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Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC.
ABSOLUTELY LOVED.
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New favorite of Emma Lord’s books!!!
I in no way, connect with Millie and her expressive, extrovert self. But wow did I enjoy the ride. This was everything I could’ve hoped for when I got this book and refreshed my love of young adult contemporaries.
Millie is a force to be reckoned with. I love her wild sense of self and how slowly over the chapters, layers were peeled back and I was able to see the true heart of what Millie was trying to prove and accomplish. She’s a teen searching for more, trying to forge a path for her future, while not wanting to lose the connections she already has.
I adore a great Dad/daughter dynamic and this had it. Along with a wonderful Aunt/Niece relationship too. Even her best friend, Teddy was a dream. All of these characters were well conceived and I felt like I knew and wanted to cheer for them alongside Millie.
The ROMANCE. It’s one of the many plots here and it was perfect. A dash of enemies to lovers that moved at a beautiful pace. I was full on grinning whenever the kiss scenes finally arrived and looooove Oliver and Millie so much. Shipping them was the easiest move.
Millie finding her Mom tore at many heart strings. I was tearing up at some deep, needed conversations between Millie and her Dad, and then Millie when she met her Mom. There was plenty to unpack and I was completely enthralled by how everything was going to work out.
Enter a little epilogue that gave closure to many avenues. Absolutely precious and what was needed. Wow do I love Emma Lord’s books. I can’t wait to see what she writes next. I love the combination of coming of age, first love, and finding your truth.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary + Romance
- Language: little
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment
ABSOLUTELY LOVED.
BLOG || INSTAGRAM
New favorite of Emma Lord’s books!!!
I in no way, connect with Millie and her expressive, extrovert self. But wow did I enjoy the ride. This was everything I could’ve hoped for when I got this book and refreshed my love of young adult contemporaries.
Millie is a force to be reckoned with. I love her wild sense of self and how slowly over the chapters, layers were peeled back and I was able to see the true heart of what Millie was trying to prove and accomplish. She’s a teen searching for more, trying to forge a path for her future, while not wanting to lose the connections she already has.
I adore a great Dad/daughter dynamic and this had it. Along with a wonderful Aunt/Niece relationship too. Even her best friend, Teddy was a dream. All of these characters were well conceived and I felt like I knew and wanted to cheer for them alongside Millie.
The ROMANCE. It’s one of the many plots here and it was perfect. A dash of enemies to lovers that moved at a beautiful pace. I was full on grinning whenever the kiss scenes finally arrived and looooove Oliver and Millie so much. Shipping them was the easiest move.
Millie finding her Mom tore at many heart strings. I was tearing up at some deep, needed conversations between Millie and her Dad, and then Millie when she met her Mom. There was plenty to unpack and I was completely enthralled by how everything was going to work out.
Enter a little epilogue that gave closure to many avenues. Absolutely precious and what was needed. Wow do I love Emma Lord’s books. I can’t wait to see what she writes next. I love the combination of coming of age, first love, and finding your truth.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary + Romance
- Language: little
- Romance: kisses
- Trigger/Content Warnings: parental abandonment
fast-paced
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.
GENTLE.
That was the vibe of this entire book. A gentle and loving slow-burn romance that was the kind of read I didn’t know I needed when I picked it up.
I looooooved Rachel. I thought she was a strong single Mom. She’s trying to figure things out and make the best decisions for her and Maisie. I liked that she was vulnerable and honest. And I love the way Rachel connected with Mason. Mason was one of the those dreamy quiet heroes. A solid presence who’s continually there and does the tiny things that make your heart skip a beat. There’s exploration of themes of loss, finding a second chance at love all underneath a beautiful backdrop on an island in Lake Eerie.
It’s fast paced but never in a way that felt rushed. Plenty of months fly by as Rachel and Mason swirled around each other in an ever closing vortex. I couldn’t get enough of their quiet moments and it had just the right touch of steam.
There’s lots of goodness here. I do wish there was a bit longer of an ending or even an epilogue. Lots of heartstrings were pulled and this book gave off a beautiful message of hope.
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: a little
- Romance: two brief open that quickly fades to black
- Trigger/Content Warnings: divorce (recounted), single parent, loss of a child (recounted), sexual assault (occurs in the first chapter)
BUT WHY?
The entire first half (and honestly, most of the second) had me asking but why, for almost everything thing regarding the world building and magic system. That had to be my biggest gripe here. Why is the wood attacking everyone? Who are all of the kings? Why do we have to bleed on it? Why is he turning into a monster?
SOMEONE TELL ME.
The second half did a little better job with these explanations, or maybe I had been listening for so long that something finally started to click. I wish this had been better and I would have loved the book even more.
I did enjoy the romance. It’s paced well and has a nice slow burn to it. I think Red and Eammon got along well and I could see the chemistry between them. If I didn’t focus too hard on the world building issues I could focus more on the relationships that were a positive for the novel.
The combination of Red Riding Hood and Beauty and the Beast mash-ups was an amazing feature. I could see the parallels and I loved the darker differences. Those two factors also played well into my reading enjoyment.
Jury is still out on whether or not I’ll pick up book two. I’ll probably wait for reviews and won’t go the audio route for it either. The narrator and everything is just fine! But with my previous issues i think reading it might help that overall.
Overall audience notes:
- Fantasy Retelling / Romance
- Language: some strong
- Romance: brief open door
- Trigger/Content Warnings: parental emotional abuse and neglect, anxiety and panic attacks, audio/visual hallucinations, self harm (cutting), death of a parent
slow-paced
Reread May 2023: OMG I FORGOT HOW MUCH IVAN LUKOV OWNS ME.
BRB SWOONING.
BRB SWOONING.
AHHH.
Every dang time Ivan Lukov started talking to Jasmine you bet I was SWOONING. Holy cow that man can give a loving speech. He can hype me up any day. I loved him. I loved his support and sweet and small ways he cared for Jasmine. Building up that friendship and partnership into something more. My heart can’t handle that many skips in one book!
In typical MZ fashion there’s a long wait for the pay-off with this one. Dare I say a bit too long? At least for me the first 100-200 pages were a bit slower than usual. There was a loooot of hatred and disgruntlement that were the crux of Jasmine’s life. And at last, once she started taking small steps back towards her ultimate goals things started to open up.
Wow do I love a sports romance and this was no different. I love that this was about figure skating!! I felt like I learned a lot about the sport and it was the perfect counter balance against the romance. One didn’t outshine the other. Another wonderful MZ read. I’m slowly working through her books and now that this has been my fifth, I’m still in awe at how addicting these stories are.
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary Romance
- Language: very strong and often
- Romance: one open door
- Trigger/Content Warnings: fatmisia and body shaming, misogyny, sexual harassment, stalking, bullying
4.5 stars
BEST OF THE SERIES.
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This series (but not a series because you can read them out of order) has progressively gotten better with each book. I’m so happy I kept up with it because WOW. This was a gem.
Adrian has me absolutely smitten and swooning all over the place. He was such a dreamy guy. And his relationship with Vanessa was perfectly imperfect. They had me smiling, wanting to pass around many hugs, and full on cheering for them. I loved the conversations and shortcomings both characters had. There was raw emotions and learning to come to terms with the possible futures ahead. There whole dynamic was everything I could hope for in a romance. It was fast-paced and felt authentic.
My only tiny tidbit I didn’t like was Vanessa’s family dynamics. It came across as trying to add a bunch more drama to the story, but instead was overdone. Each member had something intense happening and I wanted to go back to Vanessa and Adrian more than anything.
Filled with plenty of moments to make your heart thump faster I couldn’t recommend this enough. It was just SO SWEET. I couldn’t put this book down and I’m not even mad about the super cheesy ending. CAUSE I LOVED IT.
If you choose to read any from this series, I’d say this one easily. Nothing is spoiled for the other two (besides who ends up with who, but honestly it’s a HEA romance, you know where those are going?).
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: some
- Romance: kisses to closed door scenes
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loved one dealing with substance abuse, loved one exhibiting extreme hoarding, loss of loved ones through illness, main character dealing with potential incurable condition (ALS)
BEST OF THE SERIES.
BLOG || INSTAGRAM
This series (but not a series because you can read them out of order) has progressively gotten better with each book. I’m so happy I kept up with it because WOW. This was a gem.
Adrian has me absolutely smitten and swooning all over the place. He was such a dreamy guy. And his relationship with Vanessa was perfectly imperfect. They had me smiling, wanting to pass around many hugs, and full on cheering for them. I loved the conversations and shortcomings both characters had. There was raw emotions and learning to come to terms with the possible futures ahead. There whole dynamic was everything I could hope for in a romance. It was fast-paced and felt authentic.
My only tiny tidbit I didn’t like was Vanessa’s family dynamics. It came across as trying to add a bunch more drama to the story, but instead was overdone. Each member had something intense happening and I wanted to go back to Vanessa and Adrian more than anything.
Filled with plenty of moments to make your heart thump faster I couldn’t recommend this enough. It was just SO SWEET. I couldn’t put this book down and I’m not even mad about the super cheesy ending. CAUSE I LOVED IT.
If you choose to read any from this series, I’d say this one easily. Nothing is spoiled for the other two (besides who ends up with who, but honestly it’s a HEA romance, you know where those are going?).
Overall audience notes:
- Contemporary romance
- Language: some
- Romance: kisses to closed door scenes
- Trigger/Content Warnings: loved one dealing with substance abuse, loved one exhibiting extreme hoarding, loss of loved ones through illness, main character dealing with potential incurable condition (ALS)
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Okay, I thought this book was going to give some insight on tidying, but instead I couldn't get over her ideas that all of the items in your house are alive. I mean, really, does my jacket really care if it's hanging with other jackets? No, because it's not alive. Made it half-way through before I thought this became just too ridiculous.
SUCH AN ADVENTURE OF WONDER.
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I picked this up on a Target run when I wasn’t supposed to be buying books…whoops!
But y’all, seriously, this was amazing and I’m so glad I grabbed it. It gave me all the feels and brought out such a sense of adventure and longing for a place in the world.
Weylen Grey has MY HEART. Oh, but he also made me so mad. This poor lost boy had me saying, bless your heart, more than once. I thought he was so fascinating and captivating. I thought it was even more imaginative that the author wrote the book from everyone else’s perspective. THIS WAS SO COOL. I felt thoroughly connected to him even in this format. Weylen had to go through a lot to realize what he had already. He truly went on a journey that captivated me.
Miss Mary quite contrary was precious too. I loved watching their story develop from kids in the woods to adults who had made some tough choices. Their reunion scene at the end had me melting. Frustrated that it took so dang long, but melting at the pure love they shared.
I thought the flow was fantastic and jumped back and forth at the right times. The pace was steady and seriously kept me flipping pages. I needed to know what happened next.
All of the other perspectives were unique too. These people had a profound effect on Weylen’s life; whether it was obvious or not. I liked getting to know them through their perspectives as well. Each had a unique voice that only further added to the wonder of Weylen Grey.
Overall audience notes:
- Urban fantasy, magical realism (there were in real life places, but there was a dose of magic)
- Language: very little
- Romance: a kiss, some hugs
- Violence: animal attacks, guns
BLOG || INSTA
I picked this up on a Target run when I wasn’t supposed to be buying books…whoops!
But y’all, seriously, this was amazing and I’m so glad I grabbed it. It gave me all the feels and brought out such a sense of adventure and longing for a place in the world.
Weylen Grey has MY HEART. Oh, but he also made me so mad. This poor lost boy had me saying, bless your heart, more than once. I thought he was so fascinating and captivating. I thought it was even more imaginative that the author wrote the book from everyone else’s perspective. THIS WAS SO COOL. I felt thoroughly connected to him even in this format. Weylen had to go through a lot to realize what he had already. He truly went on a journey that captivated me.
Miss Mary quite contrary was precious too. I loved watching their story develop from kids in the woods to adults who had made some tough choices. Their reunion scene at the end had me melting. Frustrated that it took so dang long, but melting at the pure love they shared.
I thought the flow was fantastic and jumped back and forth at the right times. The pace was steady and seriously kept me flipping pages. I needed to know what happened next.
All of the other perspectives were unique too. These people had a profound effect on Weylen’s life; whether it was obvious or not. I liked getting to know them through their perspectives as well. Each had a unique voice that only further added to the wonder of Weylen Grey.
Overall audience notes:
- Urban fantasy, magical realism (there were in real life places, but there was a dose of magic)
- Language: very little
- Romance: a kiss, some hugs
- Violence: animal attacks, guns