Lisa
Liked the first 20 pages and the world building of it but that was it. This book was boring, disjointed, and confusing.
Was enjoyable but I think was too long. Some of the beginning parts were boring and could have been cut while the end felt anticlimactic and rushed. Liked the podcast and documentary element though! Would like to see this in a tv miniseries.
This has got to be one of the most inclusive books I have ever read. I absolutely love what this book has done for mental health representation. Dev and Charlie are both suffering from mental health disorders and you are there alongside as they experience highs and lows. The characters just felt so real and genuine and it was so wonderful to see that in a book. I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation. It was a beautiful look into acceptance and self-discovery. Dev and Charlie were so sweet together. I really loved the reality tv aspect and how production notes were in between “weeks” of filming. It was cool to be involved with the behind the scenes of Ever After.
This book left me with mixed feelings. I loved the imagery of being in Italy. We visit many different towns, eat lots of delicious food, and spend time admiring the beauty and this is felt in the pages. After discovering that Hotel Poseidon is a real place upon finishing the book, I found that the photos on Google are exactly what I was picturing when I was reading, which was pretty magical. I did expect it to be a bit more emotional than it was. At times I felt it was more of a love story between Adam and Katy rather than a love story between Katy and her mother. I didn't particularly feel chemistry between Katy and Adam and at the very end it seemed like Katy and Eric's relationship was resolved too easily, yet unrealistic. The ending as a whole felt very rushed. I enjoyed the magical-realism of Carol coming to life, but I found it obvious that Katy was really in the past, and the fact that she didn't realize it, along with the idea that this was some sort of twist in the book felt poorly executed and did not pack the emotional punch I had expected.
I liked the beginning and the flashback chapters; academic thrillers about a mysterious friend group will always be one of my favorite tropes. Once the flashback chapters ended, I lost interest. This book was about 150 pages too long. We are reminded that Hannah is pregnant on every page, and it got so stale. She was also making really stupid and dangerous decisions investigating the case and she was very unlikeable. The ending was not satisfying to me and I was skimming the last 100 pages.
I loved The Winter People, but this one was just fine. I considered not finishing it a few times but wanted to get to the big twist that I've heard of. I will say the ending took me by surprise and I enjoyed the outcome. However, I found it too slow to get there. Much of the middle felt unnecessary and could have been edited out. I felt like the last 100 pages or so had more action than the whole book.
I liked the beginning, and the look at the brutal world where humans are meat. It had some really strong and nasty imagery, especially in the chapters of touring the facility. This was very black mirror, and I think would do better in a show format. I could not get into the writing style at all. It took me awhile to understand who was narrating, and there were too many characters. I considered DNF'ing, but wanted to get to the big twist, which was bleak, but sort of predictable. I'm sad because I've been looking forward to this for a long time, it just didn't do it for me.
Too many characters that I didn't care about and it felt like there were time jumps intertwined with the present story. It would be much better to have past and present alternating chapters.
I liked the flashbacks and college setting but it just dragged too much. The beginning was good but I got tired of the same plot and the ending just felt flat.
Absolutely loved the different perspectives and time jumps. A really fleshed out plot and set of characters!
A decent popcorn thriller. I won't remember anything a week from now, but it was fun, although predictable
I loved the illustrations, but none of the stories were memorable or exciting. I wished this was in a manga format instead. I loved the bonus story that was in a manga style! The story with illustrations was not as impactful to me.
This was so cute and fun!!! I loved the dynamic, characters, and the missions. Cannot wait to continue
Unsettling and creepy. The end with the cliff had me gasping. Excited to see what's next
Intriguing at the beginning but did not like the Reaper's inner monologue. Loved the included “screenplays” just thought this book would be more fun.
Glad I waited a bit on this one. The COVID piece of the story felt very strong-from wearing masks to wiping down all groceries. Looking back, it is a perfect photograph of how life was during lockdown. The thriller portion went in a direction I didn't expect. The writing style was a bit confusing at first jumping back and forth in time and following different perspectives (but not from first person). But once I got it, the pages didn't stop turning, and I finished it all in pretty much one sitting. Glad to check out this author's other work!
The imagery of the food and soaps in the first half was spectacular. It's pretty obvious on where the story was going, though I did think Ash was a witch at some points but it was still a fun time! The entire book was full of dread, knowing what was going to happen.
Way too many characters and only a couple were distinguishable. I love the format but could not handle who's who any longer.
This felt like 3 different short stories by following three different characters. Finn's part was fine, it took me a minute to determine where we were in the storyline. For some reason I thought this book would mirror book 1 and follow Finn instead of Autumn. I didn't realize it picks up almost at the end of book 1 and just finishes up the story. I didn't like Jack's part that much, nor did I really feel like it was necessary. It was surprising that he was included, I think Sylvie may have made more sense, but I would have liked this more if it was just a Finn/Autumn split. Autumn's part was my favorite. though I wish I would have gotten closure on what happens to the baby. Of course the baby would have a hole in her heart, Autumn's story was tragic. this book felt more fast paced than book 1, there was a clear divide between the three different POVs
This was the first book I've finished in pretty much one sitting in a while. For being a YA thriller I really didn't have high expectations for this one, but it was pretty good! It was a little more intense than I had expected. I really enjoyed the social media reality show aspect of it, and I LOVED the short chapters. This book kept me flipping the pages because each chapter was no more than 5 pages long. I wasn't too blown away by the reveal, but it was still fun
Don't think this author is for me. I enjoyed this the same as her previous book. I just feel like she overwrites, her books are too long. I loved the first half of this, the flashbacks, and the podcasts. When that ended, it took me out of the story. Would have loved to readjust about Shay's upbringing with Laurel, Clem, and Dom. Those were the scariest and darkest parts for me.
This book would have been everything to me if I read when I was in high school. Yet, it was still impactful. I read this in one setting and could not get over how engrossing and real it was. We follow Finny and Autumn throughout high school with flashbacks to their childhood and watch them experience life together and how they grew apart. Autumn was relatable, but I LOVED Finny. While it is foreshadowed in chapter 1 what happens in the end, it was still completely devastating. To think that at that point Finny and Autumn would have finally been together after so long. This was the ultimate friends to lovers/right person wrong time story. Is she pregnant???? Did she survive her grief???? I'm glad I read this when I did, I couldn't imagine waiting for a sequel. But I cannot wait to read from Finny's POV and get the entire flushed out story
The beginning was fine but around the halfway point it got really weird. I think this would have worked better in a short story format.