monarchbooks's Reviews (547)

I love, love, love this book. If you've ever watched Hell's Kitchen or Master Chef and were like. This but in book form and a queer romance, well this the book for you. I love the nonbinary representation and the complicated relationships with parents and I cannot tell you how happy I was to see some Tennessee rep. Amazing.

More detailed review to come.

Thanks to netgalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for sending me an ARC! 

I think I'm just not the target age range for this book, uninteresting and slow

This was a bit of a slow read for me, maybe because it's the third romance in a row that I've read and I need a break, but because it was slow, I did knock it down a quarter star. Other than the slowness, I loved this book. Jasmine and Ashton were both amazing, and the side characters were perfect. Kids typically annoy me but I loved Yadiel, and of course I loved Michelle (especially knowing she's bi (read A Lot Like Adios!, the sequel!!!!)), Ignacio is the father figure I wish I had, and oh, Vera was absolutely perfect. I loved all the messiness and drama and how Ashton danced with her grandmother at her 80th birthday party and the epilogue was the perfect ending. I just wish there was more closure with Jasmine's relationship with her immediate family, and if there was, I would have had a hard time not rating it 5 stars, even if it was a slow read. 

Rosie Danan, I have a bone to pick with you. This was supposed to be a sexy summer romance for me to relax with, not another book where the author clearly stole my personality to write the main character. Seriously. Can barely drive ✅ Needs to impress people ✅ Has a hard time calming down ✅ Flustered at even the barest of inappropriate face to face conversations ✅. And I also DEFINITELY should not be crying just at the idea of two characters who have complicated relationships with their parents, for different reasons, reconciling with them but also not giving in to what their parents wanted. This is supposed to be a ROMANCE, not a tearjerker. 

Anyways stan Naomi Grant for good skin and read The Intimacy Experiment ✌🏻

I am so freaking tired. I picked this book up last night, right after finishing another book, and I just finished it. 27 hours max. I am so tired, but I had to finish it. I was obsessed with Piper and Brendon (though, can we please not make a trend of male love interests in new adult romances being named Brendon? two is enough) and everyone else in Westport (literally cannot wait for the sequel about Hannah and Fox). This book lived up to every five star review I've watched or read on it. It lived up to the 18+ warnings I got for it, particularly the one tiktok I saw about weirdest places romance couples have sex (you'll know it when you read it...). 

Pros: Piper is everything to me. She's just so charming, so kind, so absolutely wonderful, even with mean strangers. If she were real and I were single, I would probably propose to her on the spot. Brendon reminds me of everything I love about my s/o, about how nice it feels to actually be taken care of instead of being the one to take care of things for once. Hannah, I want Hannah to be my best friend, to give a vinyl every single chance I can. Literally, I love all the characters. And all the smut. 

No cons :) 

Also, I know this was meant to be inspired by Schitt's Creek, but it personally has very different vibes for me. I love this and I love Schott's Creek, but they are totally separate entities in my mind. 

As soon as I finished the first book, I immediately started this one (also bought it today and am planning on reading the prequel novella) and I loved it, I really did, but I had a few small issues with it. Before I get into that though, I want to talk about how upset I am that there won't be a third book. I imagine a pink cover with Hannah, Morgan, Gemma, and Zoe on it. I imagine a title like This Curse Isn't Forever. I imagine freshmen in college doing everything in their power to get their loved ones powers back that is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. But none of it is reality. Fuck. That hurts. 

Pros: The whole book was setting up for a big betrayal and while I was expecting someone else, I was not disappointed by the reveal. Veronica's character is a lot better in this one.

As much as I hate Archer's fate, I love the message of choice in it.

I managed to love Gemma and Morgan even more (I particularly love hints to queer books in it. Red, White, and Royal Blue is referenced in this one!). I love Alice's character arc. 

Cons: I wanted to know more about Evan! Sorry, but I did. What happened to him? Please tell me. Also I hated how it's supposed a happy ending but an ENTIRE coven still doesn't have their magic back, not to mention the ones in Hannah's own coven! And no third book! What. The. Hell. 

Oh my god this book was absolutely fantastic, I have no idea when I'll recover. I love fluffy sapphic witches falling in love so much, this is the best shit I've read in a while. One of the plot twists took me out I swear, I was shocked, two more not so much because I read the last page, and another two I pieced together through reading. But even though not all the plot twists shocked me, I still loved it because the CHARACTERS!!! Gemma could stomp on my foot and I'd probably thank her. And the build up of Hannah and Morgan!!!!!!! So glad that Veronica and Hannah didn't get back together because they just did not work, I mean Veronica kissed her w/o her permission. Also!!! The discussion of consent in this book is immaculate! I just wish I knew what happened to Evan... 

Time to read book 2!!! 

(Also I am sick of adults not listening to children bc they're children and shit going too far because of it, so 3 stars to the adults of the book)

I'm not a huge fan of horror movies or horror in general and trust me, this book made me actually sick, but I had to have loved it because I kept going back to it, I could not stop thinking about it. There are a lot of stressful things going on in my life right now, and this was a great distraction for a day. 

Cons: The writing isn't the best - I feel like I know way too much about Lynette's morning routine and the plot gets really messy at times.

There's a moment near the end where the main character has clear evidence that one character is a "monster" (what the book calls serial killers) but as soon as another killer shows up, she completely forgets about it? As if forgetting the two killer trope??

Pros: I loved the interview, article, review, and book clipping throughout the book, they were really fun to read and gave more insight without needing narration to dump the information on readers in huge chunks. I also love the relationships between the characters and the ending, in my opinion, was perfect.

I'm not exactly sure why I wanted to finish one more book this month - at about nine a.m. the last day of the month, but I did, and I chose this one because it was nice and short. And I'm glad I did. This book was great, it jumped right into the action, which I love, and the action stayed pretty steady-paced throughout the entirety of the book. The romance sub-plot did not feel forced but I also did not find myself rooting for Esther and Cye as much as I root for some book couples, I found myself very interested in the relationship between Esther and Amity instead. While I loved Cye and their character very much, the chemistry between Esther and Amity was a little more compelling in my opinion. All in all, this was a very good and relaxing book to end the month with. 

Pros: I liked all the characters and it was a nice fast-paced read. 

Cons: I don't find myself getting attached to any of the characters, they probably won't make a lasting impression on me. Also, Esther was a bit too dumb for my liking. Other characters would spell out everything right in front of her but she wouldn't catch on for another forty pages. I was embarrassed for her.