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pagesplotsandpints's Reviews (2.1k)
Read Completed 4/14/24 | 4.25 stars
Whoa, this book really stepped it up a notch. Toby faces peril and danger in every book, but things really got personal here and we really dug deep into the depths of lore, tradition, and Faerie itself. This was highly entertaining and I love how each book focuses on one specific event but still carries over from the previous book. There's just so much to explore in these worlds that the series never gets tiring or repetitive and I'm highly impressed.
Whoa, this book really stepped it up a notch. Toby faces peril and danger in every book, but things really got personal here and we really dug deep into the depths of lore, tradition, and Faerie itself. This was highly entertaining and I love how each book focuses on one specific event but still carries over from the previous book. There's just so much to explore in these worlds that the series never gets tiring or repetitive and I'm highly impressed.
Read Completed 4/13/24 | 4.25 stars
It was so nice to be back in this series! It's been a few years since I picked up an October Daye book and I'm happy that it was easy to fall back into. I looked up what happened in the last book to refresh my memory and I think that helped too. There are a lot of characters in these books and sometimes I forget who is who, but Seanan McGuire always does a good job of weaving that into the books as well to help readers keep everything straight.
Sometimes there's not a lot to say when you're 16 books in a series, but this one still really has my interest! There are so many different corners of this world to explore and Seanan McGuire still manages to keep things fresh and get Toby into new situations. I loved how this one was all about the wedding, and the whole book spans this one event.
The ending was sweet and also exciting and it's all made me want to binge the other 3 books that I haven't yet read.
It was so nice to be back in this series! It's been a few years since I picked up an October Daye book and I'm happy that it was easy to fall back into. I looked up what happened in the last book to refresh my memory and I think that helped too. There are a lot of characters in these books and sometimes I forget who is who, but Seanan McGuire always does a good job of weaving that into the books as well to help readers keep everything straight.
Sometimes there's not a lot to say when you're 16 books in a series, but this one still really has my interest! There are so many different corners of this world to explore and Seanan McGuire still manages to keep things fresh and get Toby into new situations. I loved how this one was all about the wedding, and the whole book spans this one event.
The ending was sweet and also exciting and it's all made me want to binge the other 3 books that I haven't yet read.
Read Completed 4/11/24 | 3 stars
Well, this one didn't really do it for me. I've been a fan of Seraphina Nova Glass for a few years and I've really enjoyed some of her past reads (specifically ON A QUIET STREET and SOMEONE'S LISTENING) but this just had a totally different feel and felt really messy.
I just really never clicked with THE VACANCY IN ROOM 10 in anyway, sadly. I didn't get enough of the characters to feel for them. The pacing was a little slow and meandering. There were points where it picked up, but then the plot still felt disconnected while it was all going on. It felt like this was an outline where the author had to make it all come together and it just felt forced and like the pieces of the puzzle never really quite fit together.
I don't have a ton to say about it because I didn't really hate it or anything, but I was just pretty bored and disconnected. It wasn't a bad book but a lot of it were topics, settings, and tropes that I don't love in thrillers, so this is probably a case of this just not being a book for me. It's really hard reading thriller authors sometimes because their books can be SO different when they're connecting with different kinds of thriller audiences. I can rate the same author anywhere from 2 stars to 5 stars sometimes. This will just end up not being a favorite for me, and I can only hope I'll like the next one better!
Well, this one didn't really do it for me. I've been a fan of Seraphina Nova Glass for a few years and I've really enjoyed some of her past reads (specifically ON A QUIET STREET and SOMEONE'S LISTENING) but this just had a totally different feel and felt really messy.
I just really never clicked with THE VACANCY IN ROOM 10 in anyway, sadly. I didn't get enough of the characters to feel for them. The pacing was a little slow and meandering. There were points where it picked up, but then the plot still felt disconnected while it was all going on. It felt like this was an outline where the author had to make it all come together and it just felt forced and like the pieces of the puzzle never really quite fit together.
I don't have a ton to say about it because I didn't really hate it or anything, but I was just pretty bored and disconnected. It wasn't a bad book but a lot of it were topics, settings, and tropes that I don't love in thrillers, so this is probably a case of this just not being a book for me. It's really hard reading thriller authors sometimes because their books can be SO different when they're connecting with different kinds of thriller audiences. I can rate the same author anywhere from 2 stars to 5 stars sometimes. This will just end up not being a favorite for me, and I can only hope I'll like the next one better!
Read Completed 4/10/24 | 3.75 - 4 stars
THE GOOD GIRL (2014) | 4 stars
PRETTY BABY (2015) | 3.5 stars
DON'T YOU CRY (2016) | 3 stars
EVERY LAST LIE (2017) | 3.75 stars
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT (2018) | 2.5 stars
THE OTHER MRS. (2020) | 3 stars
LOCAL WOMAN MISSING (2021) | 3.75 stars
JUST THE NICEST COUPLE (2023) | 4 stars
Mary Kubica is super hit or miss for me, this was one of the better reads for me. This felt like it flowed fairly well, and although it takes a while to get going, there are some really good things that happen in the second half of the book! I really appreciated the twists and there were definitely things I didn't see coming.
Aside from the slower pace in the beginning, I think my only complaint really is that things just don't quite wrap up cleanly. I wanted things to be more connected to really pack a bigger punch. There are a couple different story lines happening here and I think if one more of the could have been connected to the main event, it really would have had a lasting impression. Instead, there were all these big and little pieces that didn't really have anything to do with each other half the time.
I was going to round up and give this four stars, but the more I think about some of the messier parts of it, the more I'm going to stay in the 3 star range at 3.75 stars. This was an enjoyable read and I really like the twisty parts that got me! But some of the plotting was messy and a few things just dropped off in order to make the reader doubt things but didn't have a good explanation.
I did enjoy my read and I'm happy with the reading experience and I'm going to stop thinking about it before I take away any more stars.
THE GOOD GIRL (2014) | 4 stars
PRETTY BABY (2015) | 3.5 stars
DON'T YOU CRY (2016) | 3 stars
EVERY LAST LIE (2017) | 3.75 stars
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT (2018) | 2.5 stars
THE OTHER MRS. (2020) | 3 stars
LOCAL WOMAN MISSING (2021) | 3.75 stars
JUST THE NICEST COUPLE (2023) | 4 stars
Mary Kubica is super hit or miss for me, this was one of the better reads for me. This felt like it flowed fairly well, and although it takes a while to get going, there are some really good things that happen in the second half of the book! I really appreciated the twists and there were definitely things I didn't see coming.
Aside from the slower pace in the beginning, I think my only complaint really is that things just don't quite wrap up cleanly. I wanted things to be more connected to really pack a bigger punch. There are a couple different story lines happening here and I think if one more of the could have been connected to the main event, it really would have had a lasting impression. Instead, there were all these big and little pieces that didn't really have anything to do with each other half the time.
I was going to round up and give this four stars, but the more I think about some of the messier parts of it, the more I'm going to stay in the 3 star range at 3.75 stars. This was an enjoyable read and I really like the twisty parts that got me! But some of the plotting was messy and a few things just dropped off in order to make the reader doubt things but didn't have a good explanation.
I did enjoy my read and I'm happy with the reading experience and I'm going to stop thinking about it before I take away any more stars.
Read Completed 4/9/24 | 3.5 stars, rounded down for vibes
I was really excited to read this, having like Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn books and seeing this as a 5 star book all over bookstagram & booktok. I don't know why I keep thinking that means I will rate it 5 stars because that almost never happens.
KILL FOR ME, KILL FOR YOU is still solidly entertaining! This was a Strangers on a Train style story, which can really be hit or miss for me. It all depends on how everything is handled and if it's believable and this one just really didn't hit the mark for me on the believability scale. I don't always have to know all the odds and ends, but some things felt a little too sloppy, other things I don't think the police would have let go, and it leaned a little too hard on mental health issues, in my opinion.
There was the big reveal that I didn't see coming and I really liked the WAY it was handled. There were a few things that again, I didn't really buy as far as all of the pieces falling into place and characters who worked their way into this tangled web, but I liked HOW the reveal happened, and that honestly probably brought the experience up a half a star.
Overall, this was just a little too popcorn-y. I can be here for a popcorn thriller for sure, but if it has me rolling my eyes too often, it's not a win for me. Some parts really didn't flow well and I wanted to be floored by it but I just wasn't. Even in the beginning I knew it couldn't be a 5 star book because I wasn't really into the writing style right from the start.
Not a huge miss for me but I'm a bit bummed I couldn't even manage to rate this one 4 stars. I definitely see its appeal and tons of people have and will love it. It was just too unrealistic overall and I couldn't let it go.
AUDIOBOOK NOTES: I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Stephanie Cannon. I don't think I've listened to a book from her before and I wasn't really blow away by her performance. It was a fine narration but there were some moments that took me out of the listening experience and the voices kind of blended into one another. I wouldn't avoid future narrations from her but I also wouldn't be excited for it either. Even though the book was in third person, because of the lack of change in voice, I felt like we could have benefitted from multiple narrators, though I know the budget doesn't always allow that.
I was really excited to read this, having like Steve Cavanagh's Eddie Flynn books and seeing this as a 5 star book all over bookstagram & booktok. I don't know why I keep thinking that means I will rate it 5 stars because that almost never happens.
KILL FOR ME, KILL FOR YOU is still solidly entertaining! This was a Strangers on a Train style story, which can really be hit or miss for me. It all depends on how everything is handled and if it's believable and this one just really didn't hit the mark for me on the believability scale. I don't always have to know all the odds and ends, but some things felt a little too sloppy, other things I don't think the police would have let go, and it leaned a little too hard on mental health issues, in my opinion.
There was the big reveal that I didn't see coming and I really liked the WAY it was handled. There were a few things that again, I didn't really buy as far as all of the pieces falling into place and characters who worked their way into this tangled web, but I liked HOW the reveal happened, and that honestly probably brought the experience up a half a star.
Overall, this was just a little too popcorn-y. I can be here for a popcorn thriller for sure, but if it has me rolling my eyes too often, it's not a win for me. Some parts really didn't flow well and I wanted to be floored by it but I just wasn't. Even in the beginning I knew it couldn't be a 5 star book because I wasn't really into the writing style right from the start.
Not a huge miss for me but I'm a bit bummed I couldn't even manage to rate this one 4 stars. I definitely see its appeal and tons of people have and will love it. It was just too unrealistic overall and I couldn't let it go.
AUDIOBOOK NOTES: I listened to this as an audiobook, narrated by Stephanie Cannon. I don't think I've listened to a book from her before and I wasn't really blow away by her performance. It was a fine narration but there were some moments that took me out of the listening experience and the voices kind of blended into one another. I wouldn't avoid future narrations from her but I also wouldn't be excited for it either. Even though the book was in third person, because of the lack of change in voice, I felt like we could have benefitted from multiple narrators, though I know the budget doesn't always allow that.
Read Completed 4/8/24 | 3 stars
I was a big fan of Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series and it's always hard starting a new series when you're so familiar with the rhythm and feel of the old one. I was really excited to start AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC, but it was a bit of a bumpy ride. Or rather, I guess it wasn't really much of a ride at all because it was very, very introductory.
I don't know how long this series is supposed to be, but really the whole book felt like a LOT of set-up. That doesn't usually bother me when it's an epic series, like when Sanderson writes 1000+ pages. You have a lot of set up because there's a huge journey. This felt like a lot of set up and I have no idea where this is going. It felt like the first third of a longer book and I just didn't really know how I was supposed to feel about this. There's not really a ton of world-building to go on and we don't really get to know the characters very well. I did like Stephen but there's just not a whole ton that we get from him. We get to know him the best since he's the main character, obviously, and again, there's potential, but it never had me super invested in his story just yet. There's definitely a lot of potential but this as an individual book was kind of a let down.
The magic was also very elementary. Granted Stephen is still a novice at mostly everything, but it does get repetitive and a little bit underwhelming when you're waiting for something incredibly magical to happen and it just ... doesn't. He does get better at his magic which helps, and we find out his has this special ability that people just don't have, but we don't really get to find out any of the why or the how.
I really loved Alex Verus so I won't give up on this series just yet. I definitely can see a good path, but I really hope we start getting there in the second book.
I was a big fan of Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus series and it's always hard starting a new series when you're so familiar with the rhythm and feel of the old one. I was really excited to start AN INHERITANCE OF MAGIC, but it was a bit of a bumpy ride. Or rather, I guess it wasn't really much of a ride at all because it was very, very introductory.
I don't know how long this series is supposed to be, but really the whole book felt like a LOT of set-up. That doesn't usually bother me when it's an epic series, like when Sanderson writes 1000+ pages. You have a lot of set up because there's a huge journey. This felt like a lot of set up and I have no idea where this is going. It felt like the first third of a longer book and I just didn't really know how I was supposed to feel about this. There's not really a ton of world-building to go on and we don't really get to know the characters very well. I did like Stephen but there's just not a whole ton that we get from him. We get to know him the best since he's the main character, obviously, and again, there's potential, but it never had me super invested in his story just yet. There's definitely a lot of potential but this as an individual book was kind of a let down.
The magic was also very elementary. Granted Stephen is still a novice at mostly everything, but it does get repetitive and a little bit underwhelming when you're waiting for something incredibly magical to happen and it just ... doesn't. He does get better at his magic which helps, and we find out his has this special ability that people just don't have, but we don't really get to find out any of the why or the how.
I really loved Alex Verus so I won't give up on this series just yet. I definitely can see a good path, but I really hope we start getting there in the second book.
Read Completed 4/6/24 | 2 stars
Boy, am I glad that's over.
I usually like Sarah Adams and I was hoping the one exception would be THE CHEAT SHEET because it's an older book of hers and I've really liked her most recent works the best (WHEN IN ROME, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT), but this one was a huge miss for me. I didn't like it for most of the same reasons that I didn't like THE CHEAT SHEET, and that was because I really didn't like the characters. At all.
Nora was annoying and immature, and honestly so was Derek. They broke up in college for no good reason and it was an annoying miscommunication / non-communication trope, which I hate. When they were paired up for Nora's job as a sports agent and Derek becomes her client, he makes her life miserable, which was selfish and immature. Nora was this big bad sports agent who was doing good work for women in sports, which I liked, but she was also incredibly unprofessional in so many other ways. I just really didn't like either of them and like THE CHEAT SHEET, both of the characters felt incredibly forced and like wild caricatures.
Also forced was ALL THE TROPES. Okay, seriously, chill out. Can we focus on like one or two. It's second chance, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, fake dating + rules list, only one bed, miscommunication, and more. Whew. I was kind of annoyed that it jumped around in so many ways and I felt like the author was just trying to force EVERYTHING into the book. The pacing was off, the dialogue was soooo cheesy. None of it worked for me.
Why didn't I DNF, you ask? Well 1) I've liked her other books and the plot kept jumping from one concept to the next that I kept waiting for it to get good. 2) It has really good ratings and I mistakenly thought it would shape up because of that and 3) I made it past my point of no return to DNF, which is no more than 40%, because at that point, I can just finish it and have it count towards my reading goal.
It wasn't an awful book but this was 100% not for me. I also don't think I like sports romances? Baseball only, apparently, because I could eat that up, so only the sports I watch, I guess. I don't like football and I don't watch football but it's not like I'm watching a football game in this book, so I didn't think I would care. I just didn't like anything about the book, really. Take this along with the other glowing reviews!
Boy, am I glad that's over.
I usually like Sarah Adams and I was hoping the one exception would be THE CHEAT SHEET because it's an older book of hers and I've really liked her most recent works the best (WHEN IN ROME, PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT), but this one was a huge miss for me. I didn't like it for most of the same reasons that I didn't like THE CHEAT SHEET, and that was because I really didn't like the characters. At all.
Nora was annoying and immature, and honestly so was Derek. They broke up in college for no good reason and it was an annoying miscommunication / non-communication trope, which I hate. When they were paired up for Nora's job as a sports agent and Derek becomes her client, he makes her life miserable, which was selfish and immature. Nora was this big bad sports agent who was doing good work for women in sports, which I liked, but she was also incredibly unprofessional in so many other ways. I just really didn't like either of them and like THE CHEAT SHEET, both of the characters felt incredibly forced and like wild caricatures.
Also forced was ALL THE TROPES. Okay, seriously, chill out. Can we focus on like one or two. It's second chance, enemies to lovers, marriage of convenience, fake dating + rules list, only one bed, miscommunication, and more. Whew. I was kind of annoyed that it jumped around in so many ways and I felt like the author was just trying to force EVERYTHING into the book. The pacing was off, the dialogue was soooo cheesy. None of it worked for me.
Why didn't I DNF, you ask? Well 1) I've liked her other books and the plot kept jumping from one concept to the next that I kept waiting for it to get good. 2) It has really good ratings and I mistakenly thought it would shape up because of that and 3) I made it past my point of no return to DNF, which is no more than 40%, because at that point, I can just finish it and have it count towards my reading goal.
It wasn't an awful book but this was 100% not for me. I also don't think I like sports romances? Baseball only, apparently, because I could eat that up, so only the sports I watch, I guess. I don't like football and I don't watch football but it's not like I'm watching a football game in this book, so I didn't think I would care. I just didn't like anything about the book, really. Take this along with the other glowing reviews!
Read Completed 4/5/24 | 3.5 stars
Hey, so if anyone has a book that they love that they want me to be indifferent about, apparently this is a service that I now offer the world. Unpopular opinions for everyone!
I was very excited to read this one, but with trepidation after loving A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and being lukewarm about FIVE SURVIVE. (Technically I was lukewarm about AS GOOD AS DEAD too.) With the popular reviews, I was still really hoping to connect to this one, but it just never quite happened for me.
For one thing, I really didn't like Bel. She's spiky, she's thorny, and she has every reason to be, but the attitude wasn't endearing for me. I really never liked her and there wasn't really a side that I connected with, unfortunately. I kept hoping we'd click, but I feel like that was the only side of her personality and there wasn't much else there.
I was very interested in the mystery and Rachel's disappearance/return. I did feel like things were a little too drawn out and the pacing was a little clunky. There were a lot of slow spots and while I was still interested and I wasn't bored, it all just felt like it could have been slightly faster paced and the book could have been just a bit shorter to make things flow better.
I also thought I would really like the documentary part and I really didn't. I would have rather spent time with the family, getting into the nitty gritty, being suspicious, having their personalities shine, and the documentary took away from everything. It could have easily been left out and I would have enjoyed the book more.
The ending was not really satisfying to me at all and I don't think that anyone could have gotten away with any of this, even 16 years ago. It all felt like a stretch and I just wasn't buying it. Maybe if I had been enjoying the rest of the story more, rooting for the characters more, it wouldn't have bothered me and I would have been happy to go along with the ride, but I was already looking for things to pick apart. The whole reasoning for everything too was just... not enough. It was like one sentence during the reveal and I was listening as an audiobook and half missed it (that's my fault, obviously) but I figured they'd talk about it again and they just never did.
I liked parts of the ending but I didn't like why it all happened and how. This just didn't click for me, but I did enjoy the mystery of it. I also felt like Holly Jackson's writing felt a lot more forced here? Like it was trying too hard? But again, maybe noticeable because I wasn't as into it.
I'm clearly the outlier here (what else is new) and I'm not the popular opinion. Lots of people are loving this and like I said, it wasn't BAD but I just didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would, especially after all of the charisma that AGGGTM had.
Hey, so if anyone has a book that they love that they want me to be indifferent about, apparently this is a service that I now offer the world. Unpopular opinions for everyone!
I was very excited to read this one, but with trepidation after loving A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and being lukewarm about FIVE SURVIVE. (Technically I was lukewarm about AS GOOD AS DEAD too.) With the popular reviews, I was still really hoping to connect to this one, but it just never quite happened for me.
For one thing, I really didn't like Bel. She's spiky, she's thorny, and she has every reason to be, but the attitude wasn't endearing for me. I really never liked her and there wasn't really a side that I connected with, unfortunately. I kept hoping we'd click, but I feel like that was the only side of her personality and there wasn't much else there.
I was very interested in the mystery and Rachel's disappearance/return. I did feel like things were a little too drawn out and the pacing was a little clunky. There were a lot of slow spots and while I was still interested and I wasn't bored, it all just felt like it could have been slightly faster paced and the book could have been just a bit shorter to make things flow better.
I also thought I would really like the documentary part and I really didn't. I would have rather spent time with the family, getting into the nitty gritty, being suspicious, having their personalities shine, and the documentary took away from everything. It could have easily been left out and I would have enjoyed the book more.
The ending was not really satisfying to me at all and I don't think that anyone could have gotten away with any of this, even 16 years ago. It all felt like a stretch and I just wasn't buying it. Maybe if I had been enjoying the rest of the story more, rooting for the characters more, it wouldn't have bothered me and I would have been happy to go along with the ride, but I was already looking for things to pick apart. The whole reasoning for everything too was just... not enough. It was like one sentence during the reveal and I was listening as an audiobook and half missed it (that's my fault, obviously) but I figured they'd talk about it again and they just never did.
I liked parts of the ending but I didn't like why it all happened and how. This just didn't click for me, but I did enjoy the mystery of it. I also felt like Holly Jackson's writing felt a lot more forced here? Like it was trying too hard? But again, maybe noticeable because I wasn't as into it.
I'm clearly the outlier here (what else is new) and I'm not the popular opinion. Lots of people are loving this and like I said, it wasn't BAD but I just didn't get as much out of it as I thought I would, especially after all of the charisma that AGGGTM had.
Read Completed 4/3/24 | 4.25 - 4.5 stars
Do I need to read the other books before this one? Technically, no. JUST FOR THE SUMMER is a stand alone, though definitely connected to PART OF YOUR WORLD and YOURS TRULY. Personally, I would recommend reading at least POYW first because of a connection that is made in this book and I think the emotional impact is better that way. If you do read them out of chronological order, you can always go back and see how it began!
THE FRIEND ZONE (2019) | 4.25 stars
THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST (2020) | 4.25 stars
LIFE'S TOO SHORT (2021) | 4.5 stars
PART OF YOUR WORLD (2022) | 5 stars
YOURS TRULY (2023) | 4.5 stars
JUST FOR THE SUMMER (2024) | 4.25 stars
It crushes me not to rate this five stars but we're being honest and truthful with the vibes. I still loved it but it's not my new favorite and I still haven't rated any Abby Jimenez book less than 4.25 stars!
JUST FOR THE SUMMER was a little heavier than I anticipated. There's still a lot of very cute lines, some banter, and Justin is just plain adorable. Abby's books always have some heavy element to them, whether that's illness, family struggles, health, a personal past -- there's always something that brings things really deep and I actually really do appreciate it. It brings and extra layer of reality to a love story and makes the characters even more well-developed because most people's lives are messier than the outside world realizes.
The reason I didn't feel AS invested in this book as other Abby Jimenez books is simply because I didn't feel like there was as much of the fun romance and falling-in-love vibes as there were the personal and family struggles. Both main characters have very complicated family situations that both pop up early on in the book. They instantly become obstacles when they're already "dating just to break up" and Emma is a traveling nurse so she doesn't plan on staying in the first place. I think two heavy situations and both being tackled early on changed the vibe a little bit, and though I really appreciated them both and liked the story, I just wish I had a little bit more falling in love time. It's also hard reading yet another book where at least one of the main characters doesn't want to fall in love during a love story, but Abby did it better than every other one I've read.
The cute times we did have with Emma and Justin were a delight. I adored Justin since the moment we met him and I liked that they instantly started communicating and feeling butterflies. We didn't waste time getting these two together and like every other couple in Abby's books, their connection was magical.
Abby Jimenez is also just the queen at making you forget you're reading a book. Her characters are so real, the emotions really get to you, and the personalities shine. I cried while listening to the audiobook while walking my dog. I teared up at work while finishing the book, and I rarely cry at books. I was definitely heavily invested.
I also love how her books are interconnected and there are so many Easter eggs! I missed a bunch of them because I'm just always terrible at that, but did pick up on quite a few. I LOVED the one big connection to POYW and I almost dropped everything I was doing to reread that one, but maybe that'll be later in the year. (Also my favorite, btw.)
While this wasn't my favorite of hers, it's still such a strong novel and you really can't go wrong. This book definitely made me feel a ton and I was not disappointed.
Do I need to read the other books before this one? Technically, no. JUST FOR THE SUMMER is a stand alone, though definitely connected to PART OF YOUR WORLD and YOURS TRULY. Personally, I would recommend reading at least POYW first because of a connection that is made in this book and I think the emotional impact is better that way. If you do read them out of chronological order, you can always go back and see how it began!
THE FRIEND ZONE (2019) | 4.25 stars
THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST (2020) | 4.25 stars
LIFE'S TOO SHORT (2021) | 4.5 stars
PART OF YOUR WORLD (2022) | 5 stars
YOURS TRULY (2023) | 4.5 stars
JUST FOR THE SUMMER (2024) | 4.25 stars
It crushes me not to rate this five stars but we're being honest and truthful with the vibes. I still loved it but it's not my new favorite and I still haven't rated any Abby Jimenez book less than 4.25 stars!
JUST FOR THE SUMMER was a little heavier than I anticipated. There's still a lot of very cute lines, some banter, and Justin is just plain adorable. Abby's books always have some heavy element to them, whether that's illness, family struggles, health, a personal past -- there's always something that brings things really deep and I actually really do appreciate it. It brings and extra layer of reality to a love story and makes the characters even more well-developed because most people's lives are messier than the outside world realizes.
The reason I didn't feel AS invested in this book as other Abby Jimenez books is simply because I didn't feel like there was as much of the fun romance and falling-in-love vibes as there were the personal and family struggles. Both main characters have very complicated family situations that both pop up early on in the book. They instantly become obstacles when they're already "dating just to break up" and Emma is a traveling nurse so she doesn't plan on staying in the first place. I think two heavy situations and both being tackled early on changed the vibe a little bit, and though I really appreciated them both and liked the story, I just wish I had a little bit more falling in love time. It's also hard reading yet another book where at least one of the main characters doesn't want to fall in love during a love story, but Abby did it better than every other one I've read.
The cute times we did have with Emma and Justin were a delight. I adored Justin since the moment we met him and I liked that they instantly started communicating and feeling butterflies. We didn't waste time getting these two together and like every other couple in Abby's books, their connection was magical.
Abby Jimenez is also just the queen at making you forget you're reading a book. Her characters are so real, the emotions really get to you, and the personalities shine. I cried while listening to the audiobook while walking my dog. I teared up at work while finishing the book, and I rarely cry at books. I was definitely heavily invested.
I also love how her books are interconnected and there are so many Easter eggs! I missed a bunch of them because I'm just always terrible at that, but did pick up on quite a few. I LOVED the one big connection to POYW and I almost dropped everything I was doing to reread that one, but maybe that'll be later in the year. (Also my favorite, btw.)
While this wasn't my favorite of hers, it's still such a strong novel and you really can't go wrong. This book definitely made me feel a ton and I was not disappointed.
Read Completed 4/2/24 | 3 stars
This promised dark comedy and it half-delivered, but not in the way that I was hoping. The tone was lighter but I would have rather it be a bit more comedic or a bit more thrilling and tense. The middle road ended up being a little repetitive and boring and we ended up kind of reliving the same scenes over and over but in a different way.
The book is set during COVID lockdown which usually I avoid reading at all costs, but it was necessary for the plot and I didn't really mind it in this case. I was a little surprised not to be bothered by it, but if it's something you want to avoid, this is your heads up.
I liked what the author did here and the important message she wanted to portray, so there were some positives here. Ultimately, I just couldn't really stay focused and connected as much as I had hoped and the pacing felt a little flat for a long time. I could see this as a really fun TV series sort of like Dead to Me!
This promised dark comedy and it half-delivered, but not in the way that I was hoping. The tone was lighter but I would have rather it be a bit more comedic or a bit more thrilling and tense. The middle road ended up being a little repetitive and boring and we ended up kind of reliving the same scenes over and over but in a different way.
The book is set during COVID lockdown which usually I avoid reading at all costs, but it was necessary for the plot and I didn't really mind it in this case. I was a little surprised not to be bothered by it, but if it's something you want to avoid, this is your heads up.
I liked what the author did here and the important message she wanted to portray, so there were some positives here. Ultimately, I just couldn't really stay focused and connected as much as I had hoped and the pacing felt a little flat for a long time. I could see this as a really fun TV series sort of like Dead to Me!