literally nothing happened and then all of a sudden a random twist. there was just not enough sprinkles of information throughout the entire book for literally nothing happened and then all of a sudden a random twist. there was just not enough sprinkles of information throughout the entire book for me to care when all was revealed at the end...more
tbh about halfway through I was going to dnf bc I could just tell that I wasn't gonna finish the series and there just didn't seem to be a point. I ditbh about halfway through I was going to dnf bc I could just tell that I wasn't gonna finish the series and there just didn't seem to be a point. I did end up finishing and I did have a decent time, but I still do not plan on finishing the trilogy. if it were just a duology, maybe, but it would be two more books and no.
so one of the big critiques of the book is the simple writing and 100% they're valid. this reads like a YA book and honestly could have been had the sex scenes been removed. now personally that doesn't bother me, but if that is something that will get on your nerves I would skip it.
now let's talk about the romances. both our narrators get their own romances, and neither are even remotely developed. Little and Rayan were together more so I could get a little more behind it (thought the payoff didn't match the buildup). my biggest complaint is Yeeran and Furi's romance. they were together maybe four times before they got together? this needed so much more build up and tension before they should have gotten together. it seemed very clear that the romances were an afterthought in the building of this story.
overall, this simply wasn't ready to be published yet. to include romances done justice, this just needed to be longer with more actual development....more
so first of all, Bel was the worst. second of all, I did like this lol. all the loose ends were tied up which is awesome because there were countless.so first of all, Bel was the worst. second of all, I did like this lol. all the loose ends were tied up which is awesome because there were countless. had a good time but it did not need to be that long ...more
This might be my own fault because I did have a lot going on when I was reading this, but god did I not care. I wanted to dnf so bad once I gotFINALLY
This might be my own fault because I did have a lot going on when I was reading this, but god did I not care. I wanted to dnf so bad once I got to the last 100 pages, but after all this time there was no way this wasn't counting toward my reading goal.
*SPOILERS* when we got the reveals during that last 100, I was just so done. Gasp! the suspicious antagonistic characters were the murderers the whole time? I never could have guessed!
Then all the bs with Wilhelm at the end resolved in literally 2 pages? Hello?...more
*4.5 THIS is enemies to lovers. everyone else pack it up you aren't even in the same realm. I won't ever be able to read a book labeled enemies to love*4.5 THIS is enemies to lovers. everyone else pack it up you aren't even in the same realm. I won't ever be able to read a book labeled enemies to lovers again. it just won't compare. shit, the antagonists in other books don't even have the level of hate these two baddies have for each other...more
that one review that wondered if this was ghostwritten? yeah....
so maybe you can blame me. I did not like the premise of this book. a competition betwthat one review that wondered if this was ghostwritten? yeah....
so maybe you can blame me. I did not like the premise of this book. a competition between exes (strike one) on who can sleep with more europeans (like 3 strikes in one)? that literally sounds awful! BUT I was less than interested in One Last Stop (5 stars) and I didn't even want to read I Kissed Shara Wheeler because it sounded like Paper Towns which I dnf'd (but again, 5 stars).
CMQ usually writes books with premises that I don't care a lot for, but writes them in a funny and heartfelt way that makes me love them. I got the heartfelt, but where was the funny? it's not even that the jokes don't hit. there just aren't any jokes. I got like 1 joke every 70 pages and I thought this was a romcom!
tl;dr: I can't stop thinking about European STDs...more
Tia Williams is a genius. she's now 2 for 2 on writing books with concepts that couldn't interest me less, yet end up being so well written that I*4.5
Tia Williams is a genius. she's now 2 for 2 on writing books with concepts that couldn't interest me less, yet end up being so well written that I love them....more
admittedly I was worried going into this because of how mixed the reviews were, but I actually enjoyed this! I forced myself to read the whole thin3.5
admittedly I was worried going into this because of how mixed the reviews were, but I actually enjoyed this! I forced myself to read the whole thing in a day because this gave such "this will be bad if you have to return to it" vibes so I'm sure that helped. is this as good as AGGGTM? a laughable question of course not. but I do think it's better than AGGGTM's adaptation so that's my scale....more
This just DID NOT HIT like the first one did. I loved the first one for its episodic style of storytelling that still had an overarching plot. This onThis just DID NOT HIT like the first one did. I loved the first one for its episodic style of storytelling that still had an overarching plot. This one was just an overarching plot and because I was hoping for more of the first style, it just didn’t work for me....more
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)
Merged review:
*4.5
this was so addicting. sometimes Booktok hits. it was also exactly what I was looking for, which always helps
(Also I posted I was reading this and someone said it was so hot and�. Girl no it’s not. The vanilla-ness and boring sex scenes? Where was the hot?)...more
Accidentally started with the fourth book (again) but I really was not that into this book. It may have been because it's so heavy on horse racing whiAccidentally started with the fourth book (again) but I really was not that into this book. It may have been because it's so heavy on horse racing which is a topic I do not care about in the slightest but it may have just been the book itself, which was kind of just overall boring.
Another problem I have with it is that Gabe completely ignores Virginia every time she tells him to stop?? And he just starts kissing her randomly and she is always uncomfortable about it?? I know she eventually gives in but I don't want to talk about what happens eventually it shouldn't have been a problem in the first place and he should just stop when she asks.
Merged review:
Accidentally started with the fourth book (again) but I really was not that into this book. It may have been because it's so heavy on horse racing which is a topic I do not care about in the slightest but it may have just been the book itself, which was kind of just overall boring.
Another problem I have with it is that Gabe completely ignores Virginia every time she tells him to stop?? And he just starts kissing her randomly and she is always uncomfortable about it?? I know she eventually gives in but I don't want to talk about what happens eventually it shouldn't have been a problem in the first place and he should just stop when she asks.
Merged review:
Accidentally started with the fourth book (again) but I really was not that into this book. It may have been because it's so heavy on horse racing which is a topic I do not care about in the slightest but it may have just been the book itself, which was kind of just overall boring.
Another problem I have with it is that Gabe completely ignores Virginia every time she tells him to stop?? And he just starts kissing her randomly and she is always uncomfortable about it?? I know she eventually gives in but I don't want to talk about what happens eventually it shouldn't have been a problem in the first place and he should just stop when she asks....more
Almost all of this book I wasn’t enjoying it from a craft perspective. This book simply doesn’t work on its own.
I am aware of the reader's note at thAlmost all of this book I wasn’t enjoying it from a craft perspective. This book simply doesn’t work on its own.
I am aware of the reader's note at the beginning and yes I read it, but it excuses the book just as much as saying "no offense" before insulting someone does. Also, it only suggests reading Twisted Love before this, but if you don't read it there's no point in reading this. If you don't know what I mean, the first huge chunk of this book is set during the same time as Twisted Love, and instead of telling the story normally, it just glosses over certain parts if they were already told in TL. *TL Spoilers* Like the kidnapping scene taking up all of a page and a half in this one? How lame that was important!
Another thing that does not stop once we get past part one is the egregious time skips. They completely ruin the development of this romance. Within a paragraph there will literally be a time jump and all of a sudden the characters are closer. Hey, I didn't get to see that! It is the laziest way to write a romance, which is insane because Ana Huang is typically good at writing romantic developments from the other books I've read from her. In my opinion, this style would have been better had it been a contemporary fiction and not a romance, but there just wasn't enough there for me to say to put the romance on the back burner.
Oh boy should I have dnf'd once I realized how much these time skips weren't working for me........
*SPOILERS*
....... because I wouldn't have had to learn that they are fucking cousins!!!!! What the hell is this??? I take a look at this 4.09 average (1/22/25) and these reviews talking about how Rhys and Bridget are the favorite couple in the series and I feel insane. You guys are gaslighting me! "We're cousins but here's a loophole" is NOT doing what you think it's doing! Seek help if you liked this....more
I always feel like I have to give a disclaimer whenever I read and enjoy a toxic romance that I don't condone the actions, I am just entertained by thI always feel like I have to give a disclaimer whenever I read and enjoy a toxic romance that I don't condone the actions, I am just entertained by them
there should have been a ballerina mirror bar sex scene but who am I to say...more
was this book particularly original? no it's a fantasy romance centered around trials. however, it's a trope I eat up almost every time, and this bookwas this book particularly original? no it's a fantasy romance centered around trials. however, it's a trope I eat up almost every time, and this book was no exception. I had such a good time with this one, especially since it is so slowburn and focused on the plot before we get into the romance. I purchased the sequel immediately after finishing so I will certainly be continuing with this series...more
*3.5 It took me a long time while reading to figure out what was not clicking. there is nothing inherently wrong with this book, it's funny and it's ro*3.5 It took me a long time while reading to figure out what was not clicking. there is nothing inherently wrong with this book, it's funny and it's romantic. the issue, however, is that there is not much else. I get not wanting to essentially write the first book again, but there was very little murder in this book about a contract killer and a "multiple deleter" searching for the man who is threatening their families. and honestly there isn't even much searching. this was just a rom-com with the occasional glittery death, but that wasn't what I was signing up for. overall, not a bad book, but a bad sequel...more
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