinctive personality as well which is always a plus.

the plot was interesting as well. i'm gonna be so honest i had NO IDEA what the politics were so that last battle was like...hmm...so that's not...well. like i had no idea who was like beefing with who.

the romances were so sweet like gwen being so giddy over bridget and arthur starting to feel a little more than  normal for gabe was cute! i just wish the ending was longer so we could've have more time with the characters truly coupled up.

overall i enjoyed this! a queer arthurian retelling romcom and it delivered for me. very fun and honestly if the author was like gonna write an adult version of this i would eat that shit up! i liked this a lot.

thank you to netgalley and st martin's press for the arc!

also i reviewed this before the boycott of smp! i stand with the boycotters