monarchbooks's Reviews (547)

The book started out a bit slow and the main character seemed a bit Wattpad-ish so I didn't think I'd like it at first, but then I quickly fell in love with the characters and the story. I wasn't expecting the sadness that came with it though, I thought it was just a cute romance ya book that would cheer me up. 

Pros: Lesbian-himbo friendship. May I repeat. LESBIAN-HIMBO FRIENDSHIP. God, I love Oliver Quinn. Lots of romcom mentions, tropes, and re-enactments - romcoms are my comfort movies. So many cute scenes but a lot of relatable angsty teenager scenes and heartbreaking scenes as well. Also ooooh Saoirse you are another character I could use the "a little bit too much like me" tiktok audio with. 

Cons: Did not mention Clueless, a romcom classic. Kind of disappointing ending. 

This book truly f*cked me up. I love Adam Silvera's writing style but thr overwhelming presence of violence, self harm, suicide, and homophobia (internal and external) was not the best for my current mindset and mental health. I read to the end because I hate not finishing books but I don't reccomend this for anyone who doesn't think they can handle it. 

Pros: The story is very good, I remained interested the entire time I was reading it, and Aaron's character, while messy and unstable, was incredibly well written. 

Cons: Story got a bit confusing at times, especially with all the characters. I feel like some of the characters could have been left out and the story would not have changed much at all.

I picked this book up because I was told it was the perfect summer read and honestly? It was so much than that. I loved it. I loved each and every character, every stupidly human flaw they had, every messy storyline. But what I loved most was the siblings relationship with their mother. They loved their mother and they knew their mother loved them but they also allowed themselves to be angry with her for all the bad she did. I always feel guilty getting mad at my mom for how bad she was at raising my siblings and I because I know she loves us so seeing that sort of relationship in media makes me feel better. 

Pros: Unexpected queer rep, a character I can use the "you're just a little bit too much like me" tiktok audio for (seriously Miss Reid, I expect a check for you stealing my personality to write Nina 😂), amazing storytelling that goes back and forth between the past and present, and may I repeat, characters I truly love 

Cons: Literally none

Reread Edit: I hate how much I love the relationships between Mick and June, and Nina and Brandon. 

The basic plot of this book actually made me feel a bit sick. In the universe of the book, there was a war a few decades before between people who were pro-choice and "pro-life" and they settled on the plan that abortions would no longer be allowed but between the ages of 13 and 18, a guardian could choose to have a child "unwound" and all their organs would be donated. Not the easiest read for me, personally, but I still managed to enjoy it a little bit. Won't be continuing the series. 

Pros: The main characters were likable and though morally gray sometimes, their reasoning was usually understandable. There were very few times where I was not rooting for the main characters. 

Cons: The romance was forced and kind of out of nowhere? I didn't enjoy it. The "clappers" sub-plot made me quite uncomfortable, they were kind of in-universe s*icide b*mbers and yeah... no. 

Reading this book, I found myself a little disappointed having gone into it knowing that Jane was from the seventies. I think it would have been more fun to read if I hadn't known that. An equal amount of predictable and unpredictable plot twists, so that was nice - I love figuring out plot twists but I also love being surprised. 

Pros: Cute romance that was easy to root for, side characters that I fell in love with, well developed plot and sub plots 

Cons: White protagonist makes a comment about racism not really being a thing anymore and she isn't corrected nor is it addressed