I wanted to be obsessed with this the way I was with Smith's YA books when I was younger, and this didn't quite get there for me. I still really enjoyed this read about estranged adult siblings reconciling, but some of the drama felt overdone with convenient plot points. It got tired to have each sibling doubting their relationship and each partner relentlessly pursuing them. I wanted more of a sense of place besides just snow; for a book about road trips and histories with geography, I didn't see much depth in the settings. I did think the children characters felt pretty realistic. Overall, this was a nice adult read that dealt with heavy topics, but when I next read a Jennifer E. Smith book, it's going to be a YA romance. 

This was a fun modern retelling of Tangled - clean romance, semi-believable plot, clever updates (like instead of the horse, Max is a white car). Besides for a very abrupt ending, I enjoyed this read a lot! Will definitely be checking out the rest of the series.

Schwartz mixes valuable information with heart-wrenching statistics here. The formatting sometimes got in the way of the message (big black boxes with side stories would come in the middle of a sentence and last for several pages). I wish our education system did not pile so much on teachers!

Wheeler crafted a compelling world and magic system, but the focus was often skewed: it's a literal war zone they have to escape while people are dying, yet they have a slow courtship arranged through letters. We still don't have much sense of antagonism, just a vague looming threat that is too random to be sinister. The multiple POV worked fairly well, though I cared less about one perspective. Also, I wished McKenna's family members had their own distinct personalities; they felt more like caricatures and plot devices to me, especially the sisters.

This was a charming romance between an English man and a Spanish woman in the mid-1830s where he needs a wife to secure his home through a provision in his father's will and she has recently been let down by the man she assumed would propose because he didn't want her vision problems reflecting on him. Both of them thus had clear reasons for jumping into a marriage with someone from another country. Philip and Carmen were a good match with nice character arcs - it's exciting to see early marriage explored rather than that being the "happily ever after" end of the book. The side characters felt believable as well. I especially liked seeing Carmen and Isabel's sister relationship, which seemed very realistic. 

This was a light Regency romance about a couple who were set up and eventually fall in love after overcoming their resistance. There were some sweet moments and also some exploration of deeper themes. I sometimes felt like the two main groups of side characters (the mothers and the Rebels) blended together respectively, and I would've like more differentiation and depth for individuals. Paul and Louisa did not act in a way that felt super historically accurate, but it was fun to read.

This was an engaging multiple POV/dual timeline faerie romantasy debut with such a pretty cover and an interesting world. There were some twists I didn't see coming (with a total cliff-hanger ending)! It was easy, though, to see when the spice was coming, which made it easy to skip, which I appreciated. The pacing usually worked despite the complicated format. Some of the main characters felt too similar in voice for a POV-switching book for me, and some side characters didn't have all the development I wanted, but hopefully that's coming in Book 2!

This was a sweet, light Regency romance that also featured reconciliation with parents. Hannah and Noah's story was somewhat predictable, but still cute and fun to follow. I wished we got to see more of Noah's relationship with his brother and Hannah with her best friend; sometimes the focus was so much on the romance that the other characters didn't have as much depth. I really liked their trip into town for candy. Wells has a very accessible voice and has created a story that was easy to enjoy.

This is a sweet long-distance romance between Xavier, a veterinarian clinic owner in Minnesota, and Samantha, a social media manager who has to move home to California to help with her mom who has dementia. There were some heavy themes and plot points, other parts that were almost too light and/or cheesy, and a few powerful moments. I wished we got more of Xavier's friends beyond just being endlessly supportive caricatures. The playlists were cute.

I delayed reading this book for months because I didn't want to get to the end of the first arc in this series. But Sanderson was able to leave room for hope in new beginnings for the second arc. Some characters' endings felt too sad for what they deserved, but that was, of course, realistic with these high stakes. A few things shocked me; other things confirmed my suspicions. I was obsessed with seeing Navani and Dalinar fully step into their grandparent roles, complete with nicknames...Sanderson expertly draws three-dimensional characters in real-feeling families. My favorite surprise was that Szeth

gets a wife who loves him and writes about his life: I love that so much for him!

I also loved Adolin's deepening understanding of the nature of promises and how powerful that can be when applied intentionally. There were a few times certain lines or decisions didn't feel like they fit the fantasy world (why are we suddenly using modern curse words, for example?), and I was frustrated that, to me, it felt like the really complicated conflict between the singers and humans built up over thousands of pages was somewhat brushed to the side because of one couple. I found it exceptionally unrealistic that Shallan and Adolin would continually focus more on their same individual struggles than ever think about each other or their relationship. But most of my concerns were minor compared to the sublime experience of being immersed in the Stormlight Archive. Overall I enjoyed my first read and I'm sure I'll enjoy many rereads in the future.