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jadesarah's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Sage comes from a family of gifted women, she has been fired and now has to go back home to live with her great aunt and sister who hates her while she's being haunted by her other sister. Oh and also Tenn Reyes is back in town. The guy she's been in love with since she was 15.
Between the very pretty cover and the synopsis, this book gives off the idea of a sorta cozy second chance romance and ehhh... It's not cozy lol. Unless death, grief, decade long grudges, generational trauma, colonisation and domestic violence are considered cozy. Also I'd be wary of the second chance angle because... Tenn has no idea that Sage is who he was messaging on AOL over a decade ago and they were never together. Look, speaking, as a very sentimental and emotionally driven person and who knows even as an adult that crushes are hell, the fact sage built up this "heartbreak" and "hated the man who broke her heart" like it was all dramatic for nothing. It gave me so much second hand embarrassment. So it depends on your meaning of second chance but it was flimsy for me personally.
In the end I found the romance mostly mature and lovely but lacking. The blue rose scene was so out of character especially for Tenn. It seemed incredibly forced.
The biggest issue overall for me was the author was doing too much all at once and took quickly. Often, it felt she wasn't allowing the reader to experience what was happening and make judgement of certain situations which I would have! But instead it felt like being rushed there. Sage also comes across as smug and knowledgeable it all considering her life is a mess. Even when it comes to her best friend's situation and again this felt a consequence of the author doing too much and rushing us to certain conclusions. Like please let me experience this. Let it unfold. Sigh. Also the author was making it obvious with certain things that they were set ups for future books and again this came under doing too much. Some things could have been developed over the next books. Now maybe this comes down to a publishing thing with the hopes of getting more books.
There's a particular twist in this story but I did stumble across it in a review so I wasn't surprised but it didn't ruin my reading experience and also it becomes clear that's where we're heading quick enough.
There's also a beautiful exploration of nature because of Sage's gift and our relationship with it as humans. I think the best thing about this book is Sage's friendship with Laurel, along with her family dynamics. This is because they are messy and flawed and fuck up and honestly at times are annoying and frustrating and hypocritical and yes even though it's conflicting because it would genuinely annoy me at times there is something so refreshing about that. Give me all of that even if it makes me on the verge of disliking the characters lol. I don't need the big OTT villainous characters, I want the messy and flawed and annoying and angry and who fuck up. The generational dysfunction here and the cycles that have informed their relationship with each other is so well done. In an ideal world we would all just communicate but I personally know that's not how it works. So I hope the author continues to explore those themes within family dynamics and friendships.
Between the very pretty cover and the synopsis, this book gives off the idea of a sorta cozy second chance romance and ehhh... It's not cozy lol. Unless death, grief, decade long grudges, generational trauma, colonisation and domestic violence are considered cozy. Also I'd be wary of the second chance angle because... Tenn has no idea that Sage is who he was messaging on AOL over a decade ago and they were never together. Look, speaking, as a very sentimental and emotionally driven person and who knows even as an adult that crushes are hell, the fact sage built up this "heartbreak" and "hated the man who broke her heart" like it was all dramatic for nothing. It gave me so much second hand embarrassment. So it depends on your meaning of second chance but it was flimsy for me personally.
In the end I found the romance mostly mature and lovely but lacking. The blue rose scene was so out of character especially for Tenn. It seemed incredibly forced.
The biggest issue overall for me was the author was doing too much all at once and took quickly. Often, it felt she wasn't allowing the reader to experience what was happening and make judgement of certain situations which I would have! But instead it felt like being rushed there. Sage also comes across as smug and knowledgeable it all considering her life is a mess. Even when it comes to her best friend's situation and again this felt a consequence of the author doing too much and rushing us to certain conclusions. Like please let me experience this. Let it unfold. Sigh. Also the author was making it obvious with certain things that they were set ups for future books and again this came under doing too much. Some things could have been developed over the next books. Now maybe this comes down to a publishing thing with the hopes of getting more books.
There's a particular twist in this story but I did stumble across it in a review so I wasn't surprised but it didn't ruin my reading experience and also it becomes clear that's where we're heading quick enough.
There's also a beautiful exploration of nature because of Sage's gift and our relationship with it as humans. I think the best thing about this book is Sage's friendship with Laurel, along with her family dynamics. This is because they are messy and flawed and fuck up and honestly at times are annoying and frustrating and hypocritical and yes even though it's conflicting because it would genuinely annoy me at times there is something so refreshing about that. Give me all of that even if it makes me on the verge of disliking the characters lol. I don't need the big OTT villainous characters, I want the messy and flawed and annoying and angry and who fuck up. The generational dysfunction here and the cycles that have informed their relationship with each other is so well done. In an ideal world we would all just communicate but I personally know that's not how it works. So I hope the author continues to explore those themes within family dynamics and friendships.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Colonisation
taynicole2698's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy it. It’s fairly light and surface level which makes it a quick read but it does touch on some heavier themes. The hardest part for me was the narrator’s voice, she just sounded very young/bubble gum-ish
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Abandonment
owlmanda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
More YA than I expected. Easy read, but sloppy and immature characters. Felt more like I was reading about teenagers than late 20s adults. Though I loved the diversity and witchy plant magic
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Death, Infidelity, Grief, and Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence
mildrenreads's review against another edition
4.5
Latinx romance
Mexican FMC
Dominican mmc
Childhood online pen pals (anonymous) to strangers to friend to lovers
I liked the magic elements in the contemporary setting, the family problems made me want them to cut contact but I guess they worked it out 😒😂 I was not expecting that plot twist! The characters chemistry was 😮💨😮💨 and there was smut! I didn’t know this was adult romance!
Mexican FMC
Dominican mmc
Childhood online pen pals (anonymous) to strangers to friend to lovers
I liked the magic elements in the contemporary setting, the family problems made me want them to cut contact but I guess they worked it out 😒😂 I was not expecting that plot twist! The characters chemistry was 😮💨😮💨 and there was smut! I didn’t know this was adult romance!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Abandonment
crownoflaurel's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Minor: Infidelity and Abandonment
caylacolclasure's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
neens_m's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent and Abandonment
nanduh's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Grief, and Abandonment
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Infidelity
Minor: Sexual assault and Car accident
kaneebli's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, and Abandonment
Minor: Domestic abuse and Car accident
dmrosenblatt's review against another edition
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Death and Abandonment