thesandyreader's reviews
140 reviews

This book was more thought provoking than anticipated and I appreciated the introspection. 

Going into it, I was expecting a light adventure novel with a cat leading a young boy into fantasy worlds. In hindsight, this is a translated Japanese novel, so I should have expected a deeper level to it as I’ve found Japanese novels tend towards more philosophical content. 

In this instance, it was delving into the meaning of loving books, which I enjoyed pondering and seeing how the MC handled the arguments. The MC faces someone who uses his books for shelf trophies and only reads them once, someone who cuts books up to make them shorter and quicker to read, and someone in publishing who only publishes the high demand novels that make money.  They argue about the value of a book - both monetary and intangible. The core plot of the book was about what it means to “love books”. How do you show a love of books? What is the meaning of loving a book? And where is there value in loving books?

As someone who would definitely say she loves books, I found the idea of this fascinating, especially as the year is winding down and we are all talking about whether we met our reading goals this year and are planning for the next. 

Highly recommend this easy yet thought provoking read. It’s got a little adventure, a little romance, and a lot of book philosophy. 

Wow. This book was incredible. The intrigue, the mystery, the twist of characters… so well done. 

Christine is such an interesting character to follow - she starts off very reliable and as the novel goes on she feels more and more like an unreliable narrator. I almost lost touch with what was going on with her, her motivations, and what she was doing next. It made for a thrilling mystery where I wasn’t sure if I should trust her words and actions or not!

Jonathan was a fun contrast to her - so straightlaced and buttoned up. All about work and professionalism and getting the job done. His perspective was very honest and reliable feeling, so I was as upset and taken aback as he was when things started getting revealed. 

The set of background characters played in so well - I never knew if/when someone would be important and what to expect from them so it was really a shock whenever something happened. The story flowed so well and had just enough revealed throughout to give you a taste and impression of what was going on, while hiding motivations, tricks, and secrets until the right reveal moment. 

The ending was a huge WTF. Did not see ANY of that coming at all. So so interested in seeing how the next book continues to weave the stories and threads that were revealed! 

Finally got this one from Libby and I understand why so many people speak highly of it. 

The story is so deep and emotional. Lily is such a positive person and I really wanted the best for her, and it was heartbreaking to experience her living in those shades of gray. Reading and wondering what and if is going to happen with Ryle. I ended up being so proud of her for putting herself and her child first. 

Ryle is such a complex character as well. I wanted to hate him, but we’re experiencing it all from Lily’s perspective and she sees so many positive things in him that he’s hard to hate. As the book went on I found myself pitying him. He was in the wrong, and would never be able to rebuild that trust, but as you learn his history and watch him respect her current boundaries it’s hard not to pity him for all that he lost and that it was all his fault. 

In the end, it was always Atlas I was cheering for as the solid and reliable person in Lily’s life. I loved the diary reread pages and the building of their history together. I appreciated the ending and the ray of hope it left for both of them. 

This book was cute but not quite to my taste. I’m finding novellas just don’t give me the story depth I’m really looking for, and this holds true with this one. It reads as a smutty spice book rather than a story with spice, and I’m finding I prefer a good story. 

Cute, and if you like spice and them jumping right in you might enjoy this. Not for me though. 

This book had it all - spice, touching moments, childhood friends, competition, family… it was honestly really wholesome and cozy despite the definite ~spice~ going on. 

I loved the relationship building between Storee and Cole. The childhood friends to spitting banter to lovers move is just the cutest, and the fake hate and dating back and forth is so enjoyable. 

The storybook small town centered around Christmas is so cute and I wish I could go visit it. It’s the perfect setting for a holiday romance and all the small town vibes combined with the holiday cheer competition is just perfect. 

And I feel like I just need to mention… that candy cane scene? Anyone else just have a lot of questions….?

Highly recommend this if you’re looking for a spicy but still cute Christmas book. 

I puffin loved this book. It was cute and heartwarming and cozy and everything I enjoy in a cozy holiday romance. 

The book b!tches are hilarious and full of life, and Alexander is drool worthy. Rosie is so relatable and I loved watching her explore her new life and rediscover herself. 

Rosie and Alexander have a great dynamic and I appreciated that it had some heat but minimal spice to really keep that cozy holiday read feeling. 

We all know the puffin was the star of the book though. The little puffin in a Santa cap at the beginning of each chapter has my heart. 

Highly recommend for a cozy holiday romance read! 

Ooookay Sienna, damn you got me. This was an incredible book. Well written, interesting characters, plot depth, the list goes on…

First off, I absolutely love the FMC Isabella. She is a take no shit, do what I want, I can back myself up badass (can I swear on here?) and I am living for it. She is doing it her way and she knows what she wants and she is going to go out and take it. And when that hits the brick wall that is Raffaele… sparks. Everywhere. Their rivalry turned romance is so spicy and I love watching her push his boundaries while he tries to reign himself in. 

The plot itself is twisty and I really enjoyed the variety of layers in it. Family, school, jobs, betrayal… all layered on top of each other and interwoven to make sussing out what is going on difficult. 

And that ending… perfection. Can’t wait to see what they get up to in the next book.  

This falls into my category of books where I love the premise but feel the book is just too short to do it justice. 

The author reached out and offered a copy of this book to me and it was a summary that definitely caught my eye: 

Fantasy-thriller novella, female spies, psychic powers, saving the queen of the world… yep, right up my alley.

Unfortunately, I feel the book just wasn’t long enough for me to get really invested in the characters and fully understand the world building that was happening and how it related to the plot. 

The book throws you into the heart of the action quickly which I liked - right into a murder, investigations, and sleuthing. The opening chapter really sets the scene and I wanted to know more but the setting of context felt slow and piecemeal. The characters are likable enough, but I feel like we don’t learn enough about them to really become emotionally attached and invested in any of them. 

The world building has the potential to be really interesting, but it isn’t fully fleshed out and we don’t get to really understand what it’s like. The writing did a lot of telling rather than showing so I found it hard to really get lost in the book and pretend I was wrapped in that reality. 

The plot and storyline was interesting, and I did not see the variety of surprises coming which I enjoyed. I just wish I had more writing available to really get invested and understand the characters and context. 

Overall, a decent light read, but I wish there was more to it.