bayleereads's reviews
150 reviews

I will not apologize for being in my hockey romance era 🥰 Just like the first two books in this series, I ADORED this book! First of all, I LOVE Allie. She’s a lot like me— being relationship oriented, having an overwhelming love for her friends, and prioritizing her future. Dean— my god, Dean. I STRONGLY disliked him in the first two books and even at the beginning of this one he gave me the ICK… the sexism & misogyny he radiated was 🤢 BUT I fell in love with him as he fell in love with Allie. I loved the deeper themes in this book— especially the plot about grief + healing. Although we saw Dean grow in his personal life, I would’ve liked to have seen him grow out of his offensive views towards women. Yeah, Allie changed his views somewhat. But we didn’t really get to see him on the other side of his objectifying views.

I listened to this on audio and I thought it was fairly good. It was incredibly informative on a case I knew nothing about. I enjoyed getting to know the victim and the perpetrator and what led all of these circumstances. This story is important for everyone to read because of the real lessons it teaches-- no one should be harmed for who they are, and one dumb, mindless decision can severely impact the lives of many people. There were some disconnects for me: 1) The author didn't focus a ton on the main people involved (Sasha  + Richard), and rather focused a lot on people connected to Sasha and Richard in other ways, and it made the timeline and story confusing. 2) This book reads like a bunch of newspaper articles strung together... which is... blah. While it wasn't the most enjoyable read, it was super informative and I do recommend it those who haven't heard of Sasha's story.

Be still my heart... this was such a beautiful book. Despite the content being very heavy and depressing, it was still somewhat hopeful and inspiring. Rachel, our FMC, is a force to be reckoned with and I loved every minute of her character. Her passion for family is so inspiring and it made me think about my own family and the lengths I would go to to protect them. Each child's story was different and lovely, all in their own ways. At times it seemed as though the story was too "easy." I understand the author wanted a *mostly* happy ending, but as much as I loved the reuniting between characters, I know this was not the case in the majority of real stories of the time. I also wanted more! I feel like each child could have had at least 100 pages written about them-- 336 pages wasn't enough for me!

Calling all fans of Bridgerton-- this historical romance is for YOU! I loved this 19th century romance set in England. Our FMC, Annabelle, is such a badass woman for her time. I loved her and her friends, and the Duke of Montgomery is such a dreamy man (for the times). I liked how this book centered around the suffrage movement in England and the feminism of the time. For me, the steam was a bit relaxed, but I still enjoyed it! This didn't quite hit five stars for me because the Duke was verrryyy dramatic and misogynistic. I get it, it was the theme at that time, but damn-- this guy was an asshole! Especially to his brother! Overall it was a great read and I will be continuing the series!

Oh how I loved this book! Wallace and Hugo are probably some of the most loveable characters I've ever read about. The concept of this book is so unique, and as a spiritual person, I'd like to think something like Charon's Crossing is real-- that when we pass, we have time before truly crossing over. Nelson and Apollo pulled on my heart strings constantly. This didn't quite hit five stars for me because I predicted the ending about half-way through, and the beginning dragged for me... I didn't feel fully immersed until around page 100. I'm glad I stuck it out though because this story is so beautiful!

This is the exact kind of book I should like, but it was not what I was expecting. This was supposed to be a book about birding and conservation, but it was more about the author's journey to birding. Which is fine-- but the synopsis and marketing should be different, as it seemed misleading. Of the chapters I did read, I struggled HARD with the writing. Every other sentence had a word I didn't know or understand. I felt like I needed a Ph.D. just to understand the descriptive words. Speaking of descriptive words-- how many different words do you need to use to describe the color green in ONE sentence?? This story was also very non-linear and didn't flow well at all for me. I had to DNF because I was actually getting frustrated reading this.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this on audio, having Jennette narrate her life to me. Although it was extremely triggering as someone who has had an ED in the past, it was hopeful listening to her talk about her beginnings of recovery and how her life has changed since her mom died. I loved iCarly growing up, so this felt like an old friend telling me about her life over a cup of coffee. I enjoy Jennette's sense of humor and her sarcastic storytelling.

As much as I loved this, how it ended didn't fully sit right with me. I think for me it’s the fatphobia. I understand she was taught these things from her mother and her eating disorders are from her mom, but she never talks about or addresses her internalized fatphobia. As a fat person, I’m tired of people’s biggest fear being looking like me. It felt like it was written from a person who hasn’t fully fully healed from her trauma-- which is valid! But it felt like she wrote this still in the midst of her struggles, rather than being deep into recovery and using this book to "warn" others of toxic relationships and ED's.

Memoirs are to be written by anyone at any stage of their life-- I get that. But when the content can be potentially harmful/dangerous, especially to youth and teens, I think there needs to be more talk about the consequences of ED's and fatphobia. It shouldn't be ignored or dismissed, no matter the type of book.

Curvy girl representation! I loved this one! As a curvy girl, it can be hard to find books that have fat protagonists who *actually* enjoy being in their bodies and aren't ashamed of their curviness. This book has such great body positive and body neutrality messages! Crystal and Scott are such a dreamy couple and I loved their chemistry! I also loved all the side-characters and side storylines (can't wait to read Tara's book!) I ADORED the family wedding aspect and Crystal's grandma was seriously so precious! Third-act breakups are one of my least favorite romance tropes, so that's why this one didn't hit five stars for me. Loved everything else though! 

Continuing on with the fifth book in my favorite romance series... Lyssa Kay Adams did not disappoint-- again! I love Colton SO much and Gretchen was loveable as well. This book combines two of my favorite tropes, second chance romance and grumpy/sunshine. The fun part about this though is the grumpy/sunshine is reversed (grumpy gal w sunny guy)! I loved the Christmas aspect (definitely recommend reading this one around the holiday season to get it's full effect!) and enjoyed the playful banter between these two. Also-- for the love of family drama!!! Of course, the Bromance boys are hilarious per usual-- I always bust a gut when the guys get together. Truly a great addition to the series and I can't wait for the next(?)

I'm beginning to think Ali Hazelwood is going to be one of my go-to authors. I loved this book so much! I adored Bee and Levi so much, both together and individually. The banter was hilarious and there were so many details I enjoyed about this book, such as Star Wars references, cats, the WWMD twitter page-- literally SO good and I never wanted to put it down! It didn't quite hit five stars for me because I was confused fairly often throughout because there are *so many* science/neuroscience/NASA references that I just simply do not understand lol. I found myself googling every now and then to look up a specific word or person mentioned. Other than that bit, I loved this and totally recommend!