Ela (Mouse333)’s Comments (group member since Jul 10, 2022)

Ela (Mouse333)’s comments from the Challenge Corner group.

Chapters 1 - 5

(view spoiler)[ I definitely agree about needing Park’s POV. I think the retreat might be fun, depending on what activities they’re forced to do and maybe their communication will finally improve.

I feel bad for Lisa and I’m kind of interested in seeing what’s going to happen in her relationship.

I’m not sure what to think when it comes to the case or Monty, but is Nielsen too obvious to be involved?
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Chapters 22 - 30

(view spoiler)[ I think this has just gone down to a one star because of the stupidity of the proposal situation, especially Birdie’s rejection. Lonan gives his speech and adds to the fort and yet she completely ignores all of that and is stuck on him deserving more and only doing this because of her parents. I’m hoping that at least she’ll be making the big apology and having to work to get him back, but I doubt it.

While Micky’s texts help Lonan understand, it does nothing to change my opinion on Birdie’s decision.
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Chapters 13 - 21

(view spoiler)[ A lot happens in the background - Birdie says she spends time with her family; she says she spends a lot of time talking to Lonan and feels close to him; she plays pajamarades; and yet none of it is shown so it doesn’t seem real.

Lonan leaking Birdie’s discovery to the media is just a conflict waiting to happen and I’m not understanding his justification. If the media find her, won’t that cause more stress and therefore make her want to leave more?

I didn’t like the situation with Noah, especially since it was obvious it only existed to cause an argument.
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Chapters 1 - 12

(view spoiler)[ I’m really glad that the potential conflict between Jack and Lonan has been sorted out. At least I hope it’s not going to be a big deal now.

While I’m liking the book enough, the writing is a bit too vague for me. Birdie sees her mother, then her father hugs her when they get back and it skips all of them talking about what happened and learning about each other again. I can understand Birdie remembering things, which makes everyone happy, but that doesn’t automatically mean that they are as close and familiar with each other as they used to be, especially since she’s an adult now.
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Review
Buddy read
Pages: 491

Chapter 34 - Epilogue

(view spoiler)[ The epilogue was really well written and it even makes this story feel like a nice way of finishing the series. That being said, this just wasn’t for me. The whole reason for the breakup was bad/lack of communication between the main characters. There were things happening outside of their relationship which added to that, but it feels like they could have talked things out.

Rio was funny in the other books and even though the second chance with hurt feelings doesn’t necessarily allow time for those moments, there definitely needed to be more scenes with his friends.

I did like that Hallie went to Rio’s mother to sort their relationship out.
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Chapters 23 - 33

(view spoiler)[ I think they’ve decided that they want to be together and Rio knows about Hallie’s father so it feels like all that’s left is Hallie getting the job, Rio deciding to stay in Chicago, talking to his mother about that, and maybe finding out what Hallie’s mother did.
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Chapters 12 - 22

(view spoiler)[ I think the scene where Rio is babysitting could have been fun if it was shown.

The pillow and blanket were so thoughtful!

Other than that, there isn’t much that I’m enjoying. Rio’s friends aren’t shown much. Hallie is still hiding something with her father. Also, I really don’t like the intense attraction between Hallie and Rio because they’re completely ignoring whatever their reason for the breakup was so it doesn’t feel like their relationship is actually progressing.
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Shannon The Co-captain wrote: "I’m reading Rio’s book. Anyone else reading it? I’m not doing any challenges in this group right now but I’m freaking loving this book. If I didn’t have to take my husband and daughter to the airpo..."

I was thinking the same thing!!

Chapters 1 - 11

(view spoiler)[
I think I'm going to be in the minority, but I'm not really liking the setup. It could also be that I've set my expectations too high for Rio's book, like Brittni mentioned.

What was the reason they broke up? At times it seems like Hallie did something that hurt Rio, but then other times it mentions her being angry at him so I'm not sure what happened but I don't like their interactions. In the flashbacks (which I don't really care about), it seems like Rio's parents were in love while now they are divorced and Rio's angry with his father. Rio mentioned something about Hallie lying or that she should have told him so could it be that his father was cheating and Hallie knew but didn't tell anyone?

Hallie's secret in the present timeline is that she has debts and it mentions her father so is the debt from his medical care?

Even though I feel like this has happened in each book in this series, I think it makes even less sense that Rio's friend group is so quick to want to include Hallie, especially Indy who suspects that Hallie broke his heart.

I did like that Hallie admitted to the conflict of interest straight away at her work, and the moment where Rio tells the rookie to sit down was funny and what I want more of.
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Review
Pages: 377
Bonus: 70
Book that has 10 words in the title (any edition works) → 10 pts (To Catch an Heiress: Agents of the Crown, Book 1)
Book that was published in October (any year) → 10 pts (this edition)
Book that was published in a year that ends in a ‘0’ → 20 pts (this edition)
Book that has 'anniversary' in text → 30 pts (66%, "The anniversary of Marabelle's death.")

Review
Pages: 338

Brittni wrote: "Still hoping to read this one but now I'm a little nervous seeing your rating Ela!"

This just wasn't for me and since I wasn't liking it anyway, something that happened at the end probably made me angrier than I would have been normally. I hope you enjoy it more!

Review
Pages: 411

Review
Pages: 312
Bonus: 30
Book that was published in October (any year) → 10 pts (this edition)
Book that was published in a year that ends in a ‘0’ → 20 pts (this edition)

Review
Pages: 151
Bonus: 30
Book that was published in October (any year) → 10 pts
Book that was published in a year that ends in a ‘0’ ('00, '10, '20) → 20 pts

Review
Buddy read
Pages: 356
Bonus: 40
Book that was published in October (any year) → 10 pts (this edition)
Book that has a '1' and '0' in the page count → 10 pts (this edition - 1024 pages)
Book that was published on the 10th day of ANY month → 20 pts (this edition)

Chapter 22 - Epilogue

(view spoiler)[ I was wavering between a 2 and a 1 star because while there was nothing that I liked about this book, there also wasn't anything that I hated. However, Gus' reaction definitely made this a 1 star for me.

Was the big reaction necessary? I didn't think Gus was shown enough in this book for this reaction to make sense. Also, wasn't it because of how close Gus was with Luke that Luke became family? So how does his outburst (and insults) make sense?

Another example of what I didn't like about this book was when Luke's mother calls him. He answers the phone and then it skips to him hanging up before he summarises the call to Emmy. Why couldn't the call just have been shown?

This book wasn't for me - I either didn't like what was happening or I was bored. I'm not going to be continuing the series.
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Chapters 15 - 21

(view spoiler)[ I really don’t like that they’re hiding the relationship because it feels like that will only lead to annoying conflicts.

The scene where Luke punches the guy at the bar was so over the top, unnecessary and it didn’t even feel like it fit into the story.

Once again Luke and Emmy spent time together, but it was just summarised and not actually shown.

I’m going to finish this book since I’m already this far in, but there isn’t anything that I like about it.
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Isabel wrote: "I'm currently on book #1, Done and Dusted but i must sadly say, that it's not quite gripping my attention as i was hoping for...
While I think that Luke sounds like a hot papacito and Emmy is qui..."

I definitely agree. (view spoiler)[ I'm not seeing their connection either, especially because the change in their relationship supposedly happened during the lessons which were completely skipped over.

I can also see what you mean about Luke's character. I think the tragic backstory is just an excuse to stay away from Emmy so that he can talk about how he's not good enough for her, in addition to being Gus' best friend.
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