dnf @ 40%. writing was so bland and i found myself really not connecting about nora, so it just didn’t feel worth it to keep going with her story.

reading this right after finishing these violent delights HURT

reading this was such a lovely experience. not in the way that i ended it happily, because i was screaming, but because it was so intricately constructed and created. i could feel how much research and detail went into each chapter and how purposeful each action was. i loved the little romeo and juliet details, which obviously were an important influence, but i loved the way it was clearly used as a jumping off point and not the end-all be-all. there were times when the writing was a bit stiff, but i overall was really impressed with this as a debut and can't wait for the second in the duology because that ending was BRUTAL and i found myself genuinely invested in the characters and their journeys.


also, please give marshall and benedikt a happy ending pls

i truly doubt that emma lord will ever write something i won't read in one sitting and immediately love. i'll let y'all know if it happens, though.
this book was so much fun to read. lord does such a lovely job of fleshing out her main cast in the first 50 pages so that you know what you're getting into, but they never stop having depth and surprise within them, as well. the way that she balances her background characters and the different plot lines (family, romance, friendship, coming of age) is so fun to dive into and i love how everything is woven together. i love abby, savvy, leo and the rest of the characters so much and found myself reacting viscerally to every emotion in the story. a liiiiiiittle disappointed there was no tweet cute mention except for big league, but hey, a girl can dream, right? :)

i enjoyed this, but i definitely didn’t feel like the plot summary gave me a good idea what this was about, and by the end, i was still unsure what the main plot line was. the writing was beautiful but the story itself dragged on a bit.