jazmin's reviews
676 reviews

“Don’t take the high ground and assume you already know what you’ll do. The truth is, when it comes to someone you love, you’ll find there isn’t anything you won’t do.”

Second time read, first time review. OH MY GOD, THINGS ARE GETTING INTENSE.

⇢The Plot
I feel like I say the same thing every review, but no major events really happened in this book until the last 5%. It was mostly just domestic, every-day life issues, which I actually enjoyed because there was lots of Adrian and Sydney content.

But that last chapter! (I’m actually so annoyed at Zoe omg.) I was waiting for the Re-education part of this series to arrive because I remember from last time that it’s super intense. I’m so excited to read the next book.

⇢Adrian and Sydney

As I mentioned before, we got so much domestic Sydrian content and it was amazing. Of course, they were hiding their relationship the entire time so nothing that different from before except that they had more time together because of the lack of plot.

“The center will hold.”
“How do you know?”
“Because we are the center.”

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ❦ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

My The Fiery Heart Playlist:
my adrian ivashkov playlist

MY BLOG ❦

MY SPOTIFY ❦

“Sanity’s overated, my darling.”

Second time read, first time review. The last time I read this series this book was my favourite, and I think it’s safe to say that I have the same preferences this time around, because THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD.

⇢The Plot
I both love and hate the trope where the female main character gets imprisoned or kidnapped (and I say female because it ALWAYS seems to be the heroine), but I have to say that it completely served in this book, and mostly because Sydney was awesome. It was definitely hard to read some parts, but seeing Sydney make plans, use her magic and help the others in the Re-education centre was really fun.

“Out of old habit, I put my hand on my collarbone, touching a cross that was no longer there. Don't let them change me, I prayed silently. Let me keep my mind. Let me endure whatever there is to come.”

⇢Adrian and Sydney

Obviously since Sydney was literally locked away for a huge portion of this book there weren’t as many interactions between our leading protagonists, but there was still a ton of romance in this book because of the Spirit Dreams and the great reunion they had when Sydney was released. And of course the iconic elopement ;)

“Ivashkov," she repeated, her face the picture of serenity. "My name is Sydney Ivashkov.”

My only comment is just that I wish there was a better reaction to their wedding. I mean, no one even knew they were dating at court (and only a few people outside of court too), and it felt like people should have been WAY more surprised than they were?? I’m sorry but if a human and Moroi who I thought hated one another and I hadn’t seen in a while suddenly appeared in court in wedding clothes I might just react with a bit more enthusiasm?? Especially Sydney’s dad… He was angry but not nearly as angry as I thought he’d be. Overall, I just felt like that scene was a wasted opportunity to write something iconic…

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ❦ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

My Silver Shadows Playlist:
my adrian ivashkov playlist

MY BLOG ❦

MY SPOTIFY ❦

“Ignite, my love. Ignite.”

Reread #2 Update:
I just felt like reading this again for some reason… so I did. Definitely still as adorable and fun as the last two times.

Original Review:
This book is so gorgeous and is on an entirely different level than it’s predecessors. I love series where there’s a big twist or reveal that changes everything; and this book is where that happens in this series. And let me tell you it is one of my favourite things ever. Warning: spoilers.

⇢Juliette
If there’s anything I love its character development. Or rather, character growth. And no one changed as much as Juliette did in this book. She’s so different than the terrified girl she was in the first book, and honestly the way she describes it is absolutely perfect:

“This isn't about Adam or Warner," I tell him, "This is about me and what I want. This is about me finally understanding where I want to be in ten years. Because I'm going to be alive, Kenji. I will be alive in ten years, and I'm going to be happy. I'm going to be strong. And I don't need anyone to tell me that anymore. I am enough, and I always will be.” … “He and I would end up like water going nowhere. Water that never moves-- It's fine for a little while. You can drink from it and it'll sustain you. But if it sits too long it goes bad. It grows stale. It becomes toxic.
 I need waves. I need waterfalls. I want rushing currents.”

⇢Aaron

Aaron Warner. Is there a more perfect character? Okay, there is, but purely because he’s still pretty morally grey even after the big reveal, but I love him nonetheless. He’s one of those characters you don’t expect to like (for good reason in this series) and then it makes it all that much better when you do. And honestly, 90% of this book’s iconic lines are said by him so that tells me all I need to know.

“It's not charity," I snap. "He cares about me--and I care about him!"
Warner nods, unimpressed. "You should get a dog, love. I hear they share much the same qualities.”

⇢Juliette and Aaron
And don’t even get me started on Warner and Juliette as a couple. Literally, everything about them is perfect. Their initial interactions before this book, how Juliette went into this book not knowing the true Warner, her discovering who he really is, her advocating for him to her friends, her process of discovery when it came to her feelings, her admitting them, E V E R Y T H I N G was perfect. I honestly wouldn’t change anything except to increase how much of them we got. Which I always want.

“It's the kind of kiss that inspires stars to climb into the sky and light up the world.”

And one more because as I said they are perfect:

“His hands are holding my cheeks, and he pulls back just to look me in the eye and his chest is heaving and he says, "I think," he says, "my heart is going to explode," and I wish, more than ever, that I knew how to capture moments like these and revisit them forever.
Because this.
This is everything.”

⇢The Plot
I think the one thing lacking in this book is the specifics of the plot. I still love it because to me the characters will always matter more than what they’re actually doing, but with this book, the amount of detail that we knew about the world increased a lot, and so much of it could have been done better.

First, the actual world-building. At times it was unclear, confusing, and didn’t seem fully planned out. Second, the character interactions, besides Warner and Juliette and Juliette and Kenji and Adam. The dynamics between the characters as well as the content we got from them could have been a lot more relevant and interesting.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ❦ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

My Ignite Me Playlist:
Romeo by Until The Ribbon Breaks
Hold Me Down by Halsey
Glory and Gore by Lorde
my aaron warner playlist

MY BLOG ❦

MY SPOTIFY ❦

dnf @30%

- the characters have ZERO chemistry despite them saying they do??
- i hate the male main character
- no. just no

"But the real you wants to take the plunge, drown with me. Come on."

Honestly, this book was what I needed to give me a quick break from all the fantasy I’ve been reading lately. Maybe I would rate it lower if I was in a romance mood and felt like being judgy, but whatever. It was by no means a literary masterpiece, but L. J. Shen’s books are always quick reads and this one was no different.

⇢Mad and Chase
So, you know how L. J. Shen has a lot of similar protagonists? This book sort of made that clear, because the main characters Maddie and Chase reminded me a lot of her other characters.

Specifically, Maddie gave me Sailor vibes (Not even sure why, because they have pretty different hobbies), and Chase gave me Vicious and Hunter and Cillian all mixed into one vibes. That isn’t to say that they weren’t interesting to read about, but that’s just something I wanted to mention.

Similarities aside, I liked Maddie a lot more than Chase, which is usually what happens with L. J. Shen’s books anyway, so nothing out of the ordinary. I liked how her mother’s death shaped the person that she became and while I get why some people were annoyed by her personality, I sort of found it endearing.

“When did you become so”—he searched for the right word—“fierce?” I smiled. “Since I found out being a pushover doesn’t equal being nice. Being strong is not only kind on myself—but on other people too.”

As for their romance, it was pretty fun. Sometimes the lack of communication made me a little angry, but I enjoyed seeing them pretend to be engaged and slowly open back up to each other. Side note: I always say that I’m over the fake dating/engagement/marriage trope but then I usually enjoy it? I can’t make up my mind at all.

“Everyone else tries to be someone else around you. To fit into your neat, all-Black universe. I live in color. I guess that’s a challenge for you.”

⇢The Plot

A lot of random mini-plots happened in this book, especially considering the genre, from the fake engagement to the not-really love triangle to the engagement events to the workplace scandals to the CEO drama to the family issues to Ronan’s sickness. Yeah, a lot.

So while it made things more enjoyable in the moment, I wish that L. J. Shen had taken the time to delve more into a few of the aspects rather than fitting so much into this book and not expanding on those ideas. But maybe that’s too much criticism for something that’s supposed to be a light romance lol.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ❦ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .

MY BLOG ❦

MY SPOTIFY ❦

These people. There’s such a fierceness to them, such a lovingness. When I got here, I thought their lives were small and silly, but I was wrong. They’re some of the biggest people I know.

What an adorable book. This was such a wholesome read and is definitely the perfect book for lifting anyone’s spirits.

This book was a lot simpler than I’d anticipated in some ways but more complex in others. Technically the plot was uncomplicated, short and sweet because it basically only focused on Leena and her happiness. There was no huge conflict or problem like in most books of similar genres. However, there were a lot of characters to love and a lot of smaller conflicts that needed resolution, which made this book a bit more complicated. I think it was a pretty good balance of the two. Definitely not what I usually read, but I could appreciate it nonetheless.

Let’s talk about the characters. I really liked Leena and enjoyed seeing her gain back her confidence after her sister’s death. However, it was surprisingly Eileen who stole the show. I don’t often read about characters over the age of seventy, so I was taken aback by how much I loved Eileen and all her friends. Reading about her was a unique experience since I do it so rarely, and I enjoyed every second.

“You were healing. You’re still healing. You’ll maybe always be healing. And that’s OK. It’ll just be part of what makes you you.”

Unfortunately, my one commentary on the characters was that there was an immense number of side characters, so many that it got a bit hard to keep track. It made sense because a lot of the characters were from a small town where everyone knew everyone, but it would have been so much easier to stay on track if there had been even three fewer side characters.

Also, the romance between Leena and Jackson wasn’t quite what I wanted. I didn’t care that it played such a small role in this book, but I feel like we didn’t know Jackson enough to really form any conclusions. Eileen and Arnold on the other hand, I loved.

Finally, I can’t not mention the writing style. I fell in love with Beth O’Leary’s writing in The Flatshare and it remained as cute and sweet as in that book this time around! I absolutely adore how she writes so all of her books will be automatic reads for me <3

MY BLOG <3

MY SPOTIFY <3

“There is no more universal story than of two people working through their shit to overcome huge obstacles and find their way to happiness,” Malcolm said. “But every journey is different, every obstacle unique. And it’s in that unique journey that we find lessons for our own lives.”

I love this series so much! It is absolutely adorable and these characters have all taken up space in my heart. AND THE RUSSIAN HAS A BOOK I AM NOT OKAY!!

I love this series because every book is not only comforting and wholesome but because each story has amazing things to teach you. This book focused a lot on family and growth, and it was incredible to see these characters come to terms with the difficult situations in their lives.

“Forgiveness means recognizing that you are a different person because of the pain but realizing that so are they because of the pain they caused. I think it’s deciding that the new people you are are better people and that together you’re worth something.”

I’ve said it once and I’ve said it again, the idea behind this series is fantastic. I love the Book Club so much and I’m glad that we saw so many of its members in this book! They were a lot more involved than in the last book and it was honestly amazing!

The woman blinked again. “When I saw on the schedule that we had a bachelor party coming in today, I figured it was a mistake and someone just left off the -ette part.”
“Men need pampering too.”
She winked. “Saving the strip clubs for later, huh?”
Mack stiffened. “No strip clubs. I don’t like the idea of using my impending wedding as an excuse to sexually objectify women as if this is my last gasp of freedom.”

^ I MEAN!! THEY’RE ICONIC!!

I was really excited about this book because I had been waiting to read about Noah and Alexis for so long, and they totally lived up to the expectations I had for them! They were the friends to lovers trope at their finest, and it was absolutely hilarious to see the club advising Noah! Honestly, everything about how their relationship progressed was so well written.

As I mentioned, the next book belongs to Vlad and I CAN’T WAIT because I already know it’s going to be iconic. And it’s a marriage of convenience? *chef’s kiss*

MY BLOG <3

MY SPOTIFY <3

“A duel, a duel, a duel. Is there anything more exciting, more romantic ... or more utterly moronic?”

I’m going to be honest, I wish I never read this book. I don’t regret starting this series, I just wish I started on book two. I already knew I wasn’t going to like this book because of that one scene, but I didn’t want to skip this book completely because I knew the information would be important for the next books (which are the ones I actually had an interest in). I wasn’t wrong about not loving this book, but I should have just skipped this because all the information I needed was provided by the show and I basically went through this pain for no reason. Anyway.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love either Daphne or Simon. They were both super unlikeable, even before the scene that everyone hates (I won’t explain it here but if you read a review by someone else the situation will be explained), and that scene only made me dislike them (particularly Daphne) a lot more. Simon didn’t start off super annoying, and honestly neither did Daphne, but as I kept reading, my opinions of them kept being lowered. I do have hope for the rest of the characters, though, so I hope I'll enjoy the rest of the books in the series.

The actual storyline and plot weren’t bad (again, excluding that scene that had no right being written), but I did think it would be more interesting than it was.

Overall, if that scene hadn’t been written, this would’ve gotten 3.5 stars, but since it was included this gets 2. Read the book and you’ll understand.

MY BLOG <3

MY SPOTIFY <3

“He shook his head in wonder. "You are magnificent."

"I keep telling everyone that," she said with a nonchalant shrug, "But you seem to be the only one to believe me.”

Unfortunately, this book let me down quite a bit :( I was really expecting to love it because Eloise was an amazing character in both the show and the previous books, and the premise for this book sounded intriguing, but for some reason I just didn’t get attached to Eloise, Phillip, or their romance. Oh well.

Eloise wasn’t by any means a bad character, though! She was funny and strong and interesting, but I guess I just expected a bit more considering how set in her ways she was in all of the other books. She seemed so opposed to marriage for the longest while, and then suddenly she wants a husband? I mean, the reasoning made sense but it all felt a bit too fast.

... and as I’m sure you can imagine, they were all possessed of a most foul temper. Is it my fault I am so superior? I think not. No more, I suppose, than it is their fault they were born men and thus without the barest hint of common sense or innate good manners.

—from Eloise Bridgerton to Penelope Featherington, after trouncing six men (three not related to her) in a shooting match.

As for Phillip, I did like him a lot at first because I usually like introverted male characters and we definitely need more of them. However, I did get pretty annoyed with him as the book progressed. His introverted personality which I had previously found sweet soon because him just being exasperating, and him not putting any effort into his relationship with Eloise, which was aggravating to say the least. He became a lot better near the end of the book, but I just couldn’t get past him out of my head unfortunately. I have to say though, it was nice to finally have a love-interest who wasn’t aware of who the Bridgertons were and their money and everything.

Also, this was a single parent trope book! I was definitely not expecting that before I read the synopsis. It was nice to see all four of them together, but I wish we got to see more of the twins because they were hilarious!

MY BLOG <3

MY SPOTIFY <3

“I fell in love with the voice in the dark. No joke, no exaggeration. It was a pure, raw love.”

This was a short and sweet read, especially compared to most of Mariana Zapata’s other books! I definitely expected more conflict, but I’m sort of glad that this was such a light read!

Gaby and Sacha were really really fun protagonists. I was also super surprised by the fact that Sacha didn’t start out as rude?! He was just nice right from the start so unlike in a lot of her other books it was easy for the two protagonists to become friends. The development of their relationship from friends to lovers was really cute, but definitely not my favourite though.

"Do you have any idea how easy it is to love you?"

I also adored the friendship between Gaby, Eli, Mason and Gordo! At times their antics were a bit stressful, but seeing them interact was always hilarious!

Honestly, there was nothing inherently wrong with this book, my rating of 3.5 was just a personal taste thing. I’m not a huge fan of plots like this where a band goes on a tour because for some reason I just never seem to enjoy it as much. Which is fine, everyone has different opinions!

*3.5

MY BLOG <3

MY SPOTIFY <3