evelync's reviews
447 reviews

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio, and Seal Press for this e-arc and alc in exchange for an honest review. 

“I see so many of the women in my family reflected in my behaviors, core belief systems, and overall views of the world.”

“This book is all my dreams for us, all my love I could write down and manifest onto us. And yet, it only scratched the surface.” 

Tías and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez has taken many different female archetypes found in Latine/x families and reclaimed the narratives usually associated with them. As I read this book, there were several instances where I could see parts of myself and the women in my life reflected on the page, but I was also met with instances in which my experiences with these archetypes were vastly different from how they were presented in this book. And all of our varying experiences are valid.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for this arc in exchange for an honest review. 

I have to give it to Simone Soltani because this might be the best portrayal of F1 in a book. And I loved that the MMC wasn’t a driver for a top team. But as an F1 fan, some of the parallels to the current grid and its drivers were quite easy to spot and I’m still not sure how I feel about that.

As much as I wanted to like the romance in this book, I just could not deal with how much weight was put on Oakley’s (Willow’s brother and Dev’s best friend) opinion. I understand that Willow’s previous relationship with someone in his friend group ended up causing a rift in their group and that this plays into how she feels about Oakley’s opinion but like y’all are adults!! When reading books with this trope, I need the couple to have another reason why they can’t be together besides the fact that they are scared of how their sibling is going to react, and Cross the Line, just didn’t have that. 

Marriage & Masti, you deserve ALL the stars!! ✨

Thank you, partners @bibliolifestyle @avonbooks, for this #gifted copy!

Out tomorrow: 8/27/24 

In this third and final installment of the If Shakespeare Was an Auntie Series, we finally get Veera and Deepak’s story, and boy was it worth the wait!!

Veera has been through a lot in the past year. Her best friends found love and are moving into different stages of their lives, the man she’s in love with is engaged to another woman, and her father fired her before selling the family company. Meanwhile, Deepak has been trying to secure the votes he needs to become the next CEO of his family’s company, but all that is now at stake when his fiancé, Olivia Gupta, a famous beauty influencer breaks up with him in a very public way. After a shipwreck, way too many drinks, and a sunset elopement on the beach—Deepak and Veera realize their accidental wedding might be the solution to all their problems.

When I say I am completely obsessed with Veera and Deepak, I mean it! The glimpses into their friendship and how it grew over time, the ease that they both feel with each other, and just how aware they are of each other made this book so special. And when you add Deepak’s parents into the mix, my heart could not handle how sweet all those moments were. 

I also loved the way that this book talked about friendship and community. Veera was struggling with being the single friend, and seeing how the dynamics of her friendship with Kareena and Bobbi were changing. It was only after she came back married to Deepak, that she got to see a new side of her community, one that her friends had become a part of without her. And I just loved seeing her find her place in their community. 

Nisha Sharma's writing will have you laughing and swooning the entire time. 

Thank you to Berkley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

A Novel Love Story has such a unique concept, but the delivery ultimately left me wanting more.

Elsy, our female protagonist finds herself emerged into the world of her favorite romance novels, as she begins to question how this is even possible she also begins to wonder why she can’t seem to place Anders, the bookstore owner, and his relationship with this town and its people. Elsy’s love for this town is so clear and it also makes her question if she wants to find a way back to her reality or if she should just stay in the comfort of Eloraton. 

The parts of the book I loved most are the parts where Ashley Poston writes about books and the sheer magic they have on readers’ lives, the beauty and comfort that comes from finding a book/author that you feel completely connected to and seen by. 

While I did love this premise from the start, it was also what ended up causing a few issues for me and my reading experience. Elsy knows Eloraton and all of the people that live there, but for us, the readers, we only know them through Elsy, which made it hard for me to truly know and love them in the same way that she does. And I really really wanted to. 

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Canary Street Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ 24%

I was really looking forward to reading Frequent Fliers because the premise sounded so good; two people meet at the airport, are seatmates, and then fall in love over a series of flights, yes please! But as I started reading, something felt flat, making it hard to stay engaged and continue reading. 

I’m sad that this one did not work out for me. 

I really did want to push through this one but I can’t 

I'll come back to this one at a later time

I wish we had Danny's POV. But I do plan to come back to this one at a later time

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. 

Going into the book, all I knew was that it started as Reylo fanfiction (at times this is pretty obvious) and that it featured a violinist and cellist. I was excited for the musical aspect and I do think it’s the part that shines through the most to me. A lot of Gwen and Xander/Alex's communication is through their music and they are in a constant conversation when they’re creating and performing with one another and I thought that was so well done. 

I don’t think I realized our characters, particularly Gwen, were so young. Like I get that she’s 22 and that in the context of the story she needs to be young and naive for the plot to progress the way it does and for the villains to exploit her the way they do, but it just left me frustrated and wanting more growth from her. 

But what completely threw me was the 3rd act breakup and its pacing. I felt like it came in pretty late into the book, so the conflict and its resolution are rushed and not satisfying. 

While it was not my favorite read I do think my reading experience (listening to its playlist as I read) played a big part in my enjoyment of this book and its ultimate rating. 

slump is still slumping...

but i did enjoy what i read so this is one I'll come back to in the future