I'm gonna start with what didn't work for me and just rip that band-aid off. I had high expectations after seeing everyone rave about this, but I've gotta learn to temper my expectations when it comes to booktok. Either I'm in the right mood for it or I'm not, and unfortunately I can't overlook the things that annoy me when it doesn't catch me in the mood. Because trust I've rated some terrible books five stars because of vibes. I probably would have DNF'd this if I hadn't snagged this as an arc on netgalley, which I am very grateful for the opportunity to read and review.

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:

It's long. It's way too long. Long books only work if something feels like it's happening and/or I don't want to the book to end or leave that world. This might have worked, and maybe I would have felt differently about it, if this had been shorter. At some point it started giving "The poison. The poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen especially to kill Kuzco, Kuzco's poison" type of filler lmfao

The writing felt a little flat to me. It just felt like I had opened wattpad or ao3. I don't want to pay for writing that feels very basic. The inner thoughts and dialogue was very cringe and awkward. None of it felt like it flowed naturally.

It absolutely should have gone through more editing, especially if this is being trad published.

and....that's it?? omg, see!! I'm not a hater. ANYWHOOOOO

WHAT I DID LIKE:

I think there was obviously a lot of angst and steam, but a lot of heart and tenderness. I think the subject matter was, for the most part, handled with great care. I would check trigger warnings before diving in!

The leads had really great chemistry!! The girlies ARE correct that danny is very sweet and a great mmc.

While it didn't work for me, I actually do think that others will definitely like it if they love an angsty read with a sexy big page count and a great romance.