mangosugar's reviews
171 reviews

We love to see Asian protagonists representing both the neurodivergent and daddy issues community 😭 A very light, very hot, and pretty funny read that’s perfect for a reading slump or when you need to Feel Good Things. It definitely made me very happy while reading :’) 

The only fault I have with it is the way Michael’s backstory was presented. It got a little tedious and cringe at some point when the narrator kept referring to his “dark past” multiple times in the same chapter out of nowhere, so by the time the reveal happened, I was unimpressed. Otherwise, I had a really good time reading this book and I’m definitely tackling the rest of Helen Hoang’s novels :’)

I’ve been holding off on reading this book for the longest time because I was worried it wouldn’t be up to the hype, but I really enjoyed it.

Starting with what I think worked really well: Flynn created an impeccable town for the story to be set in. Wind Gap felt like its own character and it was built minutely, the atmosphere was sinister, tense, and overwhelming. The author managed to slowly develop the town with physical descriptions of farm slums vs obscenely rich, old-money neighbourhoods, as well as the stories of Camille’s childhood; the horrors of being a young girl in a sex-crazed, isolated, make-dominated town where no one can keep a secret hidden and everyone knows everyone. The town of Wind Gap is really its own person and my favourite aspect of this novel.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was how genuinely scary the characters are. I usually only get scared by supernatural horror, because I can take a human, I at least have a shot at beating another person, but what the fuck can I do against a ghost? But Miss Adora….. oh, that white woman is demonic. Her confrontations with Camille had me shivering.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t give this a 5 star review because of two reasons: 1) The middle really dragged. It felt like a lot of back and forth that could’ve been sped up, especially when it comes to some of Camille’s relationships with other characters. And 2) The ending felt hurried and a little confusing, but I can’t really expand on that without spoilers.

All in all, a very solid read. I was planning on watching the series afterwards but uh I do not want nightmares of Adora lmaoooo