amandareads666's reviews
332 reviews

Thanks to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for the ARC 🤍

First off, what do you mean the MMC’s name is John Smith—aka the most generic (and Pocahontas-y) name possible? Also, Wordle?! This book should have come out years ago when that was actually relevant. The constant mention of it got old fast.

Why did the FMC go visit the neighbor in the first place? And why on earth would she agree to be a “caregiver” doing that much for only $250 a week—on top of her regular job and personal responsibilities? Then, for some reason, she volunteers at a barrel-making museum and suddenly wants to bring it back to life. What does any of this have to do with Wordle? Why date a man when the only thing you have in common is Wordle? She even has the audacity to complain about watching him race (spare me, yawn, kill me) when he went out of his way to help with the museum project shewanted to do—despite having zero interest in it. No wonder she doesn’t have friends anymore (which took her way too long to figure out). The more I read, the more unbearable she became.

But honestly, he wasn’t much better. He was clearly insecure about his job and life position, constantly battling this “second-rate fallback” mindset while arguing with her over having dreams and actually wanting to do something with her life. He even admitted that he’d want her to turn down an opportunity at The Met of all places.

The last 70–90% of the book is just her living out her once-in-a-lifetime internship—one she landed on a whim—while complaining and pining over the guy who literally wanted to hold her back from taking it.

And then? The ending felt abrupt.

RIP Jim. GFY Shelley.

Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the ARC 🤍

Not often the only POV is from the MMC of the book! It was a different perspective than I’m used to but it was a good change from the usual!! 

The past or “then” just says December 2015” but in chapter 8 it says that alone with it’s “been a week since Halloween” so I’m not really sure of what the timeline here is supposed to be? Unless these are editing errors? Many back and forths between the past and the present. Usually it was easily picked up on if I didn’t pay attention to the chapter heading, but there were a couple times even with that I was thinking “wait are we in the past again” 

Very weird tragic violent background for Elizabeth that I was not expecting. His past wasn’t as bad as I assumed based on how they were talking about how much he “fcked up”  but that was also kinda violent. Just felt odd given the rest of the book. I expected her past to come back because of how it was introduced, but it never really did. 

I was not a fan of Elizabeth. The constant back and forth with being normal and then shutting him out over something she refused to listen to the truth about was so incredibly annoying. She can’t get mad at anything when she’s been adamant the whole time it was all just for the contract. Josh was just okay; he honestly should’ve grown a pair though jfc. Many times of “I need to apologize” “I need to fix this” when he clearly was not at fault and she was the one who needed to apologize. All of the side characters were meh. There were l wayyyyyy too many to keep track of and remember who was who, but I do know they all sucked 

I figured it would get even more stupid when confessions and things were happening about halfway through it but holy hell am I flabbergasted at the amount of predictably stupid we got. And the ending?! What in the off the wall out of nowhere fricken crap are we doing here?!

Mini murder mystery novella. 35 pages super quick especially on 2.5x speed on the audio

So the beginning/main premise…. How did the kid find her sperm donor so easily? Why did the mother let her go so easily? And for depression? I thought she was gonna have cancer and would be dying 🥴Also she’s 12 why is she written like an at least 16 year old?? Annnnd he’s just trusting their word for it? That whole thing is weird

Clyde is amazing 10/10 no notes. His intro had me laughing out loud. Wish he was in this more. Ford was actually quite funny and sarcastic as hell. I really enjoyed him as a character. Rosie was just okay for me. I liked how bratty she was though 🥵

The “hating” each other really added to the spice. So kind of enemies to lovers? The teasing was great. The pendant dangling between them 🥵 However I haaaaated the paint scene; I could’ve done without the mess and ruining freshly redone hardwood floors just to piss the guy off 🥴

 

Overall it was decent. Originally it was going to be 4 stars but there were just some things that bugged me too much to make it that high of a rating (the whole sperm donor kid thing was just odd, the miscommunication thing at the end that wasn’t even that but it was just annoying, the paint scene, how Cora was supposed to be 12 but she was def written/acted 16+) 

It was a very quick read; I finished it within a handful of hours in like two or so sittings. I enjoyed the pacing of it. Normally these things are either the slowest burn possible and I’m ready to set myself on fire or they’re so instant love it’s super cringey. I will say though that once the sex started that’s allll it was and not necessarily in a good way. All I can think is how sore she must be 😳

I was having a decent time, but halfway through decided to be sex followed by weird miscommunication, some more sex worse miscommunication. Then there was all the weird shit with her brother. Y’all are adults tell him to get bent. 

The last 20% was a skim because I was just ready for the resolution and tired of the back and forth nonsense 

This has been on my TBR for years - like a whole decade. I love the dystopian/sci fi stuff. It was my favorite genres when I was a teenager so I was super excited to read this. 

The pacing felt odd and often times extremely boring. When things were finally happening it was great and interesting, but then it would be almost 20% before anything either came of the last bit or something else would begin to happen. I understand it’s the first in a series and there’s a lot of world building and infodumping, but I just wasn’t a fan of how it was done. 

When things were happening I really enjoyed it. Though I wasn’t a huge fan of the main character, there were many side characters I really liked. 

The last 12% or so things really ramped up and I was flying through pages. I’ll eventually continue the serious but overall it was just okay for me. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC! 

First off: Tyler can suck it. He’s awful. I loathe him and too much time is focused on this douchebag. ALSO why does no one report him?! He should NOT be a tutor and his ass should’ve been beaten harder. 

I spent the first half of the book mad because Tyler is awful, Matt’s dad is awful, and nothings happening aside from repeatedly dealing with those idiots. 

All the self hatred and insecurities can be relatable but 90% of the book and next to no character development is incredibly frustrating. Go to therapy Jesus Christ 

It tried to be student x tutor and then friends to lovers but that feels like didn’t play out well. The timeline is incredibly choppy, constant back and forth to the past, it feels like things should be happening because a lot is going on but nothing truly happens or progresses. I’m glad it’s over. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC!

The way this started was odd. Many time jumps - one week later, two weeks later, two months later and then a “now” all of a sudden. It was not very seamless; it just didn’t flow well. 

Insta love - like IMMEDIATE love faster than instant if that’s possible. At first I thought he was just thinking with his dick and that’s why it was so insta, but I was wrong unfortunately - that would’ve been better tbh. Trying to be taboo with a potential step siblings thing but it was all before they became step siblings so does that even count?

Two grown adult characters both acting like idiot teenagers. I understand Chloe was spoiled and rich therefore sheltered but she is so useless and can’t do BASIC things. Come the fuck on. Sig is “protective” in a totally emotionally abusive manner. A 25 and a 29 year old both so incredibly insecure. Him threatening any and all men around her. Her freaking out because the team’s new GM is a woman. Ugh. 

Halfway through and I honestly didn’t know where it was going because aside from the obvious fucking at some point. I think they’re going for a slow burn here, but it was so lack luster and incredibly annoying. The ending? UGH. 😑 

ALSO - my final couple of gripes: calling the rookies “The Orgasm Donors” I didn’t think it could get anymore cringe after repeatedly calling Chloe a “manic pixie dream girl” but I was wrong. It’s giving “pick me” energy

I heard clips of the audiobook on TikTok and saw people saying it was better than just reading it, thanks to the MMC’s voice actor—so I decided to listen to it. Surprisingly, it was really funny.

The story had a strong insta-love element, which is usually one of my least favorite tropes, but it didn’t bother me as much this time—probably because the humor balanced it out. The MMC was sarcastic and had a lot of great lines, while the FMC was a bit annoying but not the worst I’ve read. For a book often labeled as a “dark romance,” I didn’t find it all that dark.

Around chapter 20, it felt like things were wrapping up, but then there were six more chapters and an epilogue. The mob aspect felt a bit off—almost like an afterthought that didn’t quite fit. Honestly, I think the story would have worked just fine as a novella without that subplot. However, I wonder if it was included to set up book two?

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Icebreaker (minus the douchey skating partner), and I absolutely hated Wildfire, so I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this one going in. However, I always really liked Henry when he was mentioned in the other books, so as a fellow neurodivergent person, I was excited to read his story.

Normally, I don’t love how neurodivergent characters are written—especially since they’re often portrayed by neurotypical authors—but with the author being AuDHD, it definitely made a difference. Henry felt real, not just a collection of stereotypes, and I was able to connect with both him and Halle.

The ex-boyfriend pissed me off (which I know was the point), but he should’ve been told to fuck off ages ago. Otherwise, I really enjoyed the characters—except for Halle’s narcissistic, self-absorbed mother. Fuck her ten times over. I honestly hated her more than Will. Halle, on the other hand, was a great main character; I saw a lot of myself in her. The dynamic between her and Henry felt natural—not overly dramatic or forced, just a regular romance, which I appreciated.

I will say the book probably didn’t need to be as long as it was, but overall, I enjoyed it. The spice was minimal compared to Icebreaker, but it didn’t feel like it needed more.