this book is so aggressively millennial, but it is SO much fun. this book is a love letter to fandom and the communities it forms, and the romance is cute too!

I had to get past all of the werewolf stuff because, while I won’t yuck anyone’s yum, is definitely not my style. but it left out a lot of the more intense aspects of (fanfic specifically) werewolves (ppl who found out what knots were from bride 😔) and only let in some of the tamer stuff like scents. but like I said, not my style, so I had to get over that a bit.

romance was well developed, and while it was insta lust, it wasn’t insta love, so that’s a win in my books!

the handling of the actor/fan dynamic was well written and I never really felt uncomfortable with their relationship. in addition, the thematic elements of the effects of Hollywood and child actors was nice, but not necessarily the best part of the book.

overall, a really nice romance!

i was soo excited to read this book for the longest time and I’m so glad i could get my hands on it!! i received this as a gift and it had the most beautiful sprayed edges, the publisher really did their big one with that.

you will be left somewhat confused by the plot- especially by a certain 100 page section towards the end of the book that seems very out of place (at least to me). however, that does not mean it won’t be a beautifully fun time.

a confession: i am not smart enough for this book. i did not do any pre-reading, i did not get all of the references, and i turned to google so much during this read through. and i felt that that was ok! the academia aspect in this is DENSE. and unlike babel, there aren’t any footnotes to guide you through it. important topics are explained, but some side ones mentioned in passing aren’t. i know that that can affect some people’s reading experience, so just a little heads up!

alice and peter’s story was so charming and what really made the book for me. their dynamic and the yearning and the competition… i’m such a sucker for academic rivals to lovers 😭

also, the dark academia aspect of this is also very present. it critiques grad programs in a very blunt way. it was through this aspect that i saw the main critique of this book (“everything is super blunt”) the most. it is a lot of telling, not showing, with alice’s internalized misogyny and the external narrator’s depiction of academia. however, despite being repetitive, this did not take away from the overall reading experience so much that it made it unbearable for me.

overall, loved it! beautiful tale of finding what makes life worth living and finding the man behind the curtain.

in my darling dreadful thing, we follow the story of roosje, a woman in her early twenties. from a young age she has been conducting fake seances with her mother, but she has a secret: she is actually haunted by her spirit companion, ruth. when she is hired by a wealthy woman, everything seems to go sideways.

I really enjoyed this one! it is a beautifully written gothic horror novel, where you feel really immersed in the time period. the transcriptions throughout the book really add to our understanding of roosje and how she is perceived, rather than just her inner monologue.

i think that van veen handled everything with care, including the portrayal of mental illness and racism in this period. the discussion with the author at the end of the book helped me understand her process behind that! but please check the trigger warnings before reading this book, there are numerous triggers within.

the themes of being haunted long past the point of the threat being over was perfectly executed! overall, a really enjoyable gothic.