i'm sorry but what was this??? so much awkwardness, so much secondhand embarrassment, and for what.
i loved the concept, and i was really looking forwai'm sorry but what was this??? so much awkwardness, so much secondhand embarrassment, and for what.
i loved the concept, and i was really looking forward to reading this book. i mean, gay back to the future?? it doesn't get much cooler than this folks.
the first thing that i will say is that there isn't anything inherently bad in the majority of this book. yeah, sure, the pop culture references irked me, but they didn't really get under my skin as much as the stereotypical "internet-culture-obsessed" "always-politically-correct" "walking-meme-encyclopedia" gen z portrayal of the main character did. it was annoying and cringeworthy, and completely unrealistic. no one i know actually talks like that in real life??? it felt very how do you do fellow kids—like the author researched "teenagers these days" on google and their top source was r/teenagers or something ...more
i love how everyone more or less accepts that they're going to end up married lmfaoi love how everyone more or less accepts that they're going to end up married lmfao...more
this was actually pretty entertaining :D i'm ngl i guessed who it was from the beginning which was a little disappointing but the writing was nice andthis was actually pretty entertaining :D i'm ngl i guessed who it was from the beginning which was a little disappointing but the writing was nice and the story was fun even if the mystery itself was not complex (admittedly something that shouldn't be lacking in a murder-mystery novel). the main character and her bestie were awesome and my least favorite part of this book was adam or whatever the detective dude's name was (i cringed at every scene with him and lana). 10/10 needed more food....more
honestly, when i first started reading this, i wasn't sure if i would love it.
see, the thing is, i haven't exactly had a good trbuddy read with layla!
honestly, when i first started reading this, i wasn't sure if i would love it.
see, the thing is, i haven't exactly had a good track record when it comes to books that are sequels of books that i've loved. books that could have lived as perfectly good standalones, especially. i hate it when sequels are written for books that don't need it. like, what is the point??? you just ruined my entire experience AND tainted my enjoyment of the first book which i loved so much to gaslight myself into reading the second one DESPITE the way i knew i would probably hate it.
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so, to say i was hesitant to read this would be an understatement. but i absolutely loved 'letters to the lost', especially the characters, and i was curious about this book's absurdly high average rating, at least for a sequel novel. okay so i might be a little prejudiced against sequels but there's nothing we can do about that.
when i first started this book, i was not impressed. it seemed like a classic, shallow book with the loner gamer girl and the equally loner sad guy with a traumatic past. but as i got more into the book, i was relieved to know that the depth of the characters that had captured me in 'letters to the lost' was present again in this book.
and the characters. THE CHARACTERS. even in the previous book, it was less about the plot and more about the characters and their growth over the course of the story that really made me love the book. and the same goes for 'more than we can tell'. rev is a sweet cinnamon roll who needs to be protected at all costs. and even though emma annoyed me from time to time, she made for an endearing character.
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overall, i really enjoyed this book, a lot more than i had anticipated. even if it isn't exactly reread material, it made for an enjoyable experience and i loved being able to visit the characters once again. if you ask me, kemmerer's forte is realistic fiction, rather than fantasy, just from how amazing this duology was....more
(2 stars seems too lenient... but we'll keep it there for now)
this,,, what even was this. honestly, i can't even answer that question myself and it's (2 stars seems too lenient... but we'll keep it there for now)
this,,, what even was this. honestly, i can't even answer that question myself and it's been like five months since i read this dumpster fire of a book.
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'last chance books' promises so much of what i love, that it's actually incredibly disheartening that it delivered on almost none of it, and irritated me to no end. just from the cover, my hopes and expectations were admittedly pretty high. yes, i am the type of person who repeatedly falls for pretty cover marketing and only lives to regret it. i have nothing to say for myself.
on top of that, the synopsis promises an exciting enemies-to-lovers romance set against the backdrop of feuding bookstores. it ?? sounds ?? so ?? amazing ?? but, oh man, let me tell you, this book was just not it.
the very first thing that comes to mind when i think about this book is CRINGE. i secondhand embarrassment'd (?) my way through this audiobook and it was so incredibly painful; i feel extremely wronged by that amazingly deceptive cover that i will likely sue for false advertisement. (this is a joke. i'm a broke student. please don't take this seriously)
why was this so disturbingly cringeworthy you ask? well, for starters, it was the romance. YES, the romance of a romance novel was cringy to me. is there any hope left for the book at this point? i don't think so either. we're told it's enemies-to-lovers but in reality it's just the main character not-so secretly lusting after the love interest while saying mildly antagonistic things to his face. meanwhile, the love interest fell head over heels in love with miss mc after talking to her for all of about three times. that's not enemies-to-lovers??? all i smell here is a load of insta-love and i don't like it.
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unfortunately for us, while the romance was being disappointing, the characters were being insufferable too.
the main character, whose name i can't even remember was SO. CHILDISH. and i know that it was later explained why she behaved the way she did and all of the excuses were made, but that doesn't take away from the fact that i absolutely couldn't bring myself to root for or her ill-advised decisions because of how infuriating she was, and how horribly she treated everyone around her just because of her own inner turmoil.
the love interest was just ugh. he was bland. i can't even remember anything noteworthy about him other than his interest in cosplay and fashion design or something?? which, i mean, yay, follow your dreams and all that, but also like, get a personality maybe? heard they're going for pretty cheap on ebay these days but i wouldn't know.
ON TOP OF ALL OF THIS. yes there is still more i hated about this book. I FELT LIKE THE PACING WAS WAY OFF??? not 100% sure about this seeing as to how it took me basically ten days to slog through it + time is a construct BUT it just felt off. arguably, that could be said for everything regarding that book but we're choosing to ignore that for now.
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the fact that i was listening to this book while suffering through math homework probably did not help my experience of this whatsoever. regardless, i really was extremely disappointed by the way this book did not deliver on any of what i was expecting, despite all of the potential that it had with such an interesting concept.
hopefully this experience will make me less vulnerable to illustrated book covers that clearly scream "IT'S A TRAP DON'T DO IT" but i think we all know that's not going to happen :' )...more
thinking about this book makes me want to drink toothpaste while walking on legos. it manages to give you hope and then takes it away in the mo[image]
thinking about this book makes me want to drink toothpaste while walking on legos. it manages to give you hope and then takes it away in the most disappointingly painful way possible and is mostly responsible for my consequent reading slump. that's all i have to say....more
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