This is my first contemporary romance i have really enjoyed. The characters are very deep and their backstories affect how they are with their social and romantic lives. The couple had a lot of chemistry fairly quickly even if they didnt realize it. Im finding i definitely enjoy a fake dating premise as well. My problems: sometimes it felt like it was written in a way that was slightly confusing and could have benefited from minor adjustments. Otherwise I really enjoyed the writing style. Definitely a good amount of pop culture references though if that is something you do not like, though mostly older references. Occasionally daphne’s dialogue felt a touch too outgoing for an introverted character. Not so much so though that it didnt make any sense. I also definitely prefer a slow burn. So this could have waited a bit longer for sexual tension for my liking but it wasnt insta love either. Somewhere in between. Finally a couple things happen that i wish were handle slightly differently, things where if I were in the other’s shoes i would still be annoyed. And while I wouldn’t say this has a miscommunication trope, i do think they could have conveyed certain things better that would have helped them in the long run.

I love Leigh Bardugo but man was this disappointing. I saw the show before reading the book and I can confidently say the show is significantly better and i definitely recommend it! My main problems with the book: the prose was simple, but in a way where it felt like it was trying to be descriptive but then simplify it for a YA audience and it just ended up a bit bland and redundant. The characters honestly feel kind-of surface level. I do think the developed by the end but, there was not enough backstory, longing, feeling at the beginning to make me attached to the characters at all. And especially not in a way where I would want or expect them to be romantic interests. It needed more yearning for that. The FMC felt too naive considering the backstory we did get from her. Certain parts of her past or personality needed to be fleshed out more. And some things about her felt very contradictory. None of the plot twists really surprised me and a-lot of things just felt a bit too convenient plot wise. If I had to recommend it to anyone, it would be either middle schoolers or early high school age kids.

This book hooked me from the beginning. This is a new favorite sci-fi of mine. It discusses some pretty heavy topics largely related to political climates and the way we as people treat the world around us. It starts off with a mystery that is slowly revealed and questions will be asked that change the world as we know it. This book’s prose includes ALOT of scientific jargon. As most of the main characters are scientists and the main mysteries involve physics and such, I would say at least 50% of the book is them talking about theories and how to apply them to their situations. If you don’t think you would like this then I dont recommend. However, I think if you understand basic science and dont care about understanding everything they are saying 100% then you will be fine. I think the best example I can give is sort of like in dr. Who when he monologues about the science of something. It doesn’t necessarily make sense but you are there for the vibes.

First things first. I love the prose, it is beautiful and made it super engaging for me. This book is not quite what I expected. It follows a ghost who recounts his life focusing on his grief and regrets and depression. All while simultaneously talking about things he is watching and listening to presently as a ghost. It also definitely shines light on the treatment of lower-class/class disparity and homelessness in those time periods. Personally, it felt really disjointed to me. Not quite stream of consciousness, more like when someone with adhd tries to tell a story if that makes sense. I really like when books flip flop between time periods but in this book it was done in a way that was very abrupt and made things confusing. I also dont think a single good thing happened to the main character for the most part, some of it his own doing! There’s a few sections of the book where it feels a bit like info dumping some historical context that I didn’t feel was entirely necessary to the point of the book. Which is OK if it’s used to characterize someone but it’s a novella so maybe not so often. Normally this type of book would make me cry, and it did get me to start to tear up a bit, but even with the beautiful prose something about it fell short for me. Maybe it was the lack of good in his life that made everything so depressing so when something especially bad would happen It wouldn't put me over the edge to cry? I’m not sure. There were some parts that felt very healing, soul touching, that make me want to still recommend this book to people. But definitely make sure you are in a good headspace because I could see this book have the opposite effect overall as well.