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aura_rurubele's review against another edition
It wasn't giving the vibe I need right now, I'll come back to you later
honeymoonreads's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is so amazing, the story focuses on Cherry a 13 year old Scottish girl of Japanese descent who lives with her single dad (Paddy) and moves to Somerset as he’s found love with Charlotte who he went to Art school with years ago - Only Charlotte has 4 daughters of her own, Skye, Summer who are 12 year old twins, Coco (11), and Honey (14). Charlotte runs a BnB out of her large house and Paddy helps her run it once they live together. They start up a business making luxury chocolates, their company being called ‘The Chocolate Box’, hence the name of the series. The girls often help out with the BnB and chocolate business.
The main drama in the book is centred around Cherry the protagonist , Honey the eldest Tanberry sister, the antagonist , and Shay, the love interest, who is a close family friend and Honeys boyfriend. A lot of the drama focuses on the blossoming love triangle and also around the blended family situation, especially as Honey really doesn’t like it and wants no part in it!
The rural small town setting was so lovely and Tanglewood house truly seems like a dreamy place to live. I loved how each sister had such an individual identity, sometimes when you read books with multiple reoccurring characters who are similar ages it can be confusing, but Cathy Cassidy gave them all such unique and separate identities that it wasn’t at all confusing. The book explored the complexities of blended families really nicely and it was very refreshing to read about.
I also liked how even though Cherry is the protagonist and the one we should root for, Cassidy doesn’t writer her as some perfect person who has had a hard knock life through no fault of her own, as we see that Cherry is a dreamer and constantly making up false stories which often gets her in trouble as people tend to not like liars. We see that Cherry struggles socially and struggles to keep friends due to this, so when she moves to Tanglewood House in Somerset, she really wants to kick her habit of lying. Despite this, she still struggles with it as she’s used these false stories as a crutch when she feels scared or anxious, but throughout the book we see her journey of learning to be content and comfortable of her own identity and life, as she eventually does and she confront her lying problem head on.
I also like that all the characters are multi dimensional. Obviously Cathy had to make sure they were fully fleshed out as this was a series, but I feel like many first books in series often don’t flesh out things as throughly as Cassidy did with this book. Even Honey, who is supposed to be the antagonist in Cherry’s story, is written to be dimensional and we see clearly why she has emotional issues. And despite her behaviour towards Cherry being mean and unwarranted at the start of the book, when you read on and see that she’s still not gotten over her mum and dad breaking up three years ago and that’s why she doesn’t want to accept a step sister, you feel more for her. Even if you don’t feel sympathy for her and think she’s a mean girl, you still understand why she’s so angsty which is really good.
In fact, the reason why this book isn’t 5 stars is because of how Honeys emotions are downplayed at the end act. I don’t want to spoil anything, but as the book progressed, Honey had every right to not want to accept Cherry as Cherry was being very selfish and rude with what she was doing. ( slight spoilers ahead so don’t read on if you don’t want any spoilers 🤍)
I just don’t like how at the end Charlotte HONEYS LITERAL MOTHER is very quick to accept it all, like your daughter has every right to be distraught after what Cherry’s been doing. Being a 14 year old teenage girl can feel like your holding the weight of the world on your shoulder, let alone when you’ve got a flaky dad and now this girls came into your life and you’re expected to accept her as a sister, but she’s taking away the one thing in your life that seems to bring you happiness and calamity.
( PS I get that there was another person involved ie Shay, so their feelings mattered too, but none of this would’ve happened if Cherry stayed away from Shay as he would’ve never gained feelings. Yes he and Honey probably would’ve broken up eventually due to her behaviour, but that wouldn’t be as awkward or painful as what happened…)
I just really could not get on board with that one bit. I get that Cherry couldn’t control her feelings, but she could’ve controlled her actions eg not going and flirting with Shay, and chose not to go through with them.
It’s a tough one, as Cherry’s 13 and we all weren’t the wisest at 13 especially if you were like Cherry and struggled socially (13yo me couldve definitely related to her), but it’s the reaction of her parents who are the adults that makes me so angry. I suppose that’s reflective of the blended family situation though as what can you do? There wasn’t really anything they could’ve done but when Charlotte said “ It’s bound to hurt. But, Honey will cope. She is stronger than she thinks. She’ll come round” that baffled the fruitshoots out of me!
Like what? What did you just say miss ma’am? Come again please I didn’t quite catch that…
I agree with what she’s saying but I don’t think that was the time to be saying that, she should’ve been trying to comfort her daughter and coaxing her out so that she could give her some TLC. It just was extremely inappropriate imo, I get she would’ve wanted to comfort Cherry too after the other situation that occurred which meant Cherry was hurt, but surely Cherry’s dad and the other girls could’ve done that and you could’ve comforted your daughter?
Besides the way that Charlotte handled Honeys emotions, I loved this book and it was magical! I love how Cherry’s a dreamer and a bit of a misfit as I feel like that’s rather relatable. Anyways, I definitely will be rereading this eventually!
It was also such a quick read for me, I could’ve read it one sitting but I had to study for my exams - I timed myself when I read it (idk why I just like to know how long it took me to read a book) and it took me 2 hours & 14 minutes and that includes reading some chapters aloud, so it’s safe to say that this is a fast paced, fluffy read!
The main drama in the book is centred around Cherry the protagonist , Honey the eldest Tanberry sister, the antagonist , and Shay, the love interest, who is a close family friend and Honeys boyfriend. A lot of the drama focuses on the blossoming love triangle and also around the blended family situation, especially as Honey really doesn’t like it and wants no part in it!
The rural small town setting was so lovely and Tanglewood house truly seems like a dreamy place to live. I loved how each sister had such an individual identity, sometimes when you read books with multiple reoccurring characters who are similar ages it can be confusing, but Cathy Cassidy gave them all such unique and separate identities that it wasn’t at all confusing. The book explored the complexities of blended families really nicely and it was very refreshing to read about.
I also liked how even though Cherry is the protagonist and the one we should root for, Cassidy doesn’t writer her as some perfect person who has had a hard knock life through no fault of her own, as we see that Cherry is a dreamer and constantly making up false stories which often gets her in trouble as people tend to not like liars. We see that Cherry struggles socially and struggles to keep friends due to this, so when she moves to Tanglewood House in Somerset, she really wants to kick her habit of lying. Despite this, she still struggles with it as she’s used these false stories as a crutch when she feels scared or anxious, but throughout the book we see her journey of learning to be content and comfortable of her own identity and life, as she eventually does and she confront her lying problem head on.
I also like that all the characters are multi dimensional. Obviously Cathy had to make sure they were fully fleshed out as this was a series, but I feel like many first books in series often don’t flesh out things as throughly as Cassidy did with this book. Even Honey, who is supposed to be the antagonist in Cherry’s story, is written to be dimensional and we see clearly why she has emotional issues. And despite her behaviour towards Cherry being mean and unwarranted at the start of the book, when you read on and see that she’s still not gotten over her mum and dad breaking up three years ago and that’s why she doesn’t want to accept a step sister, you feel more for her. Even if you don’t feel sympathy for her and think she’s a mean girl, you still understand why she’s so angsty which is really good.
In fact, the reason why this book isn’t 5 stars is because of how Honeys emotions are downplayed at the end act. I don’t want to spoil anything, but as the book progressed, Honey had every right to not want to accept Cherry as Cherry was being very selfish and rude with what she was doing. ( slight spoilers ahead so don’t read on if you don’t want any spoilers 🤍)
I just don’t like how at the end Charlotte HONEYS LITERAL MOTHER is very quick to accept it all, like your daughter has every right to be distraught after what Cherry’s been doing. Being a 14 year old teenage girl can feel like your holding the weight of the world on your shoulder, let alone when you’ve got a flaky dad and now this girls came into your life and you’re expected to accept her as a sister, but she’s taking away the one thing in your life that seems to bring you happiness and calamity.
( PS I get that there was another person involved ie Shay, so their feelings mattered too, but none of this would’ve happened if Cherry stayed away from Shay as he would’ve never gained feelings. Yes he and Honey probably would’ve broken up eventually due to her behaviour, but that wouldn’t be as awkward or painful as what happened…)
I just really could not get on board with that one bit. I get that Cherry couldn’t control her feelings, but she could’ve controlled her actions eg not going and flirting with Shay, and chose not to go through with them.
It’s a tough one, as Cherry’s 13 and we all weren’t the wisest at 13 especially if you were like Cherry and struggled socially (13yo me couldve definitely related to her), but it’s the reaction of her parents who are the adults that makes me so angry. I suppose that’s reflective of the blended family situation though as what can you do? There wasn’t really anything they could’ve done but when Charlotte said “ It’s bound to hurt. But, Honey will cope. She is stronger than she thinks. She’ll come round” that baffled the fruitshoots out of me!
Like what? What did you just say miss ma’am? Come again please I didn’t quite catch that…
I agree with what she’s saying but I don’t think that was the time to be saying that, she should’ve been trying to comfort her daughter and coaxing her out so that she could give her some TLC. It just was extremely inappropriate imo, I get she would’ve wanted to comfort Cherry too after the other situation that occurred which meant Cherry was hurt, but surely Cherry’s dad and the other girls could’ve done that and you could’ve comforted your daughter?
Besides the way that Charlotte handled Honeys emotions, I loved this book and it was magical! I love how Cherry’s a dreamer and a bit of a misfit as I feel like that’s rather relatable. Anyways, I definitely will be rereading this eventually!
It was also such a quick read for me, I could’ve read it one sitting but I had to study for my exams - I timed myself when I read it (idk why I just like to know how long it took me to read a book) and it took me 2 hours & 14 minutes and that includes reading some chapters aloud, so it’s safe to say that this is a fast paced, fluffy read!
chloelawrence127's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
ruth_beckingham's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Picked up this series after loving it when I was younger and it still holds up. I feel like it’s nice to be able read some YA books or some previously loved books even when I’m nearly 26. Cathy Cassidy used to be my absolute favourite author and it’s lovely to see how much I still enjoy her work. It’s a nice little book and I’m excited to read the rest of the series
kanayasya's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
marippe's review against another edition
3.5
Not them justifying Cherry’s lies and stealing her step-sister’s boyfriend im SCREAMING.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Infidelity
hollypotter's review against another edition
4.0
I accidentally read the 5th book in this series first, which was about Honey. I believed Cherry to be a nasty bully who stole Honeys boyfriend. But after reading this book, I can see it was Honey being nasty from the start.
Cherry is a lovely, sweet girl, if perhaps a bit childlike for her age. She’s a year below Honey but reading about the two of them you might assume theres more like a 5 year age gap or so.
The innocence in her character doesn’t stop her being a mature and empathetic little girl. She tries to help Honey on more than one occasion. And she wants happiness for her dad and Charlotte which alot of children might struggle with in Cherrys situation.
Overall I enjoyed this book, like the other one I have gave this 4/5 stars simply because I am not the target market for this series, and I would have enjoyed it more as a young teenager.
Cherry is a lovely, sweet girl, if perhaps a bit childlike for her age. She’s a year below Honey but reading about the two of them you might assume theres more like a 5 year age gap or so.
The innocence in her character doesn’t stop her being a mature and empathetic little girl. She tries to help Honey on more than one occasion. And she wants happiness for her dad and Charlotte which alot of children might struggle with in Cherrys situation.
Overall I enjoyed this book, like the other one I have gave this 4/5 stars simply because I am not the target market for this series, and I would have enjoyed it more as a young teenager.
dreamadeer's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
There was nothing particularly interesting. I kept waiting for something to happen, but when it did, it felt like an anti-climax. Cherry instantly fell head over heels for Shay, and Shay did the same for Cherry. When Shay told her that nobody knew him like she did, I almost burst out laughing. Dude, you spent like 5 seconds with her, and it was always Cherry who was talking. Where did this come from???
Overall it felt like Jacqueline Wilson's book, just with less drama.
Overall it felt like Jacqueline Wilson's book, just with less drama.
readwithchloev's review against another edition
4.0
I first read this as a teen and I’m now 26. Going back into this felt so nostalgic, I’d forgotten how visual Cathy’s writing is. I can imagine literally everything and it truly is the same as when I read it the first time. It feels so comforting and homely.
Is Cherry slightly problematic? Yes. Her lies aren’t really bad but they’re still lies. She also steals her stepsisters’ boyfriend. Not good, but very entertaining???
I definitely feel more sympathy for Honey now I’m an adult, and I actually never got round to reading her book so I can’t wait to get to that.
This made me so happy and I flew through it despite being in a slump
Is Cherry slightly problematic? Yes. Her lies aren’t really bad but they’re still lies. She also steals her stepsisters’ boyfriend. Not good, but very entertaining???
I definitely feel more sympathy for Honey now I’m an adult, and I actually never got round to reading her book so I can’t wait to get to that.
This made me so happy and I flew through it despite being in a slump
jessicajessica101's review
4.0
Une très bonne surprise, j'avais peur qu'il soit beaucoup trop jeunesse mais finalement, il est jeunesse et ça se sens, mais c'est une lecture agréable et addictive qu'on dévore sans même s'en rendre compte. J'aime beaucoup la légèreté de ce livre mais qui pourtant aborde des sujets assez lourd. J'ai également beaucoup aimé les personnages, les 5 soeurs qui sont toutes très différentes mais attachantes à leur façon !
A lire !
A lire !