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I finished this book almost two months ago. It took me so long and put me in a reading slump.
That being said, it did have a lot of good qualities.
Cerise and Jamie’s chapters were the highlight of this book for me. Getting to read through Cerise was amazing. She’s literally insane and convinced Tyrion is in the walls. She’s trying so hard to be like her father, but in the end turning into Robert with her drinking.
Also watching her and Jamie’s relationship start to crumble after he spent so long trying to get back to her was great. Jamie’s character development will always make him one of my all time favorite characters. As he becomes a true knight he deviates more from the version of him that Cersie is trying to live through.
Not to mention how he slowly starts seeing Aerys through Cersie.
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“Jon wouldn’t, the Lord Commander would”
I was sad there were no Jon POVS, but reading how cold he was through Sams was great. I agree with Jon’s decision. By switching the babies he gives them both a strong chance at survival. Was it fair to Gilly? Absolutely not, but I understand why he did it.
Reading through all of the Iron Island POVs was the worst part of this book for me. I did not enjoy them. I thought they were slow and boring.
Adrianne Martell was interesting, but still felt dragged out.
The little bits of Arya and Sansa we got were great. My heart breaks for them having to navigate the world with no true protection.
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Following such an amazing book (A Storm Of Swords) this felt like a let down. It had a lot of redeeming qualities, but so far is my least favorite in the series.
It was so exciting to start reading through Jaime’s POV. Seeing how he desperately wants to get back to Cersie, but also can’t help but try to do the right thing when it comes to Brienne.
He jumped in front of a bear for her!!!
His monologue in the baths at Harrenhal was incredible. Finally hearing his full side of the story, and how everyone judged him without even asking any questions.
Also, getting more insight to his and Cersei’s gross relationship. You can see bits and parts of how it’s been so toxic the whole time.
Hearing about Robb’s marriage to Jeyne (A Lannister cousin…) and then seeing how it really caused him to lose the war. I loved Jaime’s quote about how he won the battles but lost the war in a bed chamber.
I read a post about how Robb’s marriage all comes back to Neds ‘infidelity’ and how it affected Jon. Robb saw how his bastard brother was treated by the world and didn’t want a bastard of his own to be treated the same.
I loved that Robb made Jon his heir! We get to see Jon wrestle with the idea of being Lord to Winterfell, and we know he wants the power but he wasn’t willing to burn the Weirwood trees. Now I can’t wait for him to (hopefully) find out he is the king of the North.
Catelyn helping Jaime escape with Brienne will always be one of my favorite plot descions. Her having to choose between her son or her daughter(s). She doesn’t know that Sansa is being beaten every day, nor that Arya is in the Riverlands. But she still chooses them because of her grief to not ‘save’ her youngest sons.
Reading the Red Wedding through Catelyns POV was heartbreaking. “My first son, My last son”. Then reading about how she tore her face up…
Not to mention, having to read Aryas pov post the red wedding. She held out hope that her mom was alive and was going to try to save her… only for her to warg into Nymeria and realize it was too late. 😭
I felt so bad for Sansa the whole book, no matter what she can’t escape a creepy man. Rooting for her to kill Baelish.
The last four hundred pages of this book are insane!! The red wedding, the purple wedding, Tyrions trial, Obyrens death, Tywins death, the Hounds “death”, and Lysas death.
I can’t wait to see what happens with Lady Stoneheart!
Reading about Stannis through a low-born man was a fantastic choice. The first book kept having high born characters describe him as unlikable and miserable. But reading him through a common person who has been by his side for years helped humanize him, and showed that he has potential to be a good king. He does not seem like a religious fanatic, but he does recognize the red women’s power and is trying to utilize it.
That small part where Stannis mentions Renlys peach was a great passage. It really showed how he was a morally grey character.
Reading Robb through his mother who knows he’s too young for the responsibility, and his little brother who idolizes him was so contradicting.
Aryas chapters ended up being my favorite from this book. Seeing her have to hide her identity whilst being a prisoner of war was scary. Also having to read the horrors she witnessed first hand was terrifying. I kept forgetting how young she was. All she wanted was to get her pack back.
I loved seeing all the stark siblings miss each other throughout the book. I think that was one of the things the show lacked- how often they think about each other and yearn to see each other again.
The attempted siege on black water was such a great moment. I loved the back and forth from the fighting chapters to Sansa in the castle. It made it feel so humanizing and scary for all those stuck inside the city.
Absolutely loved Jaime’s monologue to Catelyn!! One of my favorite scenes from the book.
To start this out, I will admit I’ve seen the show. But I decided this year to go ahead and read all of the books.
This book was amazing! I loved the introduction into this world. Definitely glad I watched the show first, as there were so many characters it helped put faces to names.
I loved reading Ned’s POVs and seeing how haunted he was by the war. He never forgot what happened to Elia Martell and her children, and he truly tried to save Dany from that fate. Also, seeing bits of his ptsd with his sisters death, it definitely sets up the storyline that Jon is a Targaryen.
I didn’t know how harsh Catleyn was on Jon in the books. That scene where she tells him she wishes it was him instead of Bran who fell broke my heart. That being said- I really loved reading Catelyn. She loved her children so fiercely and took initiative to protect and avenge them.
Arya and Sansa’s chapters were interesting to read through. Sansa looks like Catelyn but is naive like Ned. Whilst Arya looks like Ned but acts like Catleyn when she’s upset.
Definitely think George was setting up a comparison between the Tully sisters and the Stark sisters. Catelyn and Lysa were close as children but grew apart as adults, where I think since Arya and Sansa fought as children they will be close as adults.
I really despised reading Danys chapters though. She was way too young. I felt sick to my stomach reading them, which is why I ultimately took a star off of my rating.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. It seemed very rushed and I did not really like the main characters. But I did think that the mourning was written very well.
I know their entire relationship was suppose to be rushed, but it just did not resonate well with me. It felt like Elsie had no common sense when I read this.
For starters, the way the first date went down was very cringey. Elsie let a man who she barley knew help break into her own apartment. She could have used his phone to call her best friend, who had a spare key, but that was apparently to complicated. Then the date continues by Elsie allowing the man she barley knows, to drive her to a unspecified restaurant an hour away. It all she felt wayyyy too rushed. I think the “fast-paced” dating could have been written better.
It pains me to make this review, because I absolutely love TJR and have read almost all of her books, but I did not like this book.
I feel that the Carrie Soto I read about in Malibu Rising was a different Carrie Soto in this book. Yes I know she’s older in this book, but even when TJR was going through the backstory I feel like she did not write her personality the same during the Russel situation between the two books.
I also know Carrie wasn’t suppose to be a like-able character, but she was just awful to read through for a majority of the book. I also feel that her backstory was rushed through and it did not really give her a good reason to act the way she did.
Overall, I found this book boring. If your into tennis than this will definitely be for you.
I, along with so many others, grew up watching iCarly, and was a huge fan of the cast. I always heard rumors about what went down behind the scenes and wondered how much was true.
For years I’ve heard things about “the creator” (as Jennette calls him) and what he did to the actors on his show. When I originally heard Jennette was writing a memoir I thought it was going to be about him, instead it mainly focused on her abusive mother.
Nothing could have prepared me for the content in this book. Jennette growing up around such a toxic figure who used and exploited her. I felt so sick at times reading the pages of the book that I had to put it down and walk away.
The book made me so mad, I kept wondering why her grandparents and “dad” never stepped in to help her. None of them cared that they had to live in a hoarder house, or the showers, or the fact that a child had to be the breadwinner of the family. It made me so furious how many people were ok with all of this.
As the book continued it was revealed that her grandmother was also a bad person, and her grandfather just enabled it. Also her “dad” not really being her dad?! That was a plot twist I was not expecting. It truly hurt to read how she never had anyone sticking up for her.
Jennette has truly been through so much in her life. The title made perfect sense by the end. Even though she still suffered for years after her mothers death, she would have never of had the opportunity to recover if her mom hadn’t passed. It’s such a cruel way to think, but it’s also the only way to truly see the situation.
I loved the part at the end where Jennette talked about how much we romanticize the dead. It was something that I realized happens way too frequently.
I’m so happy she was able to get help and is doing a lot better. I’m also so happy she is pursuing a career she loves and is passionate about.
Most of all, I’m happy she managed to survive all of that.
TJR managed to divide the book up into parts very well. There was just enough backstory to understand the characters, but it also did not seem boring and drawn out.
All of the characters in the book were written beautifully. I truly understood both sides of the marriage.
The months following split were written well, I felt that all of the emotions and actions the protagonist went through all made sense.
TJR is definitely my favorite author. She manages to write her stories so well. The characters always have amazing development. She is very good at writing family dynamics.
That being said, I did feel the ending was a bit rushed. Everything started going down in the last 20 or so pages. It was a little overwhelming.
Sadly I did not enjoy this book that much. I heard a lot of good things about it on TikTok but it did not live up to the hype for me.
I understand what the author was going for, but I just found the story to be boring.
It ended up taking me 2 months to get through this book. I found the storyline very slow and not that interesting. I would have given up on it a while ago, but I paid money for it so I had to see it though.
I found this book in the clearance section if Half Price Books and the summary seemed very interesting. Sadly it was just wasted potential.
The first 50 pages of the book set up for a very good story. But then it gets dragged out for about 300 more pages.
I understand that two of the main characters are teenagers dealing with traumatic events, but they were just awful to read through. Even Lennies POV was bad.
The book had plot twists that were great, but it did not make up for the rest of the insufferable chapters.
I did not enjoy the first book in this series- but I decided to listen to this on audiobook since it was short. This was a little better than the first one, but overall still disappointing.
The issue I had with this book was the consent. There is a whole scene of Bridgette telling Warren to stop, and him blatantly ignoring her until she finally gives in. It does not matter that he was “trying” to do something nice, he straight up pressured her into something she did not want to do.
Also I did not understand why the plot of this book consisted around Bridgette being ‘mean’. I never really found her actions to be that bad throughout.
The ending of this book was cute and made me like it a little bit. But I will definitely not be reading/listening to the third one.
I found this book on sale at Barnes and Noble and I decided to give it a try. I did not hate it, but I also did not love it. It had a lot of flaws throughout.
Let’s start with the positives: I liked how the author displayed the struggle of living paycheck to paycheck, and having a parent that is bad with money. Rico’s frustration felt understandable and it really did help her motive to find the lottery ticket winner.
That being said- Rico was so unbearable to read through. I understand her situation was awful- but it did not justify her constantly going off on Zan. Yes he’s privileged, but half the time she was just yelling at him for no real reason. By the end of the book I had no clue what he saw in her.
Also I did not like the pacing of this book. I felt that all of the time skips were weird. I know Rico had to work a lot- but I don’t think it would take 5-6 months to do all of the lottery tasks.
I went into this book with really low expectations because I heard a lot of negative reviews. Everyone kept saying it was a queer rip off of Paper Towns by John Greene. It made me very wary to read this.
I ended up falling in love with this book.
I related to a lot in this book. I did not go to a Christian school, but I grew up in a religious town that was very judgmental to queer people. Casey perfectly managed to convey how scary it is for queer teenagers in situations like that.
I also loved Chloe’s character arc throughout this book. She went from a very free community to a very homophobic one. I loved how Casey had her accept Alabama in the end.
My favorite part of this book is when it is talked about how if every queer person leaves the south, it will never change.
I wish this book came out when I was in high school.
This review pains me to make. I really wanted to like this book, it’s been on my TBR list since it came out. I was drawn to the cover and the f/f relationship.
It was such a huge disappointment.
The book is so rushed. Why was Mick so trusting of Veronica and Nico so quickly? You meet a stranger at a party and just decide to leave and hang out with her? Then the author just threw out her other friendship. Also I understand that she never truly trusted Nico, but why was she out casually committing crimes with him???
Micks whole character was just written so poorly.
I felt like I was getting whiplash reading Mick and Veronica get into fights every other chapter. I understand they are teenagers but it was exhausting to read. It was such a toxic relationship.
This book also became very predictable. After Lily died I already could tell who did it. I wasn’t that shocked that David died too.
The only thing I did like about this book was Nico. When he finally revealed his true colors his character was written very well.
