I always enjoy a good Reddit AITA (I mean, who doesn't), and this fictional one was no exception. I think it was a brilliant, fun, and refreshing way I always enjoy a good Reddit AITA (I mean, who doesn't), and this fictional one was no exception. I think it was a brilliant, fun, and refreshing way to kick off the story. Our love interest, Justin, was a dream. I especially love his surveys about their dates. I adored the first half or so of the book, but then I felt like it was dragging on and the romance got lost in too much outside drama. ...more
And the award for my first 5-star read of the year and new favourite Emily Henry book goes to... FUNNY STORY featuring the most wonderful and relatablAnd the award for my first 5-star read of the year and new favourite Emily Henry book goes to... FUNNY STORY featuring the most wonderful and relatable protagonist, Daphne, and the my dream man, Miles. This was perfection: sweet, charming, and laugh-out loud funny. I have not felt this way about a book in a very long time. My heart is so full. Thank you, Emily Henry. And thank you, Miles (I love you). ...more
A very cool twist on the Groundhog Day trope; I appreciated the scientific explanations of quantum physics and whatnot. It was also really fun that I A very cool twist on the Groundhog Day trope; I appreciated the scientific explanations of quantum physics and whatnot. It was also really fun that I unintentionally read part of the book ON Groundhog Day. I didn't see it coming, but by the end of the book, Miles had me swooning. Physical touch and words of affirmation my love language and he seriously delivered. I appreciate the new adult/college age representation in a book that is not just pure smut - nice to change things up a little!...more
January 2022: I finally hopped onto The Love Hypothesis bandwagon, and I'm glad I did! This was so much fun, and surprisingly, totally worth the hype!January 2022: I finally hopped onto The Love Hypothesis bandwagon, and I'm glad I did! This was so much fun, and surprisingly, totally worth the hype! Adam absolutely stole my heart, and Olive was a great protagonist. The romance was sweet, and the soft spot that Adam had for Olive was enough to melt me. I knew that this story was originally fanfiction, but I had no clue who/what for. While I was in the middle of reading, I discovered that it is for Adam Driver/Kylo Ren from Star Wars. I probably would have preferred to have learned this information after I had finished reading the book because that was not at all how I had pictured Adam, and then it was kind of weird for me because I kept bouncing back and forth between the Adam that I had originally imagined and Adam Driver. I think the fake-dating trope can be tricky, and although there was definitely some suspension of disbelief, I was pleased with it overall. The side characters were also done well. Malcolm was my favourite, especially when he called Olive his Kalamata. The science academia setting was unique, and honestly, a really enjoyable aspect. I enjoyed the writing style, which was a pleasant surprise because I usually prefer romances written in first person rather than third. It was a quick, lighthearted, and fun read that I sped right through in less than two days. I had to knock it down a star because there were a couple of scenes that I wasn't really a fan of and the ending was too abrupt for my taste. I would have liked to have seen another scene or two of Olive and Adam officially together I would definitely recommend this, and I'm looking forward to more of Ali Hazelwood's work!
January 2025: Reread this 3 years later, and it's still so much fun. Definitely very ridiculous at times, but I can look past that. Sometimes, you just need something silly!!...more
This was everything that I look for in a rom-com, and then some.
Enemies-to-lovers always has been and always will be my favourite trope. Lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers, however, puts a whole new spin on it and to say that I was intrigued would be quite the understatement. I dove into this headfirst and I had such a blast.
It was unique, hilarious, sweet and adorable! I had so, so, SO much fun reading this and I’m so happy that I had the opportunity to pick it up. I normally struggle to keep up with new releases each year, so I’m really glad that after a couple of months on the waiting list, I managed to borrow this e-book from my library - it was well worth the wait. It's only September, but I already know that this book will be included on my top reads of the year!
I think that this book did a really fantastic job of showing different people’s love styles. Throughout the story, Naomi felt as though she and Nicholas were no longer in love because of the things that she expected Nicholas to do to show his love, which he did not do. I think many romance novels will often have characters that demonstrate their love for their partners in very stereotypical ways, which may make people feel as though those things are the most important parts of a relationship or the only way to express your love, even though there are so many ways different ways to show somebody how much you care. In this case, Nicholas showed his love for Naomi in numerous different ways each day that were not necessarily what Naomi was expecting, but they were not any less meaningful, as shown in this example: I think about what Nicholas is up to today. His devotion to family, being the rock they all depend on. Being the man they call to come fix whatever’s gone wrong, to smooth it out and make it better. I think of what these qualities will be like when transferred to a wife and children. I think how there’s no way he’ll ever miss a school play, a parent-teacher conference, a soccer game. How he’ll want his wife to know he’s capable of supporting her financially and she can work if she wants but doesn’t have to, because that’s how he shows his love—by providing stability. It’s a gesture I’ve completely misinterpreted, since it’s loving but not necessarily romantic. You look at a love letter and it’s clear as day—you think, This is a love letter. But when your significant other says, You don’t need to work. You don’t need a job, you might hear, I don’t think you’ll find meaningful employment without a college education. I don’t believe in you. In my head, I’ve been assuming that when Nicholas says I don’t need to work, what he means is that any job I’d qualify for is so beneath his notice that I might as well not work at all. In Nicholas’s head, all he’s done is say, Here I am, here I am. Be anything! It doesn’t matter if you don’t make much money, because I’ll take care of you. I’ll let you need me. I’ll be your rock, whatever happens. Spread your wings, you can always fall back on me.
Although I had a heck of a time following Naomi and Nicholas in their ridiculous pranks and petty arguments, when the two of them came together as a couple again, it was just dreamy. Here is one of my favourite scenes; my heart melts into goop every time that I read it. “What are you doing home?” I blink several times, waiting for him to disappear. I’m still dreaming. “You missed me.” “You came home because I missed you?” He’s got his elbow bent on the pillow, palm under the back of his head, watching me fathomlessly. His other hand drapes across his stomach. “Yes.” My pulse speeds up, because I’m in his room and he’s caught me. He drove home all night in the snow and the dark and found someone sleeping in his bed. This is where he belongs, but he might not say the same about whoever it is he sees when he looks at me. Which Naomi? Can he tell a difference? He sits up, leaning over me. My vision is adjusting to the dark enough to clear the shadows from his face, and now I can see that his gaze is liquid. His lips are a soft curve. “I missed you, too,” he says, and presses those lips gently to mine. I loop my arms around his neck and tug him closer, in case he has any ideas of retreating after one kiss. He smiles against my mouth, closes his eyes, and I melt into the feel of him against me. The kiss is a hungry, powerful force, but he breaks it so he can travel down and kiss my neck. My body reacts, breaking out into an inferno of heat, sensitizing, knowing he’s the only one who can give me what I want. Into my skin, he murmurs, “I’ve missed you everywhere.” “Mm?” “Here,” he says as his lips brush where my heart beats, letting the pain and ache bleed into his voice. “I’ve missed you here.” He kisses my mouth. “And here.” My fingers tunnel into his hair, and his turn to fists that burrow into the mattress, lifting his body over mine. He stares deeply into my eyes. “Here.” The word is a pale breath. “I’ve missed you, too,” I reply, the edges of my vision going gray and blurry. Nothing else exists right now. The world begins and ends with this man. I don’t know I’m crying until he wipes it away and his own eyes shimmer with tears.
We go back to Nightjar and he familiarizes me with the game. He bounces me involuntarily on his knee, which won’t stop jostling, and his fingers tighten around my waist. He’s not mindful of his body language, absorbed in his storytelling, his tips and opinions. He’s more animated than I’ve seen him in a long, long time, and he’s loving this. He loves introducing me to a game that gives him so much joy. I thought that this was really cute too.
The next day I slip another note into his lunchbox: Good morning! I think you’re a terrific pancake maker and you always look and smell very nice. Thank you for supporting me. Have a great work day! Cavities everywhere are counting on you. I also thought that this was very cute - handwritten notes are the best!!
I set my alarm on Saturday morning so that I wake up early enough to see Nicholas off. It’s insane that they’ve scheduled the meeting for ten a.m. when he has to drive to get there. It’s as dark as outer space and way too cold to be traveling. His engine and tires might blow up. On top of that, he’s leaving right when I’m starting to come down with the stomach flu. There’s a rising lump in my throat when I watch him tie his shoelaces, a leather bag with a change of clothes and overnight essentials at his feet. “I don’t feel well,” I mutter. He turns his head, scanning me from top to bottom. “What’s wrong?” “Stomachache. I feel like I’m going to be sick. I’m all sweaty and uncomfortable.” I’m also pacing. For something to do, I unzip his bag and paw through his stuff. I dab some of his cologne on my wrists and rub them together, then bring the scent to my nose to inhale slowly. It settles my nausea a little. Then I raise my eyes to meet Nicholas’s probing ones and my heart stutters. “What?” “Nothing.” There’s a tremor in his voice and he looks away, tying his other shoe. When he stands up, I nearly shout. “Wait! You can’t leave yet. You haven’t eaten any breakfast.” “It’s too early for me to be hungry. I’ll grab something on the road later.” “You want more coffee?” I drift toward the kitchen but he shakes his head, tapping a thermos. “Got plenty right here.” Maybe he shouldn’t drink coffee. It’ll get him all wired and he’ll speed. He’ll fly off an overpass and his car will do sixteen rolls in midair. “I’m worried you’re going to fall asleep at the wheel.” Nicholas chuckles. “I went to bed early, so I’m wide awake. I’ll be all right.” “What if it starts to snow?” “I won’t fall asleep even if it starts snowing.” I think I’m amusing him. I frown. “Nicholas, I’m serious. I did some researching on Cohasset and I wasn’t going to say anything because I didn’t want to spook you, but in August there were three carjackings. Some guy came up to people at a gas station and said their gas cap had fallen off, and when they turned to check he pulled a gun on them.” He cradles my jaw in his hands. His gaze is molten and he looks almost like he could love me. I think about all the times I almost walked away and it’s terrifying. I would have missed out on this. “Then I won’t get gas in Cohasset.” I’m pathetic. A helpless newborn kitten. “You can’t leave me here when I’m ill.” He puts a hand to my forehead. The gesture feels so intimate. I’ve slept with this man, but this feels intimate? I’m contagious. He can’t go to Cohasset or he’ll infect the whole brewery, and he needs to stay quarantined here with me. “I think you’re lovesick,” he says with a curving mouth. My stomach flips. My tongue is tied in at least three knots. I can’t think of a response, so he steps even closer, until our bodies are just barely touching. “You are. Trust me, I know all the signs.” My mouth doesn’t work. I try to form words and let out an unintelligible squeak. He grins and leans in to kiss my temple. His lips pause at my ear, and I shiver so hard I know he feels it. “It’s a condition I’m quite familiar with myself.” I clutch the arm of the couch so that I don’t tip over when he withdraws. His back is turned to me, shaking slightly, and I’d swear he’s trying not to laugh. I’m such a mess over his accusation that I barely hold it together long enough to say good-bye. He says, “Good luck at your interview. I know you’ll knock it out of the park. Be back before you know it, pretty girl.” He winks, and then he’s gone, in his Jeep that’s going to crash, with a contagious illness and either too much or not enough caffeine. I just couldn’t resist throwing this one in too because it’s so adorable I can hardly handle it!!
I absolutely adored the writing style! The narration is very imagery-heavy and I was obsessed! There were also some very fun pop culture references that I enjoyed. As I read the ebook, I bookmarked so many lines and passages that I loved, so prepare for a quote dump.
I pile a load of unsavory words onto a cutting board and dice them up into tiny pieces.
Nicholas has a nice body. It’s elegant and toned - the sort of body you could see mastering a piano as well as running across a rugby field. Currently, I’m not privileged enough to enjoy the benefits of his nice, elegant body, so men who were not previously my type are all hot to me now. I’m in a bad way. Boulder-size men with ZZ top beards and face tattoos, Balding mad scientists. Count Chocula. The silhouette from Mad Men’s credits. If this drought goes on any longer I’ll be lusting after the featureless figure on men’s restroom signs.
And then I see it: a signal that eating my hair all night has not been in vain. It arrives in the form of an empty mint wrapper sitting in the cup holder. I subtly sniff the air and heck yes, that is definitely wintergreen I smell. I check the cup holder again and it’s even better than I’d thought. Two empty wrappers! He’s doubling up! A man doesn’t double up on mints unless he’s preparing for a little move-making.”
She learned from her own mother-in-law (a truly terrifying individual I got to meet only once before Satan called her home) how to be frigid and passive-aggressive. This one cracked me up.
When he is home, it’s like he can’t wait for our minimal togetherness time to be over so he can scurry off to his study and hunch over the computer until bedtime. In my head, I’ve named his computer Karen, after Plankton’s computer wife on Spongebob.
”It’d be nice if you treated me like you treat your mom,” I say to the windshield, because I’m not quite brave enough to say it to his face. In my headI repeat what I just told him and my eyes bulge. I’ll take Thins I Never Thought I’d Say for two hundred, Alex.
”We’re not having children,” I declare. “I’m barren. I lost my uterus in a Ponzi scheme.” I love Naomi so very much.
”Are those the words you’d like to put in my mouth?” My chin drops. He lowers his gaze to a newspaper and flicks the page. He did it for dramatic effect. I know he didn’t get a chance to finish reading the article he was on. “Actually, I’d like to put an apple in your mouth and roast you on a spit,” I say.
”Don’t let me die here. I want to be somewhere warm when I go.” “Yeah, better ease into those warmer temperatures. It’ll get a lot hotter once you arrive in your destination.”
That picture has accumulated more comments than anything I’ve ever posted, and when I think about it I want to watch his blood drip into a bedpan. I want it to coagulate into a gelatin that I pour over a lemon cake, which I’ll consume using utensils carved from the stone where his heart should be. While it may be a little bit on the gruesome side, the imagery in this passage amazed me.
Just a couple of days ago, I filed a millimeter of wood off the leg of his desk so it would wobble.
He pinches a nickel that’s sitting on the TV stand. “Heads, we start doing things my way. Tails, we stay the same.” “You want to plan our lives based on a coin toss? That sounds about right.” I wish he’d flip a coin to decide the fate of our relationship while he’s at it. Heads, we break up. Tails, we flip the coin again. We could quit each other right now and blame it all on the coin. As I lumer out into the cold to switch on the ignition, I am a hero. I’m the most selfless fancee who ever lived. I nearly slip on a patch of ice and for a split second I imagine myself in a hospital bed, leg raised up in one of those sling thingies, Nicholas fussing over me and fluffing my pillow. I don’t even complain about my broken leg. It’s nothing, I say stoically. I’m just grateful it wasn’t you who fell. Nicholas weeps at my strength, He’s never met another woman this amazing.
I’m still offended over Deborah trying to cram me into Slender Man’s measurements.
I use children’s bowling balls because my strengths lie in the mental arena rather than physical. I’m also not above requesting bumpers. Haha, I do this too.
I am so eager to see what else Sarah Hogle will be coming up with in the years to come!! I’m already counting down the days until her next book, Twice Shy, is released in April....more
Rating a book can actually be a surprisingly difficult task, much harder than one would probably think. Does a 5 star rating mean that a book was perfect? No. Does it mean that I loved everything about it? No. But when a book comes along and brings me such pure joy and giddy excitement, when I am bouncing out of my seat, kicking my legs, and squealing when reading it because I'm fidgety with enthusiasm, when I can hardly stop thinking about it whenever I put it down, when I have to put it down for a second just so I'll remember to finally take a breath, when I'm sad to say goodbye when it's over... I just can't stop myself from awarding it such a high rating. And that is exactly what this book was. It was flawed, but it was also fluffy and cute and fun, and I loved it and genuinely had a fantastic time reading it.
I really liked Hazel's character. She was fun, I saw parts of myself in her at times, and I would love to be friends with her in real life. With all that being said, I feel like she was unrealistically exuberant and eccentric. Some of the ludicrous situations that Hazel apparently got herself into - unbelievable. But nonetheless, here are a few Hazel moments that I loved:
With a deep, bracing breath, I do one more check of my outfit. I swear it’s not a vanity thing; more often than not, something is unbuttoned, a hem is tucked into underwear, or I’ve got an important garment on inside out. This characteristic might explain, in part, why third graders feel so at home in my classroom.
This is Hazel—of course she’s wearing something like this. Her blue dress is cinched in at the waist by a belt decorated with red apples and brightly colored textbooks. I’m getting definite Ms. Frizzle vibes, a look I wouldn’t have guessed I’d be into, but one glance at Hazel’s long, delicate neck and the smooth gloss of her ponytail and … well, here we are. She spots me through the glass, grinning widely before walking over—even though I’m waving at her to indicate I can wait until the class is in the cafeteria for lunch. Her eyes are scotch and flirtation. Her lips are a wild cherry red. Something inside me shivers. “Welcome to the fiesta!” Wooden pencil earrings swing with the happy little shake of her head. I hand her an apple and a cellophane-wrapped bunch of sunflowers. “I thought I’d catch you at lunch—I wanted to wish you a happy first day.” She takes the flowers and hugs them to her chest. “You already did that when you texted me this morning!” “Well, I’m glad I decided to be thorough or I’d have missed all of this.” I motion from her toes to the top of her head, where, incidentally, there’s a ceramic bookworm pinned in her hair. She does a little spin. “You like? It’s my traditional first-day-of-school costume.” When I’m a teacher someday, I am 100% dressing like this.
“Ask him if he wants to come over for lunch tomorrow! [...] Finally, she comes back. “He says he’d love to.” “Great.” I bend down, making fish kisses at the beautiful teal betta I think I’m going to adopt. “Tell him to bring takeout from Poco India when he comes.” “Hazel!” I burst out laughing. “I’m kidding, oh my God. I’ll make lunch. Tell him to come over anytime after eleven.”
I take a sip of wine and grin at them. Josh puts his fork down and cups his forehead. But in a few beats they all break into laughter, and Emily looks over at me with my favorite kind of fondness. “She doesn’t really have worms. I was just kidding.” I am nothing if not a decent icebreaker
Also the fact that Hazel’s dog’s name is Winnie the Poodle. As a Winnie the Pooh fanatic, this was a little detail that I adored.
I felt some other parts of the story were painfully unrealistic and/or convenient. For instance, Hazel’s best friend, Emily, was brothers with Josh and they seem to be very close (they hang out at each other’s houses and go out for lunch together), and yet never once did Hazel meet him or even see a photo of him? Or at least Emily would have mentioned that her brother and Hazel had gone to the same college, or SOMETHING. Come on. But honestly, I don’t care. It’s a rom-com and even when things were crazy, they often did make me laugh. That’s what a rom-com is. These things don’t normally happen in life, but I think that’s part of what makes a rom-com so much fun.
I also liked Josh very much. I hadn’t realized that this was going to be a dual perspective book, but I’m really glad that it was because I enjoyed reading from Josh’s POV. Dual perspective romances are honestly the best because you get to see both characters through each other’s eyes, and what is better than that? I really loved how much Josh valued and cared about his family - I thought it was very sweet. He was very sweet in general. Here are a handful of my favourite Josh moments:
My head is a mess. I slide my phone onto my nightstand and collapse back on the bed. Hazel sounds fine today. Which is good. I should be glad that she’s the same Hazel she was when she woke up yesterday. But I’m not the same Josh.
“Yeah, Hazel has a pretty hard skull,” Josh jokes quietly, and I’m the only one to burst out in a nervous, too-loud cackle. He looks at me, grinning at my awkward hysteria too close to the surface. Josh reaches across the table and brushes his fingertips across the back of my hand in what is either an I’m right here, you’re okay gesture or a Be cool one. This scene melted my heart a little… okay, a lot.
He holds me for a few minutes. Who knows, maybe it’s an hour. I lose track of time and space; if someone decided to invent a comfort machine, it should be shaped just like Josh Im. His right hand rubs slow circles on my back, and his left hand is anchored in the hair at the back of my head and he’s saying quiet things like I’m sorry. I could tell how shocked you were. Shh, I know. Come here, Haze. It’s okay.
He looks around. “It’s just that some people were looking, and I didn’t want you to be embarrassed.” “I’m not embarrassed.” “Hazel doesn’t get embarrassed,” Josh says from behind me with a laugh. But his smile falls when I turn to him, and he sees the expression on my face. “Whoa, what did I miss?” “Hazel was dancing,” Tyler says, leaning into the word like he knows Josh will Get It. Josh, however, does not Get It. “And?” “And … come on.” He looks to Sasha now, but she is similarly unswayed. She piles her eighty feet of hair on her head and rests her hands there. “You were dancing in the pit like fifteen minutes ago.” “But it’s the pit,” Tyler reasons, losing steam. “Fuck off, Tyler,” I say, and then I notice it: the baseball hat on Josh’s head. The sight of it temporarily wipes clear my irritation. It’s a bright orange-yellow—I mean, a nearly blinding color—with giant black block letters across the entire front: CHEESY. And I don’t know why, but it just makes me burst out laughing. “Where did you get this?” Josh breaks his stern attention from Tyler to pull the hat off his head and put it on mine. “I saw it and I thought it would make you laugh.” Josh’s eyes soften, and he gives me such an adoring smile, it’s nearly painful. “You look ridiculous in that. I hope you wear it all day.”
I also curse my lack of home maintenance as the doorknob creaks under my hand, and I hear the drunken slur of my voice when I warn him: “Josh, I’m coming in for your clothes.” “Okay!” He is the happiest drunk I’ve ever known. It smells like my body wash in here, and he must notice, too, because he laughs again. “I’m going to smell like cake!”
Josh and Hazel were a fun couple to root for. Friends-to-lovers is always a fun trope and this story did a great take on it. Most of their double dates resulted in hilarity, and the ones that were completely unsuccessful had some sweet and tender moments that made me root for Josh and Hazel even stronger. I will admit that the poor communication between Josh and Hazel in the last third of the book or so was pretty infuriating, but that angst is part of what made the romance so gripping.
I was expecting this entire book to be pretty predictable, and while there were many elements that were not at all difficult to see coming, there was one plot twist that really threw me for a loop. I didn’t love the ending of the book. I felt like the build-up throughout the novel was very long and it was definitely a slow-burn romance, but when the two characters finally came together in the way that I was awaiting, it soon rushed into an ending. There were more scenes and details and answers to things that I was hoping for, and I sadly didn’t get them. I also feel like we were seriously jipped on the cruise ship trip that they won - that would have been a hysterically fun time.
This was my first Christina Luaren book, but I can promise you that it will not be my last. I cannot even express what a great time I had reading this book and I absolutely cannot wait to pick up my next one. The only question is: which one? (Please tell me which ones you recommend!!)
P.S. One thing I really don’t like about the book is the cover. It’s very pretty and objectively, I like it a lot, but I don’t think it relates well enough to the story....more
I am blown away!!! That ending was absolute brilliance. Between the romance (gosh, Rhysand is just to die for), the action, the characters and their development, the world building and various settings, and plot twists (there were so many but all of them were so good!), this book was beyond words!!!
First of all, the cast of this book was just spectacular! We were introduced to so many new characters, and each and every one of them was as well developed as the last. They all had very unique and fascinating backstories and were so easy to fall in love with. In just one book, everyone in Ryhs' Inner Circle has become so near and dear to my heart and I am very excited to continue on this journey with them! Even some of the smaller characters that we only spent a short amount of time with were so well created and memorable. My favourite was the Bone Reader, but the Weaver and Tarquin were also great. It was also very exciting to see more of this complex and interesting world. We got to visit so many fascinating places! Velaris was so awesome and most definitely my favourite. However, the Prison was eerie and intimidating, as was the Court of Nightmares. I also very much enjoyed visiting the summer court with the sea setting and the Weaver's home.
Secondly, Feyre's growth and development was incredibly realistic and beautiful, and inspiring! At the beginning of the story she was silently struggling and suffering so much and Tamlin as well as everyone else in the court was completely ignoring it. Tamlin continued to ignore her needs and lock her in the hose to ensure that she would not get hurt. I liked Tam's character in the first book, so it was really disappointing and frustrating to see him acting like such a jerk. The way that Feyre's PTSD was written was flawless. She had become so numb and empty, losing the will to even live, which broke my heart into a billion pieces. However, as the book progressed and once she was able to escape from Tamlin, she very slowly began to heal and morphed into the most bad-ass, fierce warrior and I was so here for it!!! Who doesn't love a strong female lead? I also love how selfless and understanding she is! When she gave the water wraith all of her jewelry because she didn't have enough money or food, I was SO HAPPY!!! I especially loved that the decision ended up saving Feyre and Amren's lives. I was so curious for the entire book, waiting to see if the water wraiths would do something to sort of repay the debt, and I was very pleased with the way it all played out!
At the beginning of the book (when she was still with Tamlin) the week that she had with Rhysand every month was exceptional! I adored the way that he took notice to her suffering and HE DID SOMETHING! He saw how much weight she was losing, he knew that each night she was haunted by the events under the mountain, and HE CARED! Unlike some people *cough* Tamlin *cough*... At this point in the story, most of his character and motives remained a mystery, but it was soooo interesting to see little glimpses of his true character! Though I must say that my favourite part was when he was teaching Feyre to read and all of the sentences were about himself - it was so funny and typical of him!
My only complaint is with how the romance ended up playing out. The first 500 pages were pure gold to me. I was obsessed with Feyre and Rhysand's relationship!! There was such tension between them and the banter was natural and flirtatious. However, they also had faced a lot of darkness in their past and could relate to each other on such a strong level. It was almost immediately obvious that they were absolutely perfect for each other, but they had a lot to work through before they could begin their relationship. (As a side note, hearing about Rhysand's time under the mountain was heart shattering! I want to kill Amarantha all over again for what he forced him to do. But he is so brave and selfless I can't handle it!)Both of them had their own demons to face and were dealing with a lot of guilt, but I feel like they helped each other work through it, even before they were together. The progression that they made from acquaintances (I'm not really sure how else to describe it), to friends, to lovers was very realistic and the perfect slow burn romance. It was so flawlessly done I'm at a loss for words. All I really know is that is was an absolute thrill to read about and I simply could not get enough of it. However, for me, things got a little screwed up with the mates plot twist. If they had found out that they were mates, or maybe Rhysand had known for a little while but didn't want to make Feyre feel pressured or anything, I think it would have been great. What I HATED was the fact that Rhys had known Feyre was his mate basically forever. Every single thing that happened between them in the first two books had been orchestrated by Rhysand. I disliked how he showed up at the Spring Court to meet her, when all along I had thought it was just a coincidence. All of those things that he did for her under the mountain that I thought he was doing to ensure her survival and the breakage of the curse (and also to piss off Tamlin) was actually because she was his mate. Also, he apparently had visions of her before they even met....? Could we get any more ridiculous or cliche? In all honesty, I feel like this entire mating this as a whole is kind of dumb and I would like it better if it was not a part of the story. Also, the way that Feyre and Rhysand kept calling each other "my mate" was VERY irritating! For the last hundred or so pages of the book it would be like "my mate did this", "my mate did that", and IT WAS SO ANNOYING!!! The mates plot twist aside, this was one of my favourite romances to read and I'm just about dying in anticipation of what's to come for them.
Oooh, also, there were many, many wonderful quotes, but this one has to be my favourite of the all: “He thinks he'll be remembered as the villain in the story. But I forgot to tell him that the villain is usually the person who locks up the maiden and throws away the key. He was the one who let me out.”
As I mentioned before, the ending of the story was phenomenal!!!! So brilliantly and flawlessly put together - truly genius! Again, I am speechless. I also am really, really excited to see Feyre in Tamlin's court again acting as a deceitful spy. I'm so interested to see how it all plays out and also if Lucien will be able to redeem himself from his actions in this book. I very much liked his character in the first book and was quite disappointed in him this time around. I really that he was better than allowing Tam to treat Feyre like a pet the way he did. Especially because I know that he wanted to help, but was afraid to speak up too much - not that I blame him entirely though because Tamlin had seriously gone insane and had become unpredictable.
This is 100% a book that I could see myself reading again and I'm sure I will in the future, perhaps when the entire series has been released....more
August 2017: If you've been reading with me for a while, you'll know that Jennifer Armentrout is one of my very favourite authors. The Lux series and the Covenant series are a couple of my all time favourites, and I loved The Dark Elements trilogy as well. I had extremely high expectations going into this book, and I could not have been more excited.
Unfortunately, while I did really, really enjoy the book as a whole, I had a few problems with it. BUT, there was a whole lot to love too! Namely, Cameron Hamilton. Where do I even begin? I love him so, so much and he was truly the saving grace of this story. Literally only a mere few pages in and I was already in love. The way that they met was so cute, and then he almost ran her over, and then they found out that they lived across from each other in the apartment building (plus his tortoise was so fricking adorable), and then he sat next to her in class and gave her a cookie, and then they were partners and went stargazing, and it was all just so cute! Cam was caring, romantic, absolutely hilarious, loving, protective, sweet, unwaveringly loyal, and ridiculously gorgeous. The love that he demonstrated for Avery, between cooking her breakfast every Sunday and bringing her homemade baked goods (and I will admit that I found his baking skills to be very attractive), protecting her at the Halloween party, taking care of her when she was sick, even though he was upset with her at the time, and being so concerned about her past was too much for me to handle. Where can I purchase myself my own personal Cameron Hamilton?!? Something that did bother me a tad bit with Cameron is the way he called Avery sweetheart ALL THE TIME. When he did it at the beginning of the story, before they were dating, in was in a more sarcastic way that annoyed Avery and made me laugh. However, when he called he that as a nickname when they were dating, it became very, very irritating. I found their romance to be relatively realistic, as they were friends for a while and really cared for each other before they started dating. I also loved the way that Avery continuously turned down Cam when he asked her out as it was hilarious, though a little stupid on Avery's part. I would have said yes in a heartbeat.
I honestly don't even think that what I'm about to say even counts as a spoiler because it was pretty dang obvious very early on, but I'll count it as one anyway. (view spoiler)[ I'm not really sure whether or not it was supposed to be a plot twist that Avery had been raped, because it was made to be so incredibly obvious very early on in the story,. In fact, I had a pretty good guess before even reading the book just based on the synopsis alone. I feel like it could have been a really interesting mystery aspect of the story that would really keep you interested, but sadly, it just wasn't played out that way. (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ Also, the synopsis was almost a bit deceiving in the sense that it made me expect there to be someone stalking Avery or something, but that really didn't happen. At first it appeared that may have been the case, but I soon realized that the unknown caller/emailer was actually Molly, though Avery never really managed to figure that out on her own for some reason. The twist was just way too obvious and it could have been built up to be really intense, but unfortunately, it was not. (hide spoiler)]
I feel like my biggest issue with the book was the sex. Obviously I knew that it would be steamier since it was New Adult, a genre that I haven't really read before, but this was a thousand times steamier than I ever could have imagined. Within all of the YA books I've read, things get steamy, but it's normally not very descriptive whereas here, it is WAY too descriptive for my comfort. I honestly found myself to be skimming through so much of the book because it was just too much for me. In all honesty, my rating definitely would be 5 stars if it weren't for all the steaminess because it ruined many of the romantic scenes for me.
Overall, the book was enjoyable but it would have to have been a YA with much less obvious twists for me to really love it.
March 2022: It's crazy how differently you can reread a book five years later. I've always considered this to be my favourite NA book, and while it probably still is, I found many parts of it to be ridiculous and problematic this time around.
November 2022: Over five years later, and Cam still gives me the biggest butterflies. Autumn always reminds me of this book, and it was super exciting to actually read much of this book while I was on my university campus. I read this for the first time in high school, and I believe it was the first book I read set in college/university. It's a bit of a full circle moment for me. As I mentioned when I reread this book earlier in the year, there are some parts that I find to be problematic, but the nostalgia and joy that this book brings me is practically unmatched. It is definitely unusual for me to reread a book twice in one year, but it is such a quick and easy read that I couldn't help myself. I still need a personal Cameron Hamilton. ...more
Going into this book, I expected to like it and to enjoy my time reading, but I did think it was going to be a bit overrated and overhyped. I never woGoing into this book, I expected to like it and to enjoy my time reading, but I did think it was going to be a bit overrated and overhyped. I never would have guessed that it would affect me as much as it did. I LOVE THIS BOOK WITH ALL OF MY HEART! It made my smile, and cry, and laugh out loud, and cry a bit more, and then laugh and smile again. I am absolutely speechless. There are no words to describe how much I loved this book. It is for sure one of, if not the very best contemporary book I have very read in my life.
The writing style was flawless. I felt all of the joy and sorrow and love and shock and rage and delight that Lou felt, and I loved every second of it.
I'm not much of a book crier, and although there are many books that have made me teary, few have actually made me cry. But this one did. A LOT. And it was all throughout the book too.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It truly, and very unexpectedly, changed my life. It is so powerful, touching, inspirational, beautiful, and a book that I will remember and think about for the rest of my life. I promise you that it is not overrated in the slightest way, in fact you could almost say it was underrated because it is just beyond words. Truly a perfect read....more
(More like a 4.5) I really, really, really, enjoyed this one! I did really enjoy My Life Next Door, but this was even better. Because TIM!!!!! I just l(More like a 4.5) I really, really, really, enjoyed this one! I did really enjoy My Life Next Door, but this was even better. Because TIM!!!!! I just love him so much! Reading from his point of view was such a fun and hilarious ride, and I loved Alice's POV too because I could see Tim through her eyes which was really interesting. And there were so many unexpected plot twists, I just loved it. Such a good book! ...more
August 2016: Okay, wow! I'm very pleased. I absolutely love all of the books I have read by Jennifer L. Armentrout, so I can't say I'm surprised with how great this was. However, it wasn't perfect. So as much as I loved it, I can't give it five stars.
My main issue was with how similar it was to the Vampire Academy series by Michelle Mead, and it turns out I'm not the only one who felt this way. The story line, as well as our central characters were practically identical. As I read, I felt myself comparing the book to VA. Thankfully, it wasn't too distracting and I was still able to thoroughly enjoy this book. This is the second time that one of Jennifer's book series has been strikingly similar to another by a different author (The first time her Darkest Elements trilogy was very similar to Splintered by A. G. Howard). I find this to be a little bit strange, but I still think she is a fantastic author.
My second issue was the whole Greek mythology aspect. Now, I love Greek mythology, so I was really excited to learn more about it in this book, but I feel like it just didn't fit in well. If the world building was a little bit stronger, it could have worked. Unfortunately, I found it to be so random and unfitting. I felt like I was just reading a book about people who had superpowers, (which I was fine with) but it would have been better if there wasn't any Greek Mythology period.
But other than the similarity to VA and the not-so-well-done world building, I LOVED THIS BOOK! Our protagonist Alex was not necessarily the most likeable person from the surface, but as you get to know her and see her softer side, I couldn't help but like her. She was arrogant, disrespectful, ignorant, vain, irrational, and rude, but she was also funny, feisty, pretty badass, and under her rough exterior, a good person. I will say, she could be pretty stupid. (view spoiler)[ For example, why would you go after your mother all alone!?! I mean, I know why you did, but it was still a very, very stupid decision. (hide spoiler)]
I also liked her friend Caleb, who was a fantastic friend. He was supportive, caring, protective, and funny.
Then we have Aiden. Oh my goodness gracious, do I ever love him.
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I loved the tough, badass instructor side of him, but even better than that was the sweet, kind, and protective side he showed for both Alex and his younger brother Deacon. (Speaking of which, I loved Deacon as well. I think that he was wonderfully developed and made a great minor character.) I just think that Jennifer is soooo good at making irresistibly fantastic love interests. I've got Daemon (my #1 husband), Roth, and now Aiden, and I love them all so much! Seth is also an interesting character, and I like him, but he is not Aiden. Aiden belongs with Alex, not Seth, and I swear if Alex and Aiden don't end up together I am not going to be happy.
I'm interested to continue learning about Alex's step-father, Lucien. There is definitely something not right about him, though I'm not exactly sure what...
Also, did I mention how incredibly addictive this book is? I had great difficulty putting it down, so I flew right through it. The book was just shy of 300 pages, which made for a super quick and easy read, which I really liked.
Anyway, I am very excited to see where this series is going to go! In fact I've already begun Pure because I just couldn't wait, and it is spectacular so far by the way. It isn't my favourite Jennifer Armentrout book, (The Lux series is practically unbeatable), but it was still very enjoyable. If you have not read any of Jennifer's books yet, I would suggest reading The Lux series first because it is a bit better, but this one is definitely a good option as well. Happy reading!
P.S. I am absolutely obsessed with the covers of this series! They are absolutely stunning, especiaslly in comparison to Jennifer Armentrout's other book coveres, which I can't exactly say I'm a fan of.
February 2019: Ah, yes, nothing like a Jennifer L. Armentrout book to lift my spirits. I listened to it as an audio book this time around and, unsurprisingly, I loved every damn second of it. My only issue was with the way the narrator voiced Seth. The accent she was trying to do was honestly just awful and it ruined all of his hilarious lines....more
November 2015: This was amazing! Absolutely, positively, amazing! I can't even put into words how phenomenal it was. The plot was fantastic, as were the characters! I thought Katy was a really strong protagonist and I absolutely loved how she was a book blogger. I just thought it was so cool how she often brought up books and compared things to books. And I especially loved how edgy and sassy she was, especially around Daemon. She was also a very realistic character that I would love to be friends with.
And Dee was a really interesting character too. I liked how bubbly she was her giant appetite always had me laughing.
And then, there's Daemon... *sigh*. I knew from the very second that he opened his door (shirtless I might add) that I'd love him. And that I did. He was just so wonderfully arrogant and sarcastic, yet very loving, caring and gentle! And his extreme levels of sarcasm and sass had me dying of laughter. I honestly don't remember laughing as hard as I did in this book in a while. He was just absolutely hilarious. And I loved the development between him and Katy. There was just so much chemistry and tension there. It was like he was trying to pretend he hated her, but underneath that was an undying love for her, and there were these moments where he'd let it show and... wow, it was just beautiful. And then there were the moments that he was purposely being absolutely infuriating, but those moments were quite beautiful too. In fact, I think any moment that involved Daemon would be beautiful.
One of my favourite scenes in the book was the Homecoming scene. I loved the part when Kat and Simon were dancing and then Daemon stepped in to dance with Kat. I love them together so, so, so much! And then when they were at the party after and Daemon came to help Katy get away from Simon. He cares for her too much for my heart to handle. I also love all of the pen poking Daemon did to Kat in their math class. Too cute!
After now reading a total of five books by Jennifer L. Armentrout, I've decided that she's definitely made it into my top five favorite authors list. She is just fantastic at what she does and I can't wait to read all of her other books. In fact, I'm already about half way through Onyx (Which is so good so far!) because I couldn't bear to wait more than a few minutes after finishing Obsidian. I needed more Daemon!
Only complaint about the book is the cover. It's pretty, but I just don't think the models fit the character well, at least for me anyway. Daemon looks, I don't know, more creepy than handsome I guess, and Katy looks kind of old. However, the new special edition covers, which are the ones I own, are a great improvement.
July 2016: I have been in the very worst reading slump EVER since January. It really, truly sucks. I was gazing adoringly at my bookshelf and then I spotted this book. It is by far, one of my all time favourite series on the planet, and I though "Why not read a couple pages to put me back in the reading mood. Reading a passage from this series always makes me happy!" Great idea, right? WRONG! Terrible, terrible idea. I flipped opened the book to a random page and bean reading. Just those couple pages I selected had me smiling, laughing, and swooning, and I loved every second of it. So, I went to the beginning of the book and read the first chapter. And then the second. And then the third. And then the fourth. And as hard as I tried, I just couldn't stop. I quickly completed Obsidian and then put the book down. I was once again ready to fall into a fictional world and escape this dreadful slump. But I just couldn't get my mind off of Obsidian, and I just had to reread the second book as well. And so I read Onyx. And again, I felt ready to stop this slump and plow through my huge TBR. I have started many, many different books, but I cannot get into ANY! You know why? Because I keep thinking "Where's Daemon? Why doesn't this MC have Katy's wit and sass. Why isn't this romance like Daemon and Kat's? Where's the awesome action at? Why isn't this love interest Daemon?"
So my brilliant plan backfired. Rather than being super pumped to read, I'm in an even worse slump. This series is too fantastic for its own good. READ WITH CAUTION.
November 2018: I listened to this as an audio book for the first time after reading the physical copy several times in the past three years. While I didn't love the narrator, (the way she voiced all of the male characters was terrible - Daemon was flat and expressionless, Simon was just weird, and the Arum had such terrible accents it was actually funny and I ended up laughing at everything they ever said) I still enjoyed listening because as I've said a hundred times before, this book feels like home to me. No matter what I have going on in my life, these books, these characters, make it all melt away. And for that, I will be eternally grateful to Jennifer L. Armentrout....more
October 2015: Oh my goodness, I loved this so much! I really loved the characters, like swoon-worthy Zayne, and especially the amazingly hot Roth! I rOctober 2015: Oh my goodness, I loved this so much! I really loved the characters, like swoon-worthy Zayne, and especially the amazingly hot Roth! I really, really, really, liked his character, and I have to say that he kind of reminded me of Morpheus from the Splintered trilogy.
In fact, a lot of the book did. But I'm not saying that in a bad way - not at all! The books were very different from each other, yet they had their similarities. For example, the both starred a girl who was ultimately different from everybody else and was really confused. (Alyssa in Splintered, Layla in this one) They both had a really big crush on some guy who was like a brotherly figure for them (Jeb in Splintered, Zayne in this one). Then some mysterious, sassy, really hot and seductive, and just amazing in general, guy comes along and knows all of the girls' secrets. He seems really selfish and rough, but is actually really sweet and caring for the girl. (Morpheus in Splintered, and Roth here). The girl knows she should stay away, but can't and then falls in love with him, but is still kind of in love with older brotherly figure, who disapproves of the other guy. In the end, mysterious hot guy sacrifices himself so that the girl can live with the other guy, but it turns out he is actually okay in the end. Even though I was constantly comparing the book to Splintered, I loved this one and still found it to be really unique and enjoyable. Not to mention intriguing and suspenseful - I literally could not put it down!
In conclusion, I loved the book and will definitely be continuing on with the series!
October 2021: What an incredible trip down nostalgia lane! School has been stressful, so I decided to read one of my favourite scenes from Stone Cold Touch last night... which turned into me reading the beginning of White Hot Kiss this morning... which led to me finishing the whole book by the end of the day... which resulted in me currently using all of the self-control I can muster to avoid picking up the next book from the beginning, or at least until I can do a little bit of work for the assignment I promised myself I would work on tonight! At this point, I'm beginning to think that I should just binge the whole trilogy, and then I'll be in the perfect place to finally pick up the spin-off about Zayne, which is one of my most highly anticipated reads! The extremely eerie and exciting element (hehe see what I did there) of all this is that fact that I randomly picked up this book on what I realized is EXACTLY the 6 year anniversary of the first time that I read it!
I also have to mention that every time I read a description of a Warden that shifted into their true form, it made me think of what Brendon Urie looked like in the Emperor's New Clothes music video: [image] Only thing missing is the wings! It's funny that I discovered and became temporarily obsessed with the band just a few months after I read this trilogy and never made the connection!
I adored the Roth, and I also have quite the soft spot for Zayne! I was swooning and laughing out loud just as much as the first time! This trilogy, like many of JLA's other masterpieces, is pure serotonin for me and I'm so grateful for it....more
Daniella (Reading With Daniella)
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