Ithaca was a strange one for me. On one hand, Ithaca was one of my most anticipated reads this year, but on the other, it felt like a chore to get through. I so desperately wanted to like it, but it felt a little bit too heavy on the description which I understand world-building is essential, especially for greek mythology re-tellings but also for trilogies which I believe Ithaca is the start of. But already for me, it put me off the rest of the series; I got to about chapter nine when I realised that I probably wasn't going to like this, leaving me with two options: DNF or finish the book only to resent myself for it. 

The book itself is structured odd in that it's third-person in chapter one, then first-person in chapter three which makes sense when you realise that Hera is the narrator, not Penelope but it is Penelope's story, so I felt as though I really wasn't a part of it; just an observer through Hera, who doesn't like mankind (understandable tbf). I think I would've preferred to be first-person through Penelope and really see and feel what she was going through.

Overall, I think it's a good read for someone who likes reading a book through the eyes of the narrator instead of the main character; the writing is at times beautiful and makes the entire book feel like a dream. It just wasn't for me.

Book #190 of 2022.

Thanks to Netgalley, Little, Brown Book Group UK, Orbit and Claire North as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Ithaca is released on September 8, 2022.

I have read this book 3 times already.

This book was definitely slow-paced. It starts off with a long-distance relationship where Davey has misdialed and reached Hannah. They go back and forth for a bit. The main 'conflict' in this book that the characters need to overcome to have an emotionally gratifying ending is

that Davey has cancer

and that should have been the only 'conflict'.
 
The crapy partner's plot was not needed for either of them, it frankly didn't add anything for me, and it made me respect Hannah less. If a guy says the only thing I wanted from you was to get on birth control, so I don't have to wear a condom, you walk away. In Hannah's case, she ignores all the red flags and stays for longer than she should have. George sucked. It didn't help that this part of the book felt even slower than the rest. I like slow-burn, but these chapters were boring. 

You know how for Spanish Love Deception, the book could've been solved if they just talked to each other honestly - the same could've happened here. The main leads just needed to get over themselves; he thought he was a burden when the people around had made clear he was not (therapy is the answer), and she frankly lacked a spine. The ending was like two lines and an overview of like a year wasn't the emotionally gratifying ending you want in a romance.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House, as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Book #189 of 2022.

It was slow going, and I know I only read 50 pages, but it was 50 pages of feeling meh about Picture Perfect.

I had such high hopes for this, too; I don't normally get to read romances with brown main characters, and this was perfect, but it fell flat. I wasn't hooked from the beginning, and to be honest, it didn't feel like it would get any better... but not that it was bad it just wasn't interesting like I don't mind slow burn or fake dating, they're usually my favourite tropes, but this wasn't it. The conversations felt artificial, and also, it was very short, like I was 50 pages in out of what 293? like it isn't long enough, and my biggest fear was that it was going to end up rushed. I get it fake dating is a popular bandwagon, but I just felt this was missing something, which was a shame because the plot had potential.

[No rating cause it wasn't finished.]

Thanks to Netgalley, HQ, and HQ Digital, as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

Found family is one of my favourite tropes. The slow burn was very slow, but as someone whose favourite romance is Kulti, I enjoyed it; I thought it added more depth to characters where we could really explore who they are.

It gives very much YA vibes which Wolfsong would as a YA book, but it at times felt like Twilight YA; maybe that's just because for a brief period in the early 2010s, Werewolf fiction on Wattpad was all I read but Wolfsong at times felt like an amalgamation of every Werewolf fiction trope and not in a good way. I'm not sure if that's why I had such a hard time getting into it - because it was hard; I read chapter one and it took like a week to read chapter too, which was weird because normally I'm a fan on the cliche supernatural romance tropes.

I'm not too sure what to give Wolfsong, so I'm giving it a three. I like age gap romances but when it starts when people are children do I find it odd... kinda will I get over it for this book I hope so. I'm going to try and re-read this before the year is over in the hopes of settling on an opinion.

There are a few trigger warnings which I normally wouldn't highlight as someone who reads dark romance, but it wasn't something I expected going into Wolfsong, so it was definitely a surprise when reading. There's violence and abuse.

Thanks to Netgalley, Pan Macmillan, Tor as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book #188 of 2022.

You absolute walnut.

Love on the Brain is everything I wanted from Ali Hazlewood! It perfectly combines 'guy falls first' and forced proximity. The characters are loveable, especially Levi (who dare I say may be better than Adam). Levi is the perfect book boyfriend, and his chemistry with Bee is adorable. I loved watching as their relationship went from enemies to lovers. I read it in one night which is probably the highest praise I can give a book. I am a sucker for warm, mushy romances.

I love the commentary on academia and standardised testing; personally, I'm also in favour of removing standardised testing. I think my favourite part was Ali's note at the end: "if academia ever makes you feel like you're not good or smart enough... it's not you, it's academia" as a woman in higher education, I can't agree more.

I do think it's very similar to The Love Hypothesis in plot structure, and if you've seen 'you've got mail' just combine the two, and you have Love on the Brain, but I didn't mind that. Again Levi is pretty much described exactly like Adam: Tall, Handsome, Large, Muscular... He's so much bigger than her if you didn't know already. Miscommunication is also a trope that I want to die; enough said (but they're so cute trying to figure it out). Honestly, at times Levi deserved better; He tells Bee he doesn't hate her and she goes I don't believe you for 50% of the book. I think the only thing I wish I could change is the trade marks every two pages; on one page I counted four trade marks alone. I found it so annoying and unnecessary. 

Book #180 of 2022.

Before I Do was a weird one for me. I've read Sophie Cousens before having liked Just Haven't Met You Yet, but I couldn't finish this.

I dnf'd which I normally don't do, at around the 82 mark (chapter 12). I'm not a fan of cheating, whether that be borderline or emotional - whatever it's a hard no for me, and it's where I felt the book was going. So this isn't really an accurate reflection of the book as I didn't finish it but a review of the first 80 or so pages.

I love the time jumps, giving you a full picture of everything that happened. Cousens is great at making you really feel for the character whether that is good emotions for Josh or the need to tell Audrey's mum to shut up. Cousens creates characters that feel real and bring out real emotions in you.

Alongside the cheating vibes, I disliked the main character. Audrey is rude and to me self-obsessed and cruel. I can understand questioning your judgement on your wedding day, but the way she criticises her fiance is uncomfortable to me. To her, he wasn't memorable which is alright when brought up once, but Audrey brought it up a few in one chapter, which makes it seem like she 'settled' and never really liked Josh in the first place. She's defensive and rude when there isn't a reason to be - I refer to the Josh/James scene - which annoyed me and only increased my dislike of the character. Audrey's mother was also very annoying.

I do recommend Before I Do for people who like romcom books and don't mind cheating vibes.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton, as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Book #179 of 2022 

Someone Like You is a cutesy small-town romance akin to Safe Haven.

It was cute at times, and the romance, plot and characters were satisfying which is all I really look at when reviewing cute-romance books. Bullet - the dog is adorable, and I love him very much, but I'm a sucker for dogs.

I enjoyed the reading experience save for some issues where the POV would change mid-way through. I read a chapter via NetGalley and then finished the book via Kindle, and I found that at times the text was confused between third-person and first-person and which character was 'leading' the chapter. That being said it didn't ruin the experience for me; I just needed to double-check a few times when reading. I'm also not a fan of instant-love, and this was a very 'they-lock-eyes-and-love-is-immediate' book which I thought was odd given Hannah's background but also because I don't like instant-love as a trope.

Overall, I thought it was a pleasant, cute romance read.

Thanks to Netgalley, Team Harper Collins UK, and Rachel Dove as I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Someone Like You is released on September 21, 2022.

Book #178 of 2022.

It was alright but the conflict was the miscommunication trope so that wasn't great. It was instant love and I'm not sure how long they knew each other before he proposed but it was quick.

The plot was interesting and I thought it was executed fairly well (edit: okay-ish), I didn't mind the characters but I wasn't particularly fond of anyone. 

This review is going to be a bit shorter than normal and I'm not going to give this book a rating because I just had problems finishing it. Sometimes the formatting would be so off that it hurt my eyes to try and read the book, which I get, it's an ARC so the book is going to have some errors but there were just too many for me to be able to read the book comfortably.  I think once the errors are fixed I'd be able to pick it up again and give a more thorough opinion.

I received The Book of Azrael from NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing, LLC, in exchange for my honest review.