It had a rocky start and I wasn't too sold on the development of their romance and thought the story was all over the place. I loved the concept, actually, but it was the last 40% that had me sobbing and feeling emotions. I do think it needs a bit of work but it's been a while since I've read a romantasy that left me empty and grieving (in a good way!).

I could write an entire rant about this book, but I’ll chalk it all off as I Could Give You The Moon being written in the wrong genre. Chanel and Ares feel too grown up and intense for a bunch of eighteen-year-olds. The plot itself was too dark for a YA book and oftentimes felt watered down and, by extension, held back.

There were a lot of things going on — family problems, school problems, a fight club, a fire, a longstanding obsession, a vision only Chanel and Ares could see, fraught mother-daughter relationships, a divorce, prom, love lives. All that with a Disney Channel-esque ending of Ares arranging a prom for Chanel to attend?

A reality slap for me that, despite everything that happened, prom was still at the forefront of Chanel’s mind—and that this was, unfortunately, still a young adult book. A lot of things in this book did not hold up. I didn’t find any substantial reason for the plot to happen. Things were hastily resolved at the end with no nuance whatsoever—the complexity of it all seemingly shallowed down for an ending tied up in a neat little bow. Perhaps if it was written in a darker adult genre, I could get behind whatever’s happening, but as a young adult book with magical realism, it reads like a cheesy Disney Channel movie that’d I’d enjoy but cringe about.

I lived for Alice and Henry’s (also Caz’s!) cameos, though.

Unfortunately I'm too old to be enjoying these types of YA romances. But also I don't think there's an actual resolution to the story? It all feels rushed and there's still a bunch of plot points left unopened and unanswered by the time the book finishes.

Unfortunately, the aesthetics overpowered the substance of the story. The entire time I wasn't so sure of what was happening and how things were unfolding and the way things wrapped up in the end? Like in a funny way, I was also aboard the Elsewhere Express by how confuzzled I was 😭