DNF at 40%. 

I might come back to it but I don’t know. I really liked the points she made about how stigmatizing being considered an alcoholic is and the way that AA and almost all problems are created to address why men drink, but I didn’t enjoy the memoir portions of the book. Overall I felt she lacked a lot of accountability and it rubs the wrong way how she seems to think herself as a sober guru type of leader.

OOF. This book is way too raw and relatable and , yes, I cried. Emily Henry always writes such REAL characters and I was really wondering the entire book if the Wyn and Harriet would end up together. I think their missteps in the relationship make sense on both sides. 

Not a perfect score because I felt several of the “then” scenes weren’t needed. Like meeting his family or even him proposing. I already knew these things from the present. I think two timelines are just expected in the second chance trope. 

Solid read with a solid couple. I always enjoy Mimi Grace’s writing style. As usual with her books, I just wish there was more. I do feel like there are unanswered questions about Raven’s career/goals at the end.

Another knockout from Abby Jimenez. I loved Jacob and Briana so much tougher and I thought they made a great match as a couple. I found Jacob’s anxiety to be portrayed very well and I saw a lot of myself in his character.

No real complaints, but I do wish they spent more time on the letter writing aspect.

I will say that this book was entertaining and I read it very quickly. Overall the sex scenes got really repetitive (I hope you like the word clenching) but I did enjoy initially.

This might be the first romance I’ve ever read where I genuinely liked the FMC and MMC but didn’t love them together. 

I adored Hannah and I found her determination and growth to be quite beautiful, though I still found her to be a bulldozed by Wyatt. And I liked Wyatt, I just feel like his character development happened at the flip of the switch and didn’t make sense to me. 

I was unhappy with the ending.

I know she mentioned wanted to travel, but I think she just wanted to take vacations, not abandon her store. I feel like she gave up so much for Wyatt. The decision to leave everything didn’t fit her character to me. 

Why the fuck were they in such a rush??????? They barely dated for few a months and got married and then immediately decided to start trying for children. HUH? And Hannah was unsure about trying to soon and then just gave in with such little thought.

I’m conflicted with how I feel about this book, but ultimately I think it’s a miss for me.

In general, there was a lot of “not like other girls”-isms that made me roll my eyes and contemplated DNFing in the first 30 pages. In general I think this book treated most side female characters very stereotypically and negatively.

The abuse:

I knew going into it that this was a book about domestic violence, but I was not prepared for how graphic it would be, nor did I anticipate such brutal rape scenes. I also have a hard time believing Iris would get herself into a situation where she 1) doesn’t even consider getting an abortion (she didn’t seem strongly religious), and 2) moved in with Caleb without her name on ANYTHING. She was smarter than that, it felt unrealistic for her character.

While Iris gets out 60% into the book, I don’t think the conclusion was worth sticking around for. If Kennedy Ryan wrote this book for DV survivors to feel seen, then I think she missed the mark with Caleb dying. Many people will have to live the rest of their lives knowing their abuser is out there.

This book is tagged as a romance, and I did like August and Iris as a couple, but they’re not really that memorable. Their romance is definitely overshadowed by the abuse.

I enjoyed reading this and I loved the autism and anxiety rep. I also think Jamie and Bea were a really well matched and adorable couple.

That said, it was very trope heavy and overall needed better focus. Some plot points were introduced but ultimately led to nothing. I also think the third act break up was incredibly forced and also happened too late in the story just so the author could check the box. 

I love the premise and it was cute.

Literally stayed up until 4 AM on a work night on a work night because I physically would not put it down.

This is THE adult romance! Gus and January are so completely perfect and their dynamic felt so real and adult. Normally I don’t enjoy books about books and writing but this book really makes it work.

I personally prefer the UK ending, I felt the US ending was a little rushed. 

I found this book to very insightful and an many ways deeply relatable as a woman (even an average looking one). I think Emily articulated her thoughts well and was very vulnerable.