lilyhales's reviews
81 reviews

Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad tense 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

5.0

I love all of Elsie’s books but this book is extra special to me. I adore Ollie & Emmy, they’re such cute, kind, funny kids. I love West & how he respected Skylar’s boundaries!!! He was such a goof! I loved Skylar sososososo much, she’s such an empowering fmc & I love her. She did some growing & she’s the best version of herself. I also liked the banter she & West had hehe. 

It's Not Me, It's You by Alex Light

emotional funny informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense medium-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

5.0

˗ˏˋ Thank you NetGalley for the arc ! ´ˎ˗

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ Alex has done it once again. This book made me laugh & cry so much. It was so well written, perfect amount of sarcasm, wit, funny banter, humor & even some sadness with it. ᵔᴗᵔ

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ I adore Jackie & I kinda related to certain parts of her & her life. She’s such a sarcastic little human, she’s super funny & an amazing sister & friend, even if she has her flaws like a regular person.  

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ I looooooved Wilson, he was the perfect guy for Jackie. He has his funny moment & he was so lovable. His past is sad & his situation with work & life is a struggle many people can relate to. It was good to see that type of representation.  *

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ I loved JackieWilson, they balanced each other out. They knew the persons limit to the banter, even if she called him her mortal enemy, she knew when to not poke fun at him. Seeing them bond & do such cute things together made me so giddy!! *ੈ✩‧₊˚

Spy x Family, Vol. 1 by Tatsuya Endo

challenging emotional funny lighthearted mysterious medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I love Anya so much 😭😭🫶 also the found family trope 🙏

Next of Kin by Hannah Bonam-Young

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I really like the plot & how well written this was. I didn’t like Warren in the beginning but he grew on me eventually 

Daydream by Hannah Grace

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-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

5.0

definitely my favorite Hannah Grace book! I loved Halle & Henry so much, I am also the oldest daughter & there were some parts of Halle I saw myself in. I loved Henry & how he was able to let himself figure out his life. also the fact that Halle was understanding. They both helped each other so much & you can definitely see their growth as friends & lovers 

Highest Bidder by Sara Cate

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-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

3.5

Mercy by Sara Cate

adventurous challenging lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Happy Place by Emily Henry

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense 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

I’m extra emotional but this book made me want to cry & made me reflect on how I push away friends & how I act, I saw a bit of Harriet in myself which made me even more emotional. 

Cash by Jessica Peterson

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-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

5.0

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ thank you to valentine pr for allowing me to receive an arc! ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Listen, I was instantly hooked at the beginning since the two main characters hated (disliked) each other. 

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Mollie’s father recently passed away & left her his ranch (business). She has some regrets, one of them is not being on good terms with her dad before he passed away. She’s had a rocky relationship with him due to the fact that her mom & dad got a divorce, her mom took her somewhere far from where her dad wanted to live at & he didn’t visit her as often & she didn’t go see him either. Her mom seems a bit strict & 

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Cash adored Mollie’s father. He was basically like his father figure. Cash lost his parents & he loved Garrett (Mollie’s dad) & his ranch. He was hurt that after being told that the ranch would go to him multiple times ended up not being true. He hates mollie because he thinks that she’d never wanted to visit her dad & all her dad did was talk about her (nice stuff). Unfortunately for him, he doesn’t know the feelings Mollie has felt for a while & her regrets, he lets his anger out on her without even hearing her out. 

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Mollie also has her own business, she makes cowboy boots! She would sell the ranch to support her business. She decides to go back to the ranch & try to feel things out. Seeing her in the ranch, getting to know people & being super friendly & open minded made me adore her!! I loved that she wasn’t a spoiled brat.  She got along with everyone & was quick to charm them, they were quick to charm her as well. 

ੈ✩‧₊˚ Cash starts off being mean & rude to Mollie but the more they annoy & tease each other, they slowly bloom a ‘friendship’. Cash still has mixed feelings about Mollie, he’s trying to deny that he likes her. I liked that he warmed up to her & decided to take it easy on her & actually help her to learn the ranch & life there. Cash just needed to let his guard down a bit, once he did that, he liked her & genuinely cared for Mollie. You could see him crack a bit in the first half of the book. 

ੈ✩‧₊˚ I loved seeing their relationship grow, once they got along & had some friendly banter I adored them. They were just heartbroken people. They had their own issues & had different ways to express their feelings. They were raised differently so obviously that meant that they didn’t get along at the beginning. Them working together was a good thing, for both of them. 

Beating Heart by Laura Pavlov

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ thank you to valentine pr for allowing to receive an arc !! ₊˚ෆ

˗ˏˋ ꒰ 4.75 ⭐️ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

'*•.¸♡ I loooove single parent trope. Finding out Emerson is a doctor was even cooler ♡¸.•*'

'*•.¸♡ She’s a doctor that moves from the city to a small town & gets a contract for six months. He’s a single dad who’s taking care of his son & does not like to play around when it comes to his child. What will happen when they become neighbors & see each other pretty frequently? They get off on a bad note since Nash isn’t a big fan of a new doctor for his kid & the fact that she’ll be there for six months only. ♡¸.•*'

'*•.¸♡ Emerson flees the city for a fresh start. She’s been underestimated by almost colleague AND patients parents. I loved Emerson sososo much. She’s definitely one of my favorite fmcs I’ve read in a while. She’s very confident in what she does & stands her ground. When we find out why she left San Francisco, it makes me feel bad for her but understand why she’d want to leave it all behind so badly. ♡¸.•*'

'*•.¸♡ Nash is definitely an overprotective parent when it comes to his son. It was nice to see him all fluffy around his son & you can tell he truly loves him. He’s been betrayed & heartbroken in the past so it makes sense if he’s worried & careful with his feelings & Cutler. ♡¸.•*'

'*•.¸♡ I found it hilarious that Cutler really made Emerson & Nash bond so much since he liked her 😭 it was adorable. Seeing them spend time together & actually like a little family before a relationship even started was so cute!!! Emerson is definitely the mother Cutler needed in his life. ♡¸.•*'