alltheradreads's reviews
1840 reviews

the PERFECT book to read right now with the @olympics! 💙🖤❤️💛💚

i loved this one — a fun and fascinating story more of self-development than just romance, taking place at a fictional athens 2024 olympic games (mostly in the village! which was so cool to “peek into”!), with a volunteer and the fastest man in the world. 

it tackles some deeper themes — loss of a parent, grief and anxiety, parental expectations and pressure, figuring out who you are and what you want, etc! and the romance fades to black while still having great chemistry and fun flirtatiousness. 

as i watched the games open yesterday, i kept talking about this book and how many cool little things i learned or picked up from it, and i’m loving thinking about how all the olympians are spending their time when not training and competing. 

highly recommend reading this one this summer!

PHEW this one is a trip to read in 2024 (when it takes place! it was written in the 90s) — it’s dystopian (but is it?), it’s science fiction (that’s too real), and it’s intense. 😵‍💫

it’s one of those books that covers a lot of time but moves fairly slow, is seemingly neither plot-driven nor focused on character development, and is mostly a slice of life look at a very dark, depressing, dire future america. 

it’s hard to say i “liked” it, but it’s very worthy of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and i’m already starting the sequel — it definitely makes my list of books i think everyone should read in their lifetime! (a list i should actually put on paper…)

this book took me three weeks to get through 😅

the premise? fascinating. (time travel! “expats” of both time and place, brought from their era to now, with the help of a “bridge” as their guide to adjusting! secrecy in the ministry! moles and weapons and unclear identities! romance! etc!)

the execution? clumsy, tangled, confusing, and slow. 

i was bummed, and kept losing interest, and disappointed this one wasn’t sharper and more tightly told!

i loooove ashley poston’s creative, magical, whimsical stories, but this was my least favorite of her books 😔

i do think fans of gilmore girls or virgin river will enjoy this one – it’s perfect for anyone who wishes they could somehow live inside the fictional towns they love! 

it took me a bit to connect with the magic of this one, but it did slowly grow on me as things settled into place. i had guesses about what twists this plot would deliver, and they didn’t end up being right (but honestly, they might have made it better if they had been?). 

having LOVED poston’s first book, and really liking her second, i was a bit disappointed that this one didn’t have QUITE the same sparkle, but i did end up liking it (even though the characters’ chemistry felt lacking and the plot moved slooooowly). 🤷🏼‍♀️

everywhere sade goes, people die… ☠️

this was an intriguing one, perfect for fans of dark academia, contemporary mysteries, lgbtqia characters, boarding school settings, and entitled kids seemingly (possibly literally) getting away with murder. it kept me guessing constantly, had layers of secrecy and mystery and drama i didn’t expect, and ended with twists i enjoyed. (major tw here, which i didn’t know going into it… 🫣 r—pe, m—rder, s—icide, etc.)

overall, it was dark but it had me hooked and i liked it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

SO MANY PEOPLE loved this book. (i am not one of them.) 🫣

i understood what it was trying to do, with a really frank look at one young woman’s life and choices and self-discovery, with moments of breaking the fourth wall (which initially did confuse me, bc switching POVs like that is odd at first!!) and ultimately giving us a really unique look at margo… but it just didn’t click with me. 

it felt too drawn out and ultimately too self-indulgent i think? or maybe too irreverent? or too disjointed? or MAYBE it just wasn’t for me as a reader and that’s okay!!!

i gave it ⭐️⭐️ and i honestly didn’t enjoy it BUT maybe you might!! 🤷🏼‍♀️

i hate to be the one to say it… but CF’s books all feel the same to me 🫣

this one let me down, i’m so bummed to say! i LOVED fortune’s first book, was unimpressed by her second, but still had high hopes for this one... and it didn’t do it for me. 

i mean, i liked it, it was fine, i read it in an afternoon while getting my hair done, but it didn’t have the spark and heart that her first book had. i felt like the best friend keeping a big secret but making her people drop everything to go to PEI with her was weird and frustrating (JUST TELL US WHAT’S WRONG ALREADY, bridget!!!), and the chemistry between the MMC and FMC felt too shallow (even though sure, it did have steamy moments). i just didn’t buy into any of it. the second half and really, the last little bit did make me give this an extra star (3 when it would have been 2!!) so there’s that... but not a winner, unfortunately!