skudiklier's Reviews (647)

I think this book is a great read for anyone married, considering marriage, or even just curious about marriage as an institution and its place in today's society. It also has a lot of relationship advice that can be helpful regardless of if you ever plan on getting married. I think Allison Raskin is great at balancing evidence and anecdotes to make this book an easy and informative read. I learned a lot that I'm going to think about with regard to my own marriage and I'm glad I could read this. (Also random but I thought it was very fun that this book came out on my second wedding anniversary. Low-key made for me.)

Thank you to Netgalley and Hanover Square Press for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

I loved this book so much that I knew I had to wait at least a day before writing my review. Oh my god, this was so good. 

I have a one-line pitch for it that immediately sold my sister so much that I preordered a copy for her birthday even though it doesn't come out until March, but it's a bit spoilery about the ending, so I'll put that at the end. But basically if you love books like Madeline Miller's or Greek mythology in general, and you love queerness and hope while still not feeling like a lighthearted fairy tale, this is the perfect book for you. I was so drawn in to the characters and their world, while also being so stressed the whole time about how it would end. I loved the way it was written, and the themes, and the things you come back to, and the resolution we get for all the questions and mysteries. Genuinely dare I say a perfect book??? Idk. I just know I'm going to be recommending it to everyone I can.

What I told my sister is that it has some Orpheus and Eurydice/Achilles and Patroclus vibes while also having a happier ending. Like, it's not just a HEA type thing, but the ending was much happier than I expected given how these sorts of stories usually go (and given how it wasn't marketed as a romance, at least not by the time I read it). Like, if The Song of Achilles and/or Hadestown broke your heart, this will put it back together again, just a little.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC!

I loved Only Love Could Hurt Like This, and was excited to read Paige Toon's next book because of it. In hindsight, I should have known that this book would be distressing, since the other one was so devastating, but somehow I still wasn't ready. 

I devoured this book in about 24 hours. I couldn't do anything but read it. Toon is somehow able to make these concepts and characters feel so real and reasonable, and evade a lot of the more annoying common aspects of romances. Even if I was frustrated with a character, their actions and thought processes felt true to life. I was really rooting for them and I was so stressed even while knowing I'd get an HEA in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

This book was super interesting and engaging. I love Emily Austin's writing style and how her books are so deeply in her characters' heads. I relate so much to the way they think and act even if I don't relate to exactly what they're going through.

This book had twists I didn't expect that kept it fascinating the whole way through. I also am convinced Sigrid is autistic lmao. 

If you like Emily Austin's other books then absolutely read this!!! I think I like the other two better but this was still 100% a five star read for me. I want to read everything she ever writes forever.

Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the chance to read and review this ARC. 

This is such a raw, personal collection of poetry and essays. Makenzie Campbell is a beautiful writer and I love seeing the growth from her previous books to this one. Self Portrait has so much to say on love, girlhood, loss, longing, and growing up. I'd definitely recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for the chance to read and review this ARC.