bookish_yvette's reviews
186 reviews

this was a little to slow of a burn for me? a whole lotta nothing for about 360 pages. i indeed figured out the book at about 60% in. i hate grant. i wish we saw some sort of justice. i thought becca was gonna come out of left field and reveal some major plot twist. it'd probably be a nice read if you're in the mood for a popcorn thriller. long live june and wyatt

this book gave what it needed to give. it was a fun quick little palette cleanser <3

it was entertaining but i cannot emphasize how much i hated wendy. she's beyond naive, it's like she's willfully ignorant in lalaland.

anyways, james was hot but i swear at the end of the day he's still a man that doesn't know how to communicate.

if you've read this and weren't a fan of it please give scarred a chance!!!

this book is in the running for one of my favorite reads of the year. i cannot believe that i read this book in 3 days, i've never read a fantasy book so quickly.

🠶first and foremost i have to let everyone know this book is NOT young adult or romance, at all, in any sense of the words okay now that that's been said lets goooo. 🠴

if you need to know the levels of violence and gore that are in this book i highly recommend looking up the second sino-japanese war, unit 731, and the rape of najing. it deals heavily with the use of opium, and is indeed one of the best depictions of the brutalities of war that i've ever read.

this story starts with Rin, a war orphan who has to choose between an arranged marriage or testing into the most prestigious military school. once she defies all odds by being a poor, dark-skinned, war orphan that got the highest score in her class, she learns that studying was only the first step of a treacherous journey that involves learning war strategies, facing racism, classism, prejudice, magic, drugs, shamanism, gods, and eventually, war. there is a very clear Asian influence in this book, which isnt surprising when you think about the fact that the war depicted is inspired by true war crimes commited against Chinese citizens. there are so many heartbreaking aspects of this book, one of the biggest ones being that these are actual teenagers facing war, genocide, and death.

“Children ceased to be children when you put a sword in their hands. When you taught them to fight a war, then you armed them and put them on the front lines, they were not children anymore. They were soldiers.”

the book itself is also written in a way that's extremely readable but still has depth to it (hopefully that makes sense?)

TLDR:
⯌historical fantasy fiction
⯌readable
⯌excellent worldbuilding
⯌badass fmc
⯌real depictions of war
⯌best historical fantasy book i've ever read
⯌i was speechless

3 stars because it was entertaining enough for me to finish it in a single day, i liked the setting, and i liked that in the end, the boys got what they deserved.

i went to an all girls private high school and honestly could imagine myself in this book which was really fun. alyson, the main character, was just a little TOO boy crazy and definitely not a girls girl :/ i understand she's a teenager but CMONNNNN your boyfriend at the end of the day is still a BOY.

this book was described as "wickedly comic" and i have a question do people who write these blurbs know what humor is because i don't recall laughing at all while listening to it??

i was on the fence between 3-4 stars but decided with 4

what worked FOR ME:
-the semi dystopian world santana built centering around religion. i grew up in a devout catholic household and have no doubt this is what a church ruled government would look like
-romina wasn't dumb, she was extremely sheltered and naive, but not dumb
-felix is an ANGEL
-romina's revenge arc and just character arc as a whole were satisfying
-blood rituals
-jess (romina's only friend, i think that was her name???) was SO. FUNNY. of all the characters in the book she's the one that i thought to myself "she's so me when i read about her
-infuriating villians

what didnt work FOR ME
-idk as a reverse harem i kinda expected....more smut?
-how you go from a virgin to f*sting in like a month
-not enough corvin chapters

this is a DARK romance full of TWs and some people are giving it low ratings because the things in the trigger warnings actually happen??? yall GOOFY

this was suchhhhh a good end to the series ❤ i'm always worried when the last book of a series is with characters we haven't really met before because i won't feel a connection to them.
THIS WASN'T THE CASE FOR HANS AND I'M SO FCKING THRILLED ABOUT IT!!!!

first of all this book made me laugh SO MUCH. especially when all these goofballs decide they wanna hang out together lmfao. hans and cassie are the two most well rounded characters of the series IMO. cassie has a family that loves her and a good support system and i love when an fmc has that. but miss cassie how are you SUCH a bad cook without realizing it????? 😂

my love language is cooking and baking for the people i love so the fact that cassie does that and hans just eats it regardless of what it tastes like makes me feel so ooey gooey and warm inside.

"Wet slapping sounds fill the space around us, and I wish the overhead lights were on so I could see every fucking jiggle." PLUS SIZE FMCS IN SMUT SUPREMACY!!!!!

also HANS IS SO BABY GIRL I LOVE HIM SO MUCH and down SO BAD for cassie and he's just such a lil grumpy cutie pie!!! please he has the best character story of ALL of the alliance men and i WILL die on that hill! i want to hurt everyone who has hurt him but he already did that so 🙄

cassie is a badass plus sized fmc with a helluva backbone and i love her SO much for it

read this series. immediately. now.

this book is officially a 3 after reading the happy ever after playlist and learning about how Abby actually wrote the second book before the first** i have to go into this review with the disclaimer that i apparently have a very bad habit of reading an authors later works, then starting their backlog and comparing their first book to their latest releases.

this review hurts to type out :(

the saving grace of this book was that:
-i am a stuntman mike defender until i perish from this earth
-it made me cry
-it made me audibly laugh more than once
-the way Abby writes about female friendships


what didn't work:
-josh putting kristen in this whole "cool girl/she's not like other girls" bubble, it was so cringe and uncomfortable especially when he criticized other women for liking what they like
-......imo emotional cheating can be even worse than physical cheating and let's be honest that's exactly what kristen does the majority of this book then she goes and plays the victim.
-josh screams republican (i'm not sorry for saying this)
-this is miscommunication to the absolute maximum. kristen jesus h christ quit thinking you know what's best for josh
-JUSTICE FOR MY GIRL SLOANE???? hopefully i love how her story plays out in the sequel
-i hardly ever say this, but, tyler deserved better, he had his flaws and yes he made a mistake but like.....kristen you did him DIRTY

ughhhhh this writing this made me so sad