booksbytheglass's reviews
851 reviews

I'm still processing the events of this chonky book so expect a long rambling review!! 🤪 this series (and all of SJM's books) consume my every thought, and it's truly spectacular to watch a world come to life, especially as one as complex as crescent city!  that is one thing SJM knows how to do best: weaving complex storylines so easily!!

it's so hard to write a spoiler-free review since every little detail feels like a spoiler, so I'll say this before I go into more detail after the break: it felt like so much happened in the span of 900 pages, and yet, there was so much more I wanted to see.  it didn't feel like enough, and also too much all at the same time.  so clearly, I'm still conflicted at how much I enjoyed this one...

🛑 [SPOILERS BEHIND THIS POINT] 🛑






[TURN BACK NOW!!!!]






okay if you're still with me, I'm going to start with the gigantic elephant in the room that is the multiverse of ACOTAR, CC, and TOG.  I think I went in with too high expectations because the ACOTAR crossover felt... unimportant.  everything that bryce learned from nesta and bryce could have been told to her by aidas at any give time... so yes, it was a fan service moment, but it didn't hold a great impact to me 🫠 I wanted so much more from the multiverse - and maybe that's due to the fact that I love the ACOTAR and TOG characters so much more than the CC ones... but I was truly holding out hope for an avengers like crossover event at the end...

that being said, nesta's evolution and personality in this one showed SO MUCH growth since we last saw her in ACOSF 🥹🥹🥹 - she's grown, she's besties with azriel now, and she wields her powers (those silver flames though omfg!! ☠️) and weapons with beauty, grace, and warrior skill.  I teared up everytime I saw her on the page! 😭❤️

and that leads me to bryce because she was not it in this book.  the "hiding everything from everyone" trope didn't work for me 🫠 in TOG, aelin was the queen of keeping everything close to her chest and it worked for her, mostly because we saw her trauma and grief of what happens when she trusts people time and time again.  it fit.  with bryce, it just felt smug and selfish.  yes, she takes no shit which I love, but I didn't see the growth in her like I did in HOEAB...

once again, ruhn and lidia have my entire heart like they did in HOSAB! 🥵 I loved seeing them grow past their "day and night" personalities, but again, I wanted more.  this was a veryyyyyy plot heavy book, which means the characterization and growth potential of characters felt stifled.  I didn't feel as connected to them as I have with SJM's other series, and I think that's due to this series being very plot heavy and world building and less emphasis on who the characters truly are at their core.

the ending to me felt anticlimactic, and that's mostly due to the fact that SJM uses the same "dead but not really" trope on every main character in every one of her finales 😑🙄 it felt like a repeat of ACOWAR which took away the effect she was going for.  don't get me wrong, I love a happy ending, but you're telling me not a single person died fighting gods??? please 

I just think the book would have been cleaner if it focused more on the multiverse aspects and less on the side characters (tharion, your chapters made me want to stab my eyeballs, there's only so much self pity I can take 🫠) especially if a spin-off is happening with tharion and ithan.  I screamed every time a little tidbit was dropped about the ACOTAR and TOG connections though omg - and the way she set up ACOTAR 5? priceless 😮‍💨

at the end of the day, it was an entertaining and heart-pounding plot heavy read, and it did the fan service of loyal SJM readers well.  I just think some cuts of POVs with the addition of more multiverse connections would have made this a 5 star read for me...

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: chianti red blend

I will read absolutely anything and everything that chloe gong writes!!! her style of writing is so beautiful, with a perfect blend of dialogue and description, and I really feel so immersed in this world! 

I would also read a thousand stories from the world of THESE VIOLENT DELIGHTS and FOUL LADY FORTUNE - these characters are everything to me!!!

and while I was expecting a fun adventure story of roma and juliette and benedikt and marshall, it turned out to be an intense ride of a novella! and the events that happened in these two stories are crucial to the events of FOUL LADY FORTUNE and explain so much 🫡

I only wish I read this one closer to when I finished the series because your girl forgets details like nobody’s business whoops

however, these were a quick and fun read!!! I definitely enjoyed the roma and juliette story more due to the high stakes and seeing them as a married couple! 

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: ao yun cabernet sauvignon 

oh this one was so so cute 🥹🥹 there’s something about a royal romance that always gets me!!!

this gave major princess diaries vibes (and the princess switch) - and I was so here for it! princess illaria wants to spend a day in rome being a normal person, and listen, I get it but accidentally drugging yourself is not the move (which girl, I’ve done that it ain’t fun) 😅😭

it’s a damn miracle that she was found by cutie callum (who knows the other callum from christina lauren’s novel!! we love a crossover!!) - and he’s scottish AND gaelic? say less 😮‍💨

I appreciated how we got to see the day in the life of both of them, including their emotions and feelings. this was a love at first sight trope that actually really worked out! 🥰 I was swooning by the end

rating: 4 stars
wine pairing: tuscany red blend

this did not go in a direction I thought 😭 but the ending was so cute pls!!!

the best (wo)man and the man of honor have to hunt down the groom on the day of the wedding, thanks to a bachelor party gone wrong 😅 and I would have loved to see a full length novel of this!!

what didn’t work for me was how rushed this felt… there were a lot of events that were alluded to or briefly mentioned that I would have loved to see fleshed out in a longer novel. and I didn’t feel the sparks between the MMC and FMC as much as I would have if I knew their full history!

still, ashley poston spins words into gold, and I laughed so hard at the antics in this one!! it just definitely would have benefited with a longer full-length story to get the full cuteness and characterization 🥰

rating: 3 stars
wine pairing: beaujolais red blend

okay hear me out, this wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either 🥴 I’m also not an insta love fan so maybe that’s why I felt disjointed and that something was missing

I don’t know about you all, but MMC harris’s brain HAD to be broken - otherwise, there’s no way he actually thought glaring and yelling at someone was an accurate way to express your emotions that you like someone 🤡 this gave off major “teasing because they like you” vibes and I’m not here for that

also, FMC daisy was so quick to turn around and find herself attracted to him once she talked to him… after she was about to leave his bakery because he’s literally mean to her??? I don’t know, I just don’t find that attractive at all

BUT this was the first one with a bit of spice which I always appreciate, but it wasn’t enough to save the story overall

rating: 2 stars
wine pairing: new zealand sauvignon blanc

and here is the cheese factor I was inevitably waiting for 😅😅 as a lover of emo romances and not so much a lover of hallmark cheese fests, this one was just eh for me

I think if you’re into romcoms and meet cutes, this is a perfect quick read! when two sisters have a spa day on valentine’s day, one of them gets trapped in a treatment room and needs firefighter rescuing!! and yes, this is 100% a corny firefighter romance…

I did find the dialogue to be cringy, and the characters to be a bit superficial, but I did enjoy the plot twist at the end! meet cutes just might turn out to be my new favorite thing 🥰

rating: 2.5 stars
wine pairing: burgundy red blend

things I’ve learned from this book: I really love when people say “unalive” (it validates me so much), and the phrase is “hard as hail” not “hard as hell” 🤯🤯

also, I really really love this series!!! I thought the insta love and meet cutes were perfectly executed for a novella - and as an emo romance fan, they were not cheesy AT ALL pls!!!

this one was definitely more emo and sad, especially for a valentine’s day book, but it’s a great representation of different versions of life 🥺 and can we talk about how lovely of a person holly is

I can’t wait to continue this series!! I love anything abby jimenez writes!

rating: 5 stars
wine pairing: sonoma county rosé

this had absolutely NO business being this adorable!!! 🥹🥹 if you read anything valentine’s day themed this year, read this one!!!

I was a little skeptical learning that this one would mostly be in email format - as sometimes it doesn’t allow for a great characterization and makes the characters surface level. but in christina lauren we trust because that was not the case at all!!!!

when an email mix-up turns into a ten-year-long pen pal situation, C and T develop their friendship through their annual valentine’s day emails - and I cannot tell you how invested I was!!!! at first, I was worried it was going to be insta love by the shortness of the book, but I had nothing to fear because this felt SO fleshed out!! I could see the characters growing up before my eyes!

my only criticism is that I want a full length story of these two 😭🩷 the perfect novella to start off the romance season!

rating: 5 stars
wine pairing: provence rosé

this one was a firm miss for me 🥴 I was about to DNF at around 40% but a part of me really wanted to know if this was going to end in a final plot twist or be as slow and boring as the first half

sadly, it went the way of the latter 🫠🫠🫠

the back and forth timelines in the life of iris was very disjointed. it would have worked better if the past stories related at all to what was happening in the present, but instead, it felt like they were completely separate stories until the very end

plus can we talk about that random romance that was thrown into the middle for little reason? 

I figured out the plot twist very early on, and I was hoping I was wrong, but sadly it just dragged on and on forever 😭 I just wanted it to end pls 

between the side plots and random characters that had absolutely nothing to do with the story and basically existed just to drag the book out further 😭 this was not it for me - however, I do love a good spooky setting and this island prison gave me all of the shutter island vibes!!!

thank you to netgalley and graydon house for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review! 

rating: 2 stars
wine pairing: beaujolais red blend

emily henry’s writing cures everything 😭🩷 I absolutely adore her blend between romcom, serious relationship moments, and perfect side characters that have you DEMANDING for a spin off!! 

it took a while for daphne and miles to grow on me, especially since they were thrust together in less than ideal terms (their significant others decided to dump them and date each other instead 🥴🥴) but I absolutely adore fake dating and relationship of convenience tropes, and miles works at a winery?? aka me?? goals 

due to ✨ childhood trauma ✨ both miles and daphne have trust issues, which is a relatable concept, except for the fact that they both refuse to communicate about them!!! I loved how julia, miles’s sister, and ashleigh, daphne’s friend, became close in their mutual frustration over their brother and friends - because same ladies same 😅

I do have to agree with other reviews and say that this is one of emily henry’s hottest couples - the tension, the slow burn, the will they won’t they, it was all so perfect 😮‍💨 and when they finally did open up to each other, their talks were so healthy I wanted to cry because this is exactly what I’m looking for in a relationship!!!!!

what held me back from giving it a full five stars was the miscommunication. specifically that miles does something that he KNOWS is daphne’s trigger to her trauma, and while he doesn’t do it maliciously, he’s clearly an idiot for not understanding her anger. it just felt like all of their understanding got thrown out the window for the sake of a third act breakup 🙄

BUT I absolutely adored the characters, the setting, the writing - just everything that emily henry touches is gold thanks 🥰 and a huge thank you to berkley and berkley romance for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!! 

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: 45 north riesling (this is a combined brewery and winery in michigan and they have the most unique blends!! I can totally see miles working here!!)