Stone

-Crossposted on GR-

Overall pretty enjoyable. I liked the relationship between Gwen and Art and how they slowly started to become closer and support each other through everything. I felt the political aspects of the story needed more work. What exactly was wrong with the cultist's way of thinking other than just the name? Like the story just expected you to understand they're bad simply because they oppose the main characters. To be honest that subplot would have been better off removed since in the end it only seemed to serve the purpose of killing off the king. I also feel like Gwen and Art lacked a meaningful connection with their love interests, Gwen especially. Like it was just "hey, that person's really attractive" instead of something gradual where maybe they fall for their LIs despite their convictions because they've grown so close. I could see Arthur semi falling for Gabriel but it didn't feel exactly mutual, like Arthur learned about Gabe but Gabe didn't really learn about him? I can see the angle of the LIs being a vehicle for Gwen and Art's feelings but if they were going to be added it would've been nice to see those relationships and characters fleshed out more. Cover art is adorable, though, and Gwen is so incredibly real

Definitely a book that was more engaging on reread. Like, I didn't understand why Aled was such a jerk at first, but I get it now and I appreciate that all the other characters acknowledge where he's coming from but that what he did was still messed up. Frances is a well written character. I like how she has separate “versions” of herself she presents to other people.
Also this cover is just???? amazing???? the BEST book cover i've ever seen

-Crossposted on GR-

I honestly just wanted more of everything. The concept was interesting but on execution I feel like more time should've been spent fleshing out the world and the characters. Like the other characters were only there to fulfill the requirement of the game instead of Pia having a strong connection with them over the course of the games and them having their own dynamics amongst each other. There was also an underutilization of Renzo, it would've been interesting to explore the friends turned rivals dynamic but he just helped Pia out at every turn. I really didn't understand his motivations as a character. Also Pia being added to the team so quickly to the games' start- I feel like this doesn't make much sense considering the stakes of the game.

In my opinion it would've landed better if it were longer (more time to flesh out characters and world) and had Vittoria as the mc instead of Pia, she has a little more going for her in comparison to Pia who's kind of a blank slate.

The book art is SO CUTE though!!! It's done very well and what made me pick this up in the first place!!

this book was really nice, such gorgeous prose and themes
i almost cried at the end

it was cute it was just lacking in some climatic point? idk
not my fav novella by this author

tbh alice oseman's books always hit, i really connected to tori and this book made me value her as a character more

i thought this book was really sweet but i think it was lacking a stronger bond between the characters

4.5⭐️
I really enjoyed this book and my subjective/objective star ratings differ on this one.
I would've liked to have seen Harriet's character/storyline fleshed out more. Everything surrounding her felt a little underwhelming because she didn't get enough attention.
The ending didn't really have a nice conclusion imo like everything wrapped up a little too perfectly, but I appreciate the twist at the end wasn't completely random and the author laid the groundwork for it in advance so it didn't come off as randomly shocking for no reason.It was still partially too feel-good for me. Like if this went down in real life we all know how it would go.I also like the way the story itself is structured, like something will happen then we'll switch to the buildup to that moment. It's a really nice style.
This book is definitely not for you if you hate random pov shifting though.
Honestly I loved reading this book and would recommend it to others. It's not very intersectional in its feminism but it's set in the 1950s so idk

the concept was rlly cool but i probably would've liked the book more without logan, mathew, and trent (or at least w/o their povs.)

that ending completely and truly devoured but the rest of the book was just slightly above average in quality to me.
reminded me both why I read romance every now and again and why I don't read it often

Interesting premise and definitely a page turner, but it needed a little extra to have it be stellar in my eyes. I like the open ending and not having everything solved on page and Aideen admitting she needs help, but I feel like there should have been a more gradual structure of her slowly coming to terms with her situation and using other people's problems as an escape from her own. IMO that aspect wasn't explored, we didn't see Aideen come to terms with her coping mechanism in time, she just kinda realized it at the end, and even then it was brief. Readers can connect this being the reason for her behavior on their own but it would've helped the story to kind of delve into that aspect of the story more.

she called his grin lopsided a few too many times

4.75 ⭐️
Honestly I love this series, it's like my fav ongoing ya series right now so this might be biased.
My main complaint is that I wish I knew the characters better, beyond how they present themselves to others. like in the pov chapters if we had some more insight into their personalities beyond the roles they play. I also don't love how (minor spoiler) will felt like he couldn't tell anyone, even james. like if there was one person you could tell

hard to get into, middle of the book was good, ending sucked

this book was kinda hard for me to get through, the ‘ghost' of sorts didn't make a lot of sense for me and i was struggling to understand why the mc was interested in the love interest

this book wasn't quite as disturbing as i hoped but each story genuinely gave me chills and the artwork is so impressive

Mostly boring

This book is quite dull. It is mostly filler until closer to the end of the book, on the hottest day of the summer. The characters feel a bit uninteresting, and do not develop throughout the story. This leads me to wonder why this book is a ‘successful classic'. There's just not much to say about it. Here's a synopsis below:
Daisy Buchanan and Jay Gatsby run over Mr.Wilson's wife (Tom Buchanan's mistress) and Mr.Wilson kills Jay Gatsby and himself.
Nick Carraway (the narrator) only acts as a narrator and is merely a bystander in the whole ideal.

Well, there you have it. The Great Gatsby.

A very lacklustre YA Fantasy book.
I'm not sure why I've seen so many people reading it lately as it has nothing special going for it, other than a to-be-released netflix show.
The main character is very typical. She thinks she is ugly, is very dismal, etc. Alina is meant to be relatable to young girls aged 12-17. The type of main character you'd see in a self-insert fanfiction. She obsesses over the darkling for about half the book, and it gets annoying fast. After she is kissed by the darkling, she spends about the rest of the chapter thinking about telling people about it.
She has two love interests, the aforementioned “Darkling” and her childhood friend “Mal”. At first, when Alina sees some other girl look at Mal, she starts obsessing over how she used to have a crush on him and that it was no big deal. Which we can infer ‘used to' is not accurate. But then her powers get discovered, and she meets the Darkling. Keep in mind he is 100+ years older than her. Eventually, the Darkling kisses her for the first time, and as I said before, she totally freaks out. It even gets to the point where he's supposed to go up her her room after this insignificant winter ball that only ever truly existed to further develop her and the darkling's relationship. At the end of the book, however she is with Mal. Enough flip-flopping to be a mock love triangle.
The other characters are flimsy as well. The side characters only seem to exist mostly as filler to make the book longer, which is fine by me, as they are all unlikeable anyways.
There's no point disecting the Russian influences of this point, as other reviews have done so in a better way than I can.

This concludes my review. If you like the book, I mean no disrespect.

it was so good, i know it's unfair to compare it to tshoeh but i just didn't jell with the characters like i did with evelyn

This book was so amazing it was hard to put down.
I really loved how it's written in verse. It's certainly not for everyone but it really helped me feel immersed in Xiomara's mind. She ended up being a really relatable character even though we have basically nothing in common. I love characters that provide that connection. Literally everything is just so beautiful I don't even know how to properly explain it.

racism :/

Ending was not great, exposition took a fourth of the book to get through. still fairly interesting if you get through the first 100 pages or so.

Percy Jackson they could never make me hate you

4.5⭐️
just annoyed how he kinda retconned Thalia's age for the plot