sarahm's Reviews (69)

I did like Love on the Brain better than Love Hypothesis, but I still can't say this book was right for me. This book felt less cringey, the main characters were more believable, and the situations they found themselves in were more appropriate (i.e., no uncomfortable forced PDA like in Love Hypothesis), so that's great. It had more girlbossy and #millennial vibes, which gets a big meh from me, but overall I can't say I didn't enjoy the read.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the eARC! 

 This book has everything: a thrilling adventure mystery with diverse and intriguing characters, an immersive setting, local activism, local history, niche history, and a touch of pirate vibes. This book deals with COVID, environmentalism, racism, the KKK, lynchings, and violent smuggling; so it has some pretty serious topics, but I felt they were all handled really well and appropriately. I think middle grade and YA readers who were in school during COVID lockdowns would relate to the main character, and for those burnt out on COVID stories, rest assured that the virus isn't the main theme of this book at all. (I rather appreciate this handling of peak COVID- despite your personal opinions, it affected all of us, so why shouldn't it show up as a matter of fact in our books?)

The main character calls himself Wrecker after the profession of "wreckers" who dived to salvage from shipwrecks. I absolutely loved reading and coming across facts about this topic and seeing how this piece of history played a part in the story. I love love love when characters in books have an interest or a hobby like this and the author introduces me to the topic, and then all of a sudden I find myself on the Wikipedia page reading up on it. Hiaasen did a great job of weaving in not only wrecking but also racism, COVID, and environmentalism, creating a complex and well-rounded story that isn't entirely about any of these topics, but seamlessly includes them and therefore the book also isn't NOT about these topics. My only complaint is that the ending felt slightly rushed - I felt it came up suddenly and all too quickly was gone - but it was a pretty clever ending so I do give it that.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the e-ARC! 

I don't know how a whole sequel has come and gone in the time it took me to read this ARC, but here we are. I say sequel- the next book isn't truly a sequel, it's just set in this same world and with the same theme of "lucky lovers." But it's a enjoyable world to read and the theme of unlikely couples getting their happily-ever-afters no matter what is just simply good.

This book is full of ups and downs and issues at every turn trying to thwart the promised happy ending. Explicit and kinky sex aside, it's a cozy novel- there's high stakes discussed but it never feels like the characters are ever in real danger. It's not a book that takes itself too seriously, and you shouldn't hold it to that standard: none of the characters are trying to solve homophobia, it's not overly deep about the characters' troubles, and again none of the high-stakes threats are real. Everyone is lucky, everyone is happy in the end, and all the problems are wrapped up nicely.

I do wish there was a bit more emotional depth. I felt like I could only see what the characters were feeling by their actions, and I didn't feel like I was truly in their head. Each chapter notes whose perspective it's told from, so I expected a bit more omniscience regarding what was on everyone's minds

Thanks to NetGalley and Carina Adores for the e-ARC! 

I did Not like the first third of this book. I loved the last two thirds of this book.

I think I went into it expecting something else entirely, so the first third felt out of place. For whatever reason, I expected a grim and serious book about the fallout of a paladin's god dying (love the idea and will definitely be incorporating that into my D&D game), complete with drama and high stakes and appropriately dark and serious situations and characters. Instead, this book is more of a humorous fluffy rom-com about getting caught up in hijinks. Still complete with drama and high stakes and dark and serious situations and characters, just, with added longing and rom-com-typical misunderstandings. And it was good at all that. The constant horny longing in the first third or so did start to get a bit out of hand and repetitive but it was fine.

There's some really interesting and fun fantasy concepts in here: love the take on the occupation of perfumer, love the frustrating angst of "oh no i can't possibly kiss her what if I go berserk bc I'm a berserker paladin and the only thing that can stop a berserker paladin going berserk is another berserker paladin" (peak paladin behavior imo), love the different gods and temples portrayed, and love the batshit court processes. All the characters were fun, if not over the top, and the story was fun, if not over the top. But hey, when you view it through the lens of a rom-com, isn't it supposed to be over the top? If I had been told before starting that this book is an over the top rom-com in a dark fantasy world, I would have loved it start to finish. I'm all for over the top rom-coms in dark fantasy worlds.

A couple lines from the author's note at the end sums it up (minor spoilers): "I had it in my mind that I was going to write a fluffy romance. / I am told that there are generally fewer severed heads and

rotting corpse golems

in fluffy romance, so possibly this book didn't quite get there ..." I think it did it. I'm excited to read the rest of the series. 

This book was fun! I haven't read Hall's other books, but I'd say this book gave me a good first impression. I loved all the characters so much - and there's quite a large cast here, so it's impressive how Hall's able to keep everyone distinct, unique, and lovable. It was also fun and refreshing to read a romance featuring retail employees, and all the bits of humor in the dialogue were delightful (such as everyone always referring to products by their full make, model, name, and description... "Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Enclosure" - exactly my kind of humor).

This book features movie-version amnesia: You have to kind of suspend your disbelief that the love interest is believing any of the narrator's story, and you have to get past some frustration while you're screaming "why couldn't you say you just don't remember the last FEW moments before the accident, why did the story have to be that you forgot LITERALLY everything?!" at the narrator... I'm totally fine with suspending my disbelief, but when there's a super obvious way the lie could have gone over better, it's a bit harder. I wish there was a bit more chemistry in the beginning between the two characters and I wish I didn't start out nearly hating one of them, but it did have a satisfying ending and was overall a fun romance! (And I got over my dislike for the love interest by the end).

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the e-ARC! 

What a wonderful feeling to stumble across a book that is exactly what you've been looking for. This book was perfect! It was super fun, it was super weird, I loved it. Great characters, great story, no part felt lacking. I don't know why my library didn't have a copy but a request has been made!

reasons to read this book:
it has fae. it has an incorrigible mc. the story is complex without being hard to follow. one of the main characters has a bizarre yet perfect fashion sense and one of his first outfits includes aquarium platform shoes with water nymphs in them. everyone has annoying cantrips. the brownies organize and go on strike. everyone starts off hating each other but ends up loving each other. one second you'll be laughing or groaning at bad puns and the next you'll be reflecting on the inevitability of mortality and the human experience. there's a centaur named kyle. it's just fun and weird!!!!