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spellbindingtomes's reviews
347 reviews
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
This delightful cozy sci-fi duology felt like a warm hug in book form. Becky's captivating world-building combined with the fascinating backstory of the vanished robots hooked me from the start. It also explores deep questions about life in a thought-provoking way, without ever feeling overbearing.
I related to Sibling Dex a lot and every interaction they had with Mosscap was perfect. Their charming banter and profound exchanges touched my heart.
This gave me similar feels to Nier: Automata and a Studio Ghibli film. It asks philosophical questions about humanity and ponders the meaning of life all while giving off heartwarming and whimsical vibes.
The Monk and Robot duology is a story about connection, finding solace, and the beauty in our shared humanity - even amidst the great unknowns of the universe. If you crave an uplifting, soul-soothing read, look no further.
What to expect:
๐ต novella length duologies
๐ค cozy sci-fi
๐ต queer rep
๐ค non-binary MC
๐ต traveling tea monk + a robot
๐ค philosophical discussions
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
This delightful cozy sci-fi duology felt like a warm hug in book form. Becky's captivating world-building combined with the fascinating backstory of the vanished robots hooked me from the start. It also explores deep questions about life in a thought-provoking way, without ever feeling overbearing.
I related to Sibling Dex a lot and every interaction they had with Mosscap was perfect. Their charming banter and profound exchanges touched my heart.
This gave me similar feels to Nier: Automata and a Studio Ghibli film. It asks philosophical questions about humanity and ponders the meaning of life all while giving off heartwarming and whimsical vibes.
The Monk and Robot duology is a story about connection, finding solace, and the beauty in our shared humanity - even amidst the great unknowns of the universe. If you crave an uplifting, soul-soothing read, look no further.
What to expect:
๐ต novella length duologies
๐ค cozy sci-fi
๐ต queer rep
๐ค non-binary MC
๐ต traveling tea monk + a robot
๐ค philosophical discussions
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
๐๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ
๐๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ'๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐บ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ
"๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ," ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ.
๐๐ข๐ง๐ข ๐๐ฒ๐ง๐จ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ:
In 1929, the Hope family was murdered in their Maine mansion, with seventeen-year-old Lenora Hope the sole survivor. Though suspected, she was never charged. By 1983, an elderly and mute Lenora remains in Hope's End mansion, communicating only by typewriter. When Kit McDeere becomes her home-health aide, Lenora offers to finally tell her storyโbut her story may not be what it seems.
โข
โข
โข
The Only One Left had me completely captivated with its gothic atmosphere at Hope's End mansion. Riley Sager crafts an eerie, creeping tension that seeps through every page.
The story of Lenora Hope and Kit McDeere starts as a slow-burning mystery that had me hanging on every word Lenora typed out on her typewriter.
While the first half is a solid 4-star atmospheric thriller, the latter portion became tangled in its own web of revelations. The twists started piling up and there were a lot of coincidences that didn't make total sense.
I don't want to give away any spoils so I won't go into details, but if you love gothic atmospheric thrillers with a lot of twists, then give this a try!
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Grief, Car accident, and Abandonment
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is a love letter to bookstores & the communities they foster and for anyone who has ever found solace between the shelves of a bookshop.
Rather than say more, I'll let these quotes convince you to pick up this book:
๐๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
โข
๐๐ด ๐ช๐ง ๐ต๐ณ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด, ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ. ๐๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ญ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฅ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ'๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด.
โข
๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต. ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ณ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ, ๐ข ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐จ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ, ๐ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐'๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต ๐ข ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ฆ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ญ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ.
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gosh, I have so much love for this book. I watched the 2003 Peter Pan film so many times as a kid that I knew every line by heart. So to have a romance story inspired by the beloved fairytale and film I already knew it would resonate with meโbut I wasnโt prepared for just how much!
I went into this story without knowing a lot, and some of the plot choices Julie crafted genuinely took me by surprise (in the best way!). So, I wonโt spoil anything for you.
Off the Hook is an enchanting romance that captured my heart from the very first chapter. The story is ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ by Peter Pan but very loosely, making it a fresh and unique story.
I absolutely adored Jasper and Wendy! Jasper is the quintessential grumpโliving on the outskirts of town with his adorable son, Sam (who is just too precious for words!), and preferring his solitude. Wendy, on the other hand, is loved by everyone she meets.
I wasnโt sure Iโd enjoy the ex-fiancรฉeโs older brother trope, as I typically shy away from romances that complicate sibling relationships, but Julie handled it with such care. The slow-burn nature of Jasper and Wendyโs relationship made me appreciate how thoughtfully they navigated their feelings, considering how it would impact the entire family before taking any steps forward.
๐๐ต'๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ธ๐ข๐บ๐ด ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐'๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ด๐บ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ.
And I just HAVE to gush about the cliff-diving sceneโitโs easily one of my top favorite romance moments. The tension, the passionโeverything about it was perfect. I even had to make a graphic of it, because it was sooo good!
Julie's writing is brimming with passion. With every chapter, I felt like I was wandering the streets of Never Harbor. The subtle nods to the 2003 Peter Pan film brought back so much nostalgia, yet the story felt fresh and wholly original.
Read if you love:
๐ฆ Peter Pan (specifically the 2003 film!)
๐ช Hook x Wendy
๐ฆ single dad + nanny
๐ช grumpy x sunshine
๐ฆ ex-fiancรฉe's older brother
๐ช small town
๐ฆ slow burn
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Abandonment