˗ˏˋ꒰ 🌇 ꒱ 2 stars
“‘I want you, Erin. I’ve only ever wanted you.’”
: ̗̀➛ thank you to netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review!!
: ̗̀➛ edit: I keep thinking about it, and i think honestly i never really enjoyed reading this. so the rating is being lowered to 2 stars, sorry guys!
: ̗̀➛ with that said, i’ll be very honest. i think this book was kind of boring, and it had a very slow beginning. at some points i even wanted to dnf.. but i pushed through!!
: ̗̀➛ i also came into this book thinking it’d be a cute, simple romance novel — no, it was not. so that slightly disappointed me too, though i guess that was my fault 😭.
: ̗̀➛ another reason this book wasn’t my favorite is i never really liked erin, the fmc. on the other hand, i was always rooting for james. yes, i sympathized for erin’s struggles, i just never really liked her character.
: ̗̀➛ if you’re a fan of slow burn romances, this book is for you. it was definitely slow burn. im talking the slowest burn ive ever read in a standalone book.
“‘I’m in you. Around you. Part of you. Like… like the Snowman.’
I frown, not following.
‘You know in The Snowman where he’s just a heap of clothes and a pile of melting snow at the end, but he isn’t gone. Not really. The snow keeps falling. The boy’s got a constant reminder of their time together.’
I nod.
‘I don’t want to be snow though,’ she says, screwing up her face. ‘I’ll be the sun. Every time the sun is shining, that’s me.’”
: ̗̀➛ ok guys i feel like ive been slamming this book for too long 😭. now we can talk about all the things i liked about this book!!
: ̗̀➛ i enjoyed watching erin finding her calling. although i don’t think i’d ever enjoy a job like hers, it had such cute moments and i loved how we could see erin finally loving her work. i hope that when i get a job, im lucky enough to find one i love, too. 🤞
: ̗̀➛ the same with james. i liked reading about how he rediscovered his passion for writing. both erin and james were kind of… inspiring(?) in the aspect that they both found their dream jobs and went for it.
“I know that while I’m not okay at all, one day I will be. And for the days that I’m not, there’s always the sunshine.”
: ̗̀➛ the book also had a large theme of grief and loss. it made me so sad to see the characters struggling with it, but so optimistic as they continued their journey with their loss. also bullying and mental illness were big, too.
: ̗̀➛ despite my dislike for erin, i really loveddd the side characters. i need more cassie and joel!! and georgia pleaseee 🙏. and jordan 🥹.
“‘I’m so proud of you. Don’t forget to make all your dreams come true!’”
: ̗̀➛ oh i forgot to mention something earlier, in reasons i disliked the book. erin literally like… hallucinates her dead best friend???? ik it’s like a coping thing but it just came off really weird to me. especially added with the fact that they had full on conversations, in which erin was completely aware of the fact she speaking to a figment of her imagination..
: ̗̀➛ i feel like we should’ve been given more flashbacks of scenes where bonnie was still alive, so we could’ve actually gotten to know her, connect with, and care about her character. again and again and again we are told stuff about bonnie, but what’s much more effective is to show us.
: ̗̀➛ another complaint: this book was advertised as having tons of references to classic books. yes, it did mention them, but not as much as i thought coming from the little blurb about the book. eventually (which occurred pretty fast), erin and her mystery man’s conversations in the margins of books shifted from talking about the book to talking to each other.
: ̗̀➛ honestly, i did not love this book. but, i genuinely think that other readers could really enjoy it. so maybe give it a shot. who knows, maybe you’ll love it? ❤
: ̗̀➛ wait i just learned this is a debut novel!! for a debut, i think it’s pretty good?
“Meet me in happy ever after?”
˗ˏˋ꒰ 📖 ꒱ pre-review
ahh guys my first arc!!!!!!! ill be reading this sometime april, im so excited!! 😁
read from april 10-13, review written on april 14
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chapters of elly 