sammytvo's reviews
664 reviews

 i find comfort in kennedy ryan’s writing. you can tell she takes so much care into her words as well as storytelling especially with autism representation in this book 

 

I appreciate the author for opening the discussion surrounding racism specifically colorism, autism, and the importance of self love. 

 

not only is this book about a beautiful angsty romance but this book is also soledad’s self discovery journey where she falls back in love with herself along with the help of her best friends yasmen and hendrix. the friendship between these girls has me tearing up 

 

“there aren’t enough sonnets for friendship. not enough songs for the kind of love not born of blood or body but of time and care. they are the ones we choose to laugh and cry and live with. When lovers come and go, friends are the ones who remain. we are each other’s constants.” 

 

btw hendrix is so real i love her can’t wait for her book !! 

 

JUDAH CROSS!! Ugh he’s made it to my favorites list like he’s literally perfect! The way he loves not only soledad but also his twin sons is so evident even through the pages HES A GOOD MAN SAVANNAH 

 

also the way judah YEARNS and ADORES soledad has me giggling and kicking my feet HE ATE FR 

 

this book served the trope: influencer and the love interest obsessed with her and stalking (in a noncreepy amount) her account hehehe obsessively checks her account 

 

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! 

 

This one is a childhood friends to lovers wooo! with a player mmc wow exciting Also wasn’t expecting the added mystery element wow fun The tension was definitely present in this one 

 

disappointed that i didn’t love this one especially when I have enjoyed j.lynn's previous works. it’s a childhood friends to lovers with a player mmc so it had so much potential. the execution of this love story wasn’t it for me 

 

first off, I can tell this was written in 2013 with the cringe vocabulary and juvenile dialogue. 

 

direct quote from this book - “you are such a vagina” HUGE ICKKK 

 

I understand this is a republishing of an old book but idk maybe rewrite it to be better 

 

sydney was kinda annoying with her “not like other girls” attitude and her slut shaming other girls that kyler would interact with. she also acted like a child as well as damsel in distress with kyler like girl STAND UP PLS 

i immediately love sophie's character the second i met her! i love her strength and her resilience especially with her unfair situation. she stayed true to herself and her morals and i love that! she’s just a girl that wants to be loved and to have a family that loves her. i’m so glad she found that with the bridgertons <3 found family fr

anyways sophiebenedict - love their playful banter and how they can be themselves with each other

[ i love a protective man but idk benedict's brash insistence for sophie to be his mistress gave me the ick like i understand that he was worried for her to be out in the world alone but she can clearly take care of herself. anyways benedict basically commanding sophie to stay with him rubbed me the wrong way (hide spoiler)]

still loved sophiebenedict and how they love each other as well as how their love story played out. however, i am disappointed that i didn't completely love this book especially with how i was annoyed with benedict sometimes but we move.

still very excited for bridgerton season four !! finally getting my asian cinderella story with my girl sophie !!!!

taylor swift songs
the last time
you’re losing me
exile

this was good but idk it felt dragging at some points. i'm glad alessandra made dominic work for it. i wish she made him work for it MORE tho esp when he's a workaholic

ngl this was a rough start. there wasn't really an introduction where i felt like we were thrown into this unknown world with so many different names and characters. i was even confused with whether the book is 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person - i was probs confused with who the main narrator was tbh (which i figured out later)

anyways the world is still interesting with the warring empresses and their strategists. it was fun seeing zephyr infiltrate the enemy camp and encountering her rival strategist which leads to an underlying romance with good banter. however, my initial confusion from the clustered info dump is clouding my enjoyment for this romance. it's so frustrating bc i feel like i would've loved zephyr and crow but i literally got to a significant part in their romance and i felt nothing. also i felt like there wasn't really any genuine buildup to their romance like all of a sudden you love this man??

also i hear ASTHMA every time the audiobook mentions one of the characters' names which is ALL THE TIME and i'm so annoyed

unfortunately this book isn't for me

yes i finished this witihin a day. . . . i’ve been seated ever since ana huang said she was inspired by that one scene from business proposal EEEEK

london boy and coney island - taylor swift
pov - ariana grande "imperfect by your own standards but so wonderfully perfect for me.”

i love isabella!! my filipina girl !! her insecurities felt so real and it was refreshing to see a fmc to have similar doubts about not having their life figured out. i also loveeee the filipino representation especially with the mention of the delicious foods and familial nicknames

isabella and kai are opposites attract but they definitely match each other’s freak 🦕 also this may be a very specific niche but i love it when the couple's individual povs have similar internal monologues like it's giving soulmate hehe - like at some point, isabella and kai were both internally fighting with their inner voices

"Besides, he’s not your type. Remember? Oh, shut up, Debbie Downer. Great. Now my inner voices were arguing with each other."

"It would’ve been worth it, an insidious voice sang. Shut up, another voice snapped. You never know what’s good for you. I rubbed a hand over my face. Great. Now I was silently arguing with myself. Damn Isabella." 

 i should hate u - gracie abrams 

partition - beyonce 

 

love seeing viviandante slow-burn relationship develop from an arrange marriage GAH THE ANGST THE DRAMMA and the groveling !! 

 

i love vivian! she is such a complex female character where she is strongwilled yet fragile when it comes to her family. ugh she is such my fav character so far 

 

viviandante are different people especially with their own cultural differences which I love that the book talked about - but they both have one thing in common: their love for their family 

this is such a good start to the kings series and i am so excited for the rest of the series

steal my love by dan + shay
difficult by gracie abrams (ada's song)

Okay i don’t love insta love but THIS GOT ME! ADAWES GOT ME

ada and wes both felt so real to me as characters. ada is such a relatable character from her anxious perfectionist to social awkwardness. wes's open dialogue surrounding depression and mental health was important! i also appreciate how open and unashamed wes was with having depression. it was so refreshing to see the conversation of mental health in a romance especially a cowboy one

invisible string by taylor swift (bc duh)
fool for you by zayn

OH THIS WAS AMAZING he has to kill her but he falls in love with her instead OH THIS HITTTT thank you june cl tan for this

"in the end, she is both my salvation and damnation."

i love the historical fantasy of it all but most importantly I love how DOWN BAD altan was for ahn

"helplessly, i stare at her like a fool, remembering all the other times i stared at her like a fool, thinking that if all i did for the rest of my life was to stare at her like a fool, it wouldn’t be so bad." OH HES A BUMBLING FOOL FOR HERRR

I also love the author’s storytelling where it was lyrical but not to the point where i’m confused.

oh this is definitely a slooooowww burn like it took a hot minute for the two mains to meet (around 40-50%) but it was worth it! like the anticipation of the two mains meeting as well as their relationship developing from strangers to hesitant allies to lovers

i know i'm talking a lot about the romance but the book is also a revenge story as well as anh's heroine story. two separate character journies but the book was able to seamlessly combine the two voices and povs

anyways spoilers incoming bc i'm gushing about altan and ahn!!!
[ the part where they got each other their comfort foods like altan got apples and ahn got mooncakes the chewy kind ugh they’re so precious

stellachristian are officially my fav twisted couple! 

all mine - plaza
heaven - julia michaels
nothing new - taylor swift (stella's song)