stitchesandstationery's Reviews (306)

I think this was a beautifully done and really highlighted the fact that not all struggles have to be physical. I think it's a little harder for me to relate due to the cultural background of the characters, but I loved the power that Anna was able to claim when she was given the name for her diagnosis. I think it's really important to show neurodivergent MCs going to therapy and getting help while also finding happiness in the life they've created for themselves.

Crescent City #1 was everything. It became one of my new favorite books the second I finished it. It was contemporary fiction, it was fantasy, it was romance, it was mystery.

I will never be able to get over SJM's writing or her world-building. She has the ability to get me to binge read her series and I don't understand it. The last time I pre-ordered a book and started it on pub day was in 2007 with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I finished it in 7.5 hours, and if I hadn't been sick I think HOSAB would have gotten close to that as well.

This book was full of twists and turns and I'll admit that not a single theory I had at the end of the first book held up as we entered the second. This didn't leave my heart racing quite as much as the first did, but I'm addicted and am extremely upset that I have to wait an assumed two years to continue reading.

The main characters - all of them - are amazing and crafted so well. They have ticks and quirks and triggers, but they have loyalty and love and compassion. Except for Tharion. I can't figure out what the hell he's doing.

The entire rest of the review contains spoilers so don't you dare click that button if you haven't finished this book.

I could have done without more Danika secrets - it felt like we had plenty of them in the first book - but I appreciated the twist these secrets did take. I almost wish there could have been a different vessel for those secrets. Oh well.

CAN WE TALK ABOUT THAT ENDING - EXCUSE ME. I'm very, very interested to see what happens with the next book in both CC and ACOTAR. I feel bad for every friend I have recommended either series to and I worry for their sake that both series will become intertwined to the point of not being able to separate them. But perhaps we'll take a Grishaverse-esque route and they'll technically be standalones but if you read both series you'll get added looks at the characters? I don't know. I genuinely don't know what SJM is doing here, but I will devour anything she gives me from either series.

Things I hope get explored in CC3 or ACOTAR5: Ruhn and Rhys have to be related through Ruhn's mom's side of the family. Shadows? Hello. Also I'm guessing that Lucien and Bryce are loosely related - red hair, light magic, etc. Also Autumn King and Autumn Court? I know Lucien has a different dad but still. I want there to be some relation back to Amren - I wonder if she's one of the demons from Hel or something. Also I need her and Fury to meet ASAP.

Questions I have: How did Bryce end up in Prythian if she was shooting for Hel? What point in the Prythian timeline did we just teleport into? Is this before or after Feyre's baby is born? Is this before or after the end of the entire ACOTAR series? Obviously now we also need to know what happened to Hunt and Co. and if Hel can still come save them from the Asteri. Also THE HIND. I'm FASCINATED. Where did the fire come from in her powers?? I'm so confused.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jenn McKinlay, and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to receive an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review. The book was published in August of 2021 (so obviously I'm a bit late to the party), but I appreciate the opportunity nonetheless.

Annabelle is a 28 year old, twice divorced, graphic designer from New England who is desperate need of a change of pace. Nick is 35 and suffered a stroke and the corresponding blow to his ego. She's impulsive, rash, and creative. He's reclusive and demands order. What could possibly go wrong?

The cover and the first half of this book were doing a good job to set this book up for success, but I had a hard time finding sympathy for Nick. I get that he was joking with Jackson with a lot of his misogynistic comments, but he still made them. I was also expecting a longer process of getting these two to be friends - maybe an in person enemies to lovers vibe or something? I don't know.

The workplace drama with Carson and it's effect on Miguel and Sophie's relationship felt a little forced and too contrived for me personally, and I like to think that a good manager would have figured out what Carson was doing and that Annabelle would have been able to confide in her boss about the hostility she was experiencing in the workplace.

Don't get me started on the ending. I'm here for a HEAs, but if ever there were a character who could have benefitted from a Happily For Now, it's Annabelle, 100%.

I enjoyed the writing for the most part, and if the tone from the beginning of the book has continued through the rest of the book then maybe this could have been closer to 4 stars for me. And wow this cover was adorable. But it felt a little too much like a Me Before You setting, just with a HEA twist at the end. I don't know. This one wasn't for me but I know there are people out there who will love it.

My friends raved and raved about this book, so I definitely went in with high expectations. I loved the writing, and I loved the concept, but I think I just had a really, really hard time relating to Piper. And also I don't love the "p" word... 😅 And it was everywhere.

However, Brendan was a literal dream, and is everything I could have ever asked for in a main love interest. And while I couldn't relate to how physically perfect Piper was, I could definitely relate to all of her flaws and insecurities. I think they're a wonderful match, but wow I'd love to read about that kind of love and that kind of physically intimate relationship with at least one of them being, well, less physically perfect. I think I also had a hard time moving past how...crass some of the physical scenes were. They weren't bad and wowwww they were steamy, that's just not usually the language used in most of the books I've been reading up to this point 😂

Westport sounds amazing, and I want to move there immediately. I'm obsessed with Hannah and can't wait to read Hook, Line, and Sinker. I think the feelings and emotions in this book felt very authentic, and I can't wait to read more. Also, f you Daniel.

Thank you to NetGalley and Emma St. Clair for the opportunity to receive an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review!

Overall this book was CUTE. Sheet Cake is an adorable town full of adorable people, and I really felt for Lindy and she dealt with the situation with Jo.

I almost wish that it hadn't been quite as clean of an ending as it had been -

I almost wish Rachel had actually shown up for the trial and that there has been a little more drama with that.

I also had a bit of a hard time with some of the banter and the tone of Lindy and Pat's internal dialogues. Jo was adorable, but I'd love to read about a kid that ISN'T too smart for their own good and quite so precocious - most kids in rom coms are all pretty similar at this point.

Thank you to NetGalley, Summer Dowell, and Victory Editing for the opportunity to receive an eARC of this book in exchange for my opinion and review.

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me personally. I had a very difficult time relating to the characters, and perhaps if I had kept pushing past the 25% mark I could have found a way to connect with this. But up until this point the two main characters both feel childish and dramatic, and the best friends are meddlesome, awkward, and inauthentic. The animosity between Tyler and Avery felt forced so enemies-to-lovers could be checked off as a trope, and instead of Avery coming off as a boss babe she came off as insufferable.

I genuinely believe there are readers out there who will love this book and who will think it's a adorable and fun, but it just wasn't for me.