opalmars's reviews
290 reviews

 I can just safely say that this book was not for me. 😬🫠 Reading this just reminded me of how painfully asexual I am lol.

So, this story is insanely cliché, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but, in this case, it just didn’t work for me. The romance is straight out of wattpad: girl who wants to be a famous actress ends up fake-dating her childhood celebrity crush for press, and guess what? They fall in love for real ooooooohhhh. They also have a rivals-to-lovers arc in there. Also, she ends up becoming famous and having a pretty good start to her acting career. It literally reads like those wish-fulfillment wattpad stories about Y/N 😅.

Once again, I could’ve dealt with this, but, overall, it just didn’t work for me, mainly because… I didn’t care at all about the romance. 🥲🥲🥲 I WANTED TO LOVE THIS SO BADDDDDD!!! And everybody else loved it, so I genuinely thought this’d be super cute! But I just… didn’t *feel* Farah and Zayan’s bond, you know? 😭💔

Farah was simping for Zayan from the very start, which makes sense, because she’s been obsessed with him for years, at that point. However, from the very beginning, Zayan was rude and presumptuous, and Farah barely even gave him a hard time. Idk man, I just wanted to see her standing up for herself! Don’t let this rude rich guy talk to you like that, queen! 😤 Anyways. 😪 Farah ended up accepting to fake-date Zayan reeeeally fast. I would’ve liked to see her thinking and agonizing about such a life-changing decision a bit more, but whatever.

Farah and Zayan get closer as they’re fake-dating. We quickly realize that Farah’s problem with fake-dating a guy she’s “enemies” with isn’t that it’s hard to pretend to like him. Farah’s issue is that she’s so attracted to Zayan already that she’s scared that she’ll fall in love with him… 🧍🏻 Afff… Listen, I get it, and *it makes sense*, because he was her celebrity crush. HOWEVERRRR I just didn’t have a lot of fun reading that. 🥲

Farah tells Zayan friendship between them might be hard because she finds him super attractive, and Zayan also admits he’s very attracted to Farah. I’m sorryyyyyyy 😫😭 but it just wasn’t FUN to read about 2 people who were attracted to each other to the point of NOT being able to be friends because they thought closeness would tempt them, and they didn’t want that lol. 🥴💀 Also – and maybe this is just me being too asexual –, is it really that hard to be friends with a pretty person? I was genuinely so confused. 😅

Additionally, I have to say: I didn’t really FEEL any of their connection. When they admitted their attraction to each other, they were barely even friends, in my opinion. When they started saying they love each other I was frankly just staring blankly at the page. I didn’t feel anything about their romance throughout this entire book, if I’m being honest.

Anyways. Their attraction to each other obviously keeps growing. Zayan keeps spewing the most elaborate compliments to Farah, and they felt kinda forced (idk, I just thought no teenage boy would be saying “You’re making it hard to breathe around you.”; “I’m not sure I even have the right words to tell you how brilliant you are”; “You’re enchanting.”; “My dreams include loving you for eternity” to a girl he’s friends with and only met like, a month and a half ago lol. Maybe I’m just too jaded, though).

The part that really got to me, however, was that they fell soooo deeply in love (to the point that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together) after only knowing each other for *2 MONTHS*. 💀💀💀💀💀💀 The straights are wildingggggg omgggg what do you MEANNNN you’re deciding you’ll be together forever after knowing each other just for some weeks?? 🥴

And in the end when Farah finds out Zayan wants to propose to her, even though they’ve only been dating for ***1 YEAR***????? BROOOOO LMFAOOOOO y’all are TEENAGERS!!!!!! 😭😭😭 AND!!! You didn’t even spend this year together! I’m not trying to say long distance relationships don’t work, btw, I’m just saying that these 2 TEENAGERS haven’t even been physically in the same space for like… any amount of time, yet they’re getting married????

INSANITYYYYY bro I’m definitely not straight enough for this shit 🥴🥴🥴.

All of this to say that the romance didn’t work for me, which is unfortunate, because not only is it that main thing in this *romance* book, obviously, but also because everyone else seemed to love it, so I believed I would, too. 😭💔



Regarding the rest of the book:

➤ Her friendship with the Tragedies moved too quickly and wasn’t properly developed. She met these random people 2 days ago and already trusts them so much?? Okay… 🙄

➤ It was interesting to see Farah dealing with impostor syndrome (although, let’s be real, sometimes it was warranted, because she didn’t even audition for the Heer Ranjha play; she was just offered the main role because of her fake relationship with Zayan lol). Her acting career was kinda cool to follow, but it also lowkey read as wish-fulfillment, as I already mentioned at the start.

➤ Racism and colourism were really well integrated into the story, and I liked seeing different facets of it, through different characters who have different experiences. The ending where they “defeated the bad guys” was kinda lame, but overall I enjoyed the way these issues were woven into the story.

➤ Laiba (Zayan’s ex) was really nice, and I wish we’d seen more of her.

➤ I appreciate that this is a YA book about university-aged characters.

➤ If I had a nickel for every time Farah overheard an important conversation between other people, I’d have several nickels (like, at least 3, maybe 4 or 5, idk, I lost count lol).

➤ Zayan was kinda childish and dumb at times, ngl. Like, what do you mean you’re gonna ignore Farah for days on end (negatively affecting their press-relationship and also their play) just because you’re salty she didn’t invite you to hang out with the Tragedies (after YOU SAID you’re not really friends with them)???? 🙄🙄🙄 And you’re just gonna throw your fake-dating contract on the ground in front of paparazzi and then act SHOCKED people found out about the contract??? DUMBASS 😭.

➤ I liked the Pakistani rep, and enjoyed that Farah was so close to her country’s culture.



Overall: this book wasn’t for me, but it could be for you, if the things I mentioned aren’t a problem to you. 

Cute book, but definitely lacking in some departments.

➤ I really liked the autism rep, and I think Marlowe was an interesting MC.

➤ I liked Ash as a LI, and I especially appreciate that he’s different from the typical LI in m/f books: he’s queer (and has openly dated guys previously), he wears makeup, nail polish and jewellery, he loves romance books… He’s also quite sweet and understanding, which I 100% love in guys! I’ve seen him being described as a “bad boy”, and like….. no???? He’s just emo and wears black lol 😅.

➤ Marlow and Ash’s reasons to come together were definitely a bit… farfetched. 😕 This book has that whole “you help me get my ex back but OH NO I ended up falling out of love with my ex and falling in love with YOU instead haha” trope, which is very cliché and overdone, but I wouldn’t have minded it, if the reasons made more sense. However, Ash just randomly asks the teacher to pair him up with Marlowe in a group project, even though they didn’t know each other, and then he “saves” her from humiliation when she’s trying to get her ex back, also for no reason. Ash then accepts to teach Marlowe how to be more romantic, before she even offers him anything in return. Like, why?? I kept wondering why he was so willing (and enthused) to help her. For her side of the deal, Marlowe says she’ll help Ash’s band with their website, social media, etc, which like, fine, but Ash didn’t even know she could help him there, and he had already basically decided he would help this complete stranger… 🫤 To help Marlowe become more romantic, he recommends her romance books to read, and takes her on “field trips” (aka date ideas). These didn’t feel substantial enough, and I wish the author had given them more importance and more time on page. Overall, the main plot was not only an overdone trope, but it was also unfortunately lacking a bit.

➤ I also think Marlowe and Ash’s friendship developed a bit too fast. I would’ve liked to see more of their interactions.

➤ There were several eye-roll-worthy scenes in this book, like

when Marlowe begged Ash to kiss her to “prove” she’s not broken and to remember what it’s like to kiss someone (so she could write it in her love letter to her ex ofc) 🙄; their stupid misunderstanding where she refused to explain she was over her ex and dragged it for god knows how long 🙄; and that fuck-ass scene where she decided (on her own) that their group presentation would be them acting out a scene she wrote, and then she goes off-script and uses the characters they’re portraying as a way to explain how she feels to Ash 🙄. Criiiiinge 😬

➤ At the end of the book, at prom, Ash confesses his love for Marlowe on stage, in front of everyone. I haaaated this scene because, 1) CRINGE; 2) Marlowe was the one who’d been stringing Ash along, and was planning to confess to him for a while, so I was sad we didn’t get that; 3) he admits he started crushing on her when he got to school the previous year, so like… he already liked her, even though they were strangers??? 😟 Which means… the reason why he instantly asked the teacher to partner with Marlowe was because he already liked her???? Boooooo I wanted them to fall in love during the book! I really didn’t like to find out he apparently already liked her before 😭.

➤ The ending was a bit abrupt and anticlimactic, ngl. Gimme an epilogue next time!

➤ I cant get over the fact that Marlowe had to EXPLAIN to Ash that his band’s online presence was shit. You’re telling me that in a group 5 teenagers there’s not *ONE* person who realizes they should PROBABLY post their music online? Or have a decent website? Update their social medias?? 🥴 C’mon now…

➤ Sometimes things were mentioned and I’d be like “When did that happen???”, and then I’d realize that it actually happened *off-page*. 😐 SO MANY things happened off-page, and, sure, they were usually smaller things, but they definitely added up. I wish the author hadn’t skipped these things, because not only did it make the book confusing at times, but it also meant we lost opportunities to see Marlowe and Ash bond.

➤ I think that the MC (and the story itself) had a bit too much going on. Marlowe loved maths, mushrooms, developed an obsession with romance books, was apparently good at photography and web design (which is how she helped Ash’s band), had confidence issues because of her family, was still into her ex and was actively trying to get him back, did this by striking a deal with a stranger, ended up having weekly “field trip dates” and romance book discussions with Ash, had her group project, her 2 best friends and her little sister…… There was just SO MUCH going on in Marlowe’s life, and YES, that makes her a more realistic and well-rounded character, but it also made this book have a little too much going on, and unfortunately, not everything felt fully actualized. I wish the book had been a little longer, or some of these things were removed. The story definitely didn’t need them all.

➤ I can’t forget those 2 instances where the MC broke the 4th wall for no reason (one at the very start, one at the very end). Just to fuck with me, methinks.


Overall, this was cute, and I’d recommend it, but I definitely think it could’ve been better. Missed opportunity, for sure. 

This was a fun and quick read. This book had A LOT of things going on, which on one hand is great, because it means the story is fast-paced, and the MC feels realistic and well-rounded. On the other hand, I don’t think all of the different plot-lines were fully actualized, since there were SO MANY of them… This book has waaaay too many things going on, and some of those were very well developed! Others, however, left me feeling like something was missing…

This book has: rivals to lovers; competing for the same job; MC juggling a job + school + an internship; MC’s personal struggles (friends, parents, body issues); teaming up with your enemy for an investigation/mystery; online secret identities…… 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 This abundance of tropes and plot points makes it hard to have them all be fully realized.

What I liked the most were Wyn’s personal struggles. The way she dealt with fatphobia was very interesting to read about, and I’m glad to see this type of rep from a fat author. I also deeply related to her loneliness and lack of friendships.

I do think the friendships she made in the book could’ve been better developed, but overall I enjoyed that plot point, and I especially appreciated Wyn’s apology at the end, and how she acknowledged her faults. I like how that conflict was wrapped up.

The romance was… alright. Wyn was instantly attracted to Three, and kept thinking about him even when they hated each other, which was annoying to me. She was way too into him, way too quickly. I wish this attraction had been built up a bit more, and I wish Wyn didn’t spend half the time thinking about how attracted she is to him, and how she wants to touch him, and kiss him, etc. She was soooo hot and bothered. Like, girl, c’mon. Aren’t you supposed to hate him? Be serious for a sec. 🙄 I just don’t think their initial attraction was very well developed, and I wish it’d been a slower burn. At the end of the book Wyn admits that she actually got a crush on Three *the moment* they met!!!!!!!!! 🫥🫥🫥 So… yeah… I wouldn’t call this book insta-love, and they definitely take a long time to get together, but it’s not surprising at all that Wyn liked Three from the very start, because even when they were enemies, she kept thinking about him in a romantic/sensual way.

With that said, I do think their dynamic was entertaining (though not my personal favourite). Their bickering was definitely amusing. What I liked the most, however, was their banter ONLINE. Their online secret identity thing was SO FUN!! Unfortunately, though, it wasn’t fully actualized, in my opinion. Their online romance wasn’t developed enough, which made Wyn’s struggle picking between Hayes and Three fall completely flat. The author should’ve developed their online romance more, so we could’ve had more of a love triangle (between Hayes, Three and Wyn, of course). Missed potential. 🙁

And because Wyn and Hayes’s romance wasn’t very well developed, it made Wyn’s relationship with Lincoln fall flat, as well. I wish the author had made Hayes’s identity more of a mystery (even if us, as readers, can definitely guess Hayes is gonna be Three lol). But Lincoln was barely in the story, so Hayes’s identity wasn’t really a big deal. Again: missed potential.

I did end up enjoying Three and Wyn’s romance, once they admitted their feelings. I appreciated that they openly talked about things, and that Three had been helping Wyn since he found out she was the girl he’d been talking to online.

Another thing I don’t think was fully actualized in this story was the drug ring mystery. Three and Wyn team up to find out who’s dealing hard drugs at their college, but there isn’t much investigating there. We see them snoop around like, twice, and then just talk about things, and that’s it. I think the author missed an opportunity to have them really solve a mystery, and bond throughout it. Oh well. That whole plot point just felt a little underwhelming, to me. 😕

Some other small things I don’t think were fully realized in this story: her relationship with her parents (what we got was good, but it was just so little, in a sea of 1000 other things, that, in the end, they feel irrelevant); her love for webcomics (it’s mentioned a couple of times that she LOVES webcomics, yet we never see any of this in the story lol).

Overall: a nice book, but with way too much going on, to the story’s detriment.

 

 I don’t know what to say about this book. I simply don’t have many thoughts about it. I don’t think this was a bad book, but I also never felt too invested in… well…. anything, really. 😕

Andrew and Jamie were still lovely and fun, and I enjoyed seeing the continuation of their relationship. I could understand the whole conflict with Jamie not really trusting anyone and trying to go after Fort Caroline before they could hurt him and his loved ones; and Andrew thinking Jamie was too blinded by revenge. Their main conflict made sense. However, I don’t think that was enough to carry this whole book, and, other than their relationship issues, the only plot is them travelling with a group of people, meeting new people, etc…

It wasn’t boring, but it also wasn’t that engaging. We met A LOT of new characters, and they were fine, but I never fully cared about them, for some reason. The emotional beats whenever they said goodbye to their friends were very well written (I almost teared up at points!), but because I didn’t really care about the new characters, I didn’t really feel much in those scenes.

Everything about this book was *fine*. Just fine. The new characters were enjoyable enough, them simply travelling was alright, Jamie and Andrew’s relationship drama was understandable. But, for me, this book never went above “fine”. 😕 

 Really sweet book!

✘ I really enjoyed Ivelisse and Quin’s friendship, and I liked seeing them slowly realizing and admitting they were in love with each other. I especially appreciate that this was a slow-burn!

The “I sent you a letter” / “What letter?” trope was a bit cheesy, but I really enjoyed it haha. Quin’s letter was SO SWEET! 🥺

✘ I appreciate that the LI was really kind and sweet. I despise those rude, cocky, arrogant men in m/f romances. Bless Quin!

✘ Ivelisse was MESSYYYYYY!!! Don’t get me wrong: she was a nice girl and I liked her as a MC, but omgggggg, sometimes it was hard to root for her! Her jealousy and fear were so intense that she kept sabotaging her best friend. Girl, naurrrr 🤒! I do think her actions were really well explained, though! 

Her feelings for Quin making her overly jealous made sense, especially since Quin kind of started ignoring her to pay more attention to Tessa (the “homewrecker” of Ivelisse’s previous relationship); I’m glad they explained and apologized for their behaviours at the end. I’m also glad Tessa apologized to Ivelisse, and cleared things up regarding Danny, and I like that Ivelisse immediately realized that she was probably just being insecure, and that Tessa was probably never to blame at all. Seeing Ivelisse make peace with her mum was also very nice.

 

✘ There were some things that I wish had been explained and showed a bit more. For example, Tessa’s popularity (it’s weird that everyone in that school was obsessed with Tessa even though she never gave them the time of day. I wish we saw more reasons for her popularity and the overwhelming adoration everyone felt for her); as well as Ivelisse and Quin’s “class difference” (it’s mentioned multiple times that he is the popular guy and she’s just a drama-tech girl, but I honestly never felt their “class difference”).

✘ The humour in this book was fine, but I didn’t love it. I think it’s the type of humour that would 10000% translate better on screen. I REALLY hope to see this being adapted into a movie at some point! I think it’d be incredible!

✘ Overall, this was a sweet book, and I’d definitely recommend it if you enjoy YA romcoms! I’m super excited for Elle’s next book! 🤩 

 Thanks to the author for providing me with an eARC of this book!

SUCH A FUN BOOK AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!


“Bingsu for Two” follows River, whose life, at the start of the book, is in shambles. He just broke up with his long-term girlfriend, he walked out of an exam (meaning he will not be able to get into university), and he has an altercation with a rude customer at the café he works at (which belongs to his parents, btw), and he ends up quitting his job. So when he gets home he’s like………. 🧍🏻🧍🏻🧍🏻 “Ah shit…. I kinda just ruined my life, didn’t i?” 😬 So he desperately tries to find a new job just so he can at least pretend he still has his life together, ya know?

He ends up getting a job at another café called Bingsu for Two (they said the title of the book omg!), where, guess what? That rude customer from before also works at 🤪. Her name is Sarang, and she’s mean and bossy for no fucking reason. River, however, is set on making this work, so he just puts up her bullshit. Homeboy then accidentally posts a chaotic video of his day working at Bingsu for Two. The video goes viral and gets the café a bunch of attention, so River ends up becoming a barista + social media manager.

I reeeeally enjoyed this part of the book! Seeing River and all of his coworkers filming videos and creating events for Bingsu for Two was soooo much fun! Definitely my favourite part of the book!

I was lowkey sad at the end when they decided to stop their social media presence, although I completely understand that decision, of course.

I also really liked to see River bonding with all of his coworkers during this time. The SCs were SO GOOD! The author managed to make every SC compelling and three-dimensional, and I could always understand their choices and actions, even if I didn’t agree with them. Kai was definitely my favourite, but I honestly have a soft spot for them all! I also looooved the side romances! I wanted to see more of those couples (and of the SCs overall lol. Where are their books? I’d read them)! 🥹

Now regarding the MCs. First of all, River. For starters, I reeeeally appreciate that this is a m/f romance from the perspective of the guy. I feel like we don’t see that often, so this book definitely stands out in that regard. And I have to say: River is SUCH a fun POV character! He is messy. He is a dumbass. He is a pathetic loser. He is a bad idea machine. You can tell from a mile away everything that is going to go wrong because he keeps making bad decisions. But I love him dearly. 😭 LISTENNNNN! River is a mess, but 1) it makes sense for his character, and 2) it makes for very funny moments, so I loved it! I also really enjoyed his arc throughout the story. His struggles with his ex-gf Cecelia, him feeling like a disappointment to his family, him being lost in life and not knowing what he wants or who he is… It was all so well explored and portrayed! And I liked how it was all wrapped up at the end.

Now for the LI, Sarang. As I mentioned, she and River have a rocky start to their relationship. Honestly, I never fully understood why she came into that coffeeshop mad at the world and decided to be rude to a customer service worker. After that altercation, River and Sarang can’t stand each other. It was a little hard for me to fully understand this rivalry, unfortunately, because I honestly thought Sarang was unnecessarily rude to River during their first encounters. But I digress. As they start working together, we see their friendship grow and slowly develop into a romance, which I liked. I especially appreciate that this is a SLOW BURN ROMANCE!!! WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! As it should!!! FINALLY a book that isn’t insta-love! LET’S GOOOOO!!!!!!!!! (sorry I’ve just been reading a lot of insta-lovey books so this one was a TREAT!)

Another aspect I loved about this book was the humour. As I already mentioned, River is a chaotic character, which makes the book really fun. But the way it was written also enhanced that experience! The multi-medium format was super engaging (the scripts, the tweets, that one screenshot from AO3?????? 😭🤣); the chapter titles were HILARIOUS (another one of my favourite things about this book!); and the overall self-awareness of the book was just on point!

All in all, “Bingsu for Two” was a delight, and I’m so happy I got to read it early (though that’s also kinda bad bc now I’ll have to wait EXTRA LONG for Sujin’s next book 😞). Anywayssss. I definitely recommend this book if you enjoy YA rom-coms! 🥹💖 (Also I know this book isn’t even out yet but can somebody please turn it into a movie??? I need itttttt!!!!!!!!!!! 😩😩😩) 

 What a strange little book. This book isn’t for everyone. Honestly, describing it after I finished it, it doesn’t seem like it’d be for ME. But I actually really enjoyed it! This is definitely a unique book, and I’d recommend it if it seems like something you’d enjoy!


STORY:

❖ I don’t really know how to describe the plot of this book because, in reality, there really isn’t one. 😅 You’d think that would be a problem, but honestly?? I was here for it! This book ended up really working for me, even though there wasn’t really a “proper plot” and not a lot of resolution in the end. There are politics, inequality, medical drama, murder mysteries, investigations and a lot of other interesting aspects, but, mostly, this story is about interpersonal relationships. And I actually really enjoyed it!

❖ The political aspect of this book was a bit confusing at first for my small brain, but I actually ended up really appreciating it. It wasn’t necessarily a main plot point; it was more something that was always there, in the background, influencing the characters’ decisions and actions. I would like to see how that aspect of the story wraps up (need the sequel asap!!).

❖ I reeeeally enjoyed the setting! This futuristic London was so interesting, and everything was introduced into the story in a very natural way. The way food was grown, not born; the water crisis; the flooded city being split into Levels to accommodate everyone, some people having powers… it was all so cool! And it really enhanced the story! This book seems quite simple, since we’re mostly focused on people’s relationships and drama, but having such a unique world with so many problems and political issues made the story much more intriguing.



CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:

❖ I really enjoyed the characters! Even the bad ones were really well written and portrayed, and you could easily understand why they acted the way they did. I think they were all really well written. My only issue is that I’d want to see more of some of these characters haha (especially Nick).

❖ One of the 3 MCs is Ethan, a doctor with rare healing powers. He’s perpetually tired and very negative. I thought he was a really interesting character, and I especially enjoyed seeing him struggle with his job as a healer. What I disliked about Ethan was the way he treated Nick… 😟 I completely understood Ethan’s abandonment issues and his propensity to self-sabotage as a way to cut his losses before he got hurt (as I already mentioned, the characters were well-written, and their actions well-explained). However,,,,,,, dear lord. Poor Nick 😭. I still can’t believe

Nick still loved Ethan even after he started dating Jav without cutting his and Nick’s 2-year-long-no-strings-attached-situationship! And Nick loved Ethan enough to TAKE THE BLAME FOR HIM IN A MURDER?????

 Bro, Nick deserved SO MUCH BETTER!!! 😭💔 I NEED book 2 NOW so I can see more of Nick!!!!!!! (he’s apparently gonna be a focus of book 2!)

❖ Our 2nd MC is Jav, one of the heirs to an insanely wealthy pharmaceutical corporation, Arden Pharma. Jav is extremely sweet and I really liked him! I especially liked seeing his internal struggles with being an empath. His relationship with his sister Rina was also super intriguing! His love for Rina made a lot of sense, especially since she’d always protected him. Seeing him slowly realize Rina is kind of crazy, but not wanting to give up on their relationship was really fascinating. I really hope to see more of their sibling dynamic in the sequel.

❖ Ethan and Javier’s romance wasn’t my favourite, at first. Don’t get me wrong; it IS a VERY realistic way to start a relationship – they found each other cute, decided to go on a couple of dates, kissed after a handful of dinners. It’s definitely how a lot of relationships start irl! However, *I* personally prefer to see characters getting to know each other first, and only then deciding to date. I just thought that the start of Ethan and Jav’s relationship was too quick, and I wish it’d had more development. With that said, I did enjoy them, once they got together! They were very sweet! 🥺

❖ The 3rd and final MC is Oliver, a journalist who is set on finding out what happened to Tim Hersch, who was suspiciously killed at the beginning of the story. Ollie is dating Ethan’s bff Vegas, and he works with Ethan’s dad, which means he’s often around our other MCs. Ollie’s investigation creates such an interesting dynamic in the story! Rina Arden and her colleague Peter are responsible for Tim’s murder; Jav would do anything to protect his sister (and is kind of blinded by his love for her); Ethan falls for Jav and refuses to see Ollie’s very valid points whenever he finds something suspicious about the Ardens. It was so amazing (and INFURIATING) to see Ollie being right about pretty much EVERYTHING in his investigation, but seeing every other character either doubting him, or actively lying and working against him! 😫 Omg Ollieeeee!!! You are RIGHT!!!! One day I hope people see it (even though that will mean some of our other MCs will get in trouble lol). 😣🤞🏻 I also have to say that Ollie’s chapters were quite intriguing for me, because WE already know what happened to Tim, so we’re basically following a detective trying to find answers we already have. But I still enjoyed his POVs! I wasn’t bored reading his part of the story; I was just excited for people to finally believe him lol. I hope in book 2 Ollie’s investigative work and the Hersches get some justice!



CHARACTERS & ROMANCE:

❖ I read this as an ebook, but the physical version has 60+ illustrations, and based on what I’ve seen on the author’s and the illustrator’s pages, the art is absolutely STUNNING! I think reading this physically would definitely enhance the experience!

❖ I liked the LGBT rep!

❖ Even though this story is a mishmash of genres, doesn’t have a clear plot, and doesn’t have resolution, I still really enjoyed it, and I’d definitely recommend it if it sounds interesting to you! I’m excited for the sequel! 

 This was definitely… a book… that I read… 😐

Unfortunately, I was mostly bored while reading this. The 1st half was too slow-paced for me. It took a third of the book for us to even get to the synopsis. The 2nd half definitely picked up, but at that point I was already too uninvested in the story to care.

PLOT:

What happens is the following: Knox is a familiar (a dude with some magical powers) on the run, so he makes a deal with a human (Ellery) so he can stay in the human realm instead of going back to his realm. Ellery accepts this deal because they think Knox can help figure out how to end the 5-year long Winter. What ensues is a (kinda short) period of time where Ellery and Knox go through a bucket list so Knox can experience human life (mostly based on teen dramas he liked to watch). The whole bucket list thing is quite cheesy and overdone, but I wouldn’t have minded it if it had been *fun*.

Sadly, though, this wasn’t really fun… 😕 The activities lasted anywhere between 1 paragraph to a couple of pages. At some point we breezed through like 10 different activities in like 3 paragraphs. Ellery and Knox sometimes talked and bonded during these moments, but tbh none of them were long enough to feel substantial, or to make me care about their relationship. They also ended up running into a plethora of supernatural creatures during this time, and these creatures often went into monologues explaining their lives and/or evil plans in a way that felt quite cheap. Overall, I didn’t care about this section of the book, and most moments felt underdeveloped.

At some point act Knox learns that

the permanent Winter was caused by the shades, and he could actually stop it by going back to his realm. Then he spends god knows how long thinking about telling Ellery the truth, but he either puts it off or gets interrupted. This happened multiple times, and it started to feel like a joke. At 65% he FINALLY comes clean when the shades are attacking them. Ellery almost dies but Knox gives them the elixir the shades are coming after to revive Ellery. They say their goodbyes (which left me staring blankly at the page because I did not care at all about their romance) and then Knox goes back to his realm, losing his memory in the process.

The final arch of the story is Ellery finding a way to go to Knox’s realm to get him back, even though Knox doesn’t remember his time in the human realm. They manage to do it by recruiting the supernatural creatures they met throughout their bucket-list-time, and then everyone lives happily ever after.</hide spoiler> I was pretty bored throughout the climax of the book, and none of the emotional moments made me feel… well… anything. 😐 But given that I didn’t care about the beginning or middle of this story, I’m not surprised I also didn’t care about the ending. It was a pretty sweet ending, though, and a simple story overall, so I can see why other people enjoyed it!


ROMANCE:

I wasn’t a fan of the romance. The moment they see each other, Knox and Ellery immediately start talking about how hot the other is. Turns out they both already developed a crush on the other before the book even began (just based on their physical appearance btw; they never spoke before)… 😐😐😐 Listen. I understand that people get crushes on strangers just by looking at them, but *I* personally prefer to actually see the romance develop from 0, instead of seeing 2 characters who already like each other (for superficial reasons only) before I even get to meet them.

Knox and Ellery then make their deal and spend time together going through Knox’s bucket list. As I already mentioned, these moments felt pretty unsubstantial, and weren’t enough for me to start caring about their relationship. It was STATED that they liked each other, but I couldn’t SEE a singular reason as to why. 😐

I also found it quite strange that Ellery mentioned rarely being interested in people, and never really having crushes. Yet they started liking Knox just based on their looks, and fell in love with him super fast! Mind you, they only know each other for a total of 3 weeks, and by the end of week 1 Ellery already liked Knox (like, more than just a crush)……

I will say that I actually kind of enjoyed their relationship when they finally got together. They were very shy and awkward, and constantly asked each other stuff like “Can you kiss me?”, “Do you like me?”, “Did you enjoy the kiss?”, etc. I appreciate the verbal consent, and I reeeeally liked their innocence. It was all super sweet!

Unfortunately, I couldn't fully enjoy their relationship because I don’t think it was well established. Like, yeah, they were sweet and pure, but also like… the basis of their romance was their physical attraction to each other, and after that they just spent some time together and were in love?? I just never bought it. I didn’t understand why they liked each other, I rolled my eyes when they showed jealousy, and I stared blankly at the page during their emotional moments. And since this story is kind of based on their love for each other, the fact that I didn’t buy their romance means that I also didn’t care about the resolution to the plot. 🫤🥲

Overall. This was… fine… for somebody else, perhaps. Not so much for me. But I can definitely see why other people would love this! 

 I’ve had this book in my TBR for almost 2 years, since before it had a cover, a release date, or even this title. I was sooooo excited about this book, so I’m really sad that I ended up not really enjoying it… 🙁

This book is described as being “rivals to lovers” and “slow burn”, but, in my opinion, it is neither.

Whoever described this as a slow burn needs to pay me reparations because wtf do you mean slow burn when the MC is INSTANTLY attracted to the LI?? Sure, it might not be insta-love, but it sure as hell is insta-lust! 😑 The first 100-ish pages of this book were paaaaainful to read, because Gene is immediately attracted to Luis (which I already didn’t love bc like… this was supposed to be a slow burn?), and he talks about Luis’s ~very hot~ body literally every time he is on page. Gene was always ogling at Luis, spending paragraphs talking about how hot he is, obsessing over his very attractive body… It was not only uncomfortable (like, can you notice *anything else* about Luis, please?), but it was also VERY annoyingly repetitive! If you took a shot every time Gene talks about hot Luis is, you’d die from alcohol poisoning in like 50 pages, because Gene mentions Luis’s attractiveness literally every page. His obsession with Luis’s body was genuinely mind numbing.

Another thing I didn’t like about this book was the foundation for Gene and Luis’s relationship. Gene immediately dislikes Luis for apparently no reason. Like, yeah, Luis is a little standoff-ish and not always a great team player, but, other than that, Luis’s only “crime” was being introverted and anxious. Luis did absolutely NOTHING to justify Gene's levels of hatred for him. Gene’s animosity seemed to be focused on Luis’s introversion, which is just bizarre. It was soooo infuriating to read, not only because that hatred was completely unfounded, but also because Gene is OBSESSSED with Luis. It was so strange to see Gene hate Luis, but also constantly talk about how hot he is. Both the hatred and the attraction seemed unjustified to me. I genuinely can’t believe this is being advertised as “rivals to lovers”. There’s basically no rivalry; it’s just Gene obsessing over Luis and getting mad at his introversion for no reason. 🫤

At some point we learn that Gene and Luis used to know each other in college, which helped clarify Gene’s interest in Luis – although, I will say, I don’t think it really justifies Gene’s unhealthy obsession. It takes 20% of the book for it to be revealed that Luis used to help Gene practice, in college (so they were friendly-ish, I guess). At 30%, we learn that Gene apparently had a crush on Luis back then, which I guess explains his fixation with Luis. HOWEVER!!!! I don’t think this was well done AT ALL! They hadn’t spoken in 7 YEARS! There’s noooo way Gene still had a crush on Luis lmfao 🥴. And, even if he did, WE haven’t seen any of this! We are TOLD Gene used to like Luis (almost a decade ago), but we’re never given reasons for it, we never see their college friendship develop, we never see them bond…

Not only do we not see reasons for Gene to like Luis in the past, but we also never see reasons for him to like Luis in the present. Their present “romance” is entirely based on the fact that Gene is instantly fixated on Luis, but his current obsession is based on his past crush, which we never even got to see! This is a “romance” where the MC is instantly attracted to the LI (and constantly talks about his body, and basically nothing else), and the MC also hates the LI (for basically no reason); you are then expected to believe this weird obsession is because of a past crush you never get to see develop, and you’re supposed to believe didn’t falter after almost a decade. It just wasn’t well done, in my opinion. I’m sorry. 😐😐😐

So, overall, I found the setup for this romance very poor. Their past “friendship” was barely even established (I’m putting “friendship” in quotes bc I genuinely still don’t know if they were actually good friends or just friendly acquaintances lol; that’s how poorly explained their past relationship is lmfao). In present day, Gene just hates Luis for no plausible reason, while also thirsting over his body whenever he sees him. All of this made the foundation for this romance not work for me, and because I didn’t like the foundation, it was hard for me to care about the rest of their relationship.

The shift from “rivals” to lovers felt very sudden; I don’t think they bonded enough to become friends, let alone lovers 😐. At less than 50% Gene is already in love with Luis, which I didn’t get at all. I didn’t feel anything when they kissed for the 1st time. They decide to have sex before they even have their 2nd kiss, which left me staring at the page like… 🧍🏻🧍🏻🧍🏻 damn I’m VERY ace. I’m not the biggest fan of sex scenes, so seeing them fuck before seeing a reason for them to even *LIKE* each other was JARRING lmfao 💀💀💀. I do appreciate that they always asked for consent, though! 👌🏻

There’s obviously a 3rd act breakup that makes some sense, I guess. I wish they just talked to each other, but I’ve seen much worse, so I wasn’t mad. This breakup is supposedly weeks long, but it only takes up 20 pages of the book, so it genuinely felt like nothing lol. Regardless, I cared so little about their romance that I didn’t feel anything at all when they broke up, or when they got back together.

Other random things:
➤ I’ll forget about the SCs very quickly (they were mostly irrelevant).
➤ I appreciate the representation.
➤ I didn’t understand shit about the baseball stuff lol.
➤ At least it was a quick read, I guess. 

 Thanks to Viking Books for Young Readers and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

This story follows Caleb and Emma, who used to be best friends but had a falling out several years ago. In present day, they both start liking a girl (Juliet), so they decide to make it a competition to see who can romance her first.

Unfortunately, I think this concept was my biggest problem with the book. First of all, it made me immediately feel kinda icky. Caleb and Emma sometimes talked about Juliet like she was a prize to be won, which I didn’t like. They admitted it was a bad thing to do, and other people called them out on it too, and they apologized to Juliet for it, so it’s not like the book is glorifying this act, but still – I wish it’d been done a little differently.

I think the issue is that their reasons for “liking” Juliet didn’t feel… right. They were both instantly attracted to Juliet for absolutely no reason. All she did was be clumsy and pretty and Caleb and Emma were both like “Omg she’s amazing I wanna date her! 😍”. Juliet does absolutely nothing and those 2 immediately fall for her. I don’t get it, but perhaps I’m just too ace for this (though Caleb is supposedly in the ace-spec too, and was instantly attracted to Juliet after 1 conversation, so idk. Everybody feels attraction differently, though; I’m not trying to police anyone’s sexuality!).

They then spent half of the book constantly talking about how adorable Juliet is. And like, yeah, it’s kinda funny to see these 2 simp for the new girl and talk about how she’s so cute they want to smash their own faces into the ground, ha ha, but like… goddamn it. They couldn’t go 5 pages without mentioning how perfect Juliet is. It started feeling exaggerated and cartoonish, especially given the fact that they were instantly into her, for basically no reason.

Caleb and Emma’s individual romances with Juliet were definitely the weakest part of this book. I understand that these romances were just a plot device for the *real* romance of this story (the one between Caleb and Emma themselves), but I just wish their relationships with Juliet had been done differently. I think this would’ve worked better if we had more buildup for Juliet’s relationships with the MCs. Instead of having both Caleb and Emma *instantly* fall for Juliet, we should’ve gotten a bit of development in each of those relationships: 1) so we could actually get some reason for them to be falling for her, and 2) so it didn’t feel so weird that they’re competing for her love. If they had developed friendships, then actually started liking Juliet after getting to know her, then found out the other likes her too, and only then decided to compete, this whole thing would’ve felt less… icky, because there was some actual relationships already established with Juliet. Instead, it’s just insta love + using this poor girl as a pawn by competing for her feelings. And, sure, they acknowledge that this isn’t a good thing to do, but they do it anyways. The author could’ve definitely made it less questionable by better developing Caleb and Emma’s relationships with Juliet.



Regarding Caleb and Emma’s romance: it was very clear from the start that they still harbored feelings for each other, even though their friendship had ended years prior (apparently on a very bad note). I enjoyed learning more about their past, and I liked seeing them both looking out for each other, even though they were no longer friends. The idea that they’ll always be each other’s person, no matter what, was really sweet and well developed.

Unfortunately, though, (and I hate to say this)… I didn’t feel anything about their romance. 🧍 I’M SO SAAAADDDDD. 😭 They were so sweet – I especially liked this part near the end:

“When Emma left my life, she took half of me with her. For years, there’s been this emptiness lurking under my skin, in the vessels around my heart, in the essence of my soul. Whether it’s platonic, romantic, whatever, Emma is my other half. She’ll always have bits and pieces of me that I can’t reclaim unless I’m with her.”

. However, for some reason, I just didn’t feel *a thing* while reading their scenes together. Their “Always and forever” thing didn’t hit. I didn’t feel a single butterfly when they admitted their feelings, or when they kissed. Their cheesy moments (like when they helped each other shower, or when Caleb told that bully “Touch her again and I’ll break you”, or their love confession in the middle of an argument) just left me staring blankly at the page… Them getting steamy after 1 kiss (and 4 years of animosity) just made me feel… too ace for this shit lol.

I genuinely don’t know what happened! Like, in my head, I could tell they were super cute together, and I was rooting for them, but I still didn’t feel a singular butterfly in my stomach, and I’m sad about it. 😢😢😢 However, I think this might be a *me* problem; I haven’t been loving any books, recently. I hoped this one would reignite my love for romance, and leave me giggling and kicking my feet, but unfortunately that didn’t happen. I still think other people could love this romance, though! And I hope they do, because I still really like Amanda Woody and I can’t WAIT to read their next book!



Now for the things I liked:
✘ I thought Emma and Caleb were great MCs! I related a lot more to Caleb, but I liked them both. I enjoyed reading about their struggles and their family lives, and seeing how their different personalities complemented each other so well.
✘ The conflicts in this book made sense – the reason for their fallout was logical and well established, and their little argument later on was well integrated into the story, too. I appreciate that Amanda Woody always writes 3rd act conflicts that actually make sense for the story and characters, and aren’t there just for the sake of having a stupid 3rd act breakup.
✘ The SCs were enjoyable and well portrayed, especially Caleb and Emma’s parents.
✘ I also thought this book had some amusing lines.
✘ The queer representation was obviously amazing, and I loved all the conversations about it.

Overall, this is a fun book, with lots of great rep and a sweet romance. Definitely pick it up if it sounds like something you’d enjoy!