mollie :)

mollie :)I read this after it hit peak popularity and after it would have really hit as a kid but this held up really well! I do wish I was more attached to the characters by the end though.

mollie :)3.5 ⭐️ The enemies to lovers just wasn’t enemies to lovers-ing for me the way I wanted it to! These characters had the potential to exude so much tension and I felt like the tension fizzled out pretty quickly. Which is okay…if we hadn’t established a major hate complex early on. I think Lyla Sage’s ability to write friends to lovers and establish the little gestures that build to create a large relationship is so good, it just loses its steam when there’s the elephant in the room of mutual hatred. Gus and Teddy were cute together, and I liked the relationship Teddy had with Riley. I’m just not personally a fan of a single dad trope (I’m 21 and don’t regularly want to interact with children) which I knew going in ! so that’s all on me, but it was done in a way that the kid was actually a person with emotions and not just a cardboard trope cutout. In comparison to the other books (because it’s hard to have a review and not take into consideration Done & Dusted and Swift & Saddled) I think Emmy and brooks (dd) will always be my favorite, and honestly I think Wes and Ada (ss) hit harder for me than Gus and Teddy. Here’s to hoping Cam and Dusty’s story breaks the downhill rhythm!!

mollie :)This was absolutely stunning. A book about the human experience and what it means to navigate life as an adult, with other adults, who also experience the world in all its chaotic craziness, but also have their own hardships and struggles. I want every line of this engrained in my brain and read to me when being awake gets a little harder than sleeping. I always have a tough time talking about books I love when there’s nothing to critique but this is a masterpiece and should be read by everyone.

mollie :)It’s not a fluke- I officially love ML Rio’s writing. This book was fast and witty and clever and well done and I really liked it. Anything that takes place over a confined period of time is so right up my alley and this book (novella technically) pulled it off well. I will say the technical science jargon confused me but that was probably on me for not taking my time to understand. I’m also a little mad at the ending ??? Like I know we’ve set up for what going to happen and I don’t need to see it but I wanted just a little more update as to how the characters progress. It really hammers in the fact that we really are only getting a small slice in these characters lives which I love from an analytical point of view but makes me lovingly frustrated from a reader pov lol Highly recommend!

mollie :)4.75 ⭐️ I keep upping my rating on every reread and I’m not mad about it. I love friends to lovers SO MUCH because I think it shows that soft and domestic love so perfectly and this is no different. Luka and Stella melt my heart and are such a textbook best friends that just casually trip and fall into being in a relationships while every single person around them already knows and it’s so adorable. The communication between them is top tier- I think BK Borison does an excellent job of that, and the struggles between our characters and within Stella’s head is just so well done, especially on a reread. I’m obsessed. This is officially on my cozy comfort romcom list <3

mollie :)3.25 ⭐️ This started out with such a good premise! I was super excited to see where we were headed, and the characters were interesting and had the beginnings of a fun found family dynamic. Very six of crows like. However….it didn’t really keep that momentum. The first half was very slow moving, and throughout the whole book it felt… too easy? Nothing was ever so dire that the characters could get themselves out, and I wasn’t in the edge of my seat to see how everything was going to be solved, outside of the last ten minutes. The character dynamics were also really disappointing. We had blooming relationships but otherwise and potential for a wonderful found family was nowhere to be found unfortunately. Also (and this is a tiny and slightly stupid complaint) but way too many people had amazing sexy and charming one liners all the time. Pretty much everyone but Flick could be counted on to have a mic drop moment at the end of a scene that would have skeins internally swooning. I loved the idea of this book so much but it was kind of disappointing especially with the way it ended, which I’m still a little bit ****** about, coming from someone who did not realize it was to be a series lol