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megan_elizy's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
“Why does everything of the sinister and magical sort always happen in a library?” he muttered to himself.
This book gave me actual whiplash. The first 40%ish was a solid 3 stars with its mysterious plot and intriguing characters. The world-building was pretty confusing at times and there were several scenes that ended or started so abruptly that I just couldn’t get my bearing. The writing was choppy and weird at times and there were plenty of plot holes like what on earth was the fae she accidentally killed doing there in the first place and why was he taken out so easily?? And then why did these oh-so-strong assassins bother using stupid fairy tricks that didn’t work instead of just stabbing her???
But right around the halfway mark OH DID IT GET GOOD. I was giggling so hard and couldn’t stop smiling. Every single character was PRECIOUS and so lovable. The atmosphere was cozy and, honestly, the depth of the writing surprised me in multiple places.
But her unrhythmic, melodic sobs echoed through the house; a soloist telling the story of a lifetime of warmth and wisdom that had reached its conclusion.
I was utterly convinced at 70% through that this was going to be my favorite read of the year. 5 stars flying everywhere.
But then THAT ENDING!? Ok it’s not like it was *that* bad. It just was so completely anticlimactic. Where’s the big win against the bad guys??? Where was the “I thought you were dead I’m so glad you’re not” running-into-each-others-arms moment?!? You can’t build tension for 300+ pages and then give us absolutely nothing but a lame epilogue type scene where the MCs are being mean to each other 🙄😭
So. Overall. First half was 3 ⭐️, second half up until the last chapter was 5 ⭐️ and the last chapter was an unsatisfying 1 ⭐️ that I will pretend didn’t happen
melissac20's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
This book had me so twisted. The writing was choppy and nonsensical.
I finished this only because it had such rave reviews and I kept waiting for the part where it got better. The writing smoothed out a little bit in the middle after the story got going, But I can't say it was ever great.
The main character is an aspiring writer who consistently misuses words. I suppose it was trying to be endearing but it was incredibly annoying.
The main point of this book was that The FMC was trying to open a coffee shop of her own (In addition to writing the next Great American novel), And one day while visiting another coffee shop she accidentally kills and obnoxious Fae male, setting off a string of ridiculous mishaps when other "friends" of the Fae come to avenge him.
First of all, why are these Fae men called assassins, when they are in reality more like private guards?
And if these men are so dangerous and wonderful and amazing at killing people, why are they resorting to silly fairie tricks instead of using the swords that they all have?!?! They constantly used the word human like an insult, and referred to them as humans as often as they could. And yet the most inept human on the planet somehow manages to outsmart them and accidentally enslaves three of them in the most ridiculous way. But then they actually like being enslaved? I guess I can see why since these hardened "assassins" are so bad at killing.
The grandma was the only saving Grace in this novel. The MMC was horrendous, And I only liked him when he was at the Grandma's house. The writing gets a little bit better about halfway through and then takes a nosedive back at the end when the FMC brings back her random misuse of words again.
The two main characters had zero chemistry. And the entire reason that the fairy tricks didn't work or because the fmz changed her last name after her parents died. Which makes zero sense. Why on Earth would anybody who had loving parents want to change the last name out of fear of being teased because her parents died??! What??
I could go on forever about the things that drove me nuts. Suffice to say I will not be recommending this one.
I finished this only because it had such rave reviews and I kept waiting for the part where it got better. The writing smoothed out a little bit in the middle after the story got going, But I can't say it was ever great.
The main character is an aspiring writer who consistently misuses words. I suppose it was trying to be endearing but it was incredibly annoying.
The main point of this book was that The FMC was trying to open a coffee shop of her own (In addition to writing the next Great American novel), And one day while visiting another coffee shop she accidentally kills and obnoxious Fae male, setting off a string of ridiculous mishaps when other "friends" of the Fae come to avenge him.
First of all, why are these Fae men called assassins, when they are in reality more like private guards?
And if these men are so dangerous and wonderful and amazing at killing people, why are they resorting to silly fairie tricks instead of using the swords that they all have?!?! They constantly used the word human like an insult, and referred to them as humans as often as they could. And yet the most inept human on the planet somehow manages to outsmart them and accidentally enslaves three of them in the most ridiculous way. But then they actually like being enslaved? I guess I can see why since these hardened "assassins" are so bad at killing.
The grandma was the only saving Grace in this novel. The MMC was horrendous, And I only liked him when he was at the Grandma's house. The writing gets a little bit better about halfway through and then takes a nosedive back at the end when the FMC brings back her random misuse of words again.
The two main characters had zero chemistry. And the entire reason that the fairy tricks didn't work or because the fmz changed her last name after her parents died. Which makes zero sense. Why on Earth would anybody who had loving parents want to change the last name out of fear of being teased because her parents died??! What??
I could go on forever about the things that drove me nuts. Suffice to say I will not be recommending this one.
thecandiegirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Confinement, Death, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Blood, Grief, and Abandonment
faeraytales's review against another edition
4.0
Although I had a slow start with this book once I’d passed the halfway mark I felt like that was when the story I’d been expecting really kicked in. From what I’d seen this book was advertised to me as a cosy fantasy about faeries in a coffee shop and it is but it also has more to it. The fantasy world is really thought through and I felt like the character relationships were well developed. Something I loved is how yeah this is an autumnal book but by the last 20% it crosses over into Christmas and that’s exactly what I needed this week! It was cute and cosy so what more can you ask for? Plus the main couple definitely gave me Evangeline and Jacks vibes!
tammyreadsromance's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn’t entirely sure I would like this when I started it. I am SO glad I gave it a chance. The characters are fun! And there is an amazing grandma that I immediately loved
brixdan's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
A great cozy fantasy. I hope there are more by this author.
ladyshamen's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I wanted to like it. I went in looking for light, cozy, silly. And it was all that but it was also pretty rough around the edges. The phase "show me, don't tell me" came to mind more than once. There was so much exposition that was half explained that it got muddled. I would have also expected world class assassins, who are supposedly the best of the best, to be better at adapting to their surroundings and, as the story went on, used fewer fae terms, like beastmilk.
It truly felt like when I was in HS and learning to write essays, there would be something I wanted to include but no good place to add it in.
Like, I enjoyed the story and don't regret reading it. But it definitely needed a good, hard edit to work on pacing and continuity.
Definitely a fun fall read though.
It truly felt like when I was in HS and learning to write essays, there would be something I wanted to include but no good place to add it in.
Like, I enjoyed the story and don't regret reading it. But it definitely needed a good, hard edit to work on pacing and continuity.
Definitely a fun fall read though.