the real villains here are the parents. 5hrs of sleep (especially for kids) is criminal. i needed a short simple book to reset my brain, this served that purpose perfectly and is giving nostalgic goosebumps. it’s not my preferred voice/style but it’s a fun story with an unexpected twist. not my favorite of the series but still enjoyable.

DNF 20%, in the book's defense, this isn't the usual genre/synopsis i would go for so the cards were already stacked against it. but i picked it up for the spring read-along challenge here and god forbid a girl risks it for the biscuit (or achievement badge, tomato tomato). i'm coming hot off the tails of an amazing romance so i was feeling positive about love, but... there is goes again. the FMC (to me) is incredibly annoying, self-centered, and complainy. imagine being upset your bestie is going on a vacation to get engaged instead of the vacation you go on every single year. babes you're a shitty friend and i don't like you. the writing was choppy and transitions (or lack thereof) between timelines was jarring. there's far too many references, it bogs down the entire thing. and i love a good well-done cliche but there's such a thing as too many (especially if they are all superficial, as it seems is the case here). if you're a big gilmore girls fan, i can see you liking this a lot more and i genuinely love that for you. i on the other hand watched one episode of gilmore girls for jared padalecki when i was in my early 2010s superwholock tumblr phase and decided it wasn't for me. so again i chalk up my distaste mostly to the inherent incompatibility between me and this book but i think there's a good portion about the book itself that drove me to set it aside.

i do not cry at books. ever. this had me full ugly crying at 4pm on a sunday (and that's without a single drop of wine). i am equal parts lucie and aiden and one big emotional mess. in all honesty, it's a bit long and the points of argument/"we can't be together" were not the most convincing to me but who cares when the rest is funny, real (i like to hope), and so very healing. the writing is fantastic, the side characters are wonderful (jackson my sweet weather boy). and lucie and aiden embody such real and convincing struggles and desires of 30-something year olds. to anyone who has ever been stood up on a date and/or completely lost their faith in love, i hope you find your aiden.

oh this was interesting and not at all what i was expecting. it's much less horror and much more existential crisis. the synopsis paints this to be a more "losing your mind" horror-esque story, which i did not get at all. it's more of a grappling with one's future and the factors that go into that decision. i found it especially compelling to contrast the emotions of the character's community and pit her desire to do something big and great against the guilt of leaving home/her mom and the responsibilities she has there. i definitely appreciated the parasite element but it wasn't the biggest takeaway of the story (for me). i will say the story was overall slow and the writing a bit dense for my liking but nevertheless a positive experience. looks like there's two more books in the series which i don't think i'll end up reading purely because i didn't mesh with the writing style (it's not bad, just not my thing) but boy are those covers beautiful