sophiesometimesreads's reviews
221 reviews

“And, baby, when you think of me I hope it ruins rock ‘n’ roll.”

This book was a wild ride, that’s for sure. It is very much a character-based novel, so if you’re looking for a substantial plot line then this book probably isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for complex, three-dimensional characters that feel real, then you’re in the right spot.

TJR has a knack for writing the most realistic and complex characters and Daisy Jones and the Six is no exception. Most of the time, I felt like I was reading about a real band and the real things they went through together and individually.

I liked how the story was written as a transcript so we could see all different perspectives and how each person’s retelling of the events differed slightly. The little twist at the end was an interesting addition but I don’t think it was life-changing in terms of how the story was consumed, but it helped to put Daisy’s feelings towards Camila, in particular, in perspective.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading about and connecting with these characters and I’m excited to see how this is translated to the screen in the upcoming adaptation.

I can’t believe this series is over. I really enjoyed the series as a whole and it was a great introduction to Holly Jackson and her writing. 

In saying this, I do think this was my least favourite of the trilogy. The ending still made me emotional and my pre-existing feelings for these characters did mean I was invested in the story, but I felt that the story had a few pacing issues.

The first half was really interesting and followed a similar format to the first two books. I was really enjoying Pip getting back into her investigation mode but with higher stakes, but I felt like this part got wrapped up too quickly. The second part, whilst I did like the premise, seemed to drag on a bit. I would have liked the first part to be a bit longer and the second part shorter, and the book overall could’ve been a hundred pages or so shorter I think. For such a long second part, everything went conveniently well and very little went wrong, which was a little bit unbelievable to me, even after suspending disbelief about how many major criminals there have been in this little town. If anyone would be a target for a stalker, it would be Pip after all - our girl loves exposing everyone’s secrets.

I did enjoy the character development across the trilogy and how Pip’s trauma from the first two books came into play, without it being swept under the rug. It was realistic, as no one could go through what she went through without it impacting their mental state. And honestly, her parents should’ve done more despite her claiming she’s fine. I also liked how the mystery part of the storyline tied into that of the first book and picked up a few loose ends or assumptions made in the first novel. It was woven through in a way that, to me, didn’t feel forced or overbearing.

Overall, a good conclusion to the trilogy but there were a couple things that I think made it not quite as thrilling and epic as the first two novels.

I am absolutely obsessed with this book. Was it cheesy? Yes. Was it predictable? Yes. Did I have an absolute blast reading it? Also yes.

The concept of the time loop is not new and the overarching concept and storyline wasn’t by any means unique, but I was so invested in the characters that I didn’t even care about the predictable storyline. This is a book you can really easily read for a bit of a fun, lighthearted read.

There were SO MANY contemporary references, so if that’s not your thing you may not enjoy this. With the amount of times I squealed over the subtle Taylor Swift references and ended up jamming to a song halfway through a chapter, I could’ve read this in half the time. I counted about twelve TS references through the book but there could’ve easily been more that I forgot to tally cause I was having so much fun identifying them. 

I really enjoyed Nick and Emilie’s characters and how they grew and opened up over the course of the story. I felt like I really got to know them and was so happy with the people they had become. Also, whoever recommended this to me with the tagline “Jess Mariano vibes” was absolutely correct and I am here for it!

Overall, this was a fun and lighthearted read. It was probably a 4ish star read if I rated it more objectively but I had so much fun I just HAD to bump it up. I’ll definitely be checking out Lynn Painter’s other books, too!

I can properly review this now Harper Collins and the Union have signed a contract, yay!

I really enjoyed this book. It was intense, the stakes were high, my heart was pumping and it was definitely thrilling. I haven’t been this engaged in a book for a long time, I literally ignored all my adult responsibilities just to finish about 60% of this book in a day.

I felt a lot for the characters, so much so that I even teared up at parts of the story which I did NOT expect going into a thriller. I also wanted to rip my hair out at some of the characters and their decisions but that just made it even more fun. I can appreciate absolutely horrible characters as long as they make you feel something and have a purpose in the story.

Maybe I should have seen some of the twists coming but I was so engaged in the story and was devouring it that any small details that may have hinted at the twists just went under my radar because I was distracted by other things. That’s something that I find Holly Jackson does really well and this is no exception. The plot may have been a bit out there and not completely realistic but I could suspend disbelief enough to enjoy it and ride the roller coaster that was this book.

The writing style was different but I think it was a great choice to highlight the important parts of Red personality that played a big role in the rest of the story.

Overall, I had an excellent time with this book and I’d recommend it to anyone who is a fan of thrillers. Somehow I felt scared, angry and fearful and cried at the same time, which is definitely a feat for me.

Review may contain some minor-ish spoilers, read at your own risk.

Okay I have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this book. Was it good? No, not really. Could I stop reading? Also no. This, to me, was like reality TV, where you know it’s trashy and doesn’t make a lot of sense but you just can’t look away. Let me break down why I didn’t find this as great as other people say.

Firstly, the writing style was not great at times. It started off really strong, the first two chapters I did enjoy and I thought were well-written and had a good atmosphere but then it dropped off once she made it to Prythian, which I think is where it should’ve gotten better. It kind of felt like a lot of effort was put into refining the first few chapters then the same effort was not put into the rest of it. There was a lot of repetition in the descriptions. For example, in chapter 36 the mud was referred to as “slick”… six times. And never described as anything but slick, even when slick wasn’t relevant in the context it was used. Tamlin was constantly described as “animal” or “more animal than human”, and it felt like it was trying really hard to convince us he was a “beast”. There were so many watery bowls, barking bones, growls and the wind in the Spring Court was always “rose-scented”. Also a curse lasting for 49 years being referred to as “seven by seven” years for literally no reason… just say 49 years.

The foreshadowing in this book was little to none. I could tell when she was TRYING to foreshadow something but it was either too obvious or just not done well at all. A lot was in dialogue and not portrayed through actions. The plot was also quite predictable and convenient for Feyre. There was a lot of info dumping to explain core points of the story, with a whole chapter of character dialogue to explain the curse. It should’ve been woven through the story and pieced together through actions or short dialogue rather than a whole chapter of info dumping.

The first 75% of the book had basically nothing happening. I couldn’t tell you much except Feyre got kidnapped and lived a luxurious life of good food and painting all day. There didn’t even feel like there was much development in the relationship between Feyre and Tamlin, they just suddenly went from captor/captive to in love? Where were their interactions to make me believe this isn’t just Stockholm syndrome? I felt like a lot of the filler scenes could’ve been removed in favour of AT LEAST some decent, lengthy interactions between Feyre and Tamlin. The last 25% was where all the action was and I think if this section had spanned 75% or so of the book, then it would’ve been a lot more interesting (even though I still didn’t find the last 25% particularly well written but at least things were happening).

This also lost a lot of the core values of the whole Beauty and the Beast storyline, and felt more inspired by the tale than a retelling. It was very much told not shown that Tamlin was supposed to be a “beast”.

The characters were also bland and didn’t have much depth. The only character I liked was Lucien, I felt like we saw the most backstory and development in him. Tamlin had the personality of a cardboard box, Feyre was annoying and the only personality trait she had was enjoying painting and Rhysand is the absolute worst. I don’t know how I’m supposed to like any of the love interests, they’re all boring and/or horrible. It kind of defeated the purpose of this being a fantasy romance when I didn’t care for the romance.

I feel like I don’t have a lot of good to say about this book but I did like the premise and think there was potential for a good story to come out of it. Despite being predictable, the non-romance storyline I didn’t mind, though I just didn’t care for the romance. I’m a trashy movie/TV show girlie so I don’t mind things that are not particularly well-written as long as they’re enjoyable, this just wasn’t enjoyable for about three quarters of the experience.

If you’re looking for a fantasy with good world building and a solid plot, I’d look somewhere else. Will I read the second book, though? Probably.

This book wasn’t completely perfect but oh my god did it make me FEEL THINGS - I was invested and couldn’t stop reading.

I really enjoyed how easy the writing style was to read and how it flowed between the two timelines seamlessly. The characters felt like real people and were flawed in realistic ways, but grew as they got older. The foreshadowing and reference to the conflict was well woven through the story, not feeling forced but also willing me to keep reading.

There were a couple things I wanted to be better, though they didn't impact my feelings towards the book or the characters too much. Firstly, the chapters were long. I felt like they could’ve been broken up a little bit more. Secondly, I had hoped the conflict was going to be a bit more involved or creative than what it was, as I had deduced the conflict relatively early on and am not necessarily a fan of this trope. In saying this though, I couldn’t be too upset because I felt so immensely for the characters and the resolution had an impact on me even though I didn’t necessarily like the trope. Finally, I thought the ending could’ve been a bit longer and more fleshed out, just for my own personal satisfaction after watching the two pine for each other for so long.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and had many emotions and, therefore, this makes this a good book in my book.

EDIT, JUNE 2023: I read this book six months ago, and have just finished Love and Other Words. I can see what people mean when they say the storylines are very similar, they have the same basis to their plots, though there are some differences. I'm not sure if this is coincidental, as it's definitely not the most unique storyline ever, but it does raise a couple questions. In saying this, I think this book does what it does better than Love and Other Words, with the characters taking responsibility for their actions, and it just gave me more feelings overall. So, I stick by my rating for what it is but do acknowledge the similarities between the two books, with Love and Other Words coming first.

Despite not being the target audience for this book, or having read much non-fiction in my time, I wanted to pick up Chloé’s book to get an insight into the life of a neurodivergent person from the source. And this book definitely delivered on that.

I think it is a really important and enlightening read for neurodivergent and neurotypical people alike. It was interesting to see the research and facts displayed against Chloé’s lived experiences to further understand the lives of neurodivergent, and more specifically autistic and ADHD, people.

I liked the Disney references woven through to reinforce the point, particularly given the fact that Disney is one of Chloé’s “eye sparkles”.

The writing style was easy to read and follow, and it was more enjoyable than I thought it might be, not being a big reader of non-fiction books. The book is not perfect, it could’ve been refined slightly in terms of repetition and there are a few references that could’ve been phrased a bit better to get the point across clearer but I think for what the book is at its core and how it stands out compared to others on the same topic, these can be pushed aside and don’t make the book any less worthy of being a must-read.

I really hope this can be the start of resources about neurodiversity written for and by neurodivergent people because, as Chloé highlights, there is a severe deficiency at this stage.

The title may be a reference to We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together but this is the ending to the Betty/James/Augustine love triangle we all wanted and needed.

Taylor Swift reference aside, I really enjoyed this book. It was a lighthearted, fun read about two girls on a dating show getting revenge on their ex. It wasn’t overly deep, but the witty banter and detestable MMC that definitely made the revenge deserved meant it was entertaining.

I would’ve liked a little bit more depth to the characters outside the revenge plot. I felt we learned a lot about who Maya and Skye were in their relationships but not a lot outside of that, with the exception of a couple reoccurring traits.

I also don’t think this necessarily needed to be YA, and the character could’ve been aged up a bit, but honestly I didn’t really notice this too much outside of when their ages were mentioned at the start. They felt like they could be older so this didn’t bother me too much.

I thought the romance side was cute, and I was really rooting for them to get together. Obviously, this is a YA romance so everything is very PG and closed-door, so if you’re looking for a smutty romance then this may not be the right place. If you love a bit of fluff and pining, though (like me), then you’re in for a treat.

Overall, I’d recommend this as a fun rom-com. If you’re looking for something deep, this may not be for you, but if you want cute, fluffy, easy-reading with Vigilante Sh*t vibes (can’t help with the Taylor Swift reference, Sophie Gonzales started it!) then this is for you.

I haven’t read a lot of celebrity memoirs so I don’t have a lot to compare this to, but I think this was a really good and important read.

Firstly, I just want to say to please check trigger warnings before reading this book! It covers a lot of heavy topics including disordered eating, abuse and substance abuse. I had a hard time reading Jennette’s recounts of some of the things she went through because they were just so horrible, particularly for someone of such a young age, but she does a good job of covering them.

I liked how the memoir was written like a story, and the narration started in a juvenile tone when she was recounting her childhood and matured as she did through the book. There is also a lot of use of dark humour to address difficult topics and traumatic events, which I think is pretty relatable.

This must have been so hard for her to write and I really appreciate her telling her story and giving an insight into how fame and Hollywood can impact the children who are forced into it, as well as the behind-the-scenes of what happened when she was at Nickelodeon. It also really put into context her decision to not return for the iCarly spin off.

Overall, I think this was an eye-opening read that was well-written and I would recommend this read to anyone looking for a good celebrity memoir that covers the difficult parts of fame. It really makes you question whether child fame is really worth the impacts…

I had no idea what to expect going into this except that it was sapphic (and by Casey McQuiston, of course). So, it was surprising that there was actually a mystery element to this story (though, I would’ve come to that conclusion a lot quicker had I actually read the postscript on the cover, oops). I really enjoyed the little bit of lighthearted mystery incorporated into the novel and the way we were able to explore the multi-faceted nature of the characters through this.

The characters were well-written and I really got attached to them. I especially enjoyed watching Smith’s journey to find himself. Chloe and Shara were both very flawed but I think that made them more realistic, even if it did have me wanting to pull my hair out at some points because they frustrated me.

The romance was cute, I liked the academic rivals to lovers trope that was integrated with the finding-yourself and coming-of-age components.

The exploration of identity and queerness in a religious community was interesting and I definitely think many queer teenagers in similar scenarios may find comfort in this book, which warms my heart.

Overall, it was a Casey McQuiston classic. Everyone was very gay, the couple was cute and the characters loveable. It was a really fun read and I would recommend!