unlikelyplaces's Reviews (273)

I loved the first like 2/3 of this book but then the ending got a little too dramatic & emotional for me. But it was still beautifully written and I loved the characters.

I never ever read romance but I thought I'd challenge myself to find one I liked and I definitely succeeded with this. I loved the characters in this and felt like their relationship was so believable. This was so aware of the tropes that it was playing on and was full of literary references for book nerds. But the thing that really stood out to me about this book was the exploration of family relationships. I related to Nora so much as the protective, older sister. It had the perfect balance of humour and romance and deeper character exploration. So good!

In some ways this was a sort of predictable YA adventure novel but I don’t think a book has ever made me feel so seen. Ziva’s anxiety and her relationship with her sister were almost exactly my own experience and it was just so lovely to see her growth as a character and the friendships she built. 

I had some nitpicks at the start about the writing being a little on the nose and the characters feeling a little over the top but I stopped caring about those by the end and just had a good time.

Definitely leans a little on the younger side of YA which I thought worked well for the wholesome few of it but it was quite violent at times which may be good to be aware of for younger readers.

It was all round a delight.