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Slow Dance by Rainbow Rowell - blurrypetals review

originally posted apr. 15, 2024 - ★★★★★

An ARC was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Man, what a wonderful book to read just before I get married!

I have been very hit or miss with Rowell's work in the past. I remember loving Eleanor & Park but I'm not sure how well I'd love it now, and the rest of her work is 4 stars or less...apart from Landline, my beloved. When I requested Slow Dance on NetGalley, I really hoped this would be a lot like Landline...

...and in spirit, it is! It even has the same non-chronological structure that carefully doles out information to you at exactly the right moments, no sooner, no later, and it gives the book a nice stream of consciousness as you feel the characters reminiscing about the past before you're then reading about the past, in the moment with them.

This is simply a beautiful, honest, relatable treat of a book. Rowell's prose here is frank yet sweet, and by the time I was about a quarter of the way into the book, she had me melting over these childhood friends turned lovers turned estranged ones who got away.

This book is very simple. Its prose is simple, its story is simple and straightforward and it probably goes exactly where you think it might go, but that doesn't make the warm blanket of nostalgia Rainbow wraps around you any less cozy or heartwarming.

Cary and Shiloh are truly a couple you root for, and the obstacles they face never feel melodramatic, contrived, or frustrating like many will-they-won't-they romances do, while simultaneously feeling interesting and gripping, really proving that a couple doesn't need to fight all the time to have interesting drama and misunderstandings.

All in all, I just loved my time with this book and I'm over the moon to be able to give it the title of best Rainbow Rowell book after Landline. I can only Rainbow gives me number three!

#slow dance #rainbow rowell #2024 #blurrypetals #ARC #goodreads mirror

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Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

originally posted jan. 24, 2024 - ★★★☆☆

I'm really torn on how I feel about this book.

I'm a huge fan of magical realism and I think this book uses it in some really nice ways while not feeling like it's used enough in others. I almost DNF'd it at around the 2/3rds mark because it was so slow and felt like it had ditched the magic after a while.

That being said, I am glad I stuck through and finished it because the ending was really strong, strong enough to make me seriously consider reading the sequel.

And while this book did have some pretty high highs, it had equally low lows. It got slow, things meandered for a bit after Iris went to war and didn't pick up much until after she and Roman went to the front lines together.

I'm still torn on exactly how to rate this so I'll err on the lower side, at least for now, and decide another time if it's worth it to bump this up to 4 stars and/or to read the sequel. Until then, I'm returning to the Little Thieves series!

#divine rivals #rebecca ross #2024 #goodreads mirror #blurrypetals

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Lore Olympus: Volume 1 by Rachel Smythe - blurrypetals review

originally posted jan. 4, 2024 - ★★★★☆

So, we bought this and Volume 2 for my sister-in-law for her birthday and I couldn't help but just…try them out for her before giving them to her in a couple of weeks!

Full disclosure, I did read about 2/3ds to 3/4ths of this book on Webtoon wayyy back when, probably around 2018 or 2019, so teeechhnically this is a reread, and therefore my thoughts on this aren't as fresh and new as they would be for a brand new read.

That all said, the art is great, probably the best part about this even if it can be inconsistent at times (colors not lining up with Persephone, for example), though I'm sure that will improve some as I go on. The writing is quick and snappy, making it easy to blast through the whole book in a short amount of time, but it leaves a lot of room and desire for these characters to develop, so we'll see if that also improves over time.

I'm excited to continue on to stuff I don't remember reading before, so I'll catch you in the next one!

#lore olympus #lore olympus: volume 1 #rachel smythe #2024 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 15, 2023 - ★★☆☆☆

I'll be real, I disliked my time with this book so much I completely forgot to even mark it as DNF until 6 months later.

I just didn't like the characters, particularly Paris, and had an extremely hard time connecting with them or the story, which was a huge shame after how much I've loved Hall's other works!

#Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble #winner bakes all #alexis hall

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Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros - blurrypetals review

originally posted jan. 3, 2023 - ★★★★★

It's a new year, a new Audible subscription for the first time since 2021, and we're kicking the year off with the sequel to one of the biggest books of the moment because why not! I'm feeling extra adventurous and romantic for 2024 with my wedding approaching in 2024 and I think this set the tone nicely!

As I mentioned in my review for Fourth Wing, dragons are usually not For Me, but this series borrows so much from other books I love that it doesn't really matter that this one thing isn't specifically for Sara because almost everything else might as well have my name all over it.

I did forget to mention in my review for the previous book, by the way, how much I appreciate that the series everyone is talking about right now has a disabled main character! One with a significant mobility aid, to boot (meaning the saddle she uses to be able to ride Tairn). As someone with a somewhat comparable disability to Violet's (fibromyalgia) it is such a breath of fresh air to have good disability rep for a character who doesn't need curing, doesn't need changing, just has EDS (probably) and needs extra wraps and a saddle to help her kick ass.

As with book one, Yarros does an excellent job at wrapping the reader up in the world, making us feel for Violet and her friends and understand what they are facing and going through with very little effort on her part. Things slide into place very well and I never found myself lost or confused with any of the higher fantasy elements, which is something I oft struggle with.

This all said, I know what book has made it to the top of my anticipated reads among the next Shadowhunter Chronicles installments. I absolutely believe the hype. Until next time!

#iron flame #fourth wing #the empyrean #rebecca yarros #2024 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros - blurrypetals review

originally posted dec. 19, 2023 - ★★★★★

Okay fine, the hype is fuckin' real.

I had such a damn good time with this one, and I really didn't think I would. I am super hit or miss with high fantasy and dragons are really not my thing, so I didn't thing I'd enjoy it. That being said, I did keep hearing about how great it was, seeing that insanely high average score on Goodreads, and once it went on sale on Audible, I finally gave in.

I think one of the reasons this worked so well for me is that it asks very little of its reader while still having interesting, complex themes and not feeling simple at all. We are spoon fed information at a rate that makes it all incredibly easy to digest without leaving the reader wanting for too much more as they go.

It also kept reminding me of a lot of books I really love such as The Grisha Trilogy, From Blood and Ash, and Renegades. I was also reminded a bit of Divergent in some ways, just with the idea of our hero choosing an extremely dangerous group to join and having to go through dangerous means to even get to the first day of training. Yarros stole like a true artist here and it made it so much fun for me.

And in spite of my aversion to dragons as a genre, it felt really interesting without completely taking over the entire story, so this would act as a really good introduction to the dragon genre, I'd say.

I've been yearning for a great series lately, one that gets me excited to read again, and this checked all the boxes. I had a fantastic time and am so excited to start the next book later tonight!

#fourth wing #rebecca yarros #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare - blurrypetals review

originally posted dec. 10, 2023 - ★★☆☆☆

Here's something I never thought I'd say in a review for a Cassandra Clare novel: Did not finish at around the halfway mark. And it seriously felt we were still at the 1/4 mark.

What the hell happened here Cassie? I legitimately don't understand how this came from the same person who wrote The Shadowhunter Chronicles, the same person who has made me laugh and cry, who swept me up in adventure and romance like no other before. Truly, I don't get it.

I didn't find the characters fun or charming. I barely remember names and I read over half the damn thing, and I would never have found myself getting invested in the romance pairings had I continued.

The premise was intriguing but the execution was just way too slow for me, especially when some things did start to happen, it felt like it was going to be a huge deal, a large status quo upset, but then so much just goes back to normal and it's so frustratingly sluggish and lame, I couldn't deal with it.

I guess I just like kid shit. Fuckin next.

#cassandra clare #sword catcher #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Bunny by Mona Awad - blurrypetals review

originally posted oct. 26, 2023 - ★★★☆☆

I'll be honest, I was really into this book for about the first third or half or so. I love Heathers and Jawbreaker so I was excited to see that vibe go full psycho horror...

...and honestly it went psycho for sure, but I can't say it was scary, can't say it was horrific. It really was just so difficult to tell what was real and what wasn't after a while, and not in a fun and thrilling way, honestly.

That's not to say that this book had nothing to offer because the atmosphere and concept really did hold my interest very well throughout but I had my desires and expectations set to a height the reality never quite reached.

#bunny #mona awad #2023 #goodreads mirror #blurrypetals

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Lord of the Fly Fest by Goldy Moldavsky - blurrypetals review

originally posted oct. 5, 2023 - ★★☆☆☆

I really liked Moldavsky's debut Kill the Boy Band. Even if it wasn't my favorite book, it was still a good time. I also love Lord of the Flies and thought the idea of combining it with Fyre fest was pretty amusing.

That all being said, even though this had plenty of ingredients I love, it just didn't execute putting those pieces together very well. Any commentary boiled down to, "Ain't influencers cuh-razyyy???" and didn't seem to have anything to say past that.

I also thought the mystery elements were pretty toothless and lame and the way things wrapped up in the end felt a bit rushed and hand-wavey.

All in all, a pretty mediocre experience with few redeeming qualities, but at least it was free and killed some time as I taped my house in preparation to paint it.

#lord of the fly fest #goldy moldavsky #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Princess of Souls by Alexandra Christo - blurrypetals review

originally posted aug. 6, 2023 - ★★★☆☆

Man, I'm bummed by how mid-tier this was!

To Kill a Kingdom was one of my favorite books the year I read it, which was a big deal, seeing as I read 235 books that year! I also am a huge fan of the Rapunzel story so I was really stoked to read this one!

...and it wasn't terrible, but man, it had no chance of living up to that hype. The characters felt like nothing more than their archetypes, very bland and unspecial, the sort of couple I will easily forget the names of in a few weeks, maybe even days.

I also kept wondering if/when this might tie into To Kill a Kingdom, especially after there were goddamn pirates and we still didn't get to see or hear about Elian! Goodreads seems to suggest these even take place in the same universe so I'm just confused here.

Anyway, super mediocre, not terrible, but certainly by the numbers and pretty forgettable. Damn shame.

#princess of souls #alexandra christo #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Little Thieves by Margaret Owen - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 31, 2023 - ★★★★☆

This was a really fun read! I was replaying Final Fantasy XVI while listening to this audiobook and I guarantee I'll always think about this book when thinking about this game now.

I enjoyed the worldbuilding a lot, especially how Owen incorporated German language and folklore into the story. The cast of characters is also incredibly fun and lovable, turning into a ragtag team of absolute buffoons whom I absolutely adored.

I'd definitely check out the sequel someday but I'm doing my best not to buy books too often these days so I'll be moving onto something I already own next!

#little thieves #margaret owen #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Darling by K. Ancrum - blurrypetals review

originally posted jul. 29, 2023 - ★★★☆☆

I'm kinda torn on how to feel about this one! On one hand, I thought it was a fun and inventive retelling of one of my childhood favorites, but on the other, it didn't manage to reach the depths of Ancrum's past work, or even much depth at all. I think my biggest issues with this book come solely down to pacing. It's possible to sell me a great "one wild night" story like this one; Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist is one of my favorite movies! But it just feels like Ancrum simply isn't interested in anything but the whirlwind of this one wild night. Wendy is swept from scene to scene without things seeming to make much of an impact on her until the very, very end of the book, where things are treated in such a black and white manner that I wasn't able to buy into or really even find the bittersweetness that accompanies every Peter Pan story, no matter how dark and gritty. Particularly when it came to the big reveal toward the end, I found myself wishing we had seen more moments where Peter was kind and loving with the boys because as it stands the betrayal and shock didn't stick the landing and Wendy moves past it and into the sting so quickly there's no room to process things emotionally before the book is it over. I also tried but just could not buy into the romance between Fyodor and Wendy. It just seemed to pop up out of nowhere and did nothing to serve the story. That all said, I really did blow through this book. I think I knocked it out in 3 sittings, so it really gave me the feeling of being swept up in this journey Wendy is stuck in. I would also really love a spinoff about characters like Ominotago, Tinkerbelle, and Curly. So, all in all, not Ancrum's greatest work but also not terrible! It just had some pacing issues and was probably a bit too short for its own good. Unrelated addendum: What is the deal with that cover? I don't think a rose, let alone a flaming one, suits the story or any of the themes of the story at all. And it's ugly to boot. Such a weird choice.

#darling #k. ancrum #2023 #goodreads mirror #blurrypetals

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For You and Only You by Caroline Kepnes - blurrypetals review

originally posted jun. 7, 2023 - ★★★★☆

A Goodreads girl, Joe? Really? Despite my frustration and boredom with the previous book, You Love Me, I couldn't bring myself to skip this one. I enjoyed the fourth season of the television adaptation well enough, too, so I was intrigued to see how it might compare. And man, where You Love Me was a big letdown that felt like a more boring retread of You and ditched plotlines and characters set up in previous books, For You and Only You was a hilarious joyride of insanity that by contrast uses its episodic nature only to its benefit. I think one of the reasons this was so much more fun to me will be obvious for those who know me at all: the writing angle. I've always been very amused by Joe's musings on literature as well as media in general, but having him go in on writing, writers, and, perhaps most important and entertaining of all, the pretentiousness surrounding writing, writing groups, and the publishing industry. I also found Joe's latest obsession, Wonder, to be the most interesting since Love in Hidden Bodies, and even then, Love was really only interesting right at the very end, where Wonder stayed the same disastrous person the whole time, which was absolutely the point. I enjoyed how much friction she and Joe had in their relationship, how there were very few moments of reprieve for the two of them, a huge contrast to Joe's past victims in that sometimes it felt like Wonder was intentionally punishing him for his crimes when she was just that frustrating to him even with his rose-colored glasses on and the way their story ends is refreshingly different and interesting by contrast compared to the other books and victims. The supporting cast was also interesting in a big way; Sarah Beth is almost as wonderfully terrible as Peach was in the first book, and all her scenes with Joe were very fun. All in all, I felt like this was a massive improvement over You Love Me and, to be honest, I might even have liked it more than Hidden Bodies. I still think I'd prefer Kepnes to write something new and different instead of revisiting Joe Goldberg over and over again, but if she keeps writing them like this one, I definitely can't be too mad about it either.

#for you and only you #you #hidden bodies #you love me #caroline kepnes #joe goldberg #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Y: The Last Man, Book 5 by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra

originally posted jun. 3, 2023 - ★★★★★

I finished this book rather late last night, just before bed, so I've been stewing on it all day today, and I have to say...I loved like 4/5ths of the book. I loved how things came to a head, how all the characters ended up in the same place, and even how everything wrapped up in Paris. I thought 355's death was appropriately tragic and heartbreaking and I also felt like Beth and Yorick's reunion played out in an incredibly fun and surprising way. It was honestly just that epilogue that didn't click with me! It seemed so abrupt and hopeless and sad, and I never felt like that was what the point of the story. I did appreciate the joke of Yorick's final escape but I didn't get the point of it, you know? But other than that, it was a great finale and I really enjoyed the series!

#y: the last man #y the last man #brian k. vaughan #pia guerra #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror

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Y: The Last Man, Book 4 by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra

originally posted jun. 1, 2023 - ★★★★★

Man, what a ride this has been! I don't have much to say other than that while this is my least favorite volume so far, I still really loved it and I'm eager to see how it all wraps up in the finale!

#y: the last man #Y The Last Man #brian k. vaughan #pia guerra #2023 #goodreads mirror #blurrypetals

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Happy Place by Emily Henry - blurrypetals review

originally posted may 23, 2023 - ★★★★★

Man, Emily Henry really does just keep knocking it out of the park now, doesn't she? Sure, I haven't read anything of hers pre-Beach Read, but damn it's impressive that she's written four different 5-star reads in a row! And honestly, besides Beach Read itself, this is probably my favorite book of Henry's. Its themes really resonated with me in away Book Lovers and People We Meet on Vacation didn't quite manage. I found myself genuinely, deeply emotional over Harriet and Wyn's breakup, particularly later in the book when they finally talk more frankly about things. Julia Whelan's performance of the audiobook certainly pulled some weight in this area, but I truly found my heart aching as if my own real life long distance fiancé had broken off our engagement. I also really identified with the side plot focusing on adult friendships, how people grow apart and it becomes too easy to question whether the friends you made in your youth even fit into your life anymore now that you're all adults, growing up and growing apart. Henry is just so good at capturing that tender, late-20's nostalgia and the bittersweet realities of being a millennial needing to move on with your life but still clinging to what once made you happy. Her prose and themes really do make you feel like you're on vacation after a bad fight with someone you love: cathartic and warm, but also painful, filled with longing. Needless to say, I loved this story and got a lot out of it, perhaps more than I've gotten out of an Emily Henry book yet. Per my previous three reviews of her work, I'll be so glad to read whatever she comes up with next!

#happy place #emily henry #2023 #goodreads mirror #blurrypetals

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The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic - blurrypetals review

originally posted may 1, 2023 - ★★★★★

Ugh, what wonderful things can I say about this book that I somehow haven't already said before? This book makes me feel so many things and it makes me feel them so deeply I have a legitimately difficult time articulating it all even this many readthroughs later. I mean, there are subtleties and hints in conversations I am still just barely picking up on for the first time on this, my fifth read of these books! That's just how complex some of these relationships are! It's wild. All hail the queen, Nora Sakavic, I'm so excited to return for a 6th time and dethrone Twilight as my most-read book someday soon!

#the king's men #all for the game #nora sakavic #2023 #blurrypetals #goodreads mirror