dramagirl2003's reviews
278 reviews

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

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adventurous emotional 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

4.75

this was great! not my favourite of lynn’s, probably the least favourite honestly, which really highlights what an amazing writer she is!!
i think what “brought down the rating” (a whole quarter star, wow 😂), was the fact that Em & nick had significantly less interaction than the other Lynn Painter couples. i understand why though, cause the time loop is the most important focus

thoughts while reading

6%: based on the description of the shifter, something tells me american manual is different than ours
14%: grandma max!
it was you who doomed your favourite granddaughter to repeat valentine’s day
!
22%: no josh probably still will 
77%: oh GOD NO don’t let this
be the day that sticks
!!
79%: you are kidding…NOT THE BOOKS
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Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

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adventurous emotional lighthearted slow-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

it’s a reread, and i enjoyed it! the book is definitely better than the film, cause the film misses out half the subplots, or mashes them together, or changes details. the book feels more right

thoughts while listening

4m: girl why you talking like 1am is so early and you’re such a good girl for sticking to your curfew. the only thing i’m doing that late is tv and books. case in point, it’s currently 1:37am and i’m listening to an audiobook
34m: Romeo & Juliet (1996) is such a slay film
35m: gilbert blythe is absolutely dream guy material
5h24m: no friends!! we don’t leave the STATE with 5% battery!!!
6h14m: i’m a girl and i take the stairs by two when i can
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Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross

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

5.0

when i say this was literally the best thing i’ve read in 2025 so far…guys, this was spectacular!! it was a fully-immersive, love for the ages, visually stimulating experience, that i consumed within 36 hours. i will not be recovering from this book anytime soon

thoughts while reading

4%: iris! forest told you to stay in school!
7%: civil war between gods is a unique concept indeed
11%: roman knows the letters are from iris??
12%: wait…you’ve got mail: fantasy edition?
22%: to be fair, that’s a solid theory, but no

Perhaps it begins with one person. Someone you trust. You remove a piece of armor for them; you let the light stream in, even if it makes you wince.
Perhaps that is how you learn to be soft yet strong, even in fear and uncertainty. One person, one piece of steel.

23%: oh no oh no oh no
27%: letting people find out by reading her obituary kinda sounds like something i might do…
30%: i have a sneaking suspicion that roman disclosed who he was and/or made some big confession, that now we won’t get to read until near the end
31%: good for you roman
33%: magically connected typewriters? I LOVE IT
44%: roman carver kitt 
53%: that was crazy man. she keeps making up nicknames for roman, and i’m waiting for her to realise that carver fits in there perfectly

"I fear I don't run, Kitt."
"I beg to disagree. You were like wildfire in the field yesterday afternoon.”
run forrest, run 🏃🏻‍♀️💨

"Are you trying to kill me, Kitt?" she panted, struggling up the slope.
"Now, that would be a bestselling headline," he said cheerfully, not at all winded. "INKRIDDEN IRIS AND THE HILL THAT BESTED HER."
ahh future chapter title reference there

57%: oh roman 🤦🏼‍♀️
60%: what happened to “i’ll ride on the sidestep”?
60%: oh that’s what happened, makes sense
60%: yeah, he groaned 😏
61%: what a great friend he was to train you up
63%: yeah you should 🤭
66%: AHH what we’ve been waiting for!!
69%: this is iris’ story
76%: cats always go for the people who dislike them or are allergic 🐈
78%: the only issue is that there’s still 22% left, and this type of scene is usually the final one…
93%:
FOREST
!! and comprise my dude, that’s her love
93%: nah i think he’s tryna knock you unconscious so you’ll stop fighting ✋🏻
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Raised by Wolves: Taken by Storm: Book 3 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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

5.0

this was sooo good, read it in 2 days! i didn’t like Trial by Fire nearly as much as Raised by Wolves, so i didn’t have the highest of expectations for this. i was so wrong, many things were so unexpected, this was great. i don’t know how to deal with the ending

thoughts while reading

Dev didn't miss a beat. Towering over everyone else there and looking every inch the werewolf warrior, he nodded austerely. "I've been considering teaching myself to juggle."

p66: oh maddy, what have you done?
p73: god bless you luna mesa alpha

"This is my cue to leave. I was happy to help, but I gave up danger for Lent."

p169: HUH
p171: maybe it isn’t
griff. it’s a ghostly shapeshifter

p205: i thought it was sora but i remembered her twin
p227: how can i be so right about things that should be impossible? umm
were they triplets
or something?

female Weres were always half of a set of twins. Sora's was a male in our pack named Zade.
— Raised by Wolves

p283: WHAT ⚡️🐺
p289:
THEY ABANDONED THEIR TERRITORY

p297: there is a disturbing lack of pages left though
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Betting On You by Lynn Painter

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-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

5.0

oh this was even better than Better Than the Movies if that’s even possible!! 

thoughts while reading

2%: ew
3%: what is a TUM?
5%: you better not spoil it
6%: BRO
8%: see, the advice i got was right. when you’re in crisis, don’t play any media you might love, or you’ll have terrible memories associated with them and ruin the experience forever
11%: i love bookish pop culture refs
18%: i find it crazy that bailey’s annoyed scott takes his shoes off, i’d be the opposite cause of dirt
23%: supermassive fun hole 😎⚫️
26%: i love charlie’s confidence, i would melt
31%: charlie doesn’t even like chicken? why’d he get it on the plane then?

"Holy shit, you wore exactly what I told you to wear. You are such a good girl."
brother ew, don’t call me a good girl

“…and there you were, being a jerk and macking on a girl in the security line like a mini-Hugh Hefner."
“no pogue on pogue macking.” — OBX

34%: oh man, 10 minute version is brutal!
37%: are you sure he wasn’t just sick of listening to you?
44%: never mind scott, bailey’s mom is gonna lose her shit
47%: oh sheeesh, nah bay ain’t gonna like that
48%: go on, you get him girl!!
61%: except you have glasses so there ain’t gonna be no lash brushing 🤓
64%: no baby it’s never pathetic to want your dad 🥺
70%: ahhh the kitty is just like simba 🐈
71%: no don’t talk to eli, just amp up the bailey rizz
93%: wowww he’s totally gonna say they’ve been dating way longer

"I thought you were just using me for kissing practice."
"So did I. Until your Moldova special made me never want to kiss anyone else ever again.”

96%: the way i literally thought charlie and bay were the ones getting married for a second there 😅
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Raised by Wolves: Trial by Fire: Book 2 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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

4.5

hmm, this just didn’t hit as hard as the first book for whatever reason, but still pretty good. possibly just suffered from second book syndrome

thoughts while reading

p5: vampire?
p91: i think you’d be surprised
p104: witch?
p151: ali 💯% has history with the psychics

The description seemed to satisfy Ali and she let out the breath I hadn’t realised she was holding. 

p157: i do wonder in what way does devon like bryn
p321: well i never
p339: flip sake lucas
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Nothing Like the Movies Bonus Epilogue by Lynn Painter

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adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

i just happened upon this epilogue randomly this morning and devoured it! it has 3 new povs and is a very satisfying extra conclusion to the series. lots of HEA ✨❤️
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Raised by Wolves: Book 1 by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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

5.0

when you read 100+ books a year, you become pretty good at figuring out the plot twists in advance. but this twist defied anything i could possibly guess, and i’m impressed

thoughts while reading

p44: i can’t even imagine knowing that you’ll likely never see your mum figure alive again 😭 
p61: well friends it seems our good friend bryn may have been lied to

He wasn’t Attila the Freaking Werewolf Hun.

p129: i suspect bryn has hidden werewolf in her 🐺
p151: chase knew her before from school and had a massive crush on her
p153: i suspect
bryn’s dad was the werewolf and she’s just forgotten cause of her brain’s trauma protection

p155: theory:
chase is bryn’s brother. their dad took chase with him after killing their mom. and possibly chase’s Rabid

p171: SEE she just said she had siblings! i can’t be too far off
p207: funny story, we have many cold days in july
p256: i’m officially putting a hold on both my theories
p282: i had been wondering whether lake had a brother
p332: wait is this a human-were benefit? they are the only unique ones
p343: oh god. either
madison is the rabid, the bait, or rabid sent them there as diversion

p344: 🤯 well friends, it can’t get any worse than this
p348: AHH that makes so much sense
p370: so
bryn will become a were and be the alpha to her mini pack
in the next book
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Fate Be Changed by Farrah Rochon

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adventurous mysterious fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

any book about a curly, ginger scottish princess is a must read for me! it was my first twisted tale and i thoroughly enjoyed it! 

thoughts while reading

p16: if that tapestry took elinor years then you more than deserved to have your bow burnt. that at least can be replaced
p30: your own knife, slay
p38: clan maccameron. well unless the dunbroch tartan hasn’t changed, you’re in the unique position of being a neutral party. which is either the best or the worst thing, depending on who finds you
p42: so that answers that question, tartan hasn’t changed
p48: whoops you just killed the crucial part of the dunbroch love story
p63: yeah elinor and merida are totally gonna have to face mor’du together
p78: could merida and young elinor be any more alike?
p118:
betrothed to clan fraser chieftain heir
? good luck girl, they’re a vicious one
p137: i suspect that winning the princess’s hand at the highland games only came about because of fergus & elinor meeting
p141: so fergus did still fall
p200:
being betrothed to someone since your birth
is what’s archaic. at least when they compete they are proving they at least have the skills to protect and defend you. (although i suppose if you know in advance, you might have the chance to get to know them first.)
p219: the girl was too stunned to speak
p221: real
p222: girl is slowly realising what a difference she could make if she embraced her position

"How dare you accuse me of not caring about my home, you redheaded lout!"
"So, you have noticed my nice red hair?" he taunted, flicking his fingers in the matted locks.
"You...you...boggin numpty!"
slay scots queen

p277: do you know it’s taken me this long to realise that “x” and ten means 16 (for example), not the actual ages of “x” and 10

Once alone with Elinor, she released the breath she had been holding.
one of these days i’ll compile a collection of these lines, it’s practically a stereotypical YA book line at this point

p321: go on, shout a little louder lass, i don’t think your enemies in the forrest could hear
p380: i really thought merida had turned into a bear and i was panicking 🐻
p398: well damn
p416: omg slay princess, what a parallel to Brave
p449: what must it have been like for freya to live knowing the original version of events? and what of merida’s parents, surely they remember that fiery redhead that brought them together
p452: ah there we are
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Stars May Burn by Alice Ivinya

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

i was both impressed and angry at the ending, and i loved that the FMC and i share a name. the plot was unique, there’s tension, there’s secrets, there’s badass warriors, male and female. totally recommend, but the ending will make you want to murder the author in her sleep

thoughts while reading

Readers beware: This book ends in a cliff-hanger. If this might make you want to murder the author in her sleep, you may wish to wait until you also have Stars May Fall. You have been warned.
appreciate the warning, i will use this preparation time wisely 🔪

p32: oh kasten what a gentleman you are
p43: are we sure this tonic helps with fertility and isn’t harming it?

“I’m Callum, the general’s official pain-in-the-backside. I’ve spent half my life being dragged behind him from one near-death experience to the next.”

p75: i’m beginning to suspect a The Starlit Prince type situation. did his arrow injury curse him somehow?

“Are you hurt, Sophie?”
I licked my lips and tried to slow down my breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
"Did he touch you?" My husband's voice
was firmer and more insistent now.

It was like he really knew me—I just hadn’t realised it. And not just known me but accepted this part of me I’d always felt the need to keep hidden.

p181: ah of course this is what the yadum blades are really for
p189: he’s gonna survive and we’ll get an wound-tending scene 🥰
p191: nope you should’ve kept the dagger in

I wanted to see her again. I wanted to live for her. I’d never wanted to live for anything before.

p244: this was a bad plan, could’ve just barricaded yourself in your room or hidden in the garden
p263: kasten is gonna have to fight for his life to keep his hands off you

I considered throwing him out the window. 

p307: reminiscent of the founder’s day dance in The Vampire Diaries
p336: no kasten! not really! think back to your last conversation

“If you always assume I’m weak, I’ll never have the chance to grow strong.”

p340: prediction: soph gets angry that kasten doesn’t trust her to stand up to her own brother, and kasten hopefully shares his true feelings for her

“You are so perfect. Somebody like me shouldn’t even touch you.”

p361: i told you! 💔
p384: i swear if this is a trap…
p403: yep, this is definitely gonna end in a cliffhanger 🔪🛌 
p430: my author murder plan will be flawless
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