Lovely cozy exciting sci-fi. I don’t read that much sci-fi, but when I do I always tense myself for an edge of darkness or horror, for some reason (Like Children of Time lol… spiders!!!) This book is just fun, good world building, an engaging plot, and lovely, contrasting characters who grow to care about each other! There wasn’t huge suspense or anything, but I finished it feeling pretty cozy!

I feel like this book was written so we could read the awesome smutty scene about 70% of the way through. Everything else around it was very bad fluff. The lack of character conflict or development was a glaring flaw and so boring. The overly wordy redundant descriptions thoughts and dialogues made me feel like i was sludging through the plot and I even at points skipped paragraphs and pages just to get through a scene faster. Like, I don’t need to hear about the debate in your head on whether you’re gonna ask him a question, Cassie. Just freaking move the plot forward. What is Cassie’s personality, really? That she…has no money? Uses found objects and sticks them onto her paintings? It’s really awkward when the author wants you to like the heroines art but you actually think it’s dumb. Also, NO ONE WAS FUNNY, but we were supposed to crack a grin at these zany situations. NOPE. ZERO laughs were had. A proper romance story needs tension, and a reason why our characters can’t have their happily ever after, yet. I got no info on Cassie’s reasons- her only reservations were that he was her roommate and was a vampire…none of which had to do with her! BORING! I don’t think any book with a cute cartoon cover has ever matched itself with writing quality. 2 stars for a good smut scene tho!

Man, a substacker i subscribe to recommended this book to her readers so I had high expectations. Now I infer she doesn’t read much romance 😪 head to Julie Ann Long and read a PROPER romance please!!!! Firstly, I was uncomfortable with the pale british woman in India, unsure if the indian characters were being fetishized/villainized despite the author making the hero half indian half british. The romance itself was cringey? Felt like a love at first sight (never interesting.) with the tension of a broken rubber band. Oh you guys are gonna kiss in a dark hallway the third time meeting? Oh you’re gonna have sex under the stars? The second half got better because obstacles were introduced into their relationship…but still was just supposed to root for them when so never believed in them the first place? That ship wreck origin story though, INTENSE!

I like this author! A cute premise. I didn’t actually predict the twist until the very last moment..:so kudos there!! The plot took some time to move after the initial premise took hold, and that’s why minus a few stars. But overall good growth, good interactions, good conflict!

An easy read, but....very cringey in its inner monologue style. A self help book in the form of a fiction novel. How many sentences were there where Phoebe would observe an object or thing, and then domino into some deep dramatic artsy statement that reminded me of like...emo Zanga/Livejournal. SO CHEESY, it should've been stitched on a pillow and sold in a home goods store. Examples: "“Take a breath,” Phoebe says. The pool is so cold, the shock of it hasn’t worn off yet. But Phoebe likes the shock—likes how it reminds her she’s alive." "“Oh my God!” she shouts to no one, to herself, to Gary and Juice. She is balanced. Steady. But then she falls into the water. It’s been so long since she has fallen like that—she has never, she thinks, ever fallen like that. Totally and completely" Anyway, despite this, I chuckled at a lot of the conversations, and I found Lila / Gary / Phoebe / Juice relationship developments to be pretty charming. Questionable and convenient that everyone was in love with a different person and thus not THAT hurt, but fun nonetheless. But minus stars for the cheesiness - show me, don't tell me...

Ugh. This definitely felt like a mainland china drama. Like of "Qing shen shen yu meng meng" melancholy. It starts out strong and gets increasingly depressing. I finished the book and thought 'what's the point'. what did these characters gain? Or did they just coast and survive. ALSO, the dude barely even tried to fight for Manzhen. LOSER!

Dammit my review didn't save. This was a lovely story. funny! Low on smut, (and -.5 on enjoyment because the quality of the kissing scenes didn't match the quality of the buildup). This was a great read because the ROMANCE WAS FREAKING THERE, and it made me laugh. That perfect tension between leads, driven by each characters' unique reason that they wouldn't believe in happily ever after - it kept the strings of the story pulled taut, with FREQUENT VIBRATIONS! Of course, our heroine's back story really stings the heart, and makes some of the plot points so tender. The relationship development was steady and believable. The chemistry! The creative scenes that played on classic tropes! That tear down! The third act! Also, I'm always impressed when romance authors have a heroine start out infatuated with the hero, and then somehow turns the story onto its head, into an enemies to lovers. It's masterful and takes the most skill! No disappointments.