first finished book of 2024!!!

what can i say? the whole calloway universe is very very dear to my heart. the whole universe, the whole family. and honestly, lunnelly grew on me more than i thought they would. i certainly like them better than kitsulletti. damn i struggled through akara and sulli (and banks but i love banks). the whole fandom and fanfics thing and luna’s alien metaphors are really close to my heart and i loveee how they presented lunnelly as this written in the stars but doomed couple. those are always my favourite. ((but damn lo! i know you’re a big bad girldad but poor donnelly…))

Why does the end of me always make me think of her?

okay, so lemme first just acknowledge that i actually agree with a lot of the lower rated reviews. i recognise im a big ole hypocrite because a lot of things in this book were just weird to me and made me cringe, too. and im still giving it five stars. ooops, sorry. (this review is gonna be littered with lil spoilers so beware!!)

there are just some books i can’t view in my usual objective, analytical way. and this book is one of them.

ultimately, i just loved Luna and Donnelly so much as a couple and as individuals that this couldn’t be anything but five stars. but i totally understand why others were disappointed and thought this was weird.

Life is made up of exultant seconds and full breaths, and I’m breathing so fully with him. I know this.

because i will say this had its very crinegy moments. like Luna’s confrontation with her bully at the coffee shop...



idk why KBR thought it was a good idea, but then again, it’s KBR so what else should we expect?

i allow all my fave couples in this series to have one hall pass on cringey moments and we’ll move on and forget about them— Raisy howling, pretending their wolves and shit. Thatcher calling Jane “honey” like it isn’t the cringiest nickname ever. Lunelly doing that weird OA dance publicly...

Gillow are perfect. they’ve never done a weird or cringey thing in their whole lives. it’s true, your honour.




so yes, im aware of the cringe.

BUT!

the cringe kinda suits them and their dynamic. we’ve always known Luna Hale was the weirdest of the second gen kids. it’s a known fact. with glitter and stickers on her face at all times. wearing Spider-Man suits in public. dressing like an alien. writing alien smut and fan fiction. she’s the definition of weird and wonderful, quirky and eccentric. so i wasn’t surprised at all. and i love her so much for it.

Luna relaxes her weight against my side. Her head softly on my arm, I stroke her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear in a melodic motion. Over and over, my fingers grazing the ribbons she tied throughout her light brown strands.

Luna Hale, love of my life. i adored her from the moment i met her as a kid in [b:Some Kind of Perfect|26148181|Some Kind of Perfect (Calloway Sisters #5)|Krista Ritchie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1445205723l/26148181._SY75_.jpg|46103345]. the whole debacle of her being bullied at a sleepover and seeing how broken both she and her parents were



ive just always adored the shit out of her, so im super biased. you see a lot of her struggles in this book— she really doesn’t see herself as worthy of being a Hale, being Lo and Lily’s daughter, being part of the entire core six’s cohort of kids. her insecurities severely broke my heart and her character exploration was done really well for me. i felt like i got a good sense of her early on, she felt unique and distinct from the previous heroines. i just love her so much, eurghhh. her and Jane, and Daisy and Willow are my girls✨

i was just rooting for her so hard, just seeing her sad makes my heart hurt. i will gut that Jeffra bitch!! hold of her to bully people when she’s legit called “Jeffra”. she better watch it, fr. every tear Luna has ever shed will be avenged by me.



while Donnelly actually made me sob, my god. his backstory was implemented really well throughout the story. he would just drop these little comments about his unworthiness, saying them so casually like they were concrete fact that made me go feral, i can’t lie. he evoked a lot of emotion from me. especially his interactions with Lo

luna hale and paul donelly


I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE.
and all i can say is: it delivered.

all my expectations were not only met, they were surpassed with flying colors!!!!!
from the moment i’ve read that scene in SKOP where luna goes to that sleepover, that cruel fucking scene, all i wanted was for her to find real love. real friendship (outside of her family)
AND SHE DID. so proud of my girlie!
also, it’s a hale book, i’ll forever read hale books like they’re treasure, gold. my family is forever with me.


The story does not begin with my first breath on Earth. I’ve started at the part that matters the most to me. May you discover something of worth in this text; I hope it finds you well. Somewhere far, far away, Luna Hale

-

Makes sense. That’s all he wants to be towards me. Xander’s dad. I’m no one special to Loren Hale. Never will be. He keeps making that point.

-

I love the feeling of being swept away into a different world, sometimes so unlike the one I live in. If I could stay inside my books and my fics, maybe everything would be better. Life would make more sense. Right now, nothing really does.

-

If there were a cupid hierarchy, my mom would be at the very top. She has set soul mates in motion multiple times by unintentionally helping them cross paths. It’s a subconscious gift. One of her many superpowers.

-

I can’t be the reason Donnelly’s whole life implodes, and though I’m not sure the extent of my dad’s dislike of Donnelly and whether it’s a petty thing, a protective thing, or something more personal, I’m almost positive he’d go ballistic if he found out about our hookup.

-

“How many universes are there?” “An infinite number.” Infinite us. I look her over. “How many universes aren’t against us, you think?” “Knowing my luck, probably all but one.”

-

“Here you go, love.” She sinks her teeth into the tortilla. Sauce dribbles down her chin, and he wipes it up for her too. She’s blushing, and he even plants a kiss on her cheek before giving her a wet willy. “Lo!” she squirms, laughing. He grins, looking over at her lovingly while he eats his hard-shell taco too. They share the kind of dreamy, soul mate love that feels destined for few.

-

Most people say that Loren Hale is sharp like a dagger. But I’ve always thought my dad is more like a lightsaber. Wielded only against enemies. Boiling hot, able to strike right through and cauterize the wound so you’re forced to look down and see what he’s done. And I believe he’s good.

If anything, my parents make me feel like I do fit among them, even if I don’t fit anywhere else.

-

“You say he doesn’t respect you, but I doubt he’d ever want to be with me because of you.” It’s in this moment that my dad knows, for certain, I have a crush on Paul Donnelly, but that crush will largely always remain a crush. And it’s because of him.

-

“This is frustrating as fuck.” “Why?” I ask again. “Because you two should be together!” he shouts, pissed. “Because the only thing keeping you apart is her dad. A father—my father-in-law, who trusts me when I tell him shit except when I vouch for your character.” “Parents don’t like me. It is what it is, man. Always has been.”

-

He never judges me, and sometimes, most times, it feels like I’ve found the planet with the perfect amount of gravity. Like I’m neither glued to the ground nor floating in the clouds. The perfect in-between.

-

The way he’s looking at me—it has no name that I can justly describe. But for you, unearthly reader, I’ll try. It is knotted heartstrings and centuries of longing. It is stars you wish upon and hopes yet to come undone. It is the end and also just the beginning.

-

Donnelly is drinking in my frame. He’s looking at me like I’m worthy of adoration, not hatred. Like I truly am a beautiful queen that he found on some faraway planet. Like he can’t believe he’s in my atmosphere, and my heart fills all over again.

-

GOAL: Make Loren Hale My Best Friend Hardest goal I’ve ever created in my life? Checks out. Especially given the fact that I slept with his daughter.

-

“What are we, space babe? It’s been written in the stars. And this—it can never be unwritten.”

2.75 stars had to dock for the fuck shit i had to read! but the core eight crumbs..lilo as parents….cobalt boys… you will always be famous

Urm yes I’m so excited for Luna and Donnelly book! Gonna be so fucking rad!

Update: Now I’ve read it this statement remains true ^^^ this was by far one of the best Like Us books KBR has written in this series!! It was everything I wanted from their first book. I love them I really really do. Booktwt is honestly on their bullshit as per usual hating on this. Yes Luna & Donnelly are quirky, weird & cringe but this has been their characterisation throughout the previous 10 books and KBR remained CONSISTENT with this. We just saw that Luna is embracing herself more then she has in the previous books and not caring what people think. She knows she is weird as fuck and you have to be a different type of brave to just say fuck it an embrace that about yourself.

Anyways, I loved the start to their story. Their love for eachother is so pure, that first kiss scene was PERFECTION, it had me crying. And their remind me so much of Lilo, the comfort they bring me felt the exact same here. The tensions, the buildup, the pining, the angst URGH. KBR is back in their element this was good good.

Also note: The Lo hate? I’m sorry did we all read the same Loren Hale in the addicted series, he is literally the definition of petty. Him being over protective of his first born daughter was to be expected, he was the same with Maximoff and Farrow to at the start. If anything the fact he came around to a level of accepting by the end of the first book in this series was a shook within itself. This man took multiple books to get over Raisy like

I thought since it’s been a whole day since I read misfits I could now come up with a constructive review but it seems like I can’t. I just absolutely love and adore lunnelly. They are perfect together!! Occasionally, you read about people that are just soulmates and you are always rooting for them? Well this is me when it comes to Luna and Donnelly. They just compliment each other so well! I saw a lot of negative reviews before and after reading misfits. Some I agree with and some I don’t. Was this book cringy at times? Yes. Was there some things that were probably unnecessary, also yes but one thing you cannot tell me is that Lunnelly didn’t stay true to their characters because they did. They were unashamedly their weird selves and I will always love them for it! This was also very slow burn which I was not mad about because one, we didn’t just get everything at omceso there’s more room for a relationship development considering they have two more books!! I don’t know how many times I honestly cried, like the freaking parallels between lilo’s books and this books absolutely made me sob!! just love them <3

Also, the family content

There was something really off with the writing in the first half of this book, especially concerning Luna and Donnelly's romance but the second half (ok probably more like the last quarter) really made up for it. Yes, there are some really cringey ass moments in this book but ultimately I really loved Luna and Donnelly as characters and how they whole-heartedly accepted each other and were made for each other. I think the fact that I shed tears multiple times while reading this says a lot. These two have been through a lot and really deserve a HEA.

Also, I feel like we end the story with so much potential for these two. I think they have the ability to have the kind of soul mate love that compares to a Lily and Lo type of romance a la addicted series. I really have high hopes for them and I am curious to see how their story develops in the next book.