I adored this book. It is so charming and funny and heartfelt and unrelentingly British. There were just enough quirky references that fit into my personal zeitgeist. A few outdated ones, but I loved it all the same. Highly, highly recommend. The dialogue is A+++++

Listened to on Audible.
Took me a bit to get used to the narrator (audiobook) and her strange use of accents. Why did Kestrel have an accent when she was the main character and Arin did not, other than I suppose she was part of the foreigners that conquered Arin's home.
I appreciated how different Kestrel was than your typical YA adventure heroine - not good at combat, not interested in changing the world... but still had the typical beauty.
I felt that Arin's dynamic changes were a bit abrupt around 2/3 of the way through.
Overall I enjoyed the story and will go on to read book 2. I was impressed by Rutkoski's prose at times and while I don't feel incredibly attached to any of the characters, I do think the author is a good storyteller, and doesn't fall into too many YA tropes.

Reread January/Feb 2024: 4.5 stars. A few slower paced moments - sometimes I wonder if adding all of the POVs makes the plot move a bit more sluggish. But everything I said in original review is still true - SJM is a mastermind. 

First read June 2022: 5 stars. My mind has been absolutely blown. I of course got the SJM hype after finishing TOG and ACOTAR, but this book (especially the ending) took her to the next level for me and she has officially become one of my all time favorite authors. How is all of this in her brain? How does she stay 20 steps ahead of us? How does she keep us guessing the entire book? 
This is not the most coherent review but suffice it to say the story is expertly done and she knows how to embrace 'no minor characters' to a T. I cannot wait to see what she does next.

This was a 5 star book for the first two thirds, then it really dropped off for me. It felt like every single one of Fox's chapters was the exact. same. thing. His internal musings and drama and hanging out with Hannah, then a chapter of Hannah actually doing stuff. It really dragged on toward the end and took way too long for them to actually get together in my opinion. 
But the spice was excellent, once it happened. I wanted to love this one as much as It Happened One Summer. Unfortunately it just didn't hit the same! 

This was not romance. It was women’s lit. It was excellently written, with her most developed main character to date, but it was heartbreaking and depressing. Unfortunately just not at all what I was signing up for in this series that has been insightful but fun so far. I do think this is an important story about autism and ableism, but it just wasn’t romance. I think putting it as the 3rd in this romance series honestly did the story injustice. 

So close to being great. I LOVED how Carol came back to life and reunited her two selves, and what she discovered and came to terms with along the way.
Then the Mystique ending was just a hot mess. Really disappointing ending to this story, but thank god Kelly Sue Deconnick takes over from here...

Could have done some really cool stuff with her team, but just let it fall flat (like many of the storylines from Brian Reed with Carol).

Moments of clarity, but mostly a lot of icky non-feminist material.

I just love my girl TJR. 

But honestly this was closer to a 4.25 for me. I didn't love the first half, but loved how she sped up and sped up as we got to the end. 
Once the party started (literally), I felt there were just too many people introduced. Some of them I cared about, most I didn't. 
But her writing is impeccable, her imagery is lovely, and I will read everything she writes. 

Favorite book of the year so far. Quick and easy but oh so heartfelt and beautiful. It was also my first book to annotate and I really enjoyed that process. Klune has this ability to write so simply but make you feel so deeply. EVERYONE should read this magical story about changing yourself and finding your home.