sophiesometimesreads's reviews
221 reviews

This was a re-read via audio for me before starting Bloodmarked, and I'm so excited to get into the next one.

I think I loved this more the second time, and I noticed a few things that I'm sure will come into play later.

I also still really loved how smart Bree was, and it was refreshing after having read multiple YA fantasies this year where the protagonist was clueless.

This book was an emotional rollercoaster got me and I related to Alice in a lot of deep and personal ways. Some may say this is poor ace representation as it doesn't reflect their experience, and not relating to Alice's experience is valid, but this book felt like Kann took my experiences and put them down on the page, so I thought it was good. Though I do believe that, even if representation is scarce, one character of a given identity doesn't need to reflect every single individual experience with said identity, and this book reflected one of the many. 

Alice was quirky, funny but imperfect, as most 19 year olds are. I feel a lot of people who said she was immature for 19 probably forgot what being 19 is like, because it's actually still quite young. She's still figuring out herself and her life, and taking comfort in the things she likes whilst doing so. 

This book portrayed therapy in a positive way, which was good, and I also liked how Takumi took some time to really understand what Alice meant when she said she was asexual. He was also imperfect and I think that's realistic, as a lot of people haven't heard of asexuality before and need to take some time to understand experiences outside their own and might say the wrong thing in good faith whilst doing so. 

I thought Feenie and Ryan were a bit harsh on her, though I could see their POV as I've been in a similar situation before. This could have been resolved a bit better though, without Alice taking all the blame for it, because I think her feelings and experience was also valid (they did ditch her first!).

Though I did enjoy this book overall, there were a few little things that I didn't like as much. I don't know why Takumi had to be so much older than her, it seemed irrelevant to the plot and I always find teen/mid-20s pairings a bit iffy given the mentality differences generally present between these ages and stages of life. It didn't ruin the book, but it was something I noticed. I also would've liked to see how their relationship developed a bit more after the getting together stage, and see Alice explore what that meant for her identity. The side characters could've been developed a little more, too. 

In saying this, I did enjoy the book overall and thought there were a lot of good things about it. I thought the ace rep was good, the writing was engaging and easy to read, and the characters were fun. It was also able to address fairly heavy topics whilst also managing to be overall a lighthearted and fluffy read.

It was fun and educational, and I would recommend for anyone a fan of mythical middle grade books. The first half had a lot of info dumping via dialogue though, which made me lose a bit of interest at the time, and I would've liked to learn about these parts of the lore and Chinese history via other means, perhaps as flashback or memories or a dual timeline/POV situation. The second half of the book was really good though and the ending was excellent. I'll definitely be tuning in for the sequel.

I really enjoyed this and loved how the timeline developed through multiple different POVs spanning many years to tell the story of the Arctic plague and pandemic.

I did want a little bit more of the sci-fi elements, though. I felt by the end that I'd had enough glimpses into people and their loss and wanted more on the initial spreading of the plague from chapter one, the intergalactic exploration, or even more from that last chapter.

I also felt that there may have been too many characters and points of view, I'd have loved to revisit some or just spend more time on those chapters.

In saying this, it was still a wonderful exploration of human nature in the face of a disaster, largely showing instances of loss, love, and grief. I also think I might reread this sometime, given that I went in withoit reading the blurb and didn't expect the format, and so I felt like I didn't get everything out of this book that I could've.

I honestly didn't think something so short would give me so many emotions, but here we are, though it did mean I wanted more of it at the end. I'd love to reread this at another time because there was so much packed into this small story and I think I missed a lot. Overall, it was a lovely little story about found family and love and a child flourishing in a nurturing environment.

First and foremost, we must acknowledge that I'm almost 20 years too old to be the target audience for this story, so my review is going to be skewed. I read this book as part of a reading challenge, as many of the longer novels published this year didn't appeal to me and Jacqueline Wilson was a favourite of mine in primary school.

I think, had I read this when I was 10 to 12, I would have liked this story quite a lot and would have resonated with some of the messages and themes, having been victim to bullying at that age myself. That's not to say I didn't enjoy it now, I thought there were a lot of positives about it and Mandy's story did still resonate with me in some ways. It was also rather progressive at points given it was published in the 90s.

I think it touched on a lot of deep subjects but didn't go deep enough into them. I understand the depth is limited by the comprehension of a young target audience, but I think perhaps one or two of the issues included could've been explored deeper and the rest excluded. This is the main reason I rated it three stars, as it seems a bit disjointed and like multiple stories smashed into one partially to the detriment of the main storyline, but I think past me would’ve rated this a 4 stars (if I had rated books at that age).

I really enjoyed this and particularly loved the layers of the story beyond the romance. There was a really good exploration of familial loss and grief through this book, though this means that people should check their trigger warnings before reading.

I liked the journey of both Ollie and Will, and how both came to realise that, though their feelings were valid, they had also been ignorant to how their actions and words impacted the other and grew from these events. In contrast to this though, I felt some of the side characters could've used a little of this, particulalry Lara, who I felt had her rude comments swept under the rug due to "finding herself" and never really acknowledged how rude she could be.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, though I did find myself wanting just a little bit more from it, and perhaps a bit more romantic interaction from the MCs. Despite this, it was a good time and anyone who enjoys YA LGBTQIA+ romance will likely enjoy this, too.

Gilda was a highly relatable main character for me and I don't know if that's a particularly good thing or not...

This was more of a character study, so those looking for a plot focused book may not like this as much, but I enjoyed getting a glimpse into Gilda's life and watching her character development. The little murder mystery type side plot was also a bit of fun.

The writing was really easy to read and I flew through this, and had a good time with it - as much as you can with an anxious, depressed MC, anyway. Though I don't have experience with all the mental illnesses depicted in the book, it seemed to be good representation and I related to the feelings of anxiety shown.

The reveal and twist were smart and overall I enjoyed this, I just think it falls more into the mystery/drama category than a thriller, the ending wasn't quite as thrilling as I hoped. I was intrigued and somewhat surprised by the ending, and I liked that it made sense when revealed but was subtle enough that I didn't pick it up along the way. The writing style was easy to read, too.

SCREAMING. CRYING. THROWING UP.

This was so good! The characters were diverse and well-developed, the world-building was intricate but also easy to understand and woven through the story. The plot was intriguing and the twist at the end surprised me. I just loved everything about this, and I can’t believe I have to wait for the second book! This book left me speechless so all I have to say is to read this now.