Page 154 of 427

Our Most Anticipated Releases For February

We love talking about books that we can’t wait to read! And that includes the ones that haven’t been released yet. So around the first day of every month, we’ll share with you the books coming out that we’re the most excited about. There’s a link to Goodreads in case you want to add them to your tbr too! So here are the books we are counting down until they are released in February.

 

Releases 2/05 – Courting Darkness (Courting Darkness Duology #1) by Robin LaFevers

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

First in a duology, this darkly thrilling page-turner set in the world of the best-selling His Fair Assassin series is perfect for fans of THRONE OF GLASS, RED QUEEN, and GAME OF THRONES. Told in alternating perspectives, when Sybella discovers there is another trained assassin from St. Mortain’s convent deep undercover in the French court, she must use every skill in her arsenal to navigate the deadly royal politics and find her sister in arms before her time—and that of the newly crowned queen—runs out. 

When Sybella accompanies the Duchess to France, she expects trouble, but she isn’t expecting a deadly trap. Surrounded by enemies both known and unknown, Sybella searches for the undercover assassins from the convent of St. Mortain who were placed in the French court years ago.

Genevieve has been undercover for so many years, she no longer knows who she is or what she’s supposed to be fighting for. When she discovers a hidden prisoner who may be of importance, she takes matters into her own hands.
 
As these two worlds collide, the fate of the Duchess, Brittany, and everything Sybella and Genevieve have come to love hangs in the balance. 

 

✩✮✩✮✩

 

Releases 2/05 – Lady Smoke (Ash Princess Trilogy #2) by Laura Sebastian

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

The sequel to the instant New York Times bestseller that was “made for fans of Victoria Aveyard and Sabaa Tahir” (Bustle), Lady Smoke is an epic new fantasy about a throne cruelly stolen and a girl who must fight to take it back for her people.

The Kaiser murdered Theodosia’s mother, the Fire Queen, when Theo was only six. He took Theo’s country and kept her prisoner, crowning her Ash Princess–a pet to toy with and humiliate for ten long years. That era has ended. The Kaiser thought his prisoner weak and defenseless. He didn’t realize that a sharp mind is the deadliest weapon.

Theo no longer wears a crown of ashes. She has taken back her rightful title, and a hostage–Prinz Soren. But her people remain enslaved under the Kaiser’s rule, and now she is thousands of miles away from them and her throne.

To get them back, she will need an army. Only, securing an army means she must trust her aunt, the dreaded pirate Dragonsbane. And according to Dragonsbane, an army can only be produced if Theo takes a husband. Something an Astrean Queen has never done.

Theo knows that freedom comes at a price, but she is determined to find a way to save her country without losing herself.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/05 – Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss by Kasie West

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

Lacey Barnes has dreamed of being an actress for as long as she can remember. So when she gets the opportunity to star in a movie alongside one of Hollywood’s hottest actors, she doesn’t hesitate to accept the part.

But Lacey quickly learns that life in the spotlight isn’t as picture perfect as she imagined. She’s having trouble bonding with her costars, her father has hired the definition of a choir boy, Donavan Lake, to tutor her, and somewhere along the way she’s lost her acting mojo. And just when it seems like things couldn’t get any worse, it looks like someone on set is deliberately trying to sabotage her.

As Lacey’s world spins out of control, it feels like the only person she can count on—whether it’s helping her try to unravel the mystery of who is out to get her or snap her out of her acting funk—is Donavan. But what she doesn’t count on is this straight-laced boy becoming another distraction.

With her entire future riding on this movie, Lacey knows she can’t afford to get sidetracked by a crush. But for the first time in her life Lacey wonders if it’s true that the best stories really do happen when you go off script.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩
 

Releases 2/05 – Enchantée by Gita Treleasef

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

Love. Magic. Revolution…Gita Trelease’s debut fantasy about an orphaned girl who uses dark magic to save her sister and herself from ruin is a “must-have” (SLJ, starred review)!

Paris is a labyrinth of twisted streets filled with beggars and thieves, revolutionaries and magicians. Camille Durbonne is one of them. She wishes she weren’t…

When smallpox kills her parents, Camille must find a way to provide for her younger sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on magic, Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille pursues a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.

Using dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into a baroness and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for magic. As she struggles to reconcile her resentment of the rich with the allure of glamour and excess, Camille meets a handsome young inventor, and begins to believe that love and liberty may both be possible.

But magic has its costs, and soon Camille loses control of her secrets. And when revolution erupts, Camille must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, reality of magic—before Paris burns.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/05 – Dark of the West (Glass Alliance #1) by Joanna Hathaway

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

A pilot raised in revolution. A princess raised in a palace. A world on the brink of war.

Aurelia Isendare is a princess of a small kingdom in the North, raised in privilege but shielded from politics as her brother prepares to step up to the throne. Halfway around the world, Athan Dakar, the youngest son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for a life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is shot and killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his old rival, the Queen of Etania—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover to Etania to gain intel from her children.

Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the girl he’s been tasked with spying upon. Aurelia feels the same attraction, all the while desperately seeking to stop the war threatening to break between the Southern territory and the old Northern kingdoms that control it—a war in which Athan’s father is determined to play a role. As diplomatic ties manage to just barely hold, the two teens struggle to remain loyal to their families and each other as they learn that war is not as black and white as they’ve been raised to believe.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/12 – Soul in Darkness by Wendy Higgins

GoodreadsAmazon

People travel from afar to the small isle in the Aegean Sea hoping for a single glimpse of Princess Psyche. Their adoration for the mortal woman is so all-consuming that citizens begin to shower her with the very gifts and offerings they once left at the alter of Venus, goddess of love and beauty.

But gods are known for their jealousy.

Cupid, the god of love, takes pleasure in causing strife and mischief in the lives of humans. He uses love as a weapon, humoring in the weakness of people at the whims of their feelings. When his mother Venus approaches him about punishing the human girl who dares to steal her offerings and affections from the people, Cupid gladly accepts.

Psyche’s punishment is to be given to a mysterious creature who only comes to her in the dark of night under the pact that she will never lay eyes on him. She is terrified of this stranger, who the oracle described as a serpent. Her mate, however, is masterful in his dealings with his bride. He takes his time, morphing her fears into different sensations completely.

Based on the Roman/Greek mythology of Cupid and Psyche from Lucius Apuleius, New York Times bestseller Wendy Higgins brings the tale to life, weaving layers that show exactly how a sacrificial lamb can be enchanted by an unseen monster.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/12 – Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers #1) by Nicki Pau Preto

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

An Ember in the Ashes meets Three Dark Crowns in this lush debut fantasy novel about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to join a secret group of warriors that ride phoenixes into battle.

I had a sister, once…

In a world ruled by fierce warrior queens, a grand empire was built upon the backs of Phoenix Riders—legendary heroes who soared through the sky on wings of fire—until a war between two sisters ripped it all apart.

I promised her the throne would not come between us.

Sixteen years later, Veronyka is a war orphan who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider from the stories of old. After a shocking betrayal from her controlling sister, Veronyka strikes out alone to find the Riders—even if that means disguising herself as a boy to join their ranks.

But it is a fact of life that one must kill or be killed. Rule or be ruled.

Just as Veronyka finally feels like she belongs, her sister turns up and reveals a tangled web of lies between them that will change everything. And meanwhile, the new empire has learned of the Riders’ return and intends to destroy them once and for all.

Sometimes the title of queen is given. Sometimes it must be taken.

Crown of Feathers is an epic fantasy about love’s incredible power to save—or to destroy. Interspersed throughout is the story of Avalkyra Ashfire, the last Rider queen, who would rather see her empire burn than fall into her sister’s hands.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/18 – The Risk (Briar U #2) by Elle Kennedy

GoodreadsAmazon

A sexy standalone novel from New York Times and international bestselling author Elle Kennedy.

Everyone says I’m a bad girl. They’re only partly right—I don’t let fear rule me, and I certainly don’t care what people think. But I draw the line at sleeping with the enemy. As the daughter of Briar’s head hockey coach, I’d be vilified if I hooked up with a player from a rival team.

And that’s who Jake Connelly is. Harvard’s star forward is arrogant, annoying, and too attractive for his own good. But fate is cruel—I require his help to secure a much-coveted internship, and the sexy jerk isn’t making it easy for me.

I need Connelly to be my fake boyfriend.

For every fake date…he wants a real one.

Which means this bad girl is in big trouble. Nothing good can come from sneaking around with Jake Connelly. My father would kill me, my friends will revolt, and my post-college career is on the line. But while it’s getting harder and harder to resist Jake’s oozing sex appeal and cocky grin, I refuse to fall for him.

That’s the one risk I’m not willing to take.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

Releases 2/26 – Four Dead Queens by Astrid Scholte

GoodreadsAmazonBook Depository

Seventeen-year-old Keralie Corrington may seem harmless, but she’s, in fact, one of Quadara’s most skilled thieves and a liar. Varin, on the other hand, is an honest, upstanding citizen of Quadara’s most enlightened region, Eonia. He runs afoul of Keralie when she steals a package from him, putting his life in danger. When Varin attempts to retrieve the package, he and Keralie both find themselves entangled in a conspiracy that leaves all four of Quadara’s queens dead.

With no other choices and on the run from Keralie’s former employer, the two decide to join forces, endeavoring to discover who has killed the queens and save their own lives in the process. When their reluctant partnership blooms into a tenuous romance, they must overcome their own dark secrets in hopes of a future together that seemed impossible just days before. But first they have to stay alive and untangle the secrets behind the nation’s four dead queens.

An enthralling fast-paced murder mystery where competing agendas collide with deadly consequences, Four Dead Queens heralds the arrival of an exciting new YA talent.

 
 
✩✮✩✮✩

So these are the books we can’t wait to be released this month! Are you excited about any of these releases too? Or is there a book we missed that we should definitely check out? Let us know. ♥

Monthly Wrap-Up – January

 

During our Monthly Wrap-Up, we’ll take a look at what has happened around here in the last month. That’ll include what’s happened in my life, what the four of us have read, any other posts we may have had, giveaways still going on, our most popular Instagram posts, and books that I’ve added to my ever-growing TBR.

*We linked this post to the January Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up Link-Up at Feed Your Fiction Addiction*

♥ Enjoy!

Jen’s Life:

Some of my highlights from January were:

My oldest turned 8 *cries*.  Time is going by so fast!  He wanted to spend his birthday go-karting and then having all of our family over for pizza and cake.  It was such a fun day!
My youngest lost his first tooth and he wondered out loud if every single house has a tooth fairy that lives under it. 😉
The four of us have been obsessed playing different kinds of board games that we got for Christmas.  And it’s been so much fun having game nights together.  My favorite so far is Walls and Warriors, my husband is obsessed with Anti-Virus, the boys love Twister and we all love Otrio which is like a suped-up tic tac toe.

 

✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

What Arielle, Cassie, Chelsea & Jen Read:

5 Stars:
Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3) by Cassandra Clare
Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson
The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Tangled Like Us (Like Us #4) by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon
Moonlight Scandals (de Vincent #3) by Jennifer L. Armentrout

4.5 Stars:
The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1) by Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu
The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black


4 Stars:

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton
The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi
Echo North by Joanna Ruth Meyer
Playing for Keeps (Heartbreaker Bay #7) by Jill Shalvis
Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata

 

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Our Favorite Books of the Month:

 The Wicked King (Folk of the Air #2) by Holly Black (Chelsea’s Choice)
You love the first, you anticipate the second, and then wonder what’s to come with the third-but you can’t ever really know if that author is going to do what you want. Yes, I have MANY favorites. YES, lots of things happen that I like and that placate me. But rarely-VERY RARELY-does an author do every maniacal thing I could possibly imagine-and even take it farther than I could even fathom. And this is what Black did. She came. She wrote. She F****** conquered.

 

✩✮✩

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry (Jen’s Choice)
Only a Breath Apart was a beautifully, emotional story.  It held my heart in the palm of its hand and I kept finding moments here and there that stole my breath away.  This book was filled with heartfelt characters and friendship, love, forgiveness, bravery and finding oneself was a huge part of this story.  

 

✩✮✩

Tangled Like Us (Like Us #4) by Krista and Becca Ritchie (Arielle’s Choice)
Lololol I’m in so deep with this family it’s not even funny at this point. This book was everything I wanted it to be and more, to say the least. I have been wanting Jane and Thatcher’s story since the time Thatcher made sure all of Jane’s cats were safe when they escaped the townhouse. We never truly saw much from him other than a tough and stoic exterior so you better believe I was dying to dive into his POV.

 
 ✩✮✩

Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson (Cassie’s Choice)
“Even If I Fall” by Abigail Johnson is a hauntingly beautiful YA novel about love, family and forgiveness.

 

 

Instagram:

We thought it would be fun to share Chelsea, Arielle & Jen’s most popular posts for January. And they are….

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Star-Crossed Book Blog (@starcrossedbookblog) on

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Star-Crossed Book Blog (@starcrossedbookblog) on

 
 
 
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Star-Crossed Book Blog (@starcrossedbookblog) on

✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

Books Added To Jen’s TBR This Month:

I just keep adding books to my tbr lol…..


✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮✩✮

So that was our January. Did you read any of the same books that we did? Or share the same favorite book as us? If not, then what was your favorite book? Or have you read any of the books I just added to my TBR?

Here’s hoping you all had a wonderful January too. And cheers to February being fabulous for all of us!

BOOK REVIEW: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black

BOOK REVIEW: The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly BlackThe Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1)
by Holly Black
Purchase on: AmazoniBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King.

To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.

As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens to drown the Courts of Faerie in violence, Jude will need to risk her life in a dangerous alliance to save her sisters, and Faerie itself.

“Nice things don’t happen in storybooks. Or when they do happen, something bad happens next. Because otherwise the story would be boring, and no one would read it.” 

Ahhhahah. Hahaha. Haha. I’ve read a lot of books with a lot of twisty, turny plots at this point in my life, really I have. I usually assume that by now, it’s going to be pretty hard to pull one over on me. But this was not one that I saw coming which is CRAZY because I feel like people have been in wild frenzy over this and The Wicked King for the last month now. I’ve been very careful about reading reviews and looking at quotes and while that was basically IMPOSSIBLE, I still didn’t come across anything that spoiled that ending for me and thank goodness for that.

“Have I told you how hideous you look tonight?” Cardan asks, leaning back in the elaborately carved chair, the warmth of his words turning the question into something like a compliment.
“No” I say, glad to be annoyed back into the present. “Tell me.”
“I can’t.”

The last Holly Black book that I read was The Darkest Part of the Forest and had a similar host of wild and conniving faeries. Since then, most of the books I’ve read featuring fae have turned them super sexy and more LOTR-elven like (mainly thinking about ACOTAR here). And that’s fine. I obviously love those books and those characters but I will say that there’s something…maybe satisfying(??) about reading a book with redcaps and brownies and dryads and the like. When the Seelie and Unseelie courts are places of cruel beauty and where they speak in silver tongues that can only speak the truth but also can omit things to lie in a round-about kind of way…

The fae in this book are a ruthless sort and our main character Jude knows all about that first hand. When she was young, her mother’s past fae lover comes and murders her parents in front of her and her two sisters. He then pledges that he will take them into his world and raise them as if they were his own (her oldest sister, Vivi, IS in fact his daughter). Instead of growing up to hate and resent Madoc though, she and twin sister Taryn accept that world as their own. In fact, Jude’s goal in life is to become a faerie knight and serve the king. She is forbidden to do so though because her mortal talents are vastly underestimated. 

“We don’t need to be good. But let’s try to be fair.” 

Basically I don’t really want to get into this plot at all. Like I said, I didn’t know what the ending was going to bring until it was literally unfolding before my very eyes. The only other thing I want to talk about is of course, Cardan. Cardan is the youngest son of the current king, Eldred. Throughout the entire book Jude makes it VERY well known that the two hate each other’s guts. It’s great. What I think you should know, is that he doesn’t really come into the story full force until about the last quarter. Obviously everyone is obsessed with him (it’s easy to see why) but I was SO confused when I got through about half of the book and he had hardly any page time. Don’t expect to see his character more until the end. When I did finally get to know him (or at least what he allows to be seen) I was delighted. I actually thought he was hilarious and no where near as malicious as I figured he was going to be??? He had a lot of really good and subtle one-liners that were genius in my opinion lolol. You’ll see. But that’s it. There you go. If you are a fan of the fae, of KICK ASS, BRAVE, clueless, DARING, oblivious, and CUT THROAT leads, Jude is your gal and this book is definitely for you! (P.S. only kind of joking about the clueless and oblivious part—mainly poking fun at Jude for thinking Cardan wrote on that paper because he hated her lololol, oh Jude, you silly girl)

“I am going to keep on defying you. I am going to shame you with my defiance. You remind me that I am a mere mortal and you are a prince of Faerie. Well, let me remind you that means you have much to lose and I have nothing. You may win in the end, you may ensorcell me and hurt me and humiliate me, but I will make sure you lose everything I can take from you on the way down. I promise you this is the least of what I can do.” 

TOP TEN TUESDAY: Books We Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To

Top Ten Tuesday.13

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
Today we’re sharing Books We Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To.  Technically this was last weeks topic.  But with both of my kiddos sick I’m just now getting to it.  So here are the books we meant to read last year….


(Arielle’s Choice)

(Arielle’s Choice)

1. The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

2. Two Dark Reigns (Three Dark Crowns #3) by Kendare Blake
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 


(Arielle’s Choice)

(Cassie’s Choice)

3. The Spy with the Red Balloon (The Balloonmakers #2) by Katherine Locke
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

4. Girls of Paper and Fire (Girls of Paper and Fire #1) by Natasha Ngan
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 


(Cassie’s Choice)

(Cassie’s Choice)

5. The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

6. Broken Things by Lauren Oliver
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 


(Chelsea’s Choice)

(Chelsea’s Choice)

7. Sky in the Deep (Sky in the Deep) by Adrienne Young
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

8. Legendary (Caraval #2) by Stephanie Garber
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 


(Chelsea’s Choice)

(Jen’s Choice)

9. Ash Princess (Ash Princess Trilogy #1) by Laura Sebastian
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

10. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 


(Jen’s Choice)
 
(Jen’s Choice)

11. #Hater (Hashtag #2) by Cambria Hebert
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

12. Talon (Talon #1) by Julie Kagawa
Amazon * Book Depository * Goodreads

 

So these are our Books We Meant to Read In 2018 but Didn’t Get To.  Have you read any of these books yet?  Or are they still on your tbr too?  If not, then which books did you mean to read last year but didn’t get to?

 

BOOK REVIEW: Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata

BOOK REVIEW: Luna and the Lie by Mariana ZapataLuna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:

The problem with secrets is that they’re too easy to keep collecting.

Luna Allen has done some things she would rather no one ever know about. She also knows that, if she could go back in time, she wouldn’t change a single thing.

With three sisters she loves, a job she (mostly) adores, and a family built up of friends she’s made over the years, Luna figures everything has worked out the way it was supposed to.

But when one of those secrets involves the man who signs her paycheck, she can’t find it in her to regret it. Despite the fact that he’s not the friendliest man in the world. Or the most patient.

Sometimes there are things you’re better off keeping to yourself.

Looking back on it though, there had been no way for me to know then how much Lucas Ripley would haunt me in the future. I’d had no idea as I had walked into that room to introduce myself what he would end up owing me.

Alright y’all, I have a lot of thoughts on this. In a happy holiday surprise, we were gifted a new Mariana Zapata novel. Of course I was elated to get started and dive back into another one of her novels. I LOVED the other two of hers I have read (“The Wall of Winnipeg and Me” and “From Lukov With Love”), and even though this one was diverting away from the sports theme, I was still ready to fall deep.

Let me preface this whole review by stating this was a solid four-star review. I generally really enjoyed the first 80%. It’s the final 20% where I started to have some issues, but we’ll get there.

First, let’s talk about the main characters. Luna Allen, our main girl of the story, is working in a car repair shop in Houston. She is good at her job, loved by her co-workers and has a special father-figure in Mr. Cooper, who gave her the job when she was just 17 and new to the city. Mr. Cooper is a lovely character and I enjoyed every interaction he had with Luna the entire book. It was so sweet and pure, and the love these two had went so deep. He and his wife were there for her (and her sisters) when she didn’t have anyone else. As you learn, her family life back in San Antonio was incredibly terrible and left Luna with a lot of scars.

The heart is more resilient than anyone ever gave it credit for, and I liked to think mine was a bad bish.

And then there’s Rip. The new, second boss at the Luna’s work. He’s prickly and standoffish, but Luna goes out of her way to be nice to him. I bet you can see where this is going…

As the story continues, Luna and Rip get to know each other much better. Rip is there to help Luna when she’s at her most vulnerable and they both begin to open up to each other and learn about their dark pasts.

And more tears just came right out of my eyes with each thing said into my ear, spilling over my fingers and wrists, down my arms as I stood there, letting my boss, a man who barely talked to me on a good day, hug me and tell me I wasn’t a sad, pathetic person who deserved to feel so small.

Coming in at 580 pages, and well, being a Mariana Zapata book, you generally know how this is going to go. It’s a slow-burn, in every sense of the phrase, and things move forward and backward as these two figure out what they are feeling and reconcile it with everything else in their lives. And even with such a large page count, I never felt like it was dragging or found myself getting bored. I enjoy the slow pace, as that to me is incredibly realistic and thoughtful. I love the small moments that are sprinkled in their daily lives as much as the grand giant moments that pop up when the time is right.

”You kill me, girl,” he murmured in the roughest voice I’d ever heard. “I swear to God, you’re a fucking puzzle I thought was all in the box, but every damn day I find a piece or two hidden all over the place.”

So if you’re still with me, you’re probably wondering, well if you liked it so much Cassie, what went wrong?

First, while I know this was a romance and not a mystery thriller, if you’re even paying the smallest of attention, you will generally figure out the “reveals” near the end. Like, it was incredibly obvious. Not really a big deal, but to sit through 500 pages of Luna not figuring it out, when I feel it’s been made clear in the first 100, was a tad annoying. I would have loved to see a bit more creativity here if the “lie” was going to be kept like a big secret for so long.

But the biggest problem I had was with Rip and his actions near the end. Let me just say, so I’m very clear, I have no problem at all with characters who are jealous over their love interests. It’s realistic and I think it can definitely add some needed drama or tension into the story. However, I find some of Rip’s jealousy and actions due to this jealousy to be a problem and honestly, a very unhealthy way of showing his dedication to Luna.

I’m about to get specific, so click for spoilers:

View Spoiler »

If you are still with me, thank you so much for reading all of this! I don’t normally write such lengthy reviews, but I just had a lot of thoughts and feelings on this one. (*insert Mean Girls feelings gif here*)

Overall, it was another good book from Zapata. I don’t think she’s capable of writing a bad book, even if I haven’t gotten to some of her older novels. However, for reasons mentioned above, I hope you’ll understand why I felt this missed the mark. I truly hope her next book keeps all of the wonderful things she does, but avoids some of the negative behaviors and actions I truly found problematic.

“You gave me these pieces of you I know you haven’t given to anybody else, and they’re mine. You can’t take ‘em back. I need them more than you do, you hear me?”

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑