belreadsbooks's reviews
362 reviews

This was everything I needed and more. Let me tell you - if you’re looking for a book to help you out of a reading slump, this is the book for you! I was giggling when I was barely 5% through the book! This was just so. Good.

Also - this is loosely inspired by Sleepless in Seattle. So if that doesn’t make you want to read this, I don’t know what will honestly. 

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the complimentary e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own. This is out NOW! I definitely recommend you pick it up if you’re looking for your next romance fix 🙂‍↕️

♡ single parent

♡ Grumpy x Sunshine

♡ he falls first

Also -  I’m not sure if the coup for book 2 has been announced… Delilah and Jackson for book 2 anyone? A little enemies to lovers action? Rival weather people? Count me in 🤭

Does anyone else usually speed through graphic novels? Because same. This was the first graphic novel that I genuinely used as a palette cleanser read, picking it up and putting it down when suited and it was really a nice change of pace! 

Overall a fun, quirky, spooky, queer YA graphic novel with some gorgeous colours and illustrations. Highly recommend if you’re looking for something that hits all those points and includes discussion on folklore. 

My rating: 3.5 ☆ 

Buddy and Hank were easily my favourite parts of the story (we love when the two MCs both have dogs!!)

Otherwise this was just a fun, quick romance. Nothing to call home about, but still a fun time. Another workplace romance under the belt 🙂‍↕️ 

it was a delight to read one of Julie’s earlier works (the charm is still there) but I just love seeing how much she’s grown as an author! 

This was such a great read! It was heartfelt, funny, and even made me tear up. I’m so glad I got to read it. Also - the amount of beautiful quotes??? I’m so tempted to do a cheeky reread to highlight the lines that stood out to me! I loved the dual timeline and loved seeing young Win and Sarah! Their friendship really was so beautifully captured in this book! 

However there were a few caveats - the main caveat being that I wish this book was dual-POV! IMO we were robbed of Caleb’s perspective and I’ll die on that hill. I needed to hear Caleb’s side of the story, I felt like without it, the story lacked a little something (I can’t put my finger on it!) and at parts it made me resent Sarah because we were only seeing her side of the argument. I just really wish we saw something, even an epilogue, from Caleb’s perspective, I truly think it would’ve been the cherry on top that would’ve bumped this up to a high 4-5☆ read for me! Despite this I still absolutely adored this story 💗

Also, probably to nobody’s surprise, I adored seeing my babies Win and Bo again!!

My advice - If you plan to pick this up and haven’t read Out on a Limb yet - please do yourself a favour and read OOAL first as you will definitely appreciate elements of this story more after reading it. 

Definitely recommend this book for fans of the following tropes:

♡ High-school sweethearts

♡ Marriage in turmoil

♡ Second-chance

♡ Forced proximity 

♡ Dual timeline

RTC

Cruel is the Light is a fantastic debut from Sophie Clark. I truly cannot wait to see where this series goes! I love a good kn!fe to throat moment too and this book delievered that in spades. The story had twists and turns around every corner. Once Jules and Selene were thrown together in the story, their dynamic dominated the storyline and propelled the reader into the world of exorcists, demons, and unlikely allies. 

Sometimes it felt like the story was a little overwhelming - some of the world building felt a little hard to grasp at times. But overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and cannot wait to see where the story goes. Because after that ending??? How could I not want to know more???!!!

Bloodletting for power, demon hunters, fake-dating, and an enemies-to-lovers pipeline? Consider me sold! This was a story akin to that of the Shadowhunters universe by Cassandra Clare. A YA fantasy that will take the world by storm, mark my words! 

TLDR; Cruel is an easy recommendation from me, especially for fans of the Shadowhunters series, as well as series like the Dark Rise trilogy by C. S. Pacat - I can’t wait to see where this series goes next! 

My thanks goes to NetGalley, the publisher and Sophie Clark for the DRC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own ♡ 

No rating - I don’t read a lot of poetry, so I feel like it would be disingenuous of me to rate this. Overall enjoyed a lot of these poems. Was delightful to listen to this narrated by the author and to hear the backstory behind some of the poems firsthand from the author too!

Cozy, quick, cute and inclusive Christmassy read. Adored this. My main criticism, much like any novella, I wish it was longer. But I loved this. Chloe Liese has yet to steer me wrong. Highly recommend!