I read this book again this year because I used to absolutely love it when I was younger. And tbh it still hold up pretty well. It's quite obvious that it's written for a younger audience but I still found it pretty enjoyable.

The star of the show is Saphira and the relationship between her and Eragon. The magic system in this series is really simple but interesting at the same time.

This book was beautiful. I couldn't help but love all the characters; even the side characters were really well done. Ellis was a really great main character. The author describes his selective mutism with a lot of empathy and understanding. I appreciate that it was just a part of him and not made too much of a big deal.

The romance was extremely sweet too. There's definitely some of the miscommunication / lack of communication trope in this but I think with these characters it makes a lot of sense. And it really is worth it once they finally do get together.

Overall a very enjoyable read, and the epilogue had me in tears.

I read this book after hearing so many people rave about it and describe it as the peak of the MM romance genre. While it was well written and had good characters, I found myself struggling to read it at times, especially towards the end.

First things first: Aviel and Kyran are the best. I loved both of them individually and their relationship was beautiful. The way that their (supposed) hatred turns into lust turns into genuine love was amazing and the best part of the story. Unfortunately though, the peak of it seems to happen around the 80% mark, when there's still quite a lot of book left.

That leads into what I didn't like about it so much. It just seemed too long. The first 50-60% of the book was really captivating but it sorta simmered down after that. It got quite repetitive and I felt that there wasn't really much keeping me reading. I had to force myself to read the last 10% because I found that I just wasn't that invested.

Most of the side characters in this book were quite one-dimensional. All of Avi and Ky's friends came off as tropes in my opinion. None of them really had any personality and a lot of their dialogue was quite cringy to me.

Overall, the book is definitely enjoyable (particularly at the start) with a great relationship and great main characters. The scenes between Kyran and Aviel (spicy scenes included) were the highlight of the book. Unfortunately I think it dragged on a little too long for my liking.

I read this book after seeing it recommended and praised quite a lot. There was a lot to like about this book but I found it quite underwhelming in some ways too.

The characters were really well done. I loved Matti as the perpetually exhausted older brother who always tried his hardest to provide for his family. When Luca comes into his life, it is so clear that they need each other and it seems so natural that they are drawn to each other. The banter and magnetism between them is definitely my favourite part of this book.

Unfortunately I found the plot rather uninteresting and I think the book focused on it a little too much. There's a healthy dose of mystery and political intrigue in this book which revolves around Matti's family business of textiles. I might be in the minority here because I've seen other people say it is fascinating, but I found the numerous deep dives into the world of fabrics quite boring and I just couldn't bring myself to be interested in it.

Overall though this book was an enjoyable read with a very sweet and well-written romance at the centre.

I really enjoyed this book. I absolutely loved Velasin as the main character and definitely related to him from the start. The events that happen at the start of the book and Vel's response to them are heart-breaking and you can't help but feel such empathy for him. Caethari was also a very likable character if slightly more one-dimensional than Velasin. However I found him to be very sweet and their relationship seemed really natural to me. I love the way they grow to care for each other as their mutual distrust / uncertainty turns to pining turns to love. This book also has some excellent side characters. Markel is amazing as Velasin's best friend and confidant. Caethari's sisters, father, and grandmother I also found fascinating as they all seemed to have their own motives and unique perspectives.

The plot was fairly interesting but at least in my mind it was overshadowed by the romance. It also became quite clear to me from early in the book who was responsible for the attempts on Velasin's life which took a bit of the surprise from the reveal at the end.

Overall though this was a really fun read with lovable characters and a sweet romance.

This book was incredible. It had me captivated the whole time and I finished it so fast.

From the get go you can't help but like and empathize with Evander. He has a unique and oftentimes quite funny perspective on other characters and the world. But sometimes he'll say something so heart-wrenchingly sad that it made me despise anyone who had hurt him. Laurie is also a character who is hard not to like. He has an initially quite sarcastic and seemingly shallow personality but you can see that not far under the surface is a caring person who carries a lot of trauma. The banter and caring moments between Evander and Laurie were amazing. The other side characters were not given much personality and I found their motives quite one-dimensional. Although I didn't mind this too much as the story is clearly quite focused on Evander and Laurie.

I really enjoyed the plot of the book as well. What starts as a murder mystery style story quickly turns into a thriller as secrets are unravelled and history is revealed that makes you question everything that you've been told.