kirbur's reviews
295 reviews

Wow.

This was my first book by Cara Bastone and now I need to read everything she has ever published. This was amazing. The characters are amazing. The writing is amazing. The relationships and friendships are amazing. I cry very easily while reading, but books don't often make me laugh out loud. This one had me doing both multiple times.

The book is present tense and in one point of view and typically when a romance is only one point of view I will be wishing that we also got to see the love interests thoughts, in this case it never felt like anything was missing. I won’t be able to accurately describe the authorial voice, but it felt both like the main character was speaking directly to me but also like an internal monologue to herself? It was maybe the most I’ve ever felt like I was in another persons head. 

I loved Eve as a main character, it was a joy seeing how all of her relationships developed. I also really liked that this never felt like a love triangle to me even with the complex dynamics. 

I will definitely be purchasing a copy of this book to reread physically it was amazing.

Another excellent romance from Lucy Parker. Her books never fail to make me smile. She has a way of writing characters and character interactions that feel so real even if the circumstances of the stories sometimes feel farfetched. All of her books are perfect comfort reads for me and Codename Charming is no exception. 

I was very fascinated by Pet as a side character in Battle Royal and am so glad that she got her own book! She is a quirky oddball character but Parker does a great job writing her in such a way that she doesn't feel like a "not like other girls" type or like a manic pixy dream girl. Matthias is a character who is more reserved and quiet, he is still grieving the loss of his best friend but his perspective never feels bleak or boring. I definitely felt the chemistry between the 2 of them and it was fun following along on their fake dating antics.

I also really loved Rosie and Johnny appearing as side characters again, they are a fun couple to follow even when they are background characters.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to all of Lucy Parker's future releases.

5 out of 5, knocked it out of the park! 

This was everything I wanted it to be and more. This book is equally as magical and engaging as the first 2 in the series, if you loved them you will love this one too.

The world and magic that was laid out by this series was so complex and fascinating, I hope that we continue to get more stories in this world. 

I love the characters in this series so much, they are so well realized and have such complex relationships. Thinking about how far they’ve came from book 1 to where they are at the end is amazing.

I didn’t see the twist coming, but looking back the clues were definitely there along the way. I can’t wait to reread the series now that it is complete.

I really enjoyed reading this book, the characters were messy and not always making great decisions but it was the kind of mess that is fun to follow. I also really really loved all of the Broadway stuff in here. This book worked for me a lot better than Sussman’s previous but it still didn’t totally work for me as a romance.

I also really loved the focus on friendship and seeing how Kathleen and Harriet's relationship grew and changed over the years.

I feel like we (meaning the reader and our main character Kathleen) never actually got to know the love interest Cal as a person. After finishing the book I don’t know what he sees in her and I don’t know why they love each other, other than attraction. I really wish this book had been dual perspective, I think that would have fixed my issues with the romance plot (but also I tend to like multi POV stories more anyway, wouldn't it be fun to have the flashback's in his POV?)

I think that what I have learned now having read this book and Funny You Should Ask is that Elissa Sussman and I care about different things when it comes to romance. Both of the books I’ve read from her focus a lot on the initial meeting and then the pining and angst before the characters figure it out and can be together again. While my favorite part of reading romance tend to be once the relationship has started, seeing the characters get to know each other and keep finding new reasons to like each other, I like reading the slow deep conversations and scenes where the characters have each others backs in situations with outside conflict, and I want those sorts of scenes to be the majority of the story.

All that being said, I think I loved Once More With Feeling and I will definitely be reading Sussman's future books. It was highly entertaining and emotional (I cried, but I'm an easy crier) and I could totally see myself rereading it someday, it just doesn’t totally work for me as a romance.