In case you missed it, within the past few months I’ve moved to college, and also been dealing with many *life things*. Which means… I’m painfully behind on book reviews 😭. So, today I compiled a few short reviews featuring some ARCs I was able to read these past few months! As a disclaimer, all of these e-ARCs were provided to me from Penguin Teen. All opinions are completely honest and my own!
Heartbreakers and Fakers took me by complete surprise and has quickly become one of my favorite YA Contemporary books.
A couple months ago I spent a miserable night completely unable to sleep, and halfway through that night (around 3am) I decided to read. I grabbed my kindle, loaded this book up, and fell in love. I adored the characters, the atmosphere, and, of course, the romance. I was hooked and addicted to finishing the story; I couldn’t put it down! I loved Lund’s take on the fake dating trope and the complicated relationships that she crafted between the four main characters. It was intricate, realistic, and dramatic enough to be entertaining. I particularly loved Penelope and Kai, who I both think had excellent character development.
Overall, this was such a funny and swoony read that is perfect for the Summer! Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC. Opinions are all my own.
Initially while reading I was really loving Some Girls Do. I’m a fan of the author’s previous work and I was so excited to dive into this one. However, about halfway through something changed.
NOTE: This review contains minor spoilers that I felt I had to include in my review, in order to explain my feelings.
There was a particular scene between the two main characters that featured a kiss, explicitly mentioned to be without consent, in the middle of an argument. For a while it is discussed in the story as being a problem, but then is moved past without resolution. However, this scene alone was enough to turn my feelings sour. After this scene I struggled to connect to the characters and I didn’t want to cheer for their messy relationship. Consent is always key, regardless if it’s a kiss or sex, real life or literature. This scene was not something I enjoyed and it sadly caused me to loose the love I had for this story.
I’m so sad and disappointed about this book. I was excited for more from this author, I was loving the characters at the beginning, and then poof. Sadly I gave this novel only two stars.
I don’t even know where to start with You’re So Dead. The concept of this sounded *so cool*. I mean, girls sneaking onto an influencers only island and then people start getting killed? Sign me up!
However, I tried to read this book 5 times and could never get past the first few chapters. I couldn’t connect with the writing style and the first few chapters were so packed full of information (a fair amount that seemed irrelevant. Why do I need to know the details of every character’s parents’ lives?) that it didn’t hold my interest. I haven’t previously read anything from with author, so I would be willing to try her novels again in the future, but You’re So Dead was a complete miss for me.
After deciding to give up my pursuit of trying to force myself to read this, I’m leaving this book one star.
Have you read any of these? Are they on your TBR? Let’s chat!
Stephanie
It’s a bummer that these weren’t your favorites ever! I have high hopes that your next few reads will be fantastic!