lanidon's reviews
1735 reviews

Two things I hate: 

Just a sweet little perfect fluffy cowboy romance. I wish there were more near to it, but it was exactly what I needed

In the end, this is just a mediocre domestic thriller. It's not really saying much with the added element of her being synthetic. The story is pretty straightforward and has a far too clean ending. I don't even think there's a particular feminist message, so not sure why it's advertised as such. I finished it, it's fine, I wouldn't recommend

DNF @ 45%

I honestly did like the start of this one until it has to actually work a romance into the plot. I think the homoerotic tension between the two killers is a lot more interesting than his fascination with this one girl. I really don't enjoy how superior this guy is and the number of times he thinks about how easy it would be to buy her or physically overpower her. I know I signed up for a dark romance but that doesn't include daydreams of rape and only seeing this woman as a puny, inferior, sex object to be used until he's bored again. The worst part is I know I've met artists exactly like this who think their art is so transcendent that killing someone to use their bones in a piece is more valuable than an actual human life

Mara is fairly interesting but I think I'd be sad to see how she ends up in this so I'm gonna quit before I have to. Unless it ends with her killing him, that would be fun I guess. But truly she just deserves a nice quiet life with no more losers and no more heartbreak

DNF @ 30% 

 I get the sense this author is very attached to the beautiful grotesque of classic fables but with no interest in the culture and context that created them. Both books I've read feel unmoored in time and place, but far too grounded only in violence and trauma

Bardugo and I don't mix. I think she's great at writing atmosphere but not the meat of story and character. Her books are always slow and don't feel like they build to anywhere.

I got spoiled on this book and I really don't think I can sit through it if it isn't saying anything. A story about a Jewish practitioner of folk magic during the Spanish Inquisition could have a lot to say, but I don't feel any theme to it... What's the point of your story girl? Do you have a message or are you just having fun? 

This just isn't it, very little depth. I can't get down with flighty lead characters who don't really use their brain. Also why do they fuck so early in the book? 

I like this more as a fiction story than a romance. The fact that they're soulmates is used as a bypass for all the stages of romance. They meet, they're inextricably bonded, then they go about their lives together. They even skip the attraction and hopelessly in love honeymoon stages and go right to feeling like partners who are perfectly in sync. It's something so easy that in itself feels like a fairytale, but it doesn't really carry a romance book 

That being said, the rest of the story and characters are really entertaining. I love her bucket list and how on board others are whether or not they believe it. I enjoy that she loves his mom more than he does. I love how she feels fairly grounded despite how flighty this setup could make her. She's almost methodical and at peace which lends itself to the relationship feeling so natural

DNF @ 46%

The mc is such frustratingly a XP so random quirky girl and I couldn't keep going. I pulled over on a road trip to shut this off. The guy is like, y'know,,,, a human being which makes the cartoon character of a girl stand out even more. I know a lot of eccentric people in real life, that's not the problem, it's the insincerity of her behavior and the lack of attachment to literally anything except her daydreams; she will drop anything and anyone 

This book also has too many elements going on at the same time (and not enough character development) 

It doesn't all work, it just feels messy and surface level. I liked the parts about him, but the rest is just not worth sticking around through