Officially obsessed with everything Victoria Lavine writes. I loved Any Trope But You, so jumped at the opportunity to arc read Not That Kind of Proposal via NetGalley - and it really delivered.

Victoria's writing style is descriptive and flowery. There were a lot more similes than I remembered from her debut, but I don't read many romcoms so I think that might be normal for the genre. The dialogue and inner monologue was a bit cringey at the start too and I got a lot of secondhand embarrassment - but that improved as the characters developed more and overcame some of their flaws.

I really liked Gracie and Jude. Most of the time, I found them to be quite relatable - which always makes me enjoy the story more. Their romance was slow-burn and messy, and paced perfectly for the plot and their growth.

I can't wait to read Victoria's future books! If her first two are any indication, I know it'll be a 5 star read!

This is the second Asako book I've read now, with Hooked being my intro into her writing. I had a much harder time rating and reviewing this one because some parts of it were great and others were unsatisfying.

The writing style is consistent and really enjoyable - descriptive and captivating, even though she describes pretty ordinary everyday scenes. I was absolutely starved reading her food descriptions - even for foods I know I wouldn't enjoy. I had to keep putting the book down to get a snack!

Asako has a really interesting way of writing female friendships in books, so that they're almost obsessive and dangerous. It's fascinating! I found the female characters really interesting but the male characters were under developed (maybe intentionally) and off-putting.

The plot of Butter was a little less engaging than her other work. I thought we would have more answers by the end than we got, so it became more character- than plot-driven. The final scene where Rika decided to continue communication with Manako annoyed me too. It would have been more character growth for her to cut her out of her life and move on - but instead, she didn't and I was left asking myself 'what was the point?'

I found the computer virus aspect of this novel really intriguing. I couldn't work out how the victims were being infected and killed by the vigilante group. I like that it challenged our morals too - although it became very apparent that innocent people were being caught in the crossfire. I really love that Roarke has been looped into the series more now as an expert consultant, rather than just the partner of a detective. What a dream team!

I was so intrigued at the start when we first got a glimpse of the botanical horror (my favourite horror trope right now). But that was the only highlight of the story because it all took a nose dive from there.

The magic system was completely abandoned for a plot of convenience, and never got explained in any sort of detail (which is lazy storytelling imo). The characters were juvenile, immature and had the worst dialogue ever - they sounded both pretentious and childish at the same time. And the plot was non-existent besides some forced childish romance, which was so uncomfortable and gross, I don't know why the author chose to include it.

Brb going to go purge this book from my brain.