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pagesplotsandpints's Reviews (2.1k)
Read Completed 4/30/23 | I finally grabbed this one after needing a short book to close out the month and I'm glad I finally read it! I think I saw the movie -- or maybe just even part of it -- ages ago. This was a fun read and I highly recommend the audiobook because I love when Neil Gaiman narrates his own books. He has an amazing narration voice and it makes the read that much more enjoyable.
slow-paced
Read Completed 4/30/23 | 2.75 stars
THE PERFECT FAMILY was a little disappointing for me. The characters were all unlikeable in their own ways, but it's another case of a family pretending to be perfect and no one talks to each other. When someone starts harassing them and vandalizing their house -- including attempts of arson -- things escalate as a family and with each character's personal issues that may have lead to these issues.
When it comes down to it, I just didn't like the characters, and I guess I didn't love the writing either. Firstly, I would have rather seen this book with just the parents POVs and had more suspense and mystery about the teens, wondering what secrets they were keeping and letting that be a part of the vibe of the book. Instead, we know everything mostly from the beginning and it's not very interesting or suspenseful. I think the father had the most tense story arc but like everyone else's, it all ended with an unsatisfying conclusion. The wrap-up of each personal problem as well as the whole wrap up of the house vandalization was just weak.
I mostly just thought everyone was annoying so while the book wasn't too long, I felt like it dragged. This was my first Robyn Harding book and I don't feel super motivated to pick up another.
THE PERFECT FAMILY was a little disappointing for me. The characters were all unlikeable in their own ways, but it's another case of a family pretending to be perfect and no one talks to each other. When someone starts harassing them and vandalizing their house -- including attempts of arson -- things escalate as a family and with each character's personal issues that may have lead to these issues.
When it comes down to it, I just didn't like the characters, and I guess I didn't love the writing either. Firstly, I would have rather seen this book with just the parents POVs and had more suspense and mystery about the teens, wondering what secrets they were keeping and letting that be a part of the vibe of the book. Instead, we know everything mostly from the beginning and it's not very interesting or suspenseful. I think the father had the most tense story arc but like everyone else's, it all ended with an unsatisfying conclusion. The wrap-up of each personal problem as well as the whole wrap up of the house vandalization was just weak.
I mostly just thought everyone was annoying so while the book wasn't too long, I felt like it dragged. This was my first Robyn Harding book and I don't feel super motivated to pick up another.
Read Completed 4/28/23 | 4 stars
I really enjoyed this! I liked all of the different ways things tied in together, from Amanda's past to the tangled present-day of all of the friends to Lizzie's connection as a lawyer. Things were very carefully connected and I appreciated all of the twists and turns this story took to reveal everything in the end.
I feel like we could have definitely left out some things that seemed to be there for shock value, though. Amanda's past with her father really wasn't necessary as well as playing on her mental health... There was a connection made towards the end that explained why she was getting threatening phone calls, but it could have easily just been used in some other way and not having to include triggers such as ...rape and incest. I would have much rather skipped that since it honestly wasn't necessary to the story.
I did enjoy the plotting, though, and the audiobook narrators were great. I especially liked the lawyer involvement in this book. There were some back and forth dealings in a courtroom that helped some of the evidence and key pieces be revealed so that it was a surprise to the main characters and then Lizzie had to go find out where it came from and how. It added a little twist that was able to just be thrown out there instead of having to find other ways to dig it all up.
This is my second Kimberly McCreight book and I liked this one a little more than the other one I read (FRIENDS LIKE THESE). It felt little tidier and flowed well. I picked this one up for the audiobook narrators but maybe I'll keep this author in mind!
I really enjoyed this! I liked all of the different ways things tied in together, from Amanda's past to the tangled present-day of all of the friends to Lizzie's connection as a lawyer. Things were very carefully connected and I appreciated all of the twists and turns this story took to reveal everything in the end.
I feel like we could have definitely left out some things that seemed to be there for shock value, though. Amanda's past with her father really wasn't necessary as well as playing on her mental health... There was a connection made towards the end that explained why she was getting threatening phone calls, but it could have easily just been used in some other way and not having to include triggers such as ...
I did enjoy the plotting, though, and the audiobook narrators were great. I especially liked the lawyer involvement in this book. There were some back and forth dealings in a courtroom that helped some of the evidence and key pieces be revealed so that it was a surprise to the main characters and then Lizzie had to go find out where it came from and how. It added a little twist that was able to just be thrown out there instead of having to find other ways to dig it all up.
This is my second Kimberly McCreight book and I liked this one a little more than the other one I read (FRIENDS LIKE THESE). It felt little tidier and flowed well. I picked this one up for the audiobook narrators but maybe I'll keep this author in mind!
Read Completed 4/27/23 | 3.5 stars, rounded down for plot
I was highly anticipating this book and I kind of forgot how my experience with Jeneva Rose books went... this one was similar so if you've loved her other books, you'll likely love this one too!
YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE was more of a romantic thriller, for me. The first half of the book was largely character-driven with the two main characters getting to know each other and developing feelings (or at least feelings of lust) for each other. The character dynamics were really the biggest part of the first 50%, at least for me. I was a little disappointed to only have small hints dropping about what might be lying underneath the surface for that long, and things finally started to pick up later.
The last few chapters of this book are absolutely unhinged and I loved it. I just wish there had been more suspense outside of dream sequences earlier in the book. The writing was a little blunt and repetitive. Yes, we know her eyes are "blue blue". Enough. Saying it 2-3 times is plenty... we don't need to hear it 13 times (exaggeration. I didn't count, but it was a lot).
I just wish the pacing and excitement of the plot had been spread out a bit more. I would have loved some more unhinged feelings in the beginning... something that felt a little more suspenseful. I just didn't get that vibe until much later and some of the side character drama could have been cut to spend more time letting the two MCs actually investigate one another and be suspicious instead of just flirting all the time. (I guess romantic thrillers aren't really my thing? Can you tell?)
I was highly anticipating this book and I kind of forgot how my experience with Jeneva Rose books went... this one was similar so if you've loved her other books, you'll likely love this one too!
YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE COME HERE was more of a romantic thriller, for me. The first half of the book was largely character-driven with the two main characters getting to know each other and developing feelings (or at least feelings of lust) for each other. The character dynamics were really the biggest part of the first 50%, at least for me. I was a little disappointed to only have small hints dropping about what might be lying underneath the surface for that long, and things finally started to pick up later.
The last few chapters of this book are absolutely unhinged and I loved it. I just wish there had been more suspense outside of dream sequences earlier in the book. The writing was a little blunt and repetitive. Yes, we know her eyes are "blue blue". Enough. Saying it 2-3 times is plenty... we don't need to hear it 13 times (exaggeration. I didn't count, but it was a lot).
I just wish the pacing and excitement of the plot had been spread out a bit more. I would have loved some more unhinged feelings in the beginning... something that felt a little more suspenseful. I just didn't get that vibe until much later and some of the side character drama could have been cut to spend more time letting the two MCs actually investigate one another and be suspicious instead of just flirting all the time. (I guess romantic thrillers aren't really my thing? Can you tell?)
Read Completed 4/25/23 | 2.75 stars
Beach Read | ★★★★☆ (3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
People We Meet on Vacation | ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Book Lovers | ★★★★★ (4.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
Happy Place | ★★★☆☆ (2.75 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
I almost rounded down for this rating and gave it 2.5 stars but the ending made me a little less mad at it. This was absolutely one of my most-anticipated reads of the year and it was a huge letdown for me, BUT I have no fear rating it how I felt even though everyone else is rating it five stars (and nearly all of my Goodreads friends have). I'm used to being the odd one out at this point, though I hoped it wouldn't be here.
I had a lot of issues with this book. Firstly, this just wasn't my thing. The book is called HAPPY PLACE and has that cute cartoon cover, but this was a long journey through a lot of grief. I did not feel happy while reading this book like I was hoping. I know -- and like -- that Emily Henry doesn't shy away from real life issues in her books and I've really appreciated this in the past, but this felt a little too sad for the entire duration of the book. Again, that's a preference for me. When reading romances, I'd like to feel uplifted, happy, giddy, like I'm falling in love with the characters, and this didn't do that for me.
There is a lot of fun banter that lightens up the book, but I didn't care about the characters enough for it to matter. It was a passing laugh but I didn't feel like it really like it even fit everyone’s personality. For some reason, it felt a lot more forced in this book rather than flowing and feeling natural. I didn't really connect to any of the characters at all. I feel like we didn’t even get to know them despite the characters being the entire focus of the book. They just didn’t feel well-rounded at all, or at least, I feel like I didn’t get to see those parts. The only time I got to see Harriet and Wyn independently, they were already grieving for each other and it was such a big part of the book. I really didn’t care about the friends at all and I also feel like I didn’t get to know them enough. I didn’t like the group dynamic and got annoyed with them in the end.
I also felt like there was zero plot. It’s a romance so I don’t really need much, but this just didn’t seem to go anywhere and didn’t have a driving force. The story is about Harriet and Wyn, their past and why they broke up, the grieving of their parents/past/jobs/drifting apart from friends… but I can't really tell you what the plot was. The only issue to solve was the relationship and they didn’t really have anything else going on. Eventually we finally address more about their careers and what that means to them and their futures, but we hardly spent any time seeing them in their careers, so I didn’t feel invested in that either. The big part of of the book is also about trying to hold onto these friendships, but for being so close, no one communicated at all and it drove me insane. I thought that since this friendship-filled vacation home would be something they had to save, and I like that it didn't have to be that, but I wanted a little more driving force to keep the pacing moving forward. It was also just weird the amount of drinking alcohol, etc there was? I get that they're having a great time together, living it up for the last time in this house with so much nostalgia, and I certainly enjoy having beers with friends but it was like... a lot. Not judging them as characters but it added a level of immaturity for me because it was just so excessive. I'm no teetotaler but also, what 30/31 year olds can even stand blacking out and not losing the whole day the next day to a death of a hangover 😅 It just happened multiple times and it wasn't cute.
Which leads me to the miscommunication portion of my complaints. I don’t… even… know how Harriet and Wyn broke up. It was so stupid, especially for a couple that had been together for eight years, was engaged, living together, and grew up together from college to their late 20s/early 30s. I think that’s one of the times we grow the most, becoming “new” adults, and I just don’t get how they broke up like that. Then there’s the fact that it was supposed to be like, cute fake dating because they didn’t tell their friends that they broke up even though their friends were supposed to be family and were this found family thing, especially emphasized towards the end. How do you not tell your best friends, who ARE your family and the people you go to? This was also addressed, but it still bothered me because it meant so much to all of them.
I also had issues with the pacing. I have no issues with flashback timelines — even in Emily Henry’s books — but the flashbacks to H&W’s past just seemed to pop in and didn’t really flow. I was also hoping for some more JOY in the “falling in love” timelines but there was still so much sadness there too. Family issues, death, illness, and still SO much getting in their own way, even from the beginning. I just couldn’t stand how much Harriet was so longing for unending love and how much she wanted to put her faith in it, and how much she constantly sabotaged it anyway. It reminded me a lot of elements of YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez but that had so much more sparkle than this for me.
This book did have some good things going for it, still. There was a LOT of well-represented reality. Some of it got brushed off a little too easily and some dwelled a bit too long, but it definitely was grounded in real life things. People do drift apart from their friendships, experience death of a family member, make stupid miscommunication decisions that end relationships, self-sabotage. I get it, it really does happen. For me, it was all too much sad, especially given how the cover + title market it… I did like some of the chemistry between to two main characters. The struggle of friendship was accurate. I think it was a bit wordy but the writing was still…. Good? I was going to say lovely but not for me. It was overdone for me, but others will certainly appreciate it, and adding in the emotional elements will certainly tug on readers’ heartstrings. I really loved Julia Whelan's narration for the audiobook and I feel like she gets even better over the years!
TO SUM UP…
This felt more like “women’s fiction” (I still don't like that categorization but I don't know what else to call it) than a romance story for me. There was a LOT of emotion in this book and I would much rather read a happier romance, or at least have parts of it be happy! I felt like the whole thing was sad and full of all kinds of grief. It this wasn’t Emily Henry, I would have DNFed this book. I know all of those topics are just not for me, but I wanted to read and finish this, hoping it would get lighter. The ending did help a bit because I was ready to rate this 2 stars (2.5, rounding down) but I felt a tiny bit lighter at the very end. I didn’t rate it lower simply for my preferences, but had a lot of other issues with it that just added up to a lack of enjoyment, so there ended up being many reasons why I didn’t really connect to this one.
Beach Read | ★★★★☆ (3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
People We Meet on Vacation | ★★★★★ (5 stars)
Book Lovers | ★★★★★ (4.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
Happy Place | ★★★☆☆ (2.75 stars, rounded up for Goodreads)
I almost rounded down for this rating and gave it 2.5 stars but the ending made me a little less mad at it. This was absolutely one of my most-anticipated reads of the year and it was a huge letdown for me, BUT I have no fear rating it how I felt even though everyone else is rating it five stars (and nearly all of my Goodreads friends have). I'm used to being the odd one out at this point, though I hoped it wouldn't be here.
I had a lot of issues with this book. Firstly, this just wasn't my thing. The book is called HAPPY PLACE and has that cute cartoon cover, but this was a long journey through a lot of grief. I did not feel happy while reading this book like I was hoping. I know -- and like -- that Emily Henry doesn't shy away from real life issues in her books and I've really appreciated this in the past, but this felt a little too sad for the entire duration of the book. Again, that's a preference for me. When reading romances, I'd like to feel uplifted, happy, giddy, like I'm falling in love with the characters, and this didn't do that for me.
There is a lot of fun banter that lightens up the book, but I didn't care about the characters enough for it to matter. It was a passing laugh but I didn't feel like it really like it even fit everyone’s personality. For some reason, it felt a lot more forced in this book rather than flowing and feeling natural. I didn't really connect to any of the characters at all. I feel like we didn’t even get to know them despite the characters being the entire focus of the book. They just didn’t feel well-rounded at all, or at least, I feel like I didn’t get to see those parts. The only time I got to see Harriet and Wyn independently, they were already grieving for each other and it was such a big part of the book. I really didn’t care about the friends at all and I also feel like I didn’t get to know them enough. I didn’t like the group dynamic and got annoyed with them in the end.
I also felt like there was zero plot. It’s a romance so I don’t really need much, but this just didn’t seem to go anywhere and didn’t have a driving force. The story is about Harriet and Wyn, their past and why they broke up, the grieving of their parents/past/jobs/drifting apart from friends… but I can't really tell you what the plot was. The only issue to solve was the relationship and they didn’t really have anything else going on. Eventually we finally address more about their careers and what that means to them and their futures, but we hardly spent any time seeing them in their careers, so I didn’t feel invested in that either. The big part of of the book is also about trying to hold onto these friendships, but for being so close, no one communicated at all and it drove me insane. I thought that since this friendship-filled vacation home would be something they had to save, and I like that it didn't have to be that, but I wanted a little more driving force to keep the pacing moving forward. It was also just weird the amount of drinking alcohol, etc there was? I get that they're having a great time together, living it up for the last time in this house with so much nostalgia, and I certainly enjoy having beers with friends but it was like... a lot. Not judging them as characters but it added a level of immaturity for me because it was just so excessive. I'm no teetotaler but also, what 30/31 year olds can even stand blacking out and not losing the whole day the next day to a death of a hangover 😅 It just happened multiple times and it wasn't cute.
Which leads me to the miscommunication portion of my complaints. I don’t… even… know how Harriet and Wyn broke up. It was so stupid, especially for a couple that had been together for eight years, was engaged, living together, and grew up together from college to their late 20s/early 30s. I think that’s one of the times we grow the most, becoming “new” adults, and I just don’t get how they broke up like that. Then there’s the fact that it was supposed to be like, cute fake dating because they didn’t tell their friends that they broke up even though their friends were supposed to be family and were this found family thing, especially emphasized towards the end. How do you not tell your best friends, who ARE your family and the people you go to? This was also addressed, but it still bothered me because it meant so much to all of them.
I also had issues with the pacing. I have no issues with flashback timelines — even in Emily Henry’s books — but the flashbacks to H&W’s past just seemed to pop in and didn’t really flow. I was also hoping for some more JOY in the “falling in love” timelines but there was still so much sadness there too. Family issues, death, illness, and still SO much getting in their own way, even from the beginning. I just couldn’t stand how much Harriet was so longing for unending love and how much she wanted to put her faith in it, and how much she constantly sabotaged it anyway. It reminded me a lot of elements of YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez but that had so much more sparkle than this for me.
This book did have some good things going for it, still. There was a LOT of well-represented reality. Some of it got brushed off a little too easily and some dwelled a bit too long, but it definitely was grounded in real life things. People do drift apart from their friendships, experience death of a family member, make stupid miscommunication decisions that end relationships, self-sabotage. I get it, it really does happen. For me, it was all too much sad, especially given how the cover + title market it… I did like some of the chemistry between to two main characters. The struggle of friendship was accurate. I think it was a bit wordy but the writing was still…. Good? I was going to say lovely but not for me. It was overdone for me, but others will certainly appreciate it, and adding in the emotional elements will certainly tug on readers’ heartstrings. I really loved Julia Whelan's narration for the audiobook and I feel like she gets even better over the years!
TO SUM UP…
This felt more like “women’s fiction” (I still don't like that categorization but I don't know what else to call it) than a romance story for me. There was a LOT of emotion in this book and I would much rather read a happier romance, or at least have parts of it be happy! I felt like the whole thing was sad and full of all kinds of grief. It this wasn’t Emily Henry, I would have DNFed this book. I know all of those topics are just not for me, but I wanted to read and finish this, hoping it would get lighter. The ending did help a bit because I was ready to rate this 2 stars (2.5, rounding down) but I felt a tiny bit lighter at the very end. I didn’t rate it lower simply for my preferences, but had a lot of other issues with it that just added up to a lack of enjoyment, so there ended up being many reasons why I didn’t really connect to this one.
Read Completed 4/25/23 | 3.75 stars
I absolutely adored A RIP THROUGH TIME when I read it last year so I was so excited to receive an early audiobook from Netgalley / Minotaur. For those who haven't read the first book, while they mysteries are stand-clones, I really think the first book needs to be read before jumping into THE POISONER'S RING because without the context of the characters and Mallory's time traveling to the past, it probably won't be nearly as interesting.
THE POISONER'S RING was much more straight up mystery than the last book. Though ARTT was largely a mystery novel, it was also a fun blend of the time travel concept, getting to know Mallory and the other characters, and the dilemma of how to get back to her present day that really keep the novel moving. This book suffered a little bit, just completely ignoring a lot of development and focusing solely on the mystery. I've enjoyed a lot of mysteries in the past but I much prefer the thriller aspect of the genre nowadays so it dragged on a bit too long for my tastes without a lot of other things to keep the reader interested. The character growth is minimal, the love story growth is even more minimal, and we don't get anything at all about how Mallory might return home except for the fact that we're still expecting she will. Don't get me wrong, I DO like that it's a slow burn love story, so I'm perfectly happy with taking it slow, but I was hoping for a bit more than that to keep seeing sparks on the page.
The mystery was fine. I didn't really care about it as much and wasn't super invested in it. There were a lot of new and outside characters, which happens a lot in mysteries because you can't have your characters personally invested in ALL of the cases, but I just had a harder time caring about this one.
Despite all of my criticisms, I still did enjoy the book. The second half dragged a bit longer so it left me with some feelings of disappointment in the end, but I still wound up rounding up to 4 stars with an actual rating of about 3.75 stars.
I absolutely adored A RIP THROUGH TIME when I read it last year so I was so excited to receive an early audiobook from Netgalley / Minotaur. For those who haven't read the first book, while they mysteries are stand-clones, I really think the first book needs to be read before jumping into THE POISONER'S RING because without the context of the characters and Mallory's time traveling to the past, it probably won't be nearly as interesting.
THE POISONER'S RING was much more straight up mystery than the last book. Though ARTT was largely a mystery novel, it was also a fun blend of the time travel concept, getting to know Mallory and the other characters, and the dilemma of how to get back to her present day that really keep the novel moving. This book suffered a little bit, just completely ignoring a lot of development and focusing solely on the mystery. I've enjoyed a lot of mysteries in the past but I much prefer the thriller aspect of the genre nowadays so it dragged on a bit too long for my tastes without a lot of other things to keep the reader interested. The character growth is minimal, the love story growth is even more minimal, and we don't get anything at all about how Mallory might return home except for the fact that we're still expecting she will. Don't get me wrong, I DO like that it's a slow burn love story, so I'm perfectly happy with taking it slow, but I was hoping for a bit more than that to keep seeing sparks on the page.
The mystery was fine. I didn't really care about it as much and wasn't super invested in it. There were a lot of new and outside characters, which happens a lot in mysteries because you can't have your characters personally invested in ALL of the cases, but I just had a harder time caring about this one.
Despite all of my criticisms, I still did enjoy the book. The second half dragged a bit longer so it left me with some feelings of disappointment in the end, but I still wound up rounding up to 4 stars with an actual rating of about 3.75 stars.
Read Completed 4/21/23 | I was browsing audiobook narrators and wanted to try something different voiced by Ray Porter. I've really enjoyed crime-related TV dramas like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Ozark, Barry, In the Dark, etc -- and yet, I never read books with the same vibes. I took a chance on this one hoping it would have the same thrilling elements I've enjoyed in TV shows, but it never really took off for me. I did like the characters but aside from some big plot points, there just wasn't much to this book plot-wise. Nick Mason is in a tight spot but it wasn't full of the thrills I had hoped for, and I'm assuming there's more to come in this series with more answers, but it just wasn't enough to hook me and keep me going. Not a bad read but out of my comfort zone and not enough interest for me.
Read Completed 4/19/23 | 4.5 stars
I finally read my first Abby Jimenez book with PART OF YOUR WORLD just a couple days ago and knew I had to instantly get to YOURS TRULY. I didn't love this one *as much* as I loved PART OF YOUR WORLD but it was still truly flawless. My love just wasn't as strong because I felt like POYW was a bit more romcom and YT had a bit more of that serious side. While both did have amazingly strong serious bits, real life situations, and emotional moments, I liked the lightness of POYW just a bit more.
But enough about comparing them! Let's talk about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Briana's story. I loved her as Alexis' best friend and I'm so happy to see her find happiness in this book as well. Abby Jimenez just does an amazing job at making her characters real people. They have flaws, but it's not overly done and there are reasons that they have a hard time letting someone else in. Briana had some really intense things from her marriage that closed her off to any potential romantic interests where she had to really give in to it. I laughed! I cried! I melted! It was so wonderful seeing her personal growth AND the reason for it.
Jacob also gets his own story of growth as well, but I liked that his journey wasn't about "curing" his anxiety or making it wash away, because that wouldn't be realistic. He finds comfort in Briana and she's the kind of person who goes out of her way to help him and understand him. It was beautiful watching these two characters work together! And he's just the biggest cinnamon roll ever.
The beginning of the book started off so fun and cute with the usual romcom banter. I felt like things got a bit more serious a bit quicker and stayed there for a while. There were still plenty of moments that made me smile, melt, and laugh but I didn't get *quite* as into it as POYW. But ugh, the ending was just magical. If I had been at home alone, I would straight out sobbed but I was at work so I had to hold it in.
The family and friends are also wonderful. Everyone's so delightfully quirky and some of it is a tad over the top but some of it is just... family being family in the goofiest way. I loved seeing more of Alexis & Daniel, we get to see supportive families, and Briana & Jacob are able to find happiness and themselves after bad relationships.
I have zero complaints and I absolutely loved this book too. I hope we get to see more of this friend series because I'd love to see this keep going!
I finally read my first Abby Jimenez book with PART OF YOUR WORLD just a couple days ago and knew I had to instantly get to YOURS TRULY. I didn't love this one *as much* as I loved PART OF YOUR WORLD but it was still truly flawless. My love just wasn't as strong because I felt like POYW was a bit more romcom and YT had a bit more of that serious side. While both did have amazingly strong serious bits, real life situations, and emotional moments, I liked the lightness of POYW just a bit more.
But enough about comparing them! Let's talk about this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Briana's story. I loved her as Alexis' best friend and I'm so happy to see her find happiness in this book as well. Abby Jimenez just does an amazing job at making her characters real people. They have flaws, but it's not overly done and there are reasons that they have a hard time letting someone else in. Briana had some really intense things from her marriage that closed her off to any potential romantic interests where she had to really give in to it. I laughed! I cried! I melted! It was so wonderful seeing her personal growth AND the reason for it.
Jacob also gets his own story of growth as well, but I liked that his journey wasn't about "curing" his anxiety or making it wash away, because that wouldn't be realistic. He finds comfort in Briana and she's the kind of person who goes out of her way to help him and understand him. It was beautiful watching these two characters work together! And he's just the biggest cinnamon roll ever.
The beginning of the book started off so fun and cute with the usual romcom banter. I felt like things got a bit more serious a bit quicker and stayed there for a while. There were still plenty of moments that made me smile, melt, and laugh but I didn't get *quite* as into it as POYW. But ugh, the ending was just magical. If I had been at home alone, I would straight out sobbed but I was at work so I had to hold it in.
The family and friends are also wonderful. Everyone's so delightfully quirky and some of it is a tad over the top but some of it is just... family being family in the goofiest way. I loved seeing more of Alexis & Daniel, we get to see supportive families, and Briana & Jacob are able to find happiness and themselves after bad relationships.
I have zero complaints and I absolutely loved this book too. I hope we get to see more of this friend series because I'd love to see this keep going!
Read Completed 4/18/23 | This was an interesting read but a little lackluster for me. It was a slower burn instead of a fast-paced thriller but I still would have liked a little more tension. I don't think it's supposed to be a crazy psychological thriller but I do tend to enjoy those a bit more. I'm still glad I read it! It's maybe not quite to my style but it was well-written and despite not leaving a glowing review, I did enjoy the read and was interested the whole time. I definitely cared for the characters and this felt like a real family and much more grounded than a wild thriller.
Read Completed 4/16/23 | Well, this just swept me away. I had only tried one other Abby Jimenez book (THE FRIEND ZONE) and didn't end up continuing because I just really, really didn't click with the beginning and I gave up on her books ever since. My sister actually picked up one of her books recently (I don't remember which one) and really enjoyed it so I decided to give her another try. PART OF YOUR WORLD was a much better experience and I'm so glad I came back to this author! And I'll likely go back and try THE FRIEND ZONE again, as well as others.
I just really clicked with these characters. I liked Alexis a lot and I love a soft, cinnamon roll outdoorsman/small town guy so of course I loved Daniel. But more than that, Abby Jimenez really made these worlds feel real. There were little pop culture references (like The Princess Bride) that are classics so that it won't feel outdated, not to mention the Princess Bride quotes really hit me in the gut at the best places.
The conflict was actually kind of great, too. It wasn't a terrible misunderstanding or a split decision. Alexis' world and Daniel's worlds are so different, but they're also so important to the places they live and the people they're surrounded themselves with. It means different things to them and they both have to figure out how to be together, and if they want to sacrifice things in order to do so. There's a lot of personal growth and learning how to make yourself happy instead of putting others first all the time.
This was also perfect blend of story and real life moments, for me. It had magical moments where it was still a fun book to read and it also had characters that felt real, with genuine conversations, a great best friend, a fun group of friends, parents you can't get along with, and even those friends that you think you like but you actually don't.
I really loved the ending, as well, and how both characters got to be happy and didn't have to sacrifice everything just to be together. This book made me feel a lot of things and it was such a joy to read.
I just really clicked with these characters. I liked Alexis a lot and I love a soft, cinnamon roll outdoorsman/small town guy so of course I loved Daniel. But more than that, Abby Jimenez really made these worlds feel real. There were little pop culture references (like The Princess Bride) that are classics so that it won't feel outdated, not to mention the Princess Bride quotes really hit me in the gut at the best places.
The conflict was actually kind of great, too. It wasn't a terrible misunderstanding or a split decision. Alexis' world and Daniel's worlds are so different, but they're also so important to the places they live and the people they're surrounded themselves with. It means different things to them and they both have to figure out how to be together, and if they want to sacrifice things in order to do so. There's a lot of personal growth and learning how to make yourself happy instead of putting others first all the time.
This was also perfect blend of story and real life moments, for me. It had magical moments where it was still a fun book to read and it also had characters that felt real, with genuine conversations, a great best friend, a fun group of friends, parents you can't get along with, and even those friends that you think you like but you actually don't.
I really loved the ending, as well, and how both characters got to be happy and didn't have to sacrifice everything just to be together. This book made me feel a lot of things and it was such a joy to read.