alexatthelake's reviews
717 reviews

What is there even to say about this book? Everything about it was perfect. If you read a review that says otherwise, it's wrong. Simple.

Abby Jimenez is a genius. She's a masterpiece. The banter between all characters is always so bang on, the depth of her characters is always done to perfection, and the book boyfriends are just out of this world. How do they keep getting better? I have nothing further to say. Read this book.

One thing I will say is there is quite a few Easter eggs in this book from Part of Your World and Yours Truly, so I would maybe suggest reading those before this one! 

Simply put - this book was beautiful. Was it ever heartbreaking as well. but so beautifully written and just a gorgeous story. Based on true events, as well! Make sure to read (or listen) to the authors note at the end for the full explanation of the events this book is based off.

This was my first book of Kristin Harmel's and I'm immediately looking forward to reading more. Her books felt so fresh and different than the plot lines most historical fiction novels take and her characters were incredible. If you are a fan of historical fiction at all, this is a must read. 

Ouf this book was not for me - but I think it was a wrong timing issue here. I wasn't a fan of many (almost any) holiday books this year and I just couldn't get into them. I actually abandoned this book after less than 30%, but then remembered I had the audio available and decided to give it a go. I listened at 2.5 speed and got through it, but I didn't really enjoy much about it. Most of the characters were absolutely insufferable, and while I enjoyed learning about the different holidays and cultures, as well as the local to me setting, that's about all I can say I enjoyed. 

My new favourite of Rachel Hawkins! This book was dark, twisty, and even though I had figured out a lot of it, it still gave me the shock factor. It was a slow burn, but it was a really great build up slow burn. I really enjoyed the multiple POVs and how they changed throughout the story to give us the full picture.

It was almost addictive, I couldn't put it down. I read most of it, but I found myself listening to bits when I didn't have the time to physically read because I just couldn't get enough and I needed to keep going to find out what happened next. 

How is it possible that I was confused throughout this entire book and still don't understand most of the logistics of what happened, but I still absolutely adored it? Adrienne Young's writing is incredibly beautiful - I'd read a phone book if she wrote one. 

I felt like I was right in the book with the way the settings were described, right alongside the characters that were so vividly explained so that they felt like long lost friends. There were many themes with this book but it didn't feel overwhelming or disjointed at all - just a twisted, weaving story of mystery, love, family and the choices we make. Absolutely beautiful.

Well, that was wildly underwhelming. I think I really wanted to like this more than I did but I'm not sure what I expected when I wasn't fully blown away by the first book. I will say that I did end up liking The Maid, but it wasn't anything special. This book felt like a carbon copy almost, with a few different little twists but the same 'quirks'. I did binge this book in one afternoon while listening to it at 2.5 speed, otherwise I definitely would have abandoned it. Wasn't the worst, but it won't be memorable or topping any favourites lists. 

Did I read the same book as everyone else? I tried reading this one and only made it to page 10 before I put it down. I’d rolled my eyes and cringed twice in those 10 pages. Funny enough the audio came up on Libby a few days later so I figured I’d give it a go. I listened at 2.45x, by far the fastest I’ve ever listened and I think that says a lot about the book. It just wasn’t it for me even though it seems everyone loved it. Another bit of honesty I’m not really buying the romance, the banter, or the chemistry. It’s just not doing it for me at all. 

Blair is ridiculous. She’s so whiny and needy and pathetic if I’m being honest. She complains constantly about everything and does nothing to help herself. She constantly complains about Ronan and blames him for everything. She was just awful and totally ruined this book for me. How can people actually like her? I would really not like her in real life. But Ronan? He sounds great. LOL.

There’s literally nothing to say about this book that you haven’t seen a million times already. For someone who was SO against reading “dragon books” I sure made it my whole personality for the entire duration of reading this book. And after. I’m not sorry.

In case you live under a rock that a dragon hasn’t scorched, Iron Flame is massively action packed, super fast paced and for a book that’s already 600+ pages I really could have used a couple hundred more to scratch my dragon shaped itch. It was the perfect mix of action and steam, giving us a little bit of a tension reliever with the open door steam, while keeping us anxious and on the edge of our saddle - er, seat, while chewing all of our nails off and waiting to see what cliffhanger Rebecca Yarros has in store for us this time. Surprise - she did it. 

Cheers to the suffering waiting game and diving into serious fan theories of when she’ll write the next book and what turmoil she’ll put us through next. 

I don’t think this year is a year of holiday novels for me. Usually I love all the cringey, cheesey holiday gooey in December, but so far it hasn’t done it for me. This one was well loved by a lot of trusted sources, but it wasn’t really a hit for me. I did give it 4 stars because the basics of it - the overall plot and the characters - were wins for me. However, I found it extremely repetitive and quite slow. It took way too long for anything to happen and then it just all kind of happened at once, where as I wanted so much more from it once it got going. 

The concept was mega sweet. The characters were lovely. The main characters health issues and family issues were so well done and so easy to understand. The relationships did need a little bit of work in my opinion but it was still super sweet. Unfortunately it was just too slow and I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over. 

Truthfully I only read Elsie Silver’s short novella in this series of short stories because I haven’t read any series of the others, but I LOVED every single word of Silver’s. Any time I get to spend with the hot cowboy crew is time well spent. Getting a glimpse into each of there lives for another minute was an absolute delight.