uraveragelesbianreader's reviews
14 reviews

I really really wanted to like this book I wanted to understand why everyone else liked this book. This book was the most boring simple unrealistic juvenile novel I have ever had the misfortune of reading and this is the first book that has ever genuinely made me wish I DNF books. In fact, although I used to be throughly against DNFing especially for books that I had paid for, this book changed my stance on that I can now wholly understand what may make a book so horrible even if you spent your own money on it that it would be worse to keep reading than to just end the suffering. First the plot, your average wattpad book written by a 15 year old child about Harry Styles has a better plot than this novel.  Every plot twist spends too long building up holds too little relevance in the actual story and then for the next twenty or so pages the author pats themselves on the back about how smart and genius the plotwist was through the characters. Im not sure if the author was intending to lean away from old tropes or embrace them fully OR twist them in some way but whatever they tried to do they failed. About 50ish pages in I was able to guess the entire plot in sequence correctly with only a few minor exceptions. Nothing that happens in this novel feels earned, it either feels massively predictable or thrown from some 4th dimension in an attempt to make the novel seem as if It is actually smart. Here I must also get into the characters, not only is the plot illogical so are the characters. Quite literally these characters are not real but I literally had to close the book on more than one occasion because people just do not say stuff like that or act like that in real life. I feel like the author was homeschooled as a child OR went to a pretentious boarding school and had no friends because their entire knowledge of teenagers and how they act comes from river dale (river dale in fact does a better job portraying teenagers!) and do not get me started on the main romance. For one, why the hell does he act like that??? He is like 20 and she is 17-18 and yes that age gap is legal but he is a grown man who could have a job (does he have a job???? does he go to school??? or does he just follow around little girls and sulk around a town thinking about how everybody hates him which I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that he is repeatedly a massive douhcebag at even the slightest inconvenience but of course this is played off as funny) he would be in his 2-3rd year at university and she's in grade 12 that's odd especially because neither of their ages have massive relevance to the plot. The fact that he is not even the worst character in the novel is the real kicker. Oh my god was the main character insufferable I genuinely could not stand her. The plot of this novel put simply is this girl showing up and interviewing traumatized people about an event that traumatized them FOR A SCHOOL PROJECT????? And she is a massive freak about it too. She's about as interesting as a stale moldy loaf of bread and I assume she is the authors self insert in the novel. I actually enjoy perfectionist characters and obsessed artists types who do questionable things for their art but Pippa is not this she's just a weirdo. If the novel showed her as creepily obsessed I think It would have not only served the plot but I would have enjoyed it far far more. Instead, we get some random girl nosing around and being shocked that this has consequence's. If I went into every issue this novel had I would end up writing a novel longer and more interesting than the novel itself. I give it .5 only because at a certain point it picked up a comedic value to me and if I imagined the scene occurring with slapstick clown music playing behind it it became bearable. I understand enjoying cringey bad books I do so myself, avidly so even, but I have never seen someone admit this book is bad or read it for that purpose and even when I tried to read it like that there was just nothing that made it worth it for me. I genuinely cannot recommend this book to anyone and if I had to pick between shitting in my hands and doing the macarena and reading this book again then get the toilet paper and start the music. 

I read this book in two hours on a train ride and honestly I think this is the best way to read this book. It was not good, the plot was not highly logical (although I think this was mostly on purpose) and the characters are odd but I actually didn't hate this book. It did mostly everything it was supposed to, it was almost written like a scream of a book. It feels like it should be a movie that you watch once on a plane and then never think about deeply again and I think if it was in that format I would have liked it a lot more. Firstly to address the illogical plot, I don't think this book was TRYING to be realistic, it reads like a comic book and I think that is not trying to be a serious book. None of what happens is realistic which I generally can enjoy but in this book I think it often becomes lost in its own sauce which ruined my enjoyment. This book does do a good job parading old tropey horror and the trope of the final girl, I think the themes are done well and aren't overly heavy handed. I did not find any of the characters uniquely compelling, but I didn't HATE any of them either, overall I felt very neutral towards most of the characters. The plot twists in this book feel either TOO well earned or out of nowhere. Partially I believe this is because we are reading from the perspective of a paranoid narrator. But at points it often feels like the twists are not earned by the plot and if they were they would have been much much more enjoyable. Plot points come at you too fast and it feels like whiplash whipping you around chapter to chapter instead of a slower plot. This doesn't mean I thought the PACE was bad, I think the pace actually served the novel more than hurt it but just because a book is fast paced doesn't mean it has to be rushed in its delivery of the plot. If every chapter was just a few more pages I think it would increase my rating of this book significantly. The characters in this book were also mixed for me. They were definitely flawed but somehow not also complex?? It is almost impressive how the main characters of the novel were flawed and they acted on those flaws but not in ways that are logical. I think this could have been solved if we got a little more screen time on certain characters to see their motivations. This is the specific situation that has occurred throughout the whole novel, there was a lot of telling not showing. Oftentimes the author just quite literally TELLS you what the theme is and what the message is instead of it being more implicit. I also found the ending to not be satisfying or enjoyable for me as a reader. It felt rushed, fake and honestly just rung wrong for me. Overall, I did enjoy this book and it was not a horrible read in the sense of enjoyment. As a reader I tend to read more for enjoyment which is why this book makes 3.5 stars for me, if your someone who reads purely for enjoyment and enjoys horror comedy (because I did oftentimes find this book funny, on purpose or not) then you will like this. However if you are someone who reads more for the literary aspect or any of the early concerns mentioned in my review sounds like dealbreakers turn back now. It is a hyper specific book in the same way that slasher/final girl horror (Think the scream franchise) is hyper specific. If that sounds like something you're into then you will probably enjoy this book, if it doesn't then you will hate this book and should turn back now.

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I first read this book. I picked it up on sale at my local secondhand bookstore and I am incredibly glad I did. This book is wonderful in every way, to me it does not fit into any one genre but is instead almost defines its own cosmic horror sci-fi fantasy thing. The market is oversaturated with novels set in New York and with novels with a cosmic horror villain so in order to incorporate both of these books and still stand out to me makes it incredible. The villain in this novel is genuinely horrifying to me, sometimes I think the threat of it was perhaps understated and almost a bit random but overall it felt fitting for the novel. I never felt as though the threat of the creature was gone, it felt instead almost omnipresent in the novel hovering over you as a reader in the same way it does the characters. I also love how this book used the villain to convey a message about society and social issues. Modernly, many novels attempt to do this but few actually succeed in this and I think this novel is a perfect example of that. It examined jet and specific issues that affect the world and the city of New York specifically using the cosmic horror of the monster in this show is wonderful. The themes feel intentional and realistic without being heavy-handed, gratuitous or pointless. The cast of characters in this novel were interesting to me. There wasn't one that I was uniquely connected to over another and none of them felt like perfect people. Sometimes the conflict between the main characters felt a touch contrived or unrealistic but it never majorly interfered with my enjoyment of the novel however I see how it could for someone else. For me the characters were not a major highlight of this story but instead a vessel to convey the plot and the message of the series and I think that served to help the book. The plot moved at a very natural and steady pace, it never felt as though one part was being rushed through or that another part was dawdling along and one of the biggest highlights of this book for me. Sometimes however, I ended up very confused, I do think this is a me problem however. I am not a big reader of sci-fi so I found it more difficult to picture some things and ended up having to reread pages. The prose also oftentimes felt a touch dry however I think this is because I don't read a lot of realism, specifically non-magical realism. This is what I found hindered most my enjoyment of this book but did not ruin it for me and that is because the pacing and excellent plot compensate well for this. Because of this writing however, I did oftentimes find it difficult for me to picture the scenes as they were occurring in the novel specifically the fight scenes, once again however I think this was a me problem. If you're a more well versed sci-fi reader, I think you will enjoy this one far more than I did which is saying something because I already enjoyed it. To conclude, I think the characterizing in this book is wonderful and the characters chosen serve as a wonderful vessel to convey the key plot and message of the novel. Although the writing could occasionally be dry and confusing, it never massively hindered the plot to me due to its amazing pacing however it did disengage me. Its a book that is best read over multiple days and by someone far more versed in sci-fi and cosmic horror than I am. I would actually recommend coming into this book with more knowledge of the plot than I had so you know more what to expect and can better wrap your head around the horror of the novel. I would recommend this book to horror and sci-fi lovers specifically those looking to diversify their reading. It was a wonderful book and I am looking forwards to seeing more from this series.

This book was a really fun read! I read it back around halloween and quite literally devoured it all in one day in maybe about 5 hours. Usually I am not a big fan of magical realism, but this book I really enjoyed. I'll Strat my review with the good parts. The characters in this book are immaculate. All the relationships feel fleshed out and well earned and although I had complex and unique feelings about every character, there wasn't one I particularly hated (beyond the very clear villains but I will get to that shortly in the negatives.) The writing was clear and spoke to the characterization well, I never had trouble visualizing the scenes or the characters throughout the novel. All this is done while still not being aggressively complex or literary prose which I think actually helped this book more than hindered it. Never before have I been so compelled by so many of the relationships in one book, the friendships and the platonic relationships all flowed well and felt natural. They were flawed and occasionally harmful but never felt fully toxic or underdeveloped or that the flaws are unexplainable or unrealistic. The plot to me is mostly secondary to the relationships that are developed by it so if you're a person who prefers plot to characters, you may not like this book as much as I did. On the note of the plot at points it reads more like a buzzed article than a book but I actually did not find this to the detriment of the book because I feel it was intentional. This book does not have morally grey antagonists they are VERY morally bad, the main characters do have moral greyness but that is about it. It reads like an old 90s witch movie with a modern progressive twist and the plot is not logical but it is fun, and the message sent is important. This book has a lot of sex positivity as well as queer rep shown in very explicit way there is no messing around about the plot in that way. I found that a really enjoyable and unique part of this book, I haven't really seen a lot of fiction be this explicit in its exploration of things like the queer experience and sex so blatantly and it was refreshing. Very few books also focus this much on the relationships between women especially women in their older age. Its a very underrepresented group in literature and when they are represented it is oftentimes done in a way such as to make them the but of the joke but this book didn't feel like that. They talk about aging, specifically aging as it occurs in women very openly and very blatantly and it is never made to be gross or funny it just is. The relationships also feel organic and although they did not show us the development directly the hints we do get of the past allow the relationships to feel more organic especially because it is intermixed wonderfully with the main plot. Although I do think the main issue is resolved a little quickly for my liking and once again the final 50 pages I feel could've been stretched a bit more. However, I like the resolution and it felt rewarding and well built up to. Overall this book represents a wonderful demographic that we often don't see in media and although it can be a touch heavy-handed in its themes, that only serves to help the plot in the end. I would recommend this book for those looking for a uniquely touching witchy story about the relationships between women over time.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion but I actually enjoyed this book more than I enjoyed Delilah Green doesn't care.   The plot felt well placed, the relationship felt more naturally evolving and felt like a more major focus of the novel. It could be because I am more of a veteran romance reader at the time of reading this than I was when I reads the first book, but the relationship felt like a larger focus and felt more built up to and worked for. The book however in my opinion does kind of crash and burn towards the end, this did not ruin the experience for me personally however I could see how it would for someone else. The ending felt a bit rushed and flip floppy and overall very unrewarding for what had been established by the main narrative, I think the last 50 pages could have easily been stretched into 100 and that would have benefited the book. That is not to say however that I thought the pacing of this book was bad, it wasn't. The pacing accurately reflected the events and up until the ending nothing felt rushed. The characters in this book were both more and less compelling than the ones in Delilah Green (This is ironic considering it is a mostly returning cast). On the positive side, I felt much more attached to Astrid and Jordan than I did Delilah and Claire, I felt their relationship was more of a satisfying build and pay off for me. This could be because they are closer to my personal preference, however I think the way their relationship is written also puts more focus into their individual characterizations than was done in the first novel. The novel did a wonderful job developing Astrids character overall however I do think her coming out storyline was slightly rushed. I did have some qualms with the overall queer rep in this novel but they weren't major enough to ruin the novel for me just make me raise an eyebrow every now and then so I will mention them at the end of my review. Jordan felt like much more of a dimensional and loveable love interest to me than Claire did and Astrid and Jordan feel much more compatible than Delilah and Claire. Where I think the novel suffered is that although I was very attached to Jordan and Astrid, the main characters, there was far less of a side/supporting cast presence. Where as in Delilah Green Doesn't Care, I felt the supporting cast played a major part and I felt far more attached to them, in this book their role is far more minor so if you really enjoyed that aspect of Delilah Green you will probably like this book less for me however this wasn't a major issue. Now for my gripes with the queer rep, having every single character in your novel (ESPECIALLY your novel focusing on WLW romance) be ambiguously queer is NOT as progressive as wlw romance authors seem to think it is. Firstly, just like how Delilah was very clearly lesbian coded, Jordan was also very clearly coded as a lesbian, in fact she was even referred to as being "butch" at multiple points, never once is she actually called the L word and it is only said once in the entire novel. On the note of Delilah, her sexuality was handled AWFULLY in this novel. Slight spoilers here but she makes an offhand comment when Astrid is asking her about sexuality that the only people she is not into is "cisgender men". This is a weird doubly layer transphobic and lesbophobic comment all stuffed into a fun (albeit unintentional) package. Lesbians are not into MEN wether they are trans or cis does not matter and a man is a man regardless of what  sex organs they were born with. It would have conveyed the same message if Delilah had simply said that she was just not into men but instead it came off as very fake woke and even harmful. Overall I think Astrids sexuality was mishandled in this book. She is directly referred to as bisexual which I liked however in that same conversation with Delilah there is a comment about how sexuality is fluid and it is somewhat implied that she became bisexual over time. This is disproven as we see Astrid think back into her youth however the message itself is still very harmful, for some people sexuality can change overtime in the way they express it, but you don't just wake up one day and become attracted to the same gender or lose your attraction to the same gender. None of these issues are massive but they peeved me and are something I wish I could have anticipated going into the book. I do not think they were intentional (as these are very pervasive in the wlw romance genre anyways) but they were harmful and could have been easily avoided. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and if you're looking for a good hallmark romance but make it wlw this is for you! It has a very compelling main romance and generally steady pacing and writing and there is SEVERAL spicy scenes (in many locations to!) but the issues with pacing and representation kept me from giving it a full five stars.

I would give this book more stars if I could. Although I do not consider myself particularly vulnerable to tiktok marketing I will admit tiktok made me read this book and for once I would like to thank them for it. The writing of this book is wonderful and its prose keeps your interest and leaves you putting together the pieces at the same speed as our main character, leading to an engaging experience. On the note of the main character, Nirrim as a main character is a wonderful decision. Her development feels slow and steady but is not necessarily linear. She struggles, she progresses and she regresses as she finds her morals and values in a confusing world. Every element of the plot is wonderfully discovered and although not all the plotwists are gasp-inducing ones they all feel earned and powerful to the plot. I will not spoil anything but the ending is just wonderful and so so beautifully well earned. The ending felt like the final note of a wonderful song and if I do not get my hands on the second book as fast as possible I will not know what to do with myself. The main romance of this book was just spectacular. It didnt feel contrived or like it was forced into a plot that did not really need romance, this book NEEDED its romance subplot and it is used expertly to enhance the plot. I have to say Sid and Nirrim are most definitely in my top 3 sapphic book couples of all time. To give you an idea of just how good it is, I annotate my books with pink flags to denote romantic scenes, I went through at least 1/4 of my pink flags in this book alone. The way this book uses its fantasy setting to touch upon real issues in society was done expertly and although it is not technically a dystopia the parallels are quite clear. I would recommend this book to just about anyone but specifically; those who enjoy HEAVY romance subplots, those who enjoy mystery books and are looking to reach out and people who think reading about lesbians uncovering secrets of the past sounds fun.  

This book did everything it was supposed to do. I dont read a lot of horror so I cannot speak to its quality relative to other books in the genre but I honestly enjoyed it. The twists and turns feel earned and I liked putting the pieces together. I will admit the ending felt quite a bit fast and although it did feel like putting together a puzzle, there werent that many pieces to put together. There were however many moments I audibly gasped when things were revealed as those few pieces did come together. I think if the book was a tad longer and the last 50 pages occurred across 100 pages it would help make the timing feel a little bit less janky and thats why it gets a lower rating from me. That being said, I think this writing was intentional. The whole end of the book kind of reads like a downwards spiral that starts going faster and faster and faster till its all over in a big bang. So if that style of writing is something you enjoy you will enjoy this book. It definitely does a good job building the horror slowly and the foreshadowing is obvious but relevant and not overwhelming. Side note here, if one of your reading pet peeves is authors who havent been or spoken to a teenager in 20 years trying to write teenagers and failing miserably, this book IS NOT for you. As a final note, if you like answers, you will hate this book. The one thing this book does have going for it is re-readability, I could see myself rereading this and finding new details each time, although I assume this is par for the course in the thriller genre. I would recommend grabbing this book from the library or in a discount 

I picked this book up on a whim because it was on sale at my local bookstore and I was not disappointed. It was a fun modern love story with a unique concept and an important narrative hidden beneath it. The book itself was beautiful and the way Tarot cards before chapters gave you an idea of what would occur within the chapter was beautiful both in design and in concept. I think because I came into this book with very few expectations I enjoyed it. My advice is don't make this book anything its not and don't come in expecting wonderful prose and a captivating deeply realistic story line, read it the way you would watch a 90s romcom and you will have a good time. That being said I don't think this book is lacking depth. Though the L word is never said explicitly our main character is a lesbian and has experiences that I feel many of us can relate to. That conflict in the book feels very realistic and relatable but where I think this book struggles is it attempts to fit into a mould that was not made for it. It tries to fit a very typical romance book format when that's not really what this book is this leads to the pace feeling a bit janky and some of the later conflict between the main characters feeling contrived and unnatural. Overall this book is fun but I would not reccomend paying full price for it, get it from the library or pick it up on sale. I would specifically recommend this book for those who want an atypical romance book and those who feel like reading a book about a lesbian sceptic and a bisexual witch falling in love. 

This book will likely not be most people's 'thing' but it was absolutely mine. My recommendation is to read through all the 1-2 star reviews and if any of the criticisms are complete turn offs for you then dont read it. As someone who enjoys this book thoroughly I found myself agreeing with most of the criticisms people had but I was able to enjoy the book anyway. In order to enjoy this book you must really and truly suspend your disbelief and occasionally your morality. The main characters are not likeable, they do not have major growth or development but in my opinion this does not hurt the plot. They are children and they act their age, its like an all female lord of the flies with an added horror element. The world built for you by this series is unique in its terror. There are two main ways horror is achieved, by subverting something we know or by creating a new cosmic or existential threat and this book expertly applies both. Although we may not all go to boarding school we all know how a boarding school functions and modernly, we have all lived through and watched how powerless we are to disease. The existential horror comes in with the nature of the disease used in this story. It is absolutely not realistic in its symptoms, how it spreads or how it was created but that is what is horrifically wonderful about it. The way it takes the most ordinary things from animals to people and warps them into monsters is an underrated aspect of this book. The timing of this book hinders its ability to truly lean into the disease element and I think if it reached popularity before 2020, or if anyone could truly read books in a vacuum, it would probably be more well received as we would be able to suspend our disbelief further. I would recommend going into this book as blind as possible and really just tucking away your pandemic knowledge. Furthermore I would not recommend this book to those who like character driven narratives. This book uses its characters to tell a story but there is not much development or a deeply compelling aspect to these characters. You will have a level of sympathy for them and their plight but expect them to annoy you mildly from time to time. If you come into this book knowing vaguely what to expect and if it fits your interests and let yourself be immersed in the pocket dimension built for you, you will enjoy this book. Overall I liked this book but it is a very niche book and marketing it as anything more than that does it a disservice. I would recommend this book to only those who are looking for a book about teen girls afflicted by a horrific, body horror level, disease and their struggle to survive. If that description does not intrigue you then do not even bother with my previous advice and read lowstar reviews, simply turn back now. 

This book is like a roller coaster. Every high leads to a dizzying low and when it's over far sooner than you expected your hair is in your face, your latest meal in your throat, you can't tell left from right up from down and swear that there was no reason the final drop needed to be that big. When my close friend recommended this book she said that it 'reads a bit like a first draft' and that may be the best way to sum up my criticism for this book. Some of the scenes feel hasty and almost like you're watching them at 1.5x speed. However I do not actually fully blame the author for this as I think this books popularity on tiktok rushed them into keeping a strict release schedule when it could've benefited from a little more polishing. All that being said this book doesnt read like a 'written for tiktok' book and I didnt often find myself cringing at scenes or wishing that a scene would just be over already. I think the way this book is marketed does it a disservice. Wu is not a 'morally grey' protagonist. She does things that are objectively morally wrong BUT justifiable in her circumstances. It is very much a 'good for her' moment whenever she lashes, out but she is by no means morally grey and thats okay. Had she been marketed to me this way I think I would have read this book sooner and not let it rot on my TBR for nearly 3 months. On the note of incorrect marketing, I often see this book marketed as queer and although that is not WRONG it does require further nuance. This book is written by a queer author and all of the 3 main characters are bisexual however only MLM romance is explored explicitly and only very briefly. This is completely fine, fits the narrative and I dont feel further inclusion of queerness would add to or hurt the story I just want people reading this book to have realistically set expectations. On the note of romance it was skilfully done. Seeing someone so beautifully perfect a genuine enemies to lovers story line AND a friends to lovers story line was wonderfully refreshing and the polyamory element was exciting. Everyone always says that they want a genuine love triangle (all 3 involved in love with one another) and this is exactly what this book gives you. My personal advice is to go into this book as blind as possible and block out the time to read it all in one sitting because as it mentioned earlier IT IS FAST. I read it across 3 days and ended up having to reread at least a chapter every time I started again, if you prefer slow burn and careful delicate world and character building, this is not the book for you. That is however not to say that I think the pace hurt the story, I think a slow pace would feel out of place for a book like this. The pace serves the narrative wonderfully and is skilfully used by the author. This book feels like a scream written down on paper it is a violent rage against the qualms of the female experience and it is wonderful. As someone who typically shys away from scifi I would read a million sci-fi books if they were done half as tactfully as this one. The world building is gripping and the power system is easy to understand but somehow not simple or boring. The duelling threats facing the main character adds multiple layers of tension that at times feel like more could be done with but are not underutilised by any means underused. I would recommend this book to those bored by typical sci-fi, looking for a unique take on historical tales and fantasy readers wishing to branch out their taste. I am already waiting to preorder the second book and I cannot wait to see what is done with this series