leahrosereads's Reviews (1.04k)

This is how I prefer my historical fiction. I need a bit of a fantastical element, and I definitely got that here.  The highlight of The Mermaid, outside of Henry's captivating storytelling, are the characters - specifically Amelia.  She's bold and brave, and I really liked her.  The reason I can't give this quite 4 stars is I feel like the pacing was a bit off.  The ending came so abruptly, my head is still spinning!

I may not be the biggest fan of sports, but I loved this!  The competitive nature of these characters, the boarding school setting, and the underdog MC had me totally invested.  This first volume has a lot of necessary info that's important to the premise but made for a slightly slower pace.  Can't wait to see where this story goes!

This was some fantastic cosmic horror. Weird, creepy and so very devastating, this novella kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page.  The monsters (both human and other) were so wonderfully disturbing. Every part of this story felt so intentional and necessary. 

I'll definitely be picking up more from this author!

This was an incredibly cute, heart warming story about friendship, acceptance, and finding yourself.  I absolutely loved the message of the story.  I also really loved Frances and Sebastian, though at times, I felt like the friendship was pretty one sided.  

That ending arc and character development though!  Could not have been more perfect.  Highly recommend.

I really loved this collection. The poems are heart-wrenching, filled with self-discovery, and are all so very vulnerable.  Definitely recommend this to anyone who loves poetry!  Looking forward to checking out more work by this author.

There needs to be more coming of age stories as college age adults get their degree and start their careers or find new directions, because this was incredible!  The relationships, friendships, struggles and joys of this story and this character were so honest and authentic. The writing was lyrical and just absolutely stunning!  I finished this book and immediately wanted to pick it up again.

Fantastic and so freaking fun, while still being a brutally honest coming of age story.  I absolutely adored every character, but especially Jay. He was such a dork and so very human, and I loved him. Even when he made mistakes. Especially when he made mistakes.

This was brilliant! I loved the inclusion of the fairy tales, how well they all fit together, while still creating a new story that pulled me in completely.  I was so invested in the characters and could not put this down! 

I also really want to note how great the pacing was here. Sometimes novellas can feel a little rushed near the end, but I don't think that happened here.  There's a ramp up to the final pages, but it felt fluid and not rushed at all. Loved it!

Definitely looking forward to reading more from this author!

I thoroughly enjoyed this.  The care that the author took when pulling inspiration from final girls in movies, as well as the incredibly important topics that a lot of us face in society, was really well done.  Each poem had its own voice that matched their inspiration excellently.  This was dark, heart-wrenching and so very personal.

Well, I ended this series never really figuring out the plot or the why of it, but I loved the characters and their friendships. And the adventures these four had.  It was a heck of a journey and I absolutely loved the art! 

But I just have so many questions!