I was really excited for this novella, but the grief was a little too much for me. It felt like nearly every other paragraph involved the MC reliving the moment of her husband's death, and I couldn't really focus on anything else that was happening.
 

I MIGHT try this again someday, but I've been slowly chipping away at this book for 4 months and it isn't grabbing my interest. I've also been spoiled for some content later in this series that makes me think the morbid curiosity might not be worth it right now, which is fine! 🤷‍♀️ It'll still be here if I change my mind!

In the words of my best friend, "DNFing is self-care!" 🖤

This one definitely wasn't for me. I appreciated the idea behind it, but something about both of these characters felt so cringe-inducing to me. I think I might have enjoyed this a lot more when I was in my early 20s and I'd say someone who is in the mood for "edgy" characters might like this more than I did.

✨ Representation: lesbian/questioning MC, trans MC 

 Morbid curiosity got the best of me with this one, despite the fact that, for years, my only trigger has been stuff related to small children and babies. I started feeling over the past year like that trigger had passed, but this story started getting to me and I got the feeling I might regret it if I continued right now. That said, the writing itself was great and I'm VERY interested in reading something else by this author soon! 

 I hate to do it, but I've gotta put this one down. I love CK's writing so much typically, but something about these stories... for the most part, they haven't worked for me at all so far. I rarely DNF a short story collection since I like to give each story a chance, so I may give this one another try in the future. 

I'm just bored.

 

I've had this on my TBR and shelves for so long that it feels awful to DNF it, especially since I'm supposed to be buddy reading this with a friend, but gosh, I just hate this main character so damn much and I feel myself edging towards a reading slump... Life is too short! I'm definitely interested in trying one of Ruth Ware's newer books, though (especially since I own several of them, whoops).

 This might be a "soft DNF" because I don't have an issue with the book at all, I've just read a LOT of horror surrounding cults and returning to your childhood home/reconnecting with estranged family lately, and I'm getting a little hungover on the themes. Nothing is really compelling me to come back to this one right now so I'm setting it aside, but I definitely enjoyed the author's writing style enough to read more of her work!

Honestly, this is probably the most positively-toned DNF I've had in a VERY long time so if you were considering reading this, don't let me setting it aside slow you down as it's totally a "me" thing right now!

Thank you to the publisher and LibroFM for the audio review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own. 

 lol I'm so devastated. I've been eagerly awaiting this book's release for ages and was fully prepared to adore every last page, but the majority of the story so far has been:

1) a completely unnecessary recap of books 1 & 2

2) Everly being a one-dimensional character with very annoying inner monologues and a horrible case of Mary Sue-ness (which I do almost never accuse a character of, but every single person she interacts with just goes on and on about how she's the most powerful witch they've ever met, etc.)

Seriously, though, the only redeeming thing about this book is Callum's character, and even he hasn't properly drawn me in. I'm dragging through the story and I no longer care enough about the overarching plot to trudge through it.

✨ Representation: queer (bi/pan) main characters