kfalsreads's reviews
281 reviews

The plot of Kristin’s self-published debut novel was absolutely mind-blowing! What a wild ride it turned out to be!! There’s romance, STEAM ❤️‍

This book has been described as a cross between Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and Get Out with the first two being the direct inspiration for the author’s idea, per her note at the end. It was all that and more in this page-turning psychological thriller tackling themes such as classism, racism, bullying, and homophobia.

I started this book while I was in the throws of a reading rut and its fast-paced, thrilling plot quickly snapped me out of it. There is so much going on and so many suspect characters. I was guessing the whole time who was trustworthy and who was duplicitous. I loved it!

Faridah did an incredible job crafting a relevant story that reveals many social ills and the effect they have on young Black people. My heart ached for Devon throughout the story and his character will stay with me long after I put this book away.

My one caveat with the story was the ending. It just didn’t sit right with me. It felt a bit random and was kind of a letdown after so much build-up. However, The Epilogue was really great and wrapped everything up nicely. I highly recommend this book!

All I could think after reading it was WOW! This one was a page turner. I don’t think I read more pages in one sitting before this book. The last half of the book flew and I couldn’t read it fast enough. And the cliff-hanger teeing up the next book in this new series was

This was my first CoHo and I loved it! I get the hype and I’m here to add to it.

I went into this kind of blind only knowing romance and domestic violence were the main themes. Needless to say, it was intense, sad, heart wrenching, heartwarming, and hopeful. The whole time I was reading it I knew the s**t was going to hit the fan and the anticipation was gut-wrenching.

I loved the care Colleen took to help the reader understand the complex emotions victims of domestic violence deal with: the love, the fear, the rationale, the hope, etc. Lily was an amazing MC and is one of my top female characters of all time.

The two men, Atlas and Ryle, were also well-rounded characters, and it was interesting how they portrayed the different ways people can deal with trauma. I definitely had some conflicting emotions with this one.

This was a top read of 2021 for me (that last line had me

I loved a lot of things about this one. But most of all, I loved the representation: of STEM women in a male-dominated field, the politics of academia and pressures of graduate school, the LGBT community, and the Me Too angle.

I also appreciated the author not holding back on the science jargon. While a lot of it went over my head, it made the characters feel all the more real and provided a glimpse into a community outside of my own. It is their passion after all, and I felt it.

I loved Olive and her inner voice, her sass and sense of humor, and her relationship with her friends who were nothing but supportive was just wonderful. There were some great laugh-out-loud moments, moments of heaviness and tenderness, and can we just acknowledge the steam?! Whew!!

This was a sweet, fun, light read that was just what I needed after a couple very heavy reads. I found myself smiling, swooning, and appreciating the depth Rachel added to each character.

Ok, so this feels like an unpopular opinion of this book as of late, but I loved it! Was it perfect? No. Is it living rent-free in my mind since I finished it? YES! I read this book so fast (for me)—in just three days. I couldn’t put it down. So, in my book, it was a winner!

This was my fourth TJR book, and I can see why people love this one! While I enjoyed it and its message on true love, I had some problems with it that kept me from loving it.

God, this book!!! I was hooked from the first few pages and it was practically glued to my hand for the 24 hours I read it. I read it while brushing my teeth, eating, on the way to the playground with the family, at the playground (thanks, hubby), and doing my skincare routine.