Dorottya

Initially,I can't say I was particularly interested in Bree as a character. I picked up her story randomly,many years later. To my surprise,it's quite different from what I expected. Instead of her origin story,the novella focuses on her lifestyle as a vampire and pretty soon trying to figure out what's Riley and Victoria's plan,forging alliances and conspiring to leave the “clan”. Bree's intelligence was refreshing,just like her brief romance with a fellow newborn,Diego. My only issue there is that Diego's character could've been unwrapped better,I really liked him. He seemed to be such a promising figure,except for appearing to be a bit naive towards Riley. I'm aware of the plot twist,but the fact that Stephenie k1lled him off "off-screen" feels kinda lazy. That was unfair,my heart broke for the girl. Same goes for Fred,who possesses special powers like some of the Cullens. I would've liked to learn more about that. All the hints at the camouflage and influencing other's perception of him made me think of Jasper as the extent of his powers are elaborated in Midnight Sun. Shame that I could barely see these characters talk. In true SM style you can't avoid a few somewhat cringey moments,like the sound of vampire kisses etc. Bree (and her group) is hunting humans,obviously,so trigger warning for murd3r. As bottom line I think Bree was a smart character,considering that she's only a 15-year-old newborn. She had no intention to participate in the fight and could've had a promising future. Respect for accepting her fate and giving information to Edward through telepathy as her last act of service. She deserved better.

When I tell you my copy is drenched in red ink on the margins - at least the first 80 pages,because that's how far I've gotten. As a 28 year old woman who enjoys being alone often and being independent,I found this piece of story fairly difficult to digest. The main character was insufferable and infuriating with her constant whining,the inability to exist without relying on another person. She expects everyone to live her life for her,take the lead and just tell her what to do or distract her from her own problems because she doesn't have a personality. I understand that she needed a revelation and an arc. Despite this,it takes way too long for her to get her s* together and try,even after she acknowledged the red flags. Help me!Pay attention to me! She acted like a baby,learning to live from zero. Which would've been fun to watch if she actually put in an effort. I was hoping for a more sensible character development.

The love interest falls short for me,sadly,being just as pathetic because he'd be charming if he wouldn't be taken. This should be enough of an indication for our heroine to remove herself from the situation,but somehow she manages to convince herself ‘this is okay,this is normal'. We were faced with this in the synopsis alright,but instead of making it an exciting and cute whirlwind,it only paints the main character as the homewrecker. What's worse is that as I scrolled ahead,Isaac makes no steps to resolve this situationship for another one or two hundred pages. He shares very little information with her despite being “friends”. (Guilt?) How do you not see it,girl?? Somehow it couldn't bring me to ship them and root for them. The pacing is off,can't hold my attention. I'm sure Marnie's a ✨brand new woman✨ by the end of the book,but I don't have enough time for her to figure this out,I'm sorry. I wanted to like it,I really did. But she's,and everyone else,except for Kit (her boss/friend) maybe,are super annoying. The number of books about this age group of women is limited. We're still figuring stuff out,that's right,but I'm kind of offended being portrayed this way.

No stars since I didn't finish it.

I have some mixed feelings about this one. It's a good book. Very sweet; your typical quirky,lovesick romcom. I found it delightful how mature the characters were communication-wise. The protagonist with anxiety and overthinking was interesting,I read some very relatable lines. I appreciated all the Taylor Swift and Seinfeld references. Loved the playlist at the start,the quotes at the beginning of each chapter,and the style for the epilogue. I love the cover!

Where it fell flat to me was the continous repetition of how funny this book and the MC was,how funny her friends were. Their audience crying from laughter and choking on drinks. I felt like it was trying to sell me this message desperately while in reality I didn't find either of those that funny. For some reason I particularly disliked Kara and Shauna. Meyer (the male protagonist) was super sweet and (over)protective,a dream guy for real,up to a point where it sounded awfully unrealistic. I liked his straightforwardness,although his tendency to have heart-to-hearts was surprising. I'd say he was almost too perfect if there's such a thing. I adored the relationship between Farley (MC) and Meyer's daughter Hazel (she is deaf).

The writing keeps switching between past and present,plus the POVs,which was a bit confusing at times and maybe unnecessary as the glimpse into the male character's mind took from his magic,but that's only my personal preference. For me this alternating move didn't add a lot to the story development and with all the cards laid out,the rest was pretty predictable and I caught myself bored as hell. Considered dnf-ing it at several points,but I held on.

To end it on a positive note,I did love the message of being your genuine self and loved for it. This book is like a warm hug,a fluffy blanket around your shoulders. I recommend it if you'd like to pick up an easy,risk-free read. It's also safe for not native English speakers. This one packs a list of tropes as it follows:
• friends to lovers
• single dad
• age gap (10 years)
• fake dating
• forced proximity
• idiots in love
• manager/client
• domestic bliss
• spicy romance

I'm afraid I have to join the minority here and start with the infamous “I wanted to like this book so bad - but I didn't.” phrase,because that's exactly what happened.

Generally I don't like the enemies to lovers trope,but the good reviews and the summary lured me in. Personally I found it fortunate that spoiler Nora and Charlie aren't really enemies. Relatively though,that's a fail to the story.

Throughout the prologue I believed this could genuinely be a 5 star read,filled with relatable thoughts,overlooking a few cringey clichés. But as I read further,unfortunately,the latter outweighed the noteworthy parts.

I also think Nora and Libby's relationship was more in the center of the story than the romantic plotline,which,I am sorry,but didn't like. I understand it was supposed to explore that dynamic and their problems as well,but as I didn't like the characters and the book wasn't advertised as a sibling story,it couldn't hold my interest.

SPOILERS BELOW

Let's start with the main characters (are they though,Libby?) not being archnemesises as the book likes to call them. They both had a tough day and therefore a bad first impression during their first(!) meeting (which all happened in the prologue!). Only met again after a few years,where Nora actually found herself being attracted to Charlie immediately. I wouldn't call them enemies or rivals,especially since they don't even have the same job. It was purely a disagreement which caught both of them in a bad mood.

Now onto Nora's younger sister,Libby,a mother of (soon) three. As I read the other non-5-star reviews I felt immense relief that I'm not the only one who found her extremely annoying. Right from her personality,through her stupid transformative vacation bucketlist,to her manipulating actions. I have a little sister myself and I wanted to connect with and love Libby so bad,but truth is,she drove me up the walls from chapter 1. Her character was,at the beginning,super immature and it only got more and more pathetic,desperate,selfish and frustrating as time went on. Her sneaking around,keeping secrets and trying to manipulate her sister into moving to another city with her family because on the contrary to what she's saying (she is an adult and doesn't need Nora's help anymore) she can't live without her and disapproves of Nora's life,was too much for me. All Nora ever did was give up her dreams for Libby,constantly having nightmares and worrying about her,looking after her,racking her mind to connect the crumbs Libby left her to figure out what her problem was and it felt exhausting. It would have made sense if Libby sat down with Nora and talk about what was bothering her. Instead,when called out on her actions,she fainted and Nora immediately forgave her. Wth?

The plot twists weren't exactly original either. Running into Charlie on the vacation,him being from Sunshine Falls (the name,really?),Shepherd turning out to be his cousin,Dusty writing her next book about Nora,Charlie staying in the little town,Charlie returning to New York... The only things that had me gasping were when we found out Charlie was adopted,and Libby's secrets revealed but,especially the latest,only frustrated me more so I wouldn't list them as pros. Lots and lots of tropes and clichés followed each other through the story that I particularly disliked.

The repetitive use of being ice cold and a workaholic couldn't convince me about Nora's so-called cutthroat personality (Who thinks about themselves as an ice queen with delight?). And while she acted proud of her skills as an agent and her snarky comments,missing her beloved Peloton and New York,she kept crying about being seen as an emotionless,work centered person. If you don't like who you turned out to be then try to make changes? Somewhere along the way this theme took a nice turn with acceptance,mainly from Charlie,but it left me feeling paradox about this discussion. Also,she struck me as very inconsiderate in places,picking up on sensitive details in Charlie's comments which she could tease him about and use against him in the next second. I didn't like their flirting/banter,it often felt empty and ridiculous in the first half,I even skipped some of them after a while. People really put things like “If she [my sister] pees outside,flower gardens burst up from it.” and “Bigfoot erotica” in casual/flirty conversations? With Libby she was also way too biased,always putting herself down compared to perfect Libby,looking over her sister's questionable ways to ensure she had everything she ever wanted. In the second half of the book she got better,but I felt like there wasn't a proper arc for her character. (Neither was to Libby's,she was simply forgiven,no growth.) I read someone saying that Nora's tough exterior hid an immature core and I think they put it really well. The memories about their time as children,the bookstore and their mother were sweet and emotional in the beginning,but later on they got kind of boring. Every wrong decision,the person she came to be stemmed from her traumatic childhood and the lack of a father.

The love story felt off as well,running around in circles. The intention to draw it out just wasn't done in the right way. It took so long for Nora to see she liked Charlie,while you could feel he was enamored with her for some time now. If I remember correctly there were three times they fell into a heated situation before actually doing the deed,and while those scenes were hot and well written,it all felt wrong. It seemed like,from Nora's pov,that the desire was based purely on physical attraction when it was clear they had the emotional connection and Nora needed Charlie. She got turned on by him in the most random moments and the timing for these scenes was confusing. Stating that nothing can happen between them because of their jobs,when they fell for each other early on,even if Nora didn't notice yet,was a dumb excuse,which seemed to be forgotten later (read: hooking up and the continous “let's don't think about what happens after”). The miraculous reunion at the end felt unrealistic and expectable,and could have been solved much earlier.

The minor characters were easy to forget: Sally,Charlie's mom,a painter,free spirit who constantly smelled like marijuana. Clint,his step-dad,I wanted to like,but there wasn't much personality given to him just like Libby's husband,Brendan. Shepherd was ok,Amaya didn't have much purpose besides being the object of jealousy. Dusty,the sensitive and insecure writer,Sharon,the pregnant editor and Hardy,the taxi driver we only got to know for a few lines. It didn't exactly succeed at painting a picture about Sunshine Falls and it certainly didn't remind me of Schitt's Creek while reading.

Back to Charlie's family,I don't understand how he was the disappointment,when he was,despite his initial academic struggles as a kid,successful,intelligent,kind,helpful and selfless,moving back to his hometown where he never felt accepted,give up his job,his flat,his opportunity for true love,to help his parents,while his sister,Carina,eloped with her boyfriend to Italy,never looking back.

By the 5th chapter I wanted to throw the book across the room and never pick it up again. A few days later I gave it another chance,but again,from 50% of the story I could only race through the conversations, leaving out significant portions of narrative and the “side” story of Libby,because it was mostly frustrating and predictable,and genuinely I just didn't care at that point. Miscommunication and misunderstandings kept building up in the worst way.

What I actually liked:

Charlie. He alone kept me going. The only reason I “finished” the book. A tall,dark,brooding young man with a secret,although I thought the secret will be a bit more shocking and deeper,and I agree with others who said his character/plotline could have been fleshed out better. He still came through as a kind,helpful,reliable,chivalrious, compassionate,intelligent person,not to mention handsome. He had me swooning,clutching my chest and wanna hug him at several points of the story. Loved him.

The message of staying true to who you are,even if not everyone understands you. Though I think it wasn't delivered in the best way through Nora's character as I mentioned above.

The book rec list at the end. It's a collection of the books Nora and Libby read,which is really cool and a fun idea. I found it contains two books I already have on my reading list.

The Penguin covers. I think they're pretty.

I ate this up.
I'm so late to the party,but I ate this right up. Ironicly,I was reading this instead of editing my dissertation. Thank you,Ms. Hazelwood!
If I want to be honest,it's a 4.5 ⭐ read. Nowhere near perfect,but after fangirling so hard and staying up embarrassingly late to finish it how could I give less than 5?!
I'm a Ph.D. student myself,in chemsitry,so the setting felt comfortably familiar. And I got a real boost of justice from the ending as a woman in STEM. I loved the characters,major and minor,although I gotta admit that I haven't actually seen the latest parts of the Star Wars franchise which I know they're based on. At first I was a bit skeptical,still,I could connect and let myself be charmed easily. Loved the conversations between Olive and Adam,the gradual built of affection and trust,loved the pacing. There was always something happening. Right from the prologue to the bonus chapter. That,and the tropes on top of tropes reminded me a lot of fanfiction which I've read my fair share of,but maybe that's why I liked it so much. I'm rarely giggling and kicking my feet over a printed book. True,there were a few slightly cringey/unrealistic moments,but I can look over them in favor of the rest. I'm sold.

Imagine inheriting a decades old manor and over two hundred acres of land. Exploring and renovating with your enemy-turned-friend-turned-lover,forced proximity,secret passageways,hide and seek,love letters,hand flexes,matchmaking from beyond the grave,treasure hunt,sharing a tent,kissing in the rain,dancing in the kitchen,baking together,a trip to Scotland...

This story is the definition of dreamy.
The main character,Maybell has an extremely vivid imagination,often escapes to and/or gets lost in her daydreams. She's a people pleaser,meek and quirky. A goofball with a huge heart,which is often taken advantage of by her mother Julie or her colleague Gemma. In certain situations I found her even somewhat childish,but really liked the character arc that was given her: how she learned to stand up for herself. Interestingly,the male protagonist,Wesley is even more insecure than the MC,which I loved reading! TW: Severe social anxiety,self-doubt,self-deprecation and claustrophobia. He was incredibly hostile in the first 100 or so pages which had me worried,but slowly his behaviour earned an explanation and his true self turned out to be adorable and devoted. Loved the subtle twists in the story. Their romance is pink haze and fluffy clouds,quite literally. It's genius how Maybell developing feelings for Wesley and the moment when the realization hit was shown through her mind,the way her fictional coffee shop transformed out of her control. The spicy scene is beautifully written,nothing explicit if someone's concerned about that. I wouldn't neccessarily say they complete each other,but after overcoming obstacles,these two characters help the other become stronger,healthier and more confident. Definitely a perfect match. Pick up this book if you want to indulge in some tooth-rotting fluff!

3 and 1/2 stars ✨

The final chapter to Lara Jean's high school shenanigans. Waiting for confirmation letters from universities and navigating (love) life for the future. This volume is a charming coming of age story to its core. I have to admit I got a bit emotional about the ending and Peter K grew on me. The pacing is similar to the first installment's,hence the rating. I think Jenny creates conflicts really well,I just wish they'd come sooner and would be more fleshed out. The solution should be more complex,because everything happens really quickly at the end. I'd have loved more John Ambrose,but all in all it's a lovely book. I'm going to miss these characters.

⭐⭐⭐ and 1/2 stars

It's definitely a cute and entertaining story,I do like the concept. I was just waiting for...more. The pacing was pretty slow for me and there was no significant growth for any of the characters by the end of the book,therefore this first installment seemed kind of pointless as a whole. It was lacking chemistry,everything (which wasn't a lot) happened at the very end. I feel like there was much more potential in the idea originally,but I'm going to give it another chance and continue with the second volume.

High hopes,deep fall.

The premise of this book was so good. All the praising reviews,the summary and quotes led me to believe I would love it and I was so sure of it. Finally,I thought to myself,a mature story with a female protagonist (almost) around my age. I couldn't wait to finish the previous book I was reading to start this one.

I picked it up with much excitement,but right off the hook I found the writing different from anything I've read before,which isn't necessarily a problem. Still,somehow I couldn't connect with it at all,despite reading it in my native language. The phrasing is simple,straight to the point and written in present tense for the most part,yet I got confused and frustrated by the structure,because even though it seemed easy to read,it felt difficult and distant (just like the characters) for some reason. I wrote this off in the beginning as maybe this writer and/or writing style isn't for me and continued with some struggle.

I don't want to go over the plot like so many did before me,I think everyone got the picture already. Let's talk about the characters as I dropped a crumble about them above. I love getting lost in a story,growing passionate and experiencing intense emotions,rooting for the people in there. I think my main obstacle for this here was that practically none of the characters were loveable for me and to go even further,the reason for that in my opinion was that I didn't get to learn much about them because of the writing style. Many many paragraphs of prose,very little conversations. The only character whose internal thoughts I got to know was the main character Casey,obviously,which were extremely cynical. I didn't know enough about the love interests to be appealing,let alone charming. The guy she chose in the end was barely in the book. I caught myself wishing she wouldn't choose anyone,but get her life together instead.

On the bright side,I liked Casey's friend Muriel Becker,who's also a writer. Everyone in this book is a writer... I'm usually good at remembering names,but here I needed to take notes because of the tidal wave of characters mentioned. I think that was totally unnecessary,cause half of them never showed up again.

The pacing was terrible. I was considering dnf-ing at several points up to 40%. The recurring descriptions of people's orders at the restaurant our protagonist works at were getting on my nerves. I learned a lot about being a waitress,but not much concerning the other characters' personalities. The plot only “picked up” around half of the book,but I was still waiting for something bigger to happen. Neither of the lovers were fleshed out enough and I felt like I was completely lost in time. Therefore some things I couldn't wrap my mind around regarding them. Everything happened so quickly with Oscar,the widowed writer. He asked Casey out immediately after being served by her at the restaurant. He kissed her right on that date,talked about her "baby-making hips" after,said he loved her,asked her to move in with them etc. Then he had an existential crisis and turned inside. I was so glad she broke up with him. I adored his sons though. Silas on the other hand,while closer to Casey's age,seemed unreliable and a bunch of details were highlighted like his chipped tooth and smell that weren't the most attractive attributes. I just didn't understand. Why?? I kept wondering where the affection is coming from,because I couldn't feel any between all these characters,and it gave me the illusion that I left something out. There was another male character in the first few chapters that gave me a headache: Luke. Two broken people getting tangled in each other - never would've worked out. I had a feeling Casey was,maybe unconsciously,leading them all on. Exactly why she should've sorted her stuff out first,but I understand the story has a starting point and it has to go from there.

The funny thing is,I never got to learn the name of Casey's deceased mother. I thought maybe she named the protagonist of the book Casey was writing after her but that was never directly confirmed. Then there were some random things that made me do a double take. For example being a golf prodigy and her real name cause it's not actually Casey,which I didn't exactly understand why she hasn't changed since the nickname was given by her perverted father. Her idea of how to teach literature was ridiculous too and the whole book was about how she can't write for different reasons. Well,she never even really sat down and tried.

The last couple of chapters and some wisely written lines made up for this ride,but the main character could've done those things much sooner and it felt a bit miraculous. Also feeding your mothers ashes to geese felt so freaking off,the description gave me a morbid sense of feeling. The last sentences provided a nice meaning and explanation,I still feel wrong about it.

(Please keep in mind that I haven't watched the movies.)
I liked this sequel much more than the first book. The pacing was steadier and the chemistry turned up a notch. Although Josh's nearly complete absence was surprising to me,Peter's character became more loving,and John! Oh John Ambrose McClaren,my darling! I absolutely adored him. Am I the only one who was/is rooting for him? I feel like his character is a much safer choice for Lara Jean. He's thoughtful,gentle,caring and smart. He became brave for her. He's the one you can comfortably read in silence with. Ugh! Being with him is easy as breathing. The drama revolving around Peter and Genevieve is reasonably frustrating for the heroine. I mean who wants their boyfriend's ex still in the picture? Even though I loved Peter in this volume more than at first,he has yet to apologize,man up,give an explanation and commit. I did like how Margot,Kitty and Chris were having Lara Jean's back as a team in the beginning and the representation of double standard.

What I did not like: Kitty's character is annoying to me sometimes,I'm sorry. She is always scheming in the background when specifically asked not to (I know she's 10,but still) and she only does favors if there's something in it for her,she's way too bossy. Another thing I noticed is that in the first half of the book Lara Jean is repeatedly talking about how handsome Peter is. I get it,he's a popular teenage boy. There are more to a person than looks,girl. I was shocked how quickly she ditched John for Peter's sorry 4ss in the end. Also Anonyb1tch is supposed to be a Gossip Girl knock off?

Altogether this is a good story,there were several GASP and swoon moments for me. I enjoyed reading it. I'm going to pick up part 3.