“And maybe I didn’t have a right to miss him, since he wasn’t mine or anything, but since when did logic count for shit when it came t
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“And maybe I didn’t have a right to miss him, since he wasn’t mine or anything, but since when did logic count for shit when it came to feelings?”
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It's a lighthearted fun introduction to another lovable cast of bros - like, seriously, they are the salt of the earth good bois - but, as a romance, my reaction was really lukewarm. I know I shouldn't take it so seriously and just roll with the feel-good vibes of casually getting it on. I’d be stupid not to make the most of it while we had the chance....more
“When your battlefield is a library, paper and ink are your weapons.”
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I always prided myself on being a good judge of charact✰ 1.75 stars ✰
“When your battlefield is a library, paper and ink are your weapons.”
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I always prided myself on being a good judge of character - books. If anything my recent readings have proven is that clearly I am not as good a judge as I thought I was. If nothing else, at least it has helped me weed out which authors I definitely know not to bother with again. ...more
“Anger and grief get tangled. Sometimes it can be impossible to separate the two. Or differentiate them.”
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The author appe✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“Anger and grief get tangled. Sometimes it can be impossible to separate the two. Or differentiate them.”
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The author appears to be a very big deal when it comes to historical regency romances; which I'm not that particularly interested in, despite the swoon-worthy covers. Apparently this was her first foray into contemporary romance; so, I figured, why not? ...more
“When a wind blows, they sway, and when they sway, they do it all together. There’s not a storm fierce enough to topple any of t
✰ 2.25 stars ✰
“When a wind blows, they sway, and when they sway, they do it all together. There’s not a storm fierce enough to topple any of them.”
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One might argue that the main reason this did not click with me is because I've never spent A Day at the Beach, so I'll never be able to envision how it is a diverse tapestry of diverse people - young and old, rich and famous - who wish to enjoy the cool waves and sand on a summer day. ...more
“Without noticing it, they had started to fashion a new idea of what their life might become. It was a feeling as great and terrifying
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“Without noticing it, they had started to fashion a new idea of what their life might become. It was a feeling as great and terrifying as the mists of time themselves.”
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The start started off well enough - time-traveling boots, creepy Time Wardens, a store that prepares Costumes for Time Travelers in a Pocket of Time, run by Calisto and their eccentric Grandmother, Mena, who's ready to embark on her own travelers, leaving the store in their care, her prodigy, dedicated to their craft of honing the finest of fabrics to creating the most charismatic creations that suited each timeline for the wandering weary, only for them to meet the time savant, Fawkes, a time-booted harbinger of doom, who has more than one nemesis on his coattails, hellbent in preventing any more ripples in the fabric of time, lest time traveling become a power accessible to all. ⌛
It sounds like an interesting idea, don't you think? ...more
“She had been delivered to the dogma that we are at the mercy of the world and it was a world that offered no explanations...”
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“She had been delivered to the dogma that we are at the mercy of the world and it was a world that offered no explanations...”
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...which very effectively then translated into the nature of the writing, as well - a fitting way to capture what did not work well for me. Without that basis of closure or even the need to explain the mystery surrounding the targeted girl for various reasons from various persons - I was left feeling hollow and viscerally frustrated at the sheer lack of attempting to even explain the cause behind the actions that led us to the part where the story began. ...more
““What kind of world has this become?” “A really sick one.”
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Before there was Thomas... there was Mark... Mark who thirteen ye✰ 2.5 stars ✰
““What kind of world has this become?” “A really sick one.”
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Before there was Thomas... there was Mark... Mark who thirteen years prior to Thomas' arrival in the maze was a witness to the first-ever attempt on the annihilation of humanity and the discovery of the real truth behind the Flare.
Well, one thing's for sure. Dashner likes to hit the ground running. No time for respite, no chance to breathe, no air to think, when every hesitation, every doubt, every second guess, could be a matter of life or death. ...more
“Life could still feel wonderful, I thought, even if it really wasn’t.”
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It is a good example of how re✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“Life could still feel wonderful, I thought, even if it really wasn’t.”
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It is a good example of how rewarding friendships can be that remind you of the Small Joys in life, not the grand gestures to forge a truly meaningful and special connection, when you seem to have forgotten what it means to truly live with happiness and love. ...more
“Are we borne along, never knowing who we’ll be or what we’ll do any more than we know where the track will turn or when it’ll come to
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“Are we borne along, never knowing who we’ll be or what we’ll do any more than we know where the track will turn or when it’ll come to a stop?”
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The derailment of The Paris Express barely caused a ripple in the news when it occurred that fateful October 22, 1895. In fact, a few days after it was towed away for repairs, the little engine that could was back in service. ...more
“It’s exciting, stressful, exhilarating, rewarding, hair-tearing-out frustrating, and I love every freaking minute of it.”
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“It’s exciting, stressful, exhilarating, rewarding, hair-tearing-out frustrating, and I love every freaking minute of it.”
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I wish I could say the same for my own range of emotions regarding my last foray with Jay Hogan that failed to leave a favorable impression. Perhaps the fault lay mainly in Kane's tragic backstory, which bore much resemblance to another author's work, which I also did not have many fond words to say about it. I think I have difficulty with a bully redemption arc, one which mainly concerns a homophobic one, who sadly is also suffering from internalized homophobia, or in Kane's case, a painful traumatic childhood that paints him as a poor tragic soul that makes it impossible for the reader and citizens to forgive and forget. ...more
“I am living proof that the Capitol always wins. I tried to keep that sun from rising on another reaping day, I tried to change things
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“I am living proof that the Capitol always wins. I tried to keep that sun from rising on another reaping day, I tried to change things, and now everybody’s dead.”
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If you haven't read the original series, the abundance of Easter Eggs will probably fall flat; and while I did stop and take note of each, I felt that in an effort to have familiar characters have their moment in the spotlight, new characters were pushed into the shadows, and were unable to fully have a lasting impression. ...more
“He decides to wait it out— Evan's protective streak is deep, but fairly narrow, and Dan hopes that they'll get through it soon.”
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“He decides to wait it out— Evan's protective streak is deep, but fairly narrow, and Dan hopes that they'll get through it soon.”
You would think side stories enhance the actual story, but these stories have been snooze stories. It's been one disappointment after another with these; if anything, it's made me dislike the trio more so than ever, despite how this makes sense, them both being here for Evan tonight. I'm pretty sure that wasn't the author's intention, with The Filly, but, alas. Even it being Valentine's Day wasn't enough for Cupid to strike this romantic. Disappointment abounds. ...more
“... this is definitely a time to just let it be; there's no point in messing with near perfection...”
✰ 2.25 stars ✰
“... this is definitely a time to just let it be; there's no point in messing with near perfection...”
Sorry to say - I did not feel the same way. What's irritating me more than ever that Evan seems to do all the heavy lifting of pushing Dan to be more open and connect with the two of them, and yet it's Jeff that reaps al lhe benefits, the kindness and the affection. ...more
“Can we, the readers, trust what we are being told?”
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A serial killer who is targeting his fem✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“Can we, the readers, trust what we are being told?”
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A serial killer who is targeting his female victims by following each of his Murder by the Book would make for an interesting premise. Drawing inspiration literally from literary folklore from Shakespeare to medieval romances, it is enough to send chills down one's spine for the intricate and meticulous care he derives from capturing the most authentic portrayal to his poor victims. ...more
It feels a bit hypocritical to be giving a harsh critique about a✰ 2.25 stars ✰
“Somehow you knew who I was before I did.”
It feels a bit hypocritical to be giving a harsh critique about a story that pretty much was based on one's frustrated emotions of the other simply because of their fair and helpful take of her literary work. But, I don't think that high school hatred is enough to spawn a viable enmity that picks up when the two of them reunite once working in the same workshop nearly a decade later. That's not enemies to lovers, at all. More like a one-sided grudge that refuses to budge. ...more
“We’re overlooking something,” I said. “There’s something else, something we’re not seeing.” “Maybe,” the sheriff said. “But all I ca
✰ 2.5 stars ✰
“We’re overlooking something,” I said. “There’s something else, something we’re not seeing.” “Maybe,” the sheriff said. “But all I can do is work with what I’ve got.”
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Is cozy synonymous with chaos? For all that it feels like the author is trying to do something different, the whole arrival of Dash's parents was nothing short of the predictable way of how parents are portrayed by being overly eager to humiliate their kids with as many embarrassing anecdotes as possible and friends being amused by it. Which, as much as it was distressing to watch, it's somehow a given in parent portrayals - pleasure in their child's torment, it's nothing new. But, it only worsened from there; everything about their actions screamed torture. ...more