soulfullyalex's Reviews (383)

 Thank you to the author for an eARC of this title

This was so cute! I loved how this was like a comedy of errors and turned into the sweetest development of a relationship. Oliver is adorable and so sweet. It was really hard watching him struggle to feel like himself at his new job and learning about his past experiences.

I loved when, as his fake relationship with Octavia developed, they had so much intimacy along the way. It was really cute seeing them bumble through faking dates together. I really like how Octavia encouraged Oliver to be himself. Seeing them get close and be intimate in the most simple ways was the sweetest thing in the world.

It was really sweet seeing the two of them support each other through their jobs and experiences. I loved how supportive Octavia was of Oliver’s need to express himself and how even before they were officially dating she was doing what she could to make him feel comfortable and supported.

In the end they were very cute together and I really enjoyed seeing them support each other and warm up to each other. 

 Thank you to the offer for a review e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t read a lot of YA anymore, I always seem to struggle to get into it, but this one wasn’t a struggle. I’m almost mad at myself for not reading it sooner, but I know that I was in the right mood to read it when I did. I didn’t know what to expect from it other than magic and queer main characters. I like to go into books with a relatively loose idea of what they are about. I like to be surprised. And boy was I surprised!

I really enjoyed this! It was fast paced and gripping, which was exactly what I needed. For starters I loved Iori’s character. He was funny and witty and a little bit wild, but the more we got to know him the more we saw that there were deep layers that needed to be worked through. I felt so much for Iori. He had such a rough life and it felt like he just couldn’t catch a break, the poor kid.

Ellen was also a really great character. She was really sweet and caring, and I loved that she wanted to see the best in people and could see past the surface level situation. It was a huge contrast to her brother, Alexander. I will be honest, Alexander made me angry for a lot of this book, but I think in a good way. He was just so stubborn and so sure of his own opinions of people and situations that he couldn’t see that his views were based on his personal feelings and his need to blame someone. I had that kind of anger that if he had listened to his friends and the people that loved him he could have avoided a lot of the pain he had to go through later on.

In the end, I loved how things ended and were wrapped up, but also how the little bit of a cliffhanger left things with a eerie sense about what’s to come next. I can’t wait to read the completion of this duology. 

 Thank you to NetGalley and Embla Books for an eARC of this book.

I thought this was a very cute story. My favourite parts of it was seeing Robin go off on her own and make decisions for herself. Robin starts off in a really difficult place with her life, feeling unappreciated, unhappy, and recently dumped. She starts off the story really passively and not wanting to try new things or do something different, but I really enjoyed watching her open up and start to enjoy new things.

One thing I really enjoyed in this book was that both Robin and Neve had complicated relationships with their mothers. I liked how it was explored and they both had to reconcile their feelings. I really liked the discussions of how maternal relationships impacted the characters and how they are effected by it now as adults. I really liked watching both Neve and Robin grow into their own and make choices about how they want those relationships to go moving forward.

This was a really sweet Christmas romance and I loved seeing both characters make the decisions that would make them happy, rather than what they thought they should do. 

I thought this was a really cute romance. Miriam and Noelle were really interesting characters to read about. I think it was an interesting concept to have Miriam return to the tree farm of her childhood after a lot of trauma and issues, that other people didn’t know about. It made a really tense situation and it was definitely hard to read at times because there was so much pain involved in her return.

I will admit that I don’t love an enemies to lovers romance trope and while this one did bother me at times because Noelle had preconceived notions about who Miriam was when she only knew one side of the story, I think it was good to see her learn and grow that maybe she was making assumptions when she shouldn’t have been. I was definitely frustrated with how she immediately had an issue with Miriam without knowing anything about her other than information from her best friend and Miriam’s aunt. I liked that as time went on she started to change her mind, but it did bug me in the beginning.

I loved how much food was mentioned throughout the book. It’s definitely one of those books that will make you hungry to read. I also loved all the holidays involved. We got to see a lot of Jewish holidays, as well as the group getting ready for Christmas. I liked a lot about how the plot followed the space of time between when Miriam arrived and Christmas.

One thing I really admired in the book is that there was a lot of discussion about trauma, trauma responses, and habits based in fear and trauma. It was really nice to actually see both Noelle and Miriam working through their trauma, making changes, trying to be better people for themselves and the people around them. It was really great that so much of the book was dedicated to the trauma discussions and watching these characters grow and change. 

Update 5/26/2024: As much as I loved this book at the time I think the fact that this author has been outed for race faking multiple times, among other horrific things means that I can never recommend their books and will never read them again. Just know that, as other reviewers have shared, this author has lied and manipulated many people in the community and I do not recommend their books to anyone.  

I don’t even know how to explain my feelings about this book, in the best way. It was a gut punch in so many ways but also visceral and disorienting and gritty and full of hope.

The book starts out in the way I love horror to start out. Unassuming but with an edge. Like the edge of a knife just gently slicing your finger, but you don’t notice it at first. It started off with a house, like all good gothic stories, and became a story about survival, acceptance, and the horrors of the past.

I don’t even know if this review will make any sense because putting my thoughts together about it has been hard. It’s sat with me and it’s definitely going to get a reread, but it’s also slightly out of reach. It was visceral in a lot of ways I wasn’t expecting but was everything I would want in a horror story too. I really enjoyed both Colin and Bishop. They both had messy pasts that felt real and honest in the way that you want a well fleshed out character to be. They felt like real people struggling to move forward and struggling to find the good in their lives. There was so much there. So much life and death and wanting.

The house in itself was a character, all its demons and ghosts included, and I loved it. The imagery of the house existing and breathing and living was haunting and oh so good.

I don’t know how to talk about a book where the words “it isn’t” hit me like a sucker punch to the jaw. It sent a shiver down my spine and I didn’t even know to expect it. How do two words do that? How is that even possible? All I know is that Freydis Moon did it.

A book filled with monsters and blood, lies and secrets, fear and hope. Heart, Haunt, Havoc is a book that will haunt me in the all the right ways and will absolutely need to be reread, over and over. I am officially desperate for more and everything from Freydis Moon and you shouldn’t sleep on this gothic, horror, novella. 

 

This was a really interesting fantasy story about young adults going on a “roughabout” and exploring the world through a boat tour. They are drawn in by mysterious swirls to a mythical land. I think the worldbuilding and fantasy elements of this book was really interesting. There were a lot of cool concepts and ideas about the way magic works in the world.

I really enjoyed the adventure and study aspect. We follow Temi and Silvan that are painted-faces, essentially rich kids on a tour before starting the rest of their lives. I liked the fact that Silvan was a biologist of aquatic creatures and he was constantly interested in the new creatures he got to see on his boat tour. I thought it was interesting seeing both Silvan and Temi’s motivations for being on this roughabout and what they wanted to get out of it.

I thought the beginning of the book was a bit slow as they made their way toward what they hoped were the Living Waters, but the action picked up and I liked how it all came together in the end. It was definitely interesting to learn how the two worlds were colliding and working against each other. The magic that was based in water and meditation was also really interesting.

I think this is a really interesting take on the rich kid tour and I liked that it was a sword-free fantasy and I think it is a great read for anyone who likes fantasy with not a lot of violence and was focused on exploration and character development.