No connected plot, just vibes

The best way I can describe this is that it’s like a chaotic car crash that you’re driving past and can’t stop looking at because you hope it will get better 

It doesn’t 


I got to the halfway point for a book club discussion, but I have zero ambition to pick this back up to continue on 

I’m tired of waiting for the plot to connect and tired of having no sense of what is happening when 

While I absolutely flew through this one, which means I usually give it at least 4 stars, I was left disappointed on a few things in the end. 

I loved the setting - a little island set off of Sandusky in Lake Erie? We don’t see books set in the Northern Ohio area often. So that was really nice to see. 

I found that the relationship didn’t have much chemistry that we got to see on the page in the build up the relationship. If a slow burn is going to impress me, I need there to be chemistry and deep conversations for growth for both the relationship and the people in it. 

Additionally, the sister, who was the focus of the first book, and her boyfriend and their story was mentioned several times in this one. I think that the time wasted on repeating the same info on them could’ve been spent on Rachel and Mason. 

Also, the part three conflict was completely predictable if you had been catching the slight hints even super early on. Dropping those hints but not getting the characters to acknowledge it in anyway doesn’t seem feasible to me. 

Will I be reading book one in the series, Float Plan? Probably not because I basically got the whole gist of that one explained multiple times in The Suite Spot. 

Yes Lynette, you are that stupid.

This could’ve been a lot shorter and a lot more tied together. The whole thing felt so disjointed

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin, St. Martin’s, and NetGalley for this arc.

I started and finished in less than a day because I just didn’t want to put it down. This has to be my favorite 2022 romance release so far.  I need more Maxwell sisters, Lincoln, Edie, and their friends immediately. 

It’s unique plot - magicless witch gets thrown into a fake dating plot with an ex(friend)- and it was great on audio as well. 

I regret not picking this one up closer to Pub Day

A HUGE thank you to Avid Reader Press and NetGalley for the eARC of this as well as Simon & Schuster Audio and LibroFM for the ALC.

This book will absolutely not be for everyone, but I will not apologize for loving it.

Julia May Jones took something as mundane as academia and turned it into exploration on the morality of multiple transgressions within fiction.

I had been very intrigued when Avid Reader Press first shared the synopsis and I'm thrilled that this debut delivered. If you're looking for a book set in academia that is dark and intriguing but isn't a murder kind of dark - this is it. I personally consumed this one by listening to the audiobook while reading my e-copy and I highly recommend this format.

The narrator is a 58 year old unnamed female tenured female english profess or who is trying to move around academia after her husband is accused of sexual misconduct by former students. While they are dealing with the fallout of that, the narrator also develops somewhat of an obsession with a young new, tenure track professor named Vladimir. The story develops from there, moving from one questionable action to another with the introduction of more characters (students, other professors and family) that easily help the plot blossom and move forward.

Vladimir was both liberating and unsettling and for once, I didn't mind the unreliable narrator. In fact, I was so intrigued by her and her actions because they were so provocative. I found myself ignoring all other responsibilities to keep discovering if there is any morality in allowing questionable behavior.

Now I have to mention the cover because apparently that's what everyone is making a big stink about. Many find the cover questionable and misleading, but I personally find it very fitting due to multiple scenes within this debut.

I have so many thoughts, but in the end I think that Vladimiris a book that I'll savor for a long time. I could easily see myself getting a physical copy to reread and annotate.