Aliyah

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading this and how well I could actually understand Shakespeare's writing. I remember struggling really hard in high school when we would be assigned to read something by Shakespeare but this time around, I found it so much easier to get through for whatever reason. One thing I really enjoyed about this play were the characters of Beatrice and Benedick, not only because I love a good enemies to lovers trope, but also because they're both hilarious. I did find the story a bit boring and repetitive at times so I only ended up giving it four stars, but I think this would be a good read for somebody who is looking to get out of their comfort zone of reading a little bit. The play is also pretty short so if you're looking for something that you can read through pretty quickly to add another book to your completed list, this could potentially be a good choice for that as well.

This book was not written for me, but that is not to say that it is a bad book. In fact, I really enjoyed Cutter's writing style. The descriptions in this book were beautiful and creepy at the same time, and really helped with my immersion in the story. However, I will say that I found some of the descriptions to be overly gory; but that could just be because I don't read a lot of horror and this might not have been the best intro to the genre. I also just really did not enjoy the overall plot of this book as much as I thought I would. I found it very confusing and I feel like the ending of the story left me with more questions than answers, but I also kind of feel like that's the point. Overall, I just don't think this book was for me but I don't think it's a bad book either. I'm sure it would be very enjoyable for people who have read more horror than me and really enjoy that genre.

I'm so disappointed because I actually enjoyed this book...UNTIL I realized it was the exact same plot as the first book with the gender roles reversed. There was literally a point where I predicted what was going to happen next in this book based on what had happened in the first book, and that is just simply unacceptable. The only reason I didn't give this one star is because I love Anthony and Kate; I think their character development is fantastic and the tension between them was H O T. But I simply could not get past the fact that this is just a role reversal of the first book. I'm gonna continue on with the series still, because I really want to experience each story, and I'm really hoping that I enjoy them more than I did this one.

This book really kept me on my toes and I absolutely loved it! Every time that I thought I knew what was going on or what was going to happen next, I was thrown for another loop and it made the book so much fun to read. Something else that I really enjoyed about this book were the characters, particularly the protagonist, Darby. She is such a badass and I think Adams did a great job of writing a strong female lead. The antagonist was equally as well-written; I felt like they were oozing evil off the page at some times.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller but is maybe looking for something a little more suspenseful and twisty. I find that personally, I can usually predict the ending of the story or what the plot twist is going to be and I really couldn't do that with this book; so if you are looking for something a bit more unpredictable, I would give this a try. I would also recommend this book if you're in a reading slump because from the first chapter, I was pulled into the story and I had physical reactions to it while reading. I had anxiety the entire time I was reading this, and I think one of the things that makes this so scary is that it's more of a realistic scenario than maybe some other mystery/thrillers.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it if you like mysteries and thrillers, or if you're in a slump and need something to remind you why you love reading so much.