sam

I just realised that Jess is literally the main character.
This was a surprisingly good book! I mean, sure, the synopsis is very misleading and the big twist, while quite unpredictable, requires a great suspension of beliefs; but I still really enjoyed it. This book was a wild ride from start to finish and took a completely different direction than what I was expecting. The romance was really ~unexpected~ and cute. I think I speak for everyone when I say that this just turned one of our biggest what-ifs into reality. Like I said, this book is not very realistic as this would never happen in real life but, sometimes, that's exactly why we read fiction. Overall, this was a really fun read and I would totally recommend it!!!

i loved it so fucking much??? as an abuse survivor myself, i related to it so much that it made me sad. i literally highlighted half of this book. the characters are so??? i fucking love them??? especially lee!!
it's also really funny and happening and has some truly badass moments. also can we talk about how iris has endometriosis?? that's so fucking rare in books and i love the rep...
it's also wonderfully feminst which i love to see!! this book is just really fucking powerful
JUST READ IT AAAAAAAA THIS BOOK IS THE SHIT

this is literally my perfect young adult book. i loved absolutely everything about it. it was VERY juicy in a gossip girl kind of way (expect much better coz that show SUCKS. the drama in this one on the other hand was???chef's kiss???) and the romance made me realise what swoonworthy even means.??
also even tho we didn't get a lot of it, ivy and emily's friendship completely melted my heart??? LITERAL GOALS I SAY,,,??
oh and the mixed media format was so fun to read. truly one of my fav parts of the book !!
i lurrrrrved the relationship between ivy and daniel. their arc was just sooooo damn satisfying. also mateo and autumn were prettayyy cute. BTW MATEO IS MY NEW BOOK BOYFRIEND.??
and can we just talk about ivy and mateo??? that ship was def the highlight of this book for me. they even made my cold heart flutter (jk my heart is not cold, its warm as a blanket)??
cal was def my least favorite tho. like why was he even there??? other than to further the plot of course ????. idk he was just really annoying.
i loved how lil things tied up together by the end tho. like, even the ones outside the actual mystery ( although it gave me trust issues lol).??
speaking of the actual mystery, even though it kind of took a backseat for me because i was just soooo invested in the characters, i loved the main reveal itself. it was just such a mess but also made some points about topics i was not expecting this book to go into.??
i wasn't really a fan of the twist at the end tho. seeing as this isn't a series (at least as far as i know), i saw no point in going for a kind of an open, unsettling ending. idk i just like my books to answer all my questions and not leave me with more by the end, especially in a YA thriller. im the kind of person who needs my stories to be perfectly wrapped up by the end with no cliff-hangers if there isn't going to be a sequel. but that's just me.??
OVERALL THO TAKE ALL MY STARS QUEEN ????

I liked Tweet Cute but this was so much better. Emma Lord's writing has improved noticeably!??
This book started out just okay to me but then it slowly got better and better. This has enough family drama to rival the haunting of hill house ????
I loooooooved the characters especially Finn and Connie (my aro queen ??????). Also, Savvy and Micky were so cute, I would kill for them ????
This gave me the same feelings as Foolish Hearts and I am ALWAYS looking for that. (It's time we accept that authors named Emma are just superior!) By the end, I literally couldn't stop smiling.??
Abby's relationship with Poppy almost made me CRY which literally never happens...??
And Abby and Savvy (that rhymes!) are sister goals. Also, LEO. He is SO precious, my heart can't take it. Abby and Leo were childhood-friends-to-lovers excellence. They kind of also gave me star-crossed-lovers vibes.??
This book made me weirdly nostalgic like my heart is so full?????
I loved how this wasn't just straight up a rom-com, it focused on so many other relationships too. Emma Lord should do more of that!??
This book just gave me a lot of hope. I related to Abby and her struggles SO much. I don't wanna sound clich?? and say “it tackles so many important topics” but it really does. I think a lot of people (especially young people) will resonate with this. The premise is crazy but the execution is amazing.

After You Have A Match, my expectations were definitely way too high for this book. And I was kinda let down. :(But let's start with what I liked. This book had a really strong beginning, or maybe I just thought so coz I had the NEW EMMA LORD BOOK high. I thought this story really had a lot of depth to it. I loved reading about the emotional moments (didnt cry tho which is pretty sad). Millie as a character was quite fun to read about and SOME parts of the romance were definitely Swoonworthy???. Also, I really like that cover.The second half of this book is actually where it all seemed to fall apart for me. I don't usually have a problem with this, but this book was wayyyy too unrealistic to ignore. I was rolling my eyes so hard when it turned out that everything Oliver did that led to the animosity between him and Millie was actually for her own good uwu~~Oh and when Cooper and Beth became a thing (and then got engaged not even a year later)?? COME TF ON NOW. i mean, i get it, we want Millie and Chloe to be stepsisters, but was it really necessary to go to SUCH lengths to make it happen?????in fact, why did everyone have to couple up?! let ppl be single and happy ffsAlso, I saw that reveal coming from a mile ago so like,,,,ANOTHER EYE ROLL. i swear i almost saw my lord and savior jesus christ back there. ????Plus, the romance relied way too heavily on the miscommunication trope just for the sake of creating angst even tho it made NO sense. they kept saying they knew each other but he didn't even know what was going on until the last 10% of the book?????NOW NOW NOW i didn't like completely hate this book, hence the rating. i was just expecting something much better. sighhhhh :///

??Overall, I really enjoyed this book!!! Although there was plenty of snark, it was also a bit darker than I was expecting. In fact, this book was not what I'd assumed it would be like at all. In a good way...I think.
I loved the fat representation so much. Even though everyone apart from Mila & Aniyah was annoying (fat girls unite) , this book was still enjoyable.
Oh, and what's with me predicting whodunnit all the time??? Maybe it's coz MEN ARE THE REAL TERROR.??

I actually really liked this book and no one is more surprised than me at this fucking miracle.??
This book was...much funnier than I expected it to be. Unexpected would be a good word to describe it, actually. Sure, it was also at times predictable and seemed to follow the formula that a lot of YA thrillers follow, but I'm not really complaining.??
My one criticism would be that I wish I'd connected to the characters a bit more, but other than that, this book was like a fresh breath of air in that you need to experience it to enjoy it (duh). It was also really diverse which I'm happy about and it does talk about the privileges cis-het white men enjoy, that I really fucking loved. Oh, and the last line made me gasp out loud.??
Overall, a really solid thriller!??

??minor spoilers???


THIS BOOK WAS SIMPLY EVERYTHING. It was so well written and also made furious at men who do this (as if i needed any more of that in my life ????). Scarlett is my favorite girlboss and honestly I relate to wanting to kill shitty men.
While i didn't see that twist coming, it was also not anything entirely new to me. But it still made a lot of sense. Every single man in this was awful (except Drew, my gay dad) which is realistic ig ????
I lurveeeeeed the ending so much. My little meow meows, my precious little sapphic murder buddies ????????????
The entire time I was going, “AS SHE SHOULD ????”
Nicking half a star though because at times this was kinda predictable. Still absolutely loved it.??

is there anything sadder than rereading an old favourite and realising it isn't a favourite anymore?

PROS
- the second half
- all the twists i didn't see coming
- a friends-to-lovers (the superior trope!!!) romance, however vanilla
- this book could save the world
- i loved the direction it took iykyk
- i could honestly read a whole damn book about maya's social media posts, which were infinitely more interesting than anything else in this book

CONS
- the first half
- the writing which felt more middle grade than YA
- how slow (but at the same time not slow) this book was
- the notion that you can't be happy if you don't have kids (ugh, breeders)
- shen was boring as hell

*

The fact that I read this during a similar pandemic . . . hi, eerie existential crisis.
full rtc

in theory, this book had the potential to be absolutely amazing but it didn't really live up to that. as much as i liked logan and her dads (ashley was annoying), i couldn't connect to any of the characters and found most of them awful. this book was just underwhelming and even the romance felt rushed. i did like the writing but that is not enough to carry a whole ass book. the mystery was...aight but i didn't exactly have my panties in a twist. i liked how easy to read this was tho. and at least i got some dilf action so not everything's doomed lmao.

i mean...i liked it and i didn't??? it did follow a lot of typical thriller tropes as KMM's books often do and I didn't find this particularly thrilling but it was still good. it won't go down in history as the best thriller to ever grace the ya genre though and the big reveal was really underwhelming. but i have to say i do like KMM's humor a lot. and the characters were cute. it is definitely unconventional in its own way. i really didn't see the point of the allison pov & think that it took away from the story but if you like character focused thrillers (aubrey was my favorite), you can give this a try. don't really have a lot to say about this one other than that.??

This is Kara Thomas' best work yet. She is truly such a versatile author.
In case it isn't clear: I fucking loved this book. The twists & turns kept on the edge of my seat the whole time (tho I can see how people might dislike that particular one but, for me, it just made me laugh). It took such wild directions. It was fucked up & so not what I was expecting, like, at all. The twists are literally jaw-dropping. Okay, maybe not literally but you get my point.
Sure, Clary was kind of annoying sometimes (more on that later), but I can't deny how good this was.??
This was also much darker than I expected it to be which I loved (also unexpectedly). But some parts actually made me sad. Check out the trigger warnings before going in because it deals with some serious topics.
This book is so binge-able & I wasn't bored for a second. It is full of such raw emotion. Also, I love Thomas' writing so much. The pacing, too, was amazing. I couldn't stop reading it.
Btw I did not love the romantic subplot at all. Like, why.
Now coming to the reason I didn't rate this a full five stars.
I did not like the way depression was treated in this book. First if all, when it is suggested that Jesse may be depressed, Claire vehemently denies it which pisses me off. You can't tell just by looking at someone if they are struggling. Mental illness isn't always visible on people's faces. Also, I hated how depression was villainized in this book. It is heavily implied that Jesse killed Kat because he was depressed. Which is just a terrible thing to put in a book. Of course, that doesn't actually end up being true but I did not like how Claire did nothing to deny that and instead, kind of played into it.??
For me personally, I can overlook that blip & still love this book but to each their own.??

I really, really enjoyed this book. I devoured it in a blink. The characters were well-fleshed out (though there were one too many conflicts for my liking), the writing was really digestible and at times, profound, and I just had a fun time.
Sure, it was predictable and pretty standard YA but I need just that sometimes. Also, Tash is asexual!!! Even though she is not where I am on the spectrum, I still loved the representation. Even apart from that, this gets brownie points for ALL the representation. It is quite a diverse story in all spheres.
None of the characters were too likable, which is fine, because I don't like saints anyway. This also deals with some heavy topics so check out the content warnings in case you are bothered by that. I really enjoyed the Unhappy Families parts of this book, which was A LOT. All in all, a pretty solid read!

this was actually really fun and ridiculous. i enjoyed it quite a bit. i have so many funny moments highlighted!!??
BUT. charlie grant is def one of the most annoying mcs i have ever read about. the way she behaved really got on my last nerves.??
anyhoo jj is clearly the superior sibling!! OH AND RODNEY LOML

pros:

- the mystery was rock solid. it took some really unexpected turns too.
- some twists totally caught me by surprise
- this was really funny. definitely more than i was expecting it to be.
- the writing was very digestible which i loved
- stevie, my relatable queen
- david, the hopeless romantic
- nate is such a softie & a hilarious one at that
- susan & paul are my gay parents


cons:

- the pacing was kinda off. We got a couple of flashbacks and that was it?! the rest of the book was in present time which didn't really make much sense in the context of the previous books
- it was almost like i had read this book before. coz i had, in all the previous books in this series. all of them follow pretty much the same format and it can get really tedious.??

Overall, this was probably my favorite installment of this series. I enjoyed it a lot! Hopefully we'll get more of Stevie Bell and this isn't the end. I also gotta read all of Maureen Johnson's backlist.??

Omfg this book was so fucking good, I'm kinda at a loss for words. If there is one thing I have a weekness for, it's a cooking/baking competition setting in books & this one absolutely delivered. Honestly, just reading about reality tv in general fascinates me.??
Even though I didn't think much of her in the beginning, by the end Rosaline really grew on me. Harry was a fucking cinnamon bun, Amelie was an icon, Anvita a legend and so were almost all the other characters, except for the shitty ones. Can Alan go die in a ditch please and thank you.??
I EVEN CRIED!!! AND THAT'S THE HIGHEST PRAISE I CAN GIVE A BOOK.??
It made my heart swell like a balloon and was also so unbelievably funny?????
All the discussion around mental health, toxic relationships, shitty parents and finding yourself really got to me. It was so fucking spot on.??
Also, this book was wonderfully queer, so that made me really happy.??
Don't even get me started on all the baking talk! It weirdly turns me on. /j
And the romance was cutest thing on earth??? I HOPE WE SEE MORE OF THEM IN THE NEXT BOOK. SPEAKING OF WHICH, HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WAIT UNTIL 2022?????
ALEXIS HALL, TAKE ALL MY MONEY UWU??

??? what i liked:
- this book is very funny
- it is a wild ride
- i wasn't bored for a second??
- the concept is amazing
- so is the cover

??? what i hated:
- the heaps of casual fatphobia
- margot is lowkey a terf if you think about it
- i hate sammy and avery
- i hate the conclusion?????
- like the way it all wrapped up made no sense in the context of the story fr
- this is me being nitpicky but i hate when books use unnecessary exclamation marks!!! or RANDOM CAPITALIZATION
- imma forget all about this book in like 2 days so
- there is a lot more but I'll have to go into spoilers and I'm tired af

basically i don't think I'll be continuing with this series, toodles x

So, I just realized, all Emma Mills books have pretty much the same format and I don't mind one bit. I really, really love her books. This one in particular was so funny, I was literally cracking up multiple times. It was also sweet and the romance made me fucking cry (and barf).
What I didn't like here was a ‘trope' that was brought in, which is forced misunderstanding just for the sake of angst. Thankfully, it wasn't really drawn out. SpoilerAlso, is it really plausible that a famous boy band member would attend your high school radio interview? I think not.
Bottom line: I'll definitely be picking up whatever Emma Mills writes for the rest of eternity! (coz of course I'm immortal & so is she)

This was pretty fun lol. I really loved the writing of this one. It was observational and mesmerising. It read more like a mystery than this author's usual whodunnit-thrillers because here the protagonist wasn't actively trying to solve the case but rather twists were slowly unfolding pretty much on their own. I absolutely adored all the complicated family dynamics.
I wasn't too shocked by the big reveal but I didn't completely see it coming either so that's that.
Overall: totally would recommend. Check it out to get your fill of YA thrillers.

NO BC THIS BOOK WAS SOOOO GODDAMN CUTE???!!
This story managed to be original while being a good retelling AT. THE. SAME. TIME.?? Also, my phat ass loved the body positivity so fucking much.??
I loved all the characters (or at least the ones that we're supposed to love)!!! And the ending!!! it was so sweet, im cryinggggggg

??This was probably my most anticipated book of the year. After all, I proudly proclaim take a hint dani brown as one of the best romances I've ever read. So it's with a heavy heart that I announce: this wasn't as good as that book.
Don't get me wrong, I really liked it. There were genuine laugh-out-loud moments in this. The banter were so fun and several scenes had me going awww and wtf?! (in the best way).
I just didn't didn't care about this couple as much as I'd hoped to. Also, some parts of this book were painfully corny. And the last-act-conflict was so stupid. Ugh. I hate the miscommunication trope with every fibre of my being. Nevertheless, I still had a good time and am going to be reading whatever Talia Hibbert writes for the rest of eternity because damn, that woman can write. I love her weird books.??

Uhhh...this is awkward.
This wasn't that bad and occasionally really funny but also clich??d as fuck. I had high expectations because this book is hyped but alas! Why the fuck can we not have nice things?
I also could not be free from that cursed “miscommunication” trope. Sigh. Lemme just say, I called it!
I will still be picking up the next book because I've heard it's gets better, just not right away.

There's a lot I liked about this book. It has GREAT representation and is really diverse. It was at times really funny. The characters were v easy to root for. The overall message is SO interesting. I was completely immersed in the story. Like all of Lauren James' work, this was incredibly creative.??
But.??
The writing could've been better. I also felt that the execution was kind of wobbly. And I did find it arguably unrealistic. Some of the decisions the characters made were REALLY frustrating. This honestly felt slightly longer than it needed to be. And the villains were almost the cartoonish mustache-twirling type.
But, despite everything, this book was one HELL of a ride and I even had some fun with it. ;)