WOW what an absolute banger of a YA romance! First of all, Lily was an incredible narrator, full of warmth and spunk. Abelard was a really sweet, wonderful love interest. Second, this writing made me WEEP (literally. I was wiping tears at 2am!), with gorgeous, GORGEOUS character work & descriptions of what it’s like navigating a world that keeps on telling you you’re broken. Third, I loved the tie in with The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (which I need to read now). Extremely minor complaint is that I wish this had been dual pov and we’d gotten more of Abelard’s inner world too. All in all, this was a strikingly beautiful rumination on navigating the world as neurodivergent people.

This was a cute follow up to Heated Rivalry! Things I liked: Shane & Ilya were just as compelling as always, with a dynamic that is equal parts sweet, tender, hot, & all around inexplicably gorgeous. The emotional tension was much improved in this one, too. Ilya’s journey in particular, coming to terms with depression, was relatable af and lovely. Shane’s figuring out what was most important to him was also earnest and heartfelt.

What I didn’t like: better emotional tension, yes, but still not where I’d like it to be. Everything always gets resolved so quickly and feels so easy, so as I reader I just stopped worrying about the stakes altogether at some point. I know some people like that, and no shade to them! I would have loved a little more drama & tension personally. Also, the writing continues to be really obvious, though it’s much improved from earlier books. Finally, I will say this again and again until I’m in the grave: NO romance novel EVER needs to be more than 350, 375 pages MAX. 453 pages for this? And a romance SEQUEL at that??? lol nope — we could have easily shaved off 100 pages somewhere.

The good: Shane & Ilya were really great, interesting characters to get to know over the course of this book. Their dynamic was compelling & fun, and it just got better and better as the book progressed. The banter was adorable af. And yes, there were many absolutely swoon worthy moments between them that were devastatingly sweet. As a romance-character study hybrid, this book is great!

The bad: if asked, I would describe this book as a collection of erotica vignettes strung together in a VEEEERRRYYYYY loose approximation of a plot. As such, the build up felt…uneven. While the emotional tension did exist & get more compelling, I didn’t feel like it got the exploration it deserved. The emotional payoff was pretty good in the last quarter, but could’ve been better imo. Also, I felt like the world around Shane & Ilya was very sketchy & not fully fleshed out. Also, the writing was…a little lol at times.

TL;dr: compelling af, but not a fave.

This was a deliciously spooky, if flawed, read. What I liked: 1) the setting was MARVELOUS. The freaky haunted house was like an evil version of casita from Encanto and I mean that as the HIGHEST of compliments. Alderson did an incredible job building out the house’s temperament and each spooky scene involving a ghost was eerie and built on itself through great writing. 2) the mystery & tragedy of the house’s ghosts was really well laid out, and I was riveted. 3) I really loved seeing how dealing with the haunted house mirrored William’s grief. In fact, this was actually such a great depiction of grief, loss, & depression — I truly felt the “one step forward, two steps back” of it all with William. What I didn’t like: 1) the romance with Edward was too rushed imo, and in general I feel like I didn’t really get a handle on Edward as a character. 2) I don’t normally complain about this but there were quite a few copywriting errors that sometimes affected my understanding of the story. 3) wow I absolutely HAAAAAATEEEEDDDDD!!!!!!! that final plot twist / ending. It wasn’t badly written or poor plotting by any means, it was just…NOT what I wanted out of this story. Come on!!! Still, if you want a spooky atmospheric as FUCK read that really champions the power of queer love despite the odds, this one’s for you!!