5/18/25: 4.5stars. This was so good! I would put it up there with HP, Amari and the Nightbrothers, and Nevermoor. Good world building, well-developed characters and an engaging and thoughtful plot. Can't wait for the next one!

5/12/25: the relationship felt pretty average but I loved the gymnastics and swimming and olympics content!

5/11/25: This was so cute. It reads on the younger side of middle grade, but was absolutely adorable.

5/9/25: I have nothing bad to say about this book. It's a fun middle grade with loveable characters and an engaging plot.

5/8/25: DNF at 25%. This title should be "pretend to hate but not really because they're so hot!"

5/7/25: For me, this has middle book syndrome. I feel like she lost the plot and this was more so a bunch of side quests that might have worked better as a collection of short stories. Deonn has said something along the lines of "this is the book the series needed but not the one I intended to write" and I think it shows. Multiple, inconsistent POVs. There is memory loss in a character so we have to "re meet" a bunch of characters that are already established for the reader and it just felt so unnecessary to have to re-develop them because of the memory loss. It felt like filler, honestly. And I think that is largely what this book is. Legendborn was originally planned to be a trilogy. Then they got popular and the publisher saw dollar signs and decided to extend the series. So, then boom, we get a filler book for a story arch that should have stayed a trilogy. I did like the ending, but aside from that very little actually happens, IMO. I enjoy a slow burn character driven novel, don't get me wrong, but these characters stories and development already happened in previous books. Because of the memory loss trope, it was just a repeat of that same exact development.

5/3/25: R.L. Stine for grown ups.

4/29/25: DNF at 48% This book is a fun thought experiment but I can't handle a dystopian story right now.

4/25/25: This is satire and I will admit I struggle to enjoy satire. There were parts of this book I really liked such as the discussions of art and writing and creativity and teaching. The ending was a huge let down. I'm sure I'm missing something because others seem to really love it, but for me it was middle of the road.

4/20/25: Reading this book was like therapy for me. There was a lot of trauma and the character growth was slow, subtle, and believable. The characters were so well written with layers and wonderful continuity of reactions and motivations. This is exactly the kind of romance I crave. Great for readers who like a bit of romance with their trauma. The trauma isn't gratuitous--for me it was catharsis.