alexatthelake's reviews
717 reviews

This series has really surprised me! I had no interest in the first book when I initially discovered it, but I’m so glad it was suggested to me and I read it because I’ve really loved both in the series so far! They’re fast paced, keep me on my toes, stressful and emotional. I haven’t been able to figure out what to really expect, which really peaks my interest as I go and the audiobooks are so good! 

Abby Jimenez does it, yet again, to no one’s surprise. This book was beautiful, incredible perfection. Abby’s book boyfriends are totally unmatched and Adrian was no exception. He is raw, real, and so deliciously swoony. Vanessa was on a whole different playing field with her personality, her attitude and her selflessness - they were the perfect match. I’d love to be able to have Vanessa’s passion and outlook on life!

While Abby’s books always make me swoon, they also really dig deep into her characters issues/pasts/etc to give depth to not only the characters but to the story. The writing and execution was flawless. I can’t think of a single thing I didn’t love. 

Ugh, I'm so sad to write this review. This is the second (or possibly even third) book of Denise Williams that did not vibe with me at all. I've loved a few of hers but now we're about even with like/dislike. Let me say though - the writing, pacing, and plot setup were all fantastic, as usual with Williams books. 

Now - this is probably (clearly) a personal issue because so many reviews are loving this book, but I just didn't enjoy it. I didn't love the setting/content because it's just not of an interest to me and I found there was a ton of descriptions of their jobs in coding. Much like the last book of hers, I couldn't really stand the female MC - she was just slightly unlikeable, mean to her male counterpart and frustrating. The male MC was lovely, but we didn't learn enough about him other than how obsessed and willing to ruin his life for a girl. Due to both of these issues, I didn't really buy into the chemistry they had either. There was some great steamy scenes, but I even found myself skimming them because I wasn't interested enough. I'm very sad I didn't love this.

I adore Emma Lords writing. Her books are always so lovely and enjoyable, which says a lot coming from me as I’m a very hard YA sell. I almost never fully enjoy them, and I definitely never choose them over other books but I always do hers. They feel real and relatable without over doing it. 

While I do feel like a lot of her books follow very similar paths with very similar characters, they’re all special in their own way and they always tug at my heart and put a smile on my face. This one was no exception - I loved it. I loved the relationship with her friends, with her mom and with Tom. I loved her personal journey so much too! Overall it was an excellent book, with excellent writing - just lost that one star for me because I can’t super differentiate between all her books. 

Very meh book for probably the first 60%, I really had no idea what was happening because I was too bored to get invested. However the last bit was really powerful and important and excellent. The writing was still great regardless of the slow story which is why I’m giving it 3 stars.

They were parts of this book that I really felt we’re unnecessary to the story and just added confusion to the plot. While I understand that part of the allure of this book was to not know who to trust or who to like, it really left me a bit disconnected because I had no idea who’s side I was on. Well, the overall message of the story is very important and the ending provided a really good read, the boring first half of this book really lost it for me.

Bravo, Hannah Mary McKinnon, for such an incredible mind-twisting thriller! This is definitely my favourite of her work so far, which makes me want to read more of her older work immediately! I loved the multiple POV's and the different timelines, which were done so well there was no jumbled jumping back and forth, instead it was smooth and built the story up even more. 

The characters were pretty much all awful, sometimes that doesn't work but it really did here. The unreliable narrators worked too, because you had no idea who to trust and what was true. The ending had me picking my jaw up off the floor, I loved how the entire book really just came together perfectly at the end for the final reveal. Loved it!

Okay let me start this review by saying if you need some SPICY STEAM in your life, this is your book hands down. It starts in chapter 4 and it does NOT LET UP. It was great. While a little repetitive towards the end, it was still very well done. 

I will admit that when reading smutty books, I have to set my snobby ways aside and remember that I am reading a romance novel and not a literary fiction. I have learned that I cannot compare books of different genres to one another and this book proves exactly that. When I break it down to points, I really liked this book - the characters were super easy to love, I wanted to be in their group of friends and wouldn’t have minded a look or two a Thomas. I’m not a fan of the single dad trope but I’m starting to think maybe I am because this is the third book this year I’ve really enjoyed with it! 

There were definitely parts to this book that felt wildly repetitive, like I thought I was reading the same things over and over again, which lead to me skimming parts, but the story itself was excellent! It was an easy, quick, steamy, spicy read that will make you swoon (and sweat!) Can’t wait for the next one.

Why did I wait so long to read this book? This book was simply everything. It was painful, heartbreaking, heartwarming, beautiful, and hopeful all wrapped into one incredible story. I really don't even know what else to say about this book. It had so many beautiful messages and moments throughout it. 

I connected unbelievably deeply with this book, having a sick parent that decided to come around when it was almost too late - but unlike Cassie, I didn't have that time with him. My husband is a volunteer firefighter, so that storyline really hit close to home as well. Learning to love and forgive was also huge for me, personally, as there has been a lot of personal learning and growing for myself and this book really just nailed it and hit right home. I guess, simply, this book was just beautiful on so many levels. Definite must read.

Well, this was a major let down for me. While I adored Johnson’s previous book Yellow Wife, this book was just a mediocre one for me. The story itself was raw, emotional, horrifying in so many ways and so heartbreaking, the execution of the story was slow, dragged and almost lost me a few times. 

Don’t get me wrong here, House of Eve is a moving, incredible book with fantastic writing, I just didn’t get into it quite like I did with Yellow Wife. Maybe it was the comparison in my head that didn’t let me enjoy it as much, but I found this book much more disjointed with descriptive characters and their lives rather than a descriptive story. I did listen to it on audio so maybe that played a part in it. Regardless, I still think this is worth the read if you’re interested in historical fiction novels surrounding racism and prejudice in 1950’s America.

YES YES YES YES. Okay, I LOVED this book. Lisa Jewell is an auto-buy author for me, but her last few haven't really done it for me. I've enjoyed them enough, but not nearly as much as some of her earlier books I really enjoyed. This one though might top the favourite thrillers list this year. 

The podcast portions of this book were awesome - I loved the format of it and what it brought to the story. It gave us more insight to Josie's side of the story, but also constantly making you question what she was saying and what to believe. The unreliable narrator worked so well in this one. Even though I knew everyone was lying, I still couldn't for the life of me figure out who was doing what and who was innocent. 

The ending was a little opened ended, which I don't really love because I had unanswered questions, but this really just made my head spin and wonder if maybe there will be a sequel? I would love that!