I really, really, really enjoyed this book. I could hardly put it down, which I only did to sleep. And I was always theorizing things while laying in bed, so I think it's safe to say that I find this mystery to actually be engaging. There were a lot of different leads and red herrings that were genuinely interesting, even if they went nowhere. I truly didn't expect either twist at the end.

I loved Pippa and I was happy to find that she didn't make a lot of stupid decisions just to cause tension or move the story along. Even though I don't agree with every decision she made

(like keeping the threats a secret)

, I at least understand why she did them, and I felt actual logic and reasoning was behind each one. Pippa wouldn't be the first person killed in a horror movie, that's for sure.

In the early stages of the book, I was getting vibes that Ravi would be involved in the crime somehow, but I'm glad that turned out to be wrong. Probably because he's 20 and Pippa was still in high school and I could tell a romance was building between them, which made me side-eye him a little at first. However, I was completely sold on Ravi once the whole "main character tries to hurt their friend so they'll stay away" trope was almost immediately subverted. I liked that Ravi was smart enough to figure it out and that it didn't drag on for ages, and I really think him and Pippa are cute.

If I had to critique one thing, it would be the lack of length for the chapters. Many of them were only two to three pages long. It gives me James Patterson vibes. Those are not good vibes. Personally, I think chapters should be somewhat meaty. That's literally my only complaint though and I don't feel like docking any "points" from my rating for that, since I enjoyed everything else so much. I really want to read the sequel now, although I can't imagine what could possibly happen next. I'm happy to give this one 5 stars.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. At first, I thought I should only give it 4 stars, but after literally being unable to stop thinking about it, I realized it was a 5 star book for me. I really loved everything about it. It has completely charmed me. I might be a little biased, though, since I tend to love stories set in the Regency era.  I also really liked how entrenched the magic was in the world. I don't know why but I didn't think it would play that big of a role, so I'm happy to have been wrong. 

I did feel that the story was a bit predictable, but I also don't think that's a bad thing.

I saw the plot "twist" of the sleeping plague being the result of their souls being stolen from a mile away, but it was nice. I think that might have been the author's intent, even.

It was a cute, lighthearted story that had me hooked regardless. I loved Dora and Elias together. Their relationship didn't feel rushed at all, which makes me so happy. I don't then to enjoy stories where the characters don't get to know each other first, so I'm glad that didn't happen here. Also, I was so sure that Vanessa and Albert were going to end up together for some reason. I do like who they did end up together with, though.

The fact that Dora's "condition" is a metaphor for the author's own neurodivergence is something that I felt was incredibly sweet. And it resonated a lot with me, as well. I am just glad that this book exists. It's a fun, charming little story and, frankly, I don't want it to be more than that, because that's enough, just like Dora herself.

12/26/2025 UPDATE: I've been thinking about this book again recently due to seeing some BookTubers I like reading this for the holiday season. I would probably downgrade the rating to a true 2 stars now.

* * *

Real rating: 2.5 stars.

Kiss Her Once for Me was very digestible—I finished in a matter of days, which is fast for me—but it also had a sizeable dose of "millennial cringe", as a friend of mine called it, as well as a lot of missed opportunities. I felt like there was an over-abundance of (increasingly outdated) pop culture references and lots of cursing just for the sake of it, which made Ellie's inner monologue feel juvenile.

I didn't really have much problem with the plot at all. It was cute and lighthearted, which is the kind of romance that I most enjoy. The book read like a typical rom-com, but that's why I liked it—queer people deserve to have corny Hallmark-esque stories too, and for that reason, I'm at the very least thankful it exists.

The only thing that trips me up is how the book seems to put all the blame on Ellie. Jack was still married to Claire when she slept with Ellie the first time, yet the book treats it like Ellie did a bad thing by leaving after she found out Jack was married. How was she supposed to react when confronted by Jack's wife? Why would anyone expect Ellie to wait and ask Jack about it? It was a huge betrayal of trust on Jack's part to omit that; personally, I think the issue should have been given more focus and Jack should have gotten a lot more shit for it. It's like the book decided the whole "failure" of their relationship was all on Ellie's shoulders when Jack was basically out here committing adultery and lying about it? Make it make sense.

The characters are truly what dragged the book down for me, sorry to say. I got annoyed with most of them at least once (Meemaw and Meredith are the exceptions). Ellie was so spineless; I literally had to put down the book a few times because I was so angry at some of the decisions she was making. But it wasn't all bad. I do think there were good character moments as well (such as Andrew finally standing up to his parents about loving Dylan), but unfortunately, they were overshadowed by... literally everything else.

Additionally, Ellie had no reason to be demisexual. It felt like window-dressing for her character. You can't use the insta-love trope and then make your character demisexual. That's not how that works. It felt like Jack was the "magical exception" to her demisexuality; like Ellie just had to meet the "right person" that would "fix" her. Literally, from the moment Ellie describes meeting Jack in the book store, she is sexually attracted her. And then she falls in love over the course of a few scant hours?

Furthermore, I felt like her anxiety disorder was not given the respect it deserves, especially by other characters; all they did was tell her to "calm down" or "don't freak out". That's not how you should treat someone with anxiety. Characters being ignorant about it is one thing, but that's not the case here; most of the characters seem pretty educated about mental health issues and the like so it stood out to me how differently they treated Ellie's anxiety.

However, my pettiest gripe with the book is that the webcomic isn't real. And by this, I mean that the "Snow Day" chapters should have actually been an illustrated comic. How cool would it have been to actually see Ellie's art? All the other characters are always praising how good it is, yet we never get to see anything she's made. "Snow Day" being actually illustrated would give us an idea of the supposed quality of it and it would have been a cool way to blend two different styles of storytelling (comics and written word) into one book. 

I do want to end this on a positive note. I like Alison Cochran's writing, and I hope she continues to write cliché queer romances because we need more of those. This book just wasn't for me and that's okay. I'm really excited to see what she publishes in the future.

I'm disappointed but not surprised to be giving Verity a lower score than I was anticipating. While I was reading it, the book sat a solid three stars for me. I have issues with the book, such as the writing style (it's very juvenile and filled with repetition) and the characters not feeling as fleshed out as they could have been, but I was mostly enjoying the book... until I read the extra chapter Colleen Hoover published in the new edition of the book. I hated it so much that I had to take a full star off my rating.

I'm going to start at the beginning, though. The repetition I mentioned before starts right away.

I can't tell you how many times we were told that Lowen didn't leave her apartment because her mom died.

It was like it was said every other paragraph. Since it's a big event in someone's life, I definitely understand it being mentioned more than once, but the way it was brought up is almost entirely the same every time. This is just one example of repetition; another is the use of the phrase "in this house". None of it feel intentional or clever, but instead like Hoover should have gotten an editor.

Additionally, I think the character's were not fleshed out well enough and some parts of the plot seemed to disappear out of thin air.

One things that bugged me was that Hoover was weaving this web of different characters falling in love with people due to reading about them rather than actually getting to know them. Corey and Jeremy did this with Lowen and Lowen did this with Jeremy, yet there was no pay off to this whatsoever.

I also don't understand what drew both Verity and Lowen to Jeremy. He felt like cardboard cut-out rather than a human being.

He's a great father and his favorite food (according to Verity) was chicken dumplings... that's really all we got.

Despite these problems, I was invested in the story. I did like the characters enough, and the mystery surrounding Verity

possibly faking her condition

was well done.

I liked that Lowen started to act as crazy like Verity since it brought everything full circle. I loved the baby monitor scenes. Verity's death scene was intense - my heart was really racing along with Lowen's.

I was gobbling that shit up.

This brings me to the last big talking point: team manuscript or team letter?

I'm team manuscript. The manuscript was gross, but it felt more genuine. I did end up flip-flopping a few times throughout the letter until I read the part where Verity said she was writing the letter while she could hear Lowen and Jeremy having sex and admitted she locked Jeremy in the room. This, for me, cemented the fact that this letter was nothing more than one last manipulation on Verity's part, one last parting gift for Lowen to mess with her head. 

And boy, did Verity get her wish. She fucked with Lowen so bad that the epilogue couldn't shut up about her. In the epilogue, Lowen is simultaneously more self-aware than she was in the original book and more destructive than ever.

The entire epilogue felt entirely out of character. I hated it so much - what was the point of any of it, really? It completely ruined "mystery" aspect of whether you believe the manuscript of the letter

since it just made them all, including Crew, into psychopaths

. It was a total cash grab on the author's part.

I feel conflicted writing this review. I have some criticisms, but they seem trivial in the face of a story like this. The story that Leila Mottley wrote is incredibly real and heartbreaking, and I don't want to undermine that. I am so angry just thinking about all the women who have gone through something like this.

If you are uncomfortable seeing any negative thoughts about this book, don't continue to read my review. I am going to mark them as spoilers, so if you want to see my critiques, you'll have to click them.

The main reason l have given this book 3.5 stars is the purple prose. The language is verbose to the point of being distracting. I am all for a good simile or metaphor, but they get exhausting when they happen every other sentence. The author wrote this as a teenager, and unfortunately, it shows. However, I can see the writer has real talent and I am excited to read any future books by her, to see how her style evolves.

I also really didn't like that Kiara and Alé end up together. I don't care that they are lesbians, but it felt like zero care was put into the development of their relationship beyond being best friends. It literally happens in the last 5 pages of the book, after they had a huge fight and never made up. Alé shows up the day after Kiara testifies, kisses her, and it's all good? I'm sorry but no. It's not lovely, it's lousy.

Overall, I am glad I read this book. I am glad it exists. I hope it made someone feel seen. I think everyone should read it, if only to get a viewpoint outside their own.

This book is so fucking cute! I was smiling from start to finish. I love how Henry and Alex's relationship blossomed over the course of the book. Nothing felt too rushed, which is an important part of making a romance feel real (to me, at least). Henry and Alex are absolutely adorable together. Meant to be, I'd say. I'm praying the movie does them justice! I'm so excited to watch it.

Surprisingly, this book taught me a lot about queer history, which I wasn't expecting. It was one of my favorite parts of the book. The quotes that Henry and Alex sent to each other in their emails were of course lovely and romantic, but it really made me realize how bigots try to sanitize history and erase queer people. So thank you for that, Casey.

The only criticism I have to levy against the book, and what made me give it 4.5 stars instead of 5, is that the American and British characters did not have distinct enough speaking styles. Sure, the author through in a few bloody Christs and the odd British slang word, but generally they all spoke with the same sentence structure and cadence. And not only that, but (most of) the British characters were supposed to be royals, who have a very uppity way of speaking that was not represented at all. I wish there was more care taken to really ensure that they felt distinct because it would have been a welcome contribution to the "two different worlds colliding" feeling the author seemed to be going for.

However, I would like to address the most common criticism that I see about the story, which is that it is "unrealistic". Here's the thing: I don't care. So what if it is idealistic about politics and the state of the world? I think it's nice to imagine that someday we can get to a place that's similar to the book. And most importantly, I think queer people deserve to have the same type of tooth-rotting, starry-eyed romances that straight people get in books. We deserve to have a book where a prince and a son of the first family can be (mostly) accepted and get their happy ending.

I think Casey McQuiston put it best in her Acknowledgements: 

This is one of the best romances that I have ever read. At first, I admit I was skeptical because the story seemed to be an "instalove" scenario, which I tend to loathe. However, if this is instalove, it was done right. Everything ends up making complete sense, including them being obsessed enough to write to each other for years after.

I loved how neatly the author was able to tie together their stories with their life. It was so satisfying to find out why Shane named his character Eight, or why Eva's characters had jagged G's and S's as their signatures.

I also really loved the disability representation in this book. While I don't have Eva's particular affliction, I do have an autoimmune disease, so I know how hard it is to live with an invisible disability like that. It made me feel really seen.

I was so happy when Eva decided not hide her disability and opened up to her friends. I know how hard that is.

 

I don't know how, but Tia Williams made everything feel so real. The premise of authors writing to each other in their books seems fantastical, but she made it grounded. I will definitely pick up any future books from her. What a beautiful story.

I did not enjoy this continuation of Avatar. I think the story is contrived and adds almost nothing to the world. The only thing I found of worth in this book was the discussion and depiction of cultural appropriation of the Air Nomads. I honestly wish this was the entire focus of the story, and it's the only reason I'm giving this more than one star.

I find that Zuko and especially Aang seem to be really out of character here, and I personally have a hard time reconciling with it.

That Aang would agree to kill Zuko should he "become like his dad" is absolutely insane to me considering how Aang is so staunchly against murder to the point of sparing Ozai's life and taking his bending away instead. Why wouldn't Aang just take Zuko's bending away as well? And then you have the fact that Aang was going to go through with killing Zuko but is only stopped by someone else. This seems opposite to me - in the show, Katara was more than willing to kill Zuko ("if you hurt Aang, you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore") whereas Aang wasn't willing to kill anybody. Why wouldn't Zuko ask this of Katara instead, especially because he knows how much Aang, his friend, is a total pacifist? There is no reason for Aang to have such a big switch in his moral code.

The story doesn't justify it. I hate it.

Luckily, I think the graphic novels hit their stride later on. I would honestly recommend skipping this one entirely and just starting with The Search.