Take a photo of a barcode or cover
typedtruths's Reviews (1.8k)
adventurous
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry
Minor: Miscarriage
adventurous
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
#1) The Tourist Attraction ★★★☆☆
#2) Mistletoe & Mr Right ★★★★☆
thanks, i hated it ✌🏻 rtc
(wish we got diego & quinn's story instead. or even killian's)
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
#1) The Tourist Attraction ★★★☆☆
quick thoughts:
i was a little wary going into this after being disappointed by The Tourist Attraction, but i put up my christmas tree last night so it was officially time to start reading some holiday romances!
PROS:
• rick. this tea-drinking, hedgehog-loving, blushing awkward mess of a man that zoey calls a literal duckling saved this book for me. he adopted his nephew-in-law and won't let anyone talk shit about his ex-wife and just inherently tries too hard to be Good and i just, i love soft men who admire badass women and that's exactly what this gave me.
• but also lana. look, is she my favourite character of all time? no, definitely not. i appreciated her though. she was a businesswoman who didn't take crap from anyone but was also Tired of fighting every day just to be taken seriously. she has a permanent tremor in her hand that worsens when she is nervous or stressed. she's kind-hearted and called rick pet names until he blushed and tried so hard to make people feel appreciated. i just liked her a lot?
• tropes galore. this had so many of my favourite romance tropes, as a good holiday romance should. i want all the tropey goodness with my festive romcoms so yes, there is only one bed, and yes, there is forced proximity, and yes, there is an i'm-going-to-accidentally-confess-feelings-cause-i'm-high-on-flu-medicine scene. it's great.
• it's quirky af. the entire taxidermied squirrel hotel scene made me cry-laugh and even though i rolled my eyes at home many antics were shoved into this one novel (seriously, i can't believe how much happened plotwise in this book), i had a good time.
CONS:
• look, it's not perfect. i don't know what it is about this series but i just can't fully get into it? it's not a perfect mesh for me (but it's fun and silly and what i needed).
• the whole property & class thing. lana works for the company that owns rick's business (and most of the properties & businesses in moose springs), so there is a little bit of an imbalance there. i think it was done as well as it could be?? but i'm definitely not eloquent enough to address this topic. just something to keep in mind.
• graham & ash. i struggled with graham in the first book and i'm officially done with him. he is such a Straight Boi and i hate it.
• too much. and like i said, there are so many plot points in this one. the last 15% alone had so much suddenly going on, it was a little overwhelming. i kind of like the quirkiness of morgenthaler's style but i also wouldn't mind it being toned down a smidge.
➸ Trigger warnings for
▷ Representation: lana (mc) has a tremor in her hand.
Review copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
Content Warnings
Moderate: Medical trauma
Minor: Death, Sexism
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
quick thoughts:
the moment riley marie talked about this book in her vlog, i knew it was going to be a new favourite of mine too.
PROS
• fun. i read this, mostly, during my state's first proper lockdown and it was a breath of fresh air.
• found family. i sound like a broken record at this point but found family is my favourite trope. there's nothing quite like a ragtag group of misfits finding each other and making a home where they can all be their unabashed selves.
• the writing style. the book itself is written like the girls are writing an account of their adventures. catherine, a novelist, is in charge but the other characters write in the margins & interrupt when they think catherine is romanticising a certain moment or interject to say, 'no, i wasn't *scared* then, i don't get scared' or 'i was not blushing! the sun had gotten to my cheeks'. it adds this whole other layer to the story, and the banter? top notch.
• the whole cast. it is rare that i don't have a favourite narrator in a book with multiple perspectives, but the entire cast was delightful. i loved the whole crew, down to charlie & mrs poole.
• girl fighting their abusive fathers. a squad of women that society has snubbed overcoming systemic obstacles to band together and save other women from their abusive fathers? hell yeah.
• sherlock. i'm basic. i love me a sherlock retelling 🤷
CONS
• the pacing. it was a tiny bit on the dense side. i know a lot of historical fiction favour a slower pace (which i actually like), but it did stagnate a little in the middle.
• the "time-period appropriate" -ism. again, i know historical fiction tends to be as accurate to the era as possible, but i can't deny it is extremely difficult to read blatant ableism, racism & misogyny regardless. there is a fair amount of ableism and sex worker shaming as well as two downright racist sentences (as quoted below) which easily could have been edited out.
the racist comments on pages 199 & 347 respectively (in my edition):
the moment riley marie talked about this book in her vlog, i knew it was going to be a new favourite of mine too.
PROS
• fun. i read this, mostly, during my state's first proper lockdown and it was a breath of fresh air.
• found family. i sound like a broken record at this point but found family is my favourite trope. there's nothing quite like a ragtag group of misfits finding each other and making a home where they can all be their unabashed selves.
• the writing style. the book itself is written like the girls are writing an account of their adventures. catherine, a novelist, is in charge but the other characters write in the margins & interrupt when they think catherine is romanticising a certain moment or interject to say, 'no, i wasn't *scared* then, i don't get scared' or 'i was not blushing! the sun had gotten to my cheeks'. it adds this whole other layer to the story, and the banter? top notch.
• the whole cast. it is rare that i don't have a favourite narrator in a book with multiple perspectives, but the entire cast was delightful. i loved the whole crew, down to charlie & mrs poole.
• girl fighting their abusive fathers. a squad of women that society has snubbed overcoming systemic obstacles to band together and save other women from their abusive fathers? hell yeah.
• sherlock. i'm basic. i love me a sherlock retelling 🤷
CONS
• the pacing. it was a tiny bit on the dense side. i know a lot of historical fiction favour a slower pace (which i actually like), but it did stagnate a little in the middle.
• the "time-period appropriate" -ism. again, i know historical fiction tends to be as accurate to the era as possible, but i can't deny it is extremely difficult to read blatant ableism, racism & misogyny regardless. there is a fair amount of ableism and sex worker shaming as well as two downright racist sentences (as quoted below) which easily could have been edited out.
the racist comments on pages 199 & 347 respectively (in my edition):
"To those readers who are not familiar with London, who may be reading this in the wilds of America, where we hear there are bears and savages, or in the wilds of Australia, where there are also savages but no bears (unless, adds Justine, they are marsupial bears), the problem that now presented itself to Catherine and Diana was as follows."
and
"And he was excited: he had finally decided that we would go to Africa. With our superior strength, we could traverse jungles and desert that made the interior of the continent dangerous for white men. We would see what no European had ever seen. Surely the rude savages would worship us as gods."
➸ Trigger warnings for
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Twitter • Instagram
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma
Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide
misogyny, ableism & ableist language, sex worker shaming & slurs, underage sex work recounted, domestic abuse mentioned, psychiatric hospitalisation, the suicide of a parent mentioned, suicide & suicidal ideation mentioned, alcohol consumption, pregnancy & teen pregnancy mentioned, graphic dead body & body parts, blood & gore depiction, physical injuries & illness, nonconsensual surgery mentioned, dismemberment and decapitation discussed, nonconsensual medical experimentation (central theme), death of father & mother, death of an infant recounted, murder & attempted murder (multiple on-page & recounted), strangulation, poisoning, kidnapping & confinement, animal experimentation (off-page), animal death, and poverty themes
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i honestly can’t believe how much i loved that... but it’s 1am on a random thursday and i couldn’t stop myself from finishing it in one sitting
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
➸ Trigger warnings for forced nonconsensual arranged marriage, misogyny (central theme), homomisia, coming out themes, hate crimes, multiple attempted rape and/or sexual assault scenes (mostly mentioned or recounted but one graphic on-page scene), suicidal ideation mentioned, suicide, grief depiction, death of a mother & wife recounted, death of father & husband mentioned, torture (sc, off-page), murder & attempted murder, poisoning, imprisonment, graphic blood & gore depiction, the depiction of dead bodies & body parts, physical injuries & illness discussed in-depth & detail, emesis, hunting, animal death & dead bodies, mind control discussed, and war themes .
▷ Representation: Quin (sc) bisexual; Dom (sc) gay; Wynna (sc) sapphic; Zaga (sc) sapphic; disabled scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Goodreads • Twitter • Instagram
▷ Representation: Quin (sc) bisexual; Dom (sc) gay; Wynna (sc) sapphic; Zaga (sc) sapphic; disabled scs.
Blog • Trigger Warning Database • Goodreads • Twitter • Instagram
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexual assault