Not as funny as the first, and I felt like Nasha was just yelling the whole book and Mickey was the voice of reason, which didn't work for me after how much I liked their relationship in the first book. It was a fun read with lots of good tension and surprises and I liked the ending.

The writing is pretty terrible. Maehrer has tried so hard to make Evie cute and relatable that she just appears idiotic and obnoxious. (In one scene, she insists she isn't clumsy, and then in a slightly later scene, she says that if there is an obstacle in her way, she will find a way to run into it. There's a lot of dumb writing like that.)

I was excited to read this because who doesn't love a villain with a heart of gold? But I think I just wanted this to be another <i>Hench</i> and this is no <i>Hench</i>. The villain is an actual villain here: pretty early on he complains to Evie that she is being too demanding of him when he already stopped killing interns. She also says multiple times that he has an evil heart. Even setting aside the big things, he regularly calls her "little tornado" which she thinks is cute until she tells him that, and he says it was never a compliment.  He is also constantly yelling at her for saying "sorry" even though he makes her call him sir. I can put up with a lot of shitty storytelling if there is a good romance, but their relationship isn't even in the same time zone as romance.

Honestly don't even waste your time with this and just go read <i>Hench</i>.

There's nothing wrong with Rubin's life, but she feels dissatisfied and sets out to fix it. She sets her goals for each month and comes up with real actionable items for her life and then forces herself to do them. She admits when she messes up and what she learns from it.

A lot of the reviews I read complain that she's a rich white woman and what does she have to whine about anyway -- but I think that the beauty of this book is its simplicity. Her happiness goals could be the same for everyone: sleep better to have more energy, be kinder to your family, don't expect applause every time you complete a task, have more dinner parties, join a club based on something you love. It is always the little things that make the biggest difference.

And hey, at the end of her year, she feels much happier. Isn't that something we all want?

All three books so far have been the same basic template, pacing, etc. If you're looking for something fun on audio where it won't be a big deal if you space out, this is a great series. I am a little disappointed in the lack of movement in an overarching plot and the relationship between Veronica and Stoker, but I'm not a long series type of person.

I have to come clean. I just don't like Jane Austen. I'm prepared to be shunned by my book club this evening for my failings.

I honestly don't have much to say. This book was so fucking boring it took me an entire month to read. I didn't like any of the characters and all of the scenes and all of the conversations were way too long.

But the main reason I can't recommend this is how fucking gross the main romance is. Emma is 21 (ish) and Knightley is 37 (ish) and HE TELLS HER HE HAS BEEN IN LOVE WITH HER SINCE SHE WAS THIRTEEN. WHICH MEANS WHEN HE WAS TWENTY FOUR HE WAS IN LOVE WITH A CHILD. I HATE THIS. I CANNOT CONTINUE. NO MORE AUSTEN.

Not quite ten years ago my sister and I were driving to San Diego from Phoenix. We got stuck in some traffic in the middle of nowhere on the 8 past the California border. We finally got to the front and saw it was traffic checkpoint and we ended up being waved right through. I barely came to a complete stop. After half a mile of driving away in stunned silence I said, did they just wave us through because we're white? And it felt insane but neither of us could come up with a better reason.

Now I'm reading this book learning that not only do cops regularly racially profile people, but many states have that protection for inherent racism stitched right up into their laws.

This book is frustrating but necessary to read.

Fabulous on audio. It was spooky and the pacing was just quick enough that I was on the edge of my seat but not so fast it felt like a thriller. It felt like a really good horror podcast (which I'm always looking for).