krayreads's reviews
1220 reviews

this was such a sweet romance! i loved the friendship that violette and rowan had, and their relationship when they were young was cute. their banter was better than the banter from the first book! they were the perfect amount of playful and flirty with a simmering tension. i adored the second chance romance they had once violette moved back to their hometown (although i think her holding onto a grudge for something that happened in high school was a bit much lol). and rowan was so sweet with her daughter hollie! i definitely think this dragggged on a bit in the middle, there wasn't anything really happening plot wise, but i appreciated emotional growth these two had by the end of the book. a fun addition to this series!

this had everything i wanted in a standalone fantasy and then some. a revenge plot, a badass heroine, a simp of a hero, mythology, romance, and war. from the very get go, the story had me hooked and i simply couldn't put the book down for days. the main character, xishi, was such a dynamic character to follow! in my opinion, i thought that the pacing was perfect - there was enough action and suspense to keep the plot going, while the slow burn romance held such tension that honestly made me feral. 

the ENDING?!?!?!? sobbed. legit shed tears over these characters. i'm in love and obsessed with ann liang's writing. this definitely won't be my last read from this author!

thank you to netgalley and publisher for providing an alc in exchange for an honest review!

**absolutely no notes for the narrator. the girl did the damn thing. she put on the performance of a lifetime. if you're going to read this book, LISTEN TO THE AUDIOBOOK. you won't regret it.**

i actually don't even know where to start with this one. i feel an overwhelming amount of emotions, not all of them great - which is definitely the point of this book. if you're triggered by the events of the pandemic, tread carefully reading this book because it does not shy away from the hateful and absolutely vile treatment that asians/asian americans experienced at that time. the author also does an incredible job of creating a terrifying atmosphere with the ghosts that haunted the main character, cora. i was genuinely creeped out during certain scenes, and if you're squeamish with body horror and gore, this is not the book for you.

but my god was this phenomenal. the author's writing was BREATHTAKING. the descriptions were so vivid, they caused a visceral reaction in me. and the way these characters' stories unfolding pulled and tugged at every one of my damn heartstrings. truthfully, i'm in shock at what i've just read lol. i definitely need a few days to fully process everything. but READ THIS DAMN BOOK. omg.

comparing this to succession and saltburn is wiiiiiild. while there are a FEW aspects in this book that touch upon themes in both those, it's not nearly enough to be blurbed as such. here you have the typical story of an outsider, maya, marrying into an upper echelon family, the sterlings, and mysteriously being named the heir to inherit the entire family fortune after the previous heiress dies.

the writing was super clunky. there was a lot of telling and not showing which, in a mystery/thriller, basically negates those aspects of the book. the first few chapters were filled with nothing but paragraphs of info dumping (and before any of you say a single thing, YES I READ PARAGRAPHS). i understand that was necessary to set up the world/characters, but it made it hard for me to get into the story. the pacing was very slow - we hardly got anything worthy of note to do with the actual plot until about 30-40% in. the middle was filled with repetitive scenes of the wealthy family making the new wife feel like the gum on the bottom of their shoes. like we GET IT. she's "never be a sterling". ugh.

the last third of the story was when things finally started to pick up. right as i was finally getting into it, the plot twists that were revealed felt...boring? lackluster? it wasn't anything i didn't kind of guess was going to happen. i wasn't truly shocked by it. and then immediately after the big reveal, we cut straight to the epilogue. now that actually was a surprise because i didn't expect such an abrupt ending. it also felt a bit unsatisfying. i wanted more closure with the endings of certain characters because the set up was there for a bigger conclusion and we got none of it.

this story takes place in 2004 and i do have to hand it to the author - she did capture what the world and culture was like during that time perfectly.

overall, there wasn't anything about this book that really stood out. nothing that i haven't already read before.

i can't believe this is the last book in this series (and that i binged the whole thing lol). i have loved the fast paced action packed world of dani vega and all of her found family members. the little romance in the end made me heart ACHE. ugh. this was such a fun ride!

this was an absolute delight. whimsical, fantastic imagery, and incredible writing. the mini-stories we got were full of love, loss, strength, and perseverity. such a powerful book in a short amount of time!

"angry mothers raise daughters fierce enough to fight wolves." PERIOD.

i love mieko's writing with my whole heart. she's not one to shy away from feminist topics and it is usually the driving force behind the growth of her characters. i didn't love this one as much as breasts and eggs but i still enjoyed and appreciated the conversations it sparked and the themes it explored!

sapphic!!! zombies!!!! tension!!!! high stakes!!! this was everything i wanted.

also, this was a caitvi fanfic and i will die on that hill.