synopsis: paloma and bennett were briefly together 3 years ago when they were freshmen. due to mysterious circumstances, paloma broke up with him. they meet again and take a shot at their second chance at love.

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starting off strong: i fucking hate this book.

i feel duped because everyone and their mothers loved it, but i don't see why? it's stupidly horrible. i honestly don't even know where to start at this point.

let me enumerate the things that made me want to pull my own hair:

1. the pace is all over the place. this book had no reason to be this wordy. we need to cut at least 50k words from the final count.

2. the back-and-forth timeline is not the author's strong suit. it was obviously poorly written. half the time, the timelines just blur. i also think it didn't make sense for the story to use a past vs. present type of timeline, considering this was a snooze fest. whatever's happening in the past is almost the same as what's happening in the present, so you get lost half the time whether the chapter you're reading is the past or present.

3. the plot is one big nothing. paloma broke up with bennett out of nowhere on new year's, and bennett doesn't know why. that's the ENTIRE plot. i wish it was worthwhile getting to the one big reveal, but from the content warnings in the author's note, you already know paloma's big secret anyway, so i have no idea why it draaaaagged for so long. i get that the journey is probably us seeing the growth on both paloma and bennett, especially dealing with their trauma and anxiety, but fucking hell, it was just unbearable.

4. in connection to the previous point, paloma doesn't deserve bennett. i don't remember the last time a book made me so frustrated. BOTH MAIN CHARACTERS ARE NOT LIKEABLE. bennett, at the very least, was okay up until the final parts after paloma revealed her traumatic past. but paloma is just so frustrating. i HATED being in her point of view.

5. the main character's relationship is built on them hiding things from each other, and i already dislike miscommunication. if that word was personified, paloma and bennett would absolutely be the best examples. especially paloma who keeps on LINGERING and CALLING on bennett, pushing and pulling on his emotional strings that it's borderline abusive.

she breaks up with him, doesn't tell him why, loiters around him and parties where she knows he'll be there, and calls him when she needs help.

they were in love for MONTHS. not even 6 months. if they were employed, they're not even regularized yet. and they're in college but still acting like high schoolers.

6. everyone just doens't talk about fucking everything and it's frustrating and i'm not patient enough, nor are the characters interesting enough to warrant that wait.

7. the conversations between characters are unnatural. i'm wondering if the author even has an idea on how to talk to your friends?

8. i feel suffocated throughout the entire book. every chapter is a chore to read. the topics are already heavy, but did the writing and characters had to make it worse? i can't believe i will be saying this, but chloe walsh's binding 13 was basically trauma porn, but even that had more interesting friendship dynamics and chemistry between the TEENAGER main characters.

9. bennett's nickname for paloma is "p" and i'm taking extra offense for that stupid ass endearment. also, apparently, paloma wanted to be a hockey coach, but i think that was just a plot point so she can be around the hockey team. she can't even skate, doesn't talk about hockey much, and suddenly in the epilogue, she's "coach p." give this girl some back story that's not traumatic. she literally has NO personality besides poetry and pining for her ex that she broke up with. what a poorly written female main character.

10. insta-love. whoever told you this book has yearning, they're lying.

i dragged myself until the end, because i actually find it interesting. at least the first half. it went downhill from about 60% in, but by then it was too late to dnf, so i read until the end so my rating is justifiable.

unfortunately, i'm not gonna read anything from this series or this author again. such a shame.

synopsis: exes are forced to work together after breaking up and losing contact for 3 years

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look, i'm a simple girl. i like well-written, lighthearted, and sensible love stories. second chance romances are my thing, and i was looking forward to a good palate cleanser after reading multiple fantasies one after another.

but only a few chapters in, and i just know i wouldn't be able to finish it.

1. i don't like the writing style. i like fmcs that word vomit when they're nervous, but sloane's inner monologue is annoying. it's also heavily repetitive.

on one paragraph, we discover that sloane has 4 brothers and that she's an only girl. a few paragraphs later, we see ANOTHER mention of this. and another.

this happened multiple times including mentions of her absentee mother and her fling with dax and how long since they last talked (it was 3 years. you have to remember that. or not, because sloane will remind you again about 2 paragraphs later)

2. this is sort of a personal preference, but i prefer my second chance romances to have not been in contact for at least 5 years. and when they meet, i would very much want some semblance of yearning, but nope. 50 pages in and i didn't get any of that. i do think the sexual thoughts so early in the book turned me off even more.

it seems like a promising book, but i'm gonna have to save myself and this book some hate reading.

synopsis: three years after heartbreaking ending of the second book, scythe goddard now rules over the scythedom. the thunderhead has stopped speaking to anyone but greyson, and both rowan and anastasia are in hiding.

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i'm so disappointed. at about 70-80% of the book, i already knew i wouldn't like the direction of the conclusion to this dystopian trilogy, and i was right. i hated the ending. it was not at all satisfactory to what i was expecting.

to begin with, one of my favorite characters died in the last book, and since this series is all about surprise revivals, i was expecting a comeback at some point in this book, but it didn't happen and i was left hanging. the character was such an important part of the story for me, and getting them removed so early in the series is such a disappointment.

secondly, i absolutely hated the plot points surrounding scythe faraday and rowan. faraday, i can understand to a point. it made sense, but it doesn't mean i had to like it. rowan's character was botched. i was drawn to this series because of both citra and rowan, but rowan was undoubtedly casted aside to make citra the more important character between the two of them. he was basically just an afterthought in this series, and he's almost not even mentioned for majority of it. they made him a pathetic damsel in distress, and i don't think i can ever forgive this author for butchering such an interesting character.

additionally, the ending was absolutely bonkers and not at all satisfying. i was happy for some characters, but for most of them, i wasn't.

giving the heartless monster and heinous villain that stupid ending was also just downright insulting to me who was looking forward to seeing how he would be dying. what do you mean that's it? THAT'S how it ends for him? THAT'S ALL? i didn't read so many books just to see him escape what he deserves!

i already downloaded the spin-off book and intended to read it after this, but not anymore. i had a great time. the second book is a 5-star read, but this just isn't it. i think this is one of the most pathetic and unsatisfactory endings to a series i have ever read. i'm not interested to go back into this world anymore.

good book, good series, but what a waste.

synopsis: rowan goes rogue and becomes a vigilante, killing problematic scythes that he deems are hopeless even with "interference" from the justice system. on the other hand, scythe anastasia (citra) is introduced into the nasty politics going on inside the scythedom. a new character is also introduced who will bridge the gap between the thunderhead and the scythes, possibly bypassing the laws that prohibit the thunderhead from dipping into scythe matters.

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oh, how i love this book. i had such a great time!

first, it was so much better than the first book. it had higher stakes, and the fact that we get journal entries from the thunderhead at the end of chapters instead of the scythes is all the more interesting. don't get me wrong—i love scythe curie's entries, but i really didn't want to read about goddard's inner thoughts, and while i also know that's supposed to be a part of the whole experience, i don't have to like it. that man disgusts me to no end.

secondly, greyson's character was also complex and well-introduced. i like him, and he's hilarious, too.

thirdly, i really loved seeing scythe anastasia grow into the respectable scythe that she is now from the gangly teenager that we knew from the last book. her ever-growing bond with marie is also heartwarming.

the last few chapters were absolute bangers. it was one of the most exciting and melancholic endings i have ever read as of recent.

also, i'm giving plus points because despite not being together for more than half of the book, citra and rowan still have undeniable chemistry. looking forward to seeing more of them in the next book!